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Black Bird 16 (2012)

by Kanoko Sakurakouji(Favorite Author)

4.21 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

4091344992 (ISBN13: 9784091344991)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Shogakukan

series

Black Bird

review 1: Sakurakoji is winding the story down. Misao has chosen to skip out on college and a normal human life so that she can be with Kyo and have his baby. Kyo finds out that the possibility of her surviving the birth is slim. Naturally, he wants to get rid of the baby. Misao puts her foot down, which sends the Diatengu on a mission to find how she can survive the birth of a demon. The whole death-during-child-birth thing is actually kind of up in the air. There’s only one recorded instance of a demon marrying the Senka maiden. Most of the time, the demons devour her instead. Still, Kyo doesn’t want to risk it because she’s his whole life and all. I’m pretty proud of Misao for standing her ground. Her development throughout the series has been the best part. She was so sh... morey and weak and the beginning and she’s really become a strong character who knows what she wants. To Kyo’s credit, he doesn’t push her very much. The down side is that this volume feels like a Twilight re-run. We’ve read this before in Breaking Dawn. The plot was really predictable. I can only hope that the conclusion won’t be as predictable. I hadn’t really thought about it until now, but Black Bird has really become a paranormal romance in manga form. I’m kind of hoping the next volume is the last. I’ve enjoyed my time with Kyo and Misao, for the most part, but it’s time to move on to something new.I recommend this series to readers interested in romantic shojo manga, ages 16+ due to violence, adult themes, and sexual content.
review 2: Black Bird, if it was a novel, would be an Adult PNR novel featuring Young Adult protagonists. There is a secret.. society consisting of demons, that only few can see. Misao Harada, the protagonist, is one of those. She’s the ordinary girl, who ends up being extraordinary: Her body has healing powers, to the point where eating her grants immortality.As it so happens, the leader of the Raven-clan wants her to be his. He’s the kind of possessive lover that you might find in.. any given romance novel ever, truth be told. The difference between Misao and Kyou and other Shôjo couples is that they are aware of their (almost) co-dependent, semi-dysfunctional relationship is their awareness of it: Despite my dislike for it, given their personalities, they are genuinely happy with eachother. They fight, they aren’t quite equal, but they are content in their positions, which, in the end, is satisfactory enough for me. *Sakurakouji has a tongue-in-cheek humour that doesn’t come across as well in the American translation as it did in the German one and, as far as I could see, the original, but it was apparent enough to make me grin several times. She really loves her fluff and angst, and it shows: We go from adorable dates to pre-apocalyptic outbursts in a matter of minutes.As for this particular volume, (in other words, spoilers start here) it was rather mediocre. After the announcement in the 15th volume, Kyou and Misao try to figure out what to do next: Even though he thought it was her body and her choice in the previous tankobon, upon realizing that her pregnancy will eventually kill her, he wants to “get rid of” the baby as soon as possible.I’m not a particular fan of instant and/or teenage pregnancies, and think that Sakurakouji will have to work very hard to make this particular plot work, I think the portrayal of all the affected characters was quite good: There was Kyou, who blames himself for everything and yet can’t let go of Misao, then Misao herself who stands up for herself and goes through multiple emotions (ranging from despair to hopelessness, resignation, hope, younameit) and the entire Raven-clan.Given the nature of Shôjo manga, I think this series isn’t bad, but it is definitely more of a guilty pleasure, than a series I’d recommend to relatives who are interested in what I’m reading “all the time on that e-reader-thing”. ;)* The old discussion about who was a better role-model, Mulan or Aurora, when it depends entirely on us as individuals, and it’s as sexist and destructive to criticise Aurora as it is to glorify her. Misao makes an active decision to be with Kyou and is content in the role of a more submissive “house-wife”. less

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