Two Flowers for the Dragon, Vol. 1

Two Flowers for the Dragon #1

by Nari Kusakawa

Nari Kusakawa -- creator of THE RECIPE FOR GERTRUDE and THE PALETTE OF 12 SECRET COLORS -- cooks up a funny and romantic new adventure.

Teenage Shakuya, the next head of the Dragon Clan, suddenly finds herself with two fiancés! The first vanished years ago but has now mysteriously returned. But betrothed number two is not about to just step aside. What's a girl to do? Her mother decides that at the end of a year, Shakuya will marry the man she has the strongest feelings for. How that will be determined is by "magic tattoos" on both of Shakuya's hands, each representing one of her suitors. As her love grows, so do the tattoos! And complicating all of this is that fact that whenever Shakuya gets upset, she turns into a fearsome dragon!

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Romance, Comics, Dragons, Graphic Novels, Shojo

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 5, 2006

About the author

Name in Japanese: 草川為

Reviews

[Laura (ローラ) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't read this in years. I remembered the basics of the story, but I forgot how good Kusakawa's character development was in this series. It has a slow start, but knowing how it "ends" (I say that, but it was never fully released in English so I've never read the end), I can see some of the inserted plot and character development that leads to the eventual chaos. Surprisingly good. Also, the tigers are adorable.

[Lucille · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love mangas like this. Fantasy with romance. Damn, I'm on Lucien's side!

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is pretty ridiculous--a girl who is part dragon (and turns into one when she gets angry) ends up with two fiancés when her first one, whom everyone thought dead, suddenly turns up with amnesia after five years. It is decided that at the end of the year, the fiancé she likes best is the one she will marry. And she has magical tattoos that will grow to show which guy she likes the most. Cause, you know, magical dragon blood and all. So yeah, lots of very silly things going on here, but it's cute and funny, and the art is good, so sure, I'm in for volume 2! Heh...

[Alicia · Rating 2 out of 5]

The concept worked, I thought it was kind of neat but the execution didn't do anything for me.

I had a hard time deciphering the characters and understanding everyone's true motivations including the clan groups. It was okay.

[Amanda Setasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is actually very interesting. I've read love triangle plots, but this one brings a unique twist on it. Looking forward to reading more of the series!

[TT · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this series and this mangaka!

[Pearl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am personally liking Ruu more than Kuu. I kind of feel sorry for Ruu. I wonder what happened to Ruu for losing his memories and how he got lost?

[Cornerofmadness · Rating 3 out of 5]

This manga combines romantic comedy with fantasy. It’s set in a desert oasis that sprung up generations ago when a dragon fell in love with a human and made this their home. Shakuya is the youngest descendant of that fabled union and she will one day be the queen. Arranged marriages are how the nobility handle things and she’s been engaged since she was born practically. Shakuya is a young teen and she’s accompanied at all times by her handmaiden, Lupina. Shakuya is always sneaking out of her temple home, often to try and meet up with Kuwan, a police officer and her fiancé who’s about ten years older than her if I had to guess. She’s quite determined to be in love with him since she has to marry him so she tries to steal time with him. However, both her social status and her dragon blood make her targets for dissidents, kidnappers and more.

Someone sends a load of bamboo pipes down on Shakuya’s head and she’s aided by a traveler and from here things go a little sideways for Shakuya. The traveler is Lucien, her original fiancé. Lucien disappeared in a sandstorm years ago and was presumed to be dead. Unfortunately, Lucien has no memories at all of his life in the oasis.

Now she has two fiancés and she’ll have to make a choice between them. The story has a fun twist, upon the betrothal she was tattooed (as were the men) on the back of her hand, a bellflower for Kuwan and a rose for Lucien. However, in Shakuya, her dragon blood makes her tattoos grow and bloom as a reflection of her feelings for the men. She has several flowers already for Kuwan and none but the original for Lucien since she thought he was dead. Her mother the queen gives an edict. Whichever man has more blooms on her daughter’s arms will win the right to marry Shakuya.

Naturally, this sets up the competition that will dominate the entire series. Shakuya is determined to love only Kuwan and is actually rather cruel in how much she snubs Lucien all the time, not that it deters him any. Part of the problem might be that Shakuya is young. We’re told Kuwan is twenty-six and Lucien seems to be of that age too but Shakuya is drawn considerably younger and does remark at one point that Kuwan looked good surrounded by women his age. Dodging dissidents, rigged sword fighting competitions and wily pet baby tiger cubs, the three of them flit back and forth between each others lives.

The story is cute but it’s not without its problems. I don’t see enough emotional content and that’s the part that’s bothering me. Shakuya acts like a young teenaged girl, warts and all. She’s insecure. She’s rude. She’s everything I didn’t like about teenaged girls, even when I was one.

As for the two guys, I have no idea how they feel about Shakuya. She seems more like a prize than a love interest. Kuwan is cold and business-like and very good at what he does and he seems to think that’s enough to keep Shakuya’s heart centered on him. Lucien takes another approach. As much as Kuwan rarely seeks Shakuya out, Lucien seems to have nothing better to do than hover around Shakuya. Lucien doesn’t appear to have a job any more. Lucien’s wooing approach borders on smarmy.

If the emotional content ramped up a little, I think this could be a good series. Shakuya, at least, does feel a little torn, which adds some emotion to this. She doesn’t want anything to do with Lucien but to her horror, his rose has begun to grow and she feels she must hide this. The cliffhanger ending was a step in the right direction, playing off Shakuya’s half breed nature. I liked that. The story has potential and I think the target audience will enjoy it.

[Miss Ryoko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much like a handful of series I've had my eye on reading, the first volume to this series suddenly went missing at the library (all 3 volumes) and I hadn't realized it until I got volumes 2-6. I knew all 3 of the first volume were checked out but I was thinking it was taking pretty long because they were all due relatively soon... turns out, suddenly the library doesn't have any more available copies of volume 1 -_- So I caved a bought the first volume, hoping it didn't suck.

Of course, it had all the ingredients to be your typical shojo... a love triangle, a little bit of mystical magical-ness (with the main character being able to turn into a dragon), silly shenanigans ensuing... so I liked it. Which is curious, since I'm really sick of reading about love triangles in fiction books, but in manga I don't mind it so much (perhaps its because these days it seems like if there isn't a love triangle it isn't a manga... or perhaps it's cuz of the silly shenanigans, which are often quite hilarious and fun.... you take your pick ;-) )

ANYWAY, seems like it'll be a fun series... though I don't know if there are 6 volumes total or 7... when I do research, I get both answers. I hope it's only 6 because that's the only amount available in English :-p

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the setting, an oasis with a dragon clan that is part human part dragon. I like that it has magical elements as well. The story of ending up with two fiances even works for me, but I'm not big on either of their personalities or how it has played out so far. It is a bit silly that they end up getting a year to make the heir fall more in love with them. Cute, but maybe a bit too much.

[Sho · Rating 4 out of 5]

ものすごく昔に雑誌で読んでいて、その後は漫画喫茶で新刊本を読んでいた。最終巻がでたのは知っていたが、読んでいなかったので今回読めてすごくよかった。ちょっと変わったファンタジー少女コミックとしてはよくできていると思う。

The manga's use of dragon/human princess in a dessert kingdom was very interesting. I recommend this to fantasy loving shoujo manga readers.

[Softreflection · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was good. I don't really get the ages though. The dragon girl is like 12 and the police chief is 26 and who knows how old The guy from the desert is. But it has an interesting story. I want to learn more about their past and, just from how things are going, I think she's going to pick Lucian.

[NocturnalRavings(Jodie) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lol,I read this,like,three months ago. Forgot to add it. xD

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

that book was awesome i read until volume 9 then i couldn't find it anywere

[Feby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Baru baca buku satunya.
Cute story, not too bad....