Manga Review: The Secret Sakura Shares by Akira Hagio

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Yen Press

Release Date: December 2015

Volumes: 1 Omnibus/2 Singles

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository.

Wishlist Thursday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

When Aoi Narinomiya, the last daughter of a prestigious family, discovers that her grandfather has gone missing, leaving her to carry an astronomical debt, both she and her dog, Sakura, are inches away from finding themselves on the street. When her enigmatic classmate Kei Katsuragi shows up on her doorstep to repossess everything her family once owned, Aoi makes a desperate plea for Kei to take in her beloved Sakura--maybe she could at least be spared...?

It seems, though, that Kei is far less interested in owning a dog than he is in calling a pedigreed kitty his own, and Aoi soon finds herself playing the part of the young man's prized pet! Disturbingly, it turns out to be a comfortable and reassuring life that Aoi feels she hastoo quickly settled into, but could Kei have ulterior motives that go beyond just "owning" her?

Review:

I was pleasantly surprised with this book.

When Aoi is left with a large debt, she’s taken in with her dog as a pet to Kei. But instead of it being a slave-like life, she’s taken care of like a real pet—groomed, pampered, treated with love and care. Even if she protests it and feels like she doesn’t do enough, Kei wants her there and he likes having her as his “pet”.

While I do think that Aoi should have spoken up, tried to do more if she wanted to, I liked their relationship. I think that Kei treated her well, and that they had good chemistry. I like how he protected her, even pretending to be gay for appearances.

This was a sweet shojo series, relatively sweet and romantic without any real physical stuff, with a simple plot. I enjoyed it a lot, and hope more like it are picked up. I also liked how it was released in omnibus format, all in one volume. Very pretty, and easy to collect.