This story is a really cute little romance. It's not too complicated (Even with the supernatural "curse" and the main character's best friend ending up as a transexual). I thought it was interesting that the "manservent" boy was raised in wealth and luxury; he's actually pretty spoiled at the start. The long-lost heiress was raised in a hard-working middle-class family, she who knows how to do things for herself. They're really sweet to each other from the start, so of course you're rooting for them to get together.Because of an ancient curse on their families, the main character gets really neurotic "manservent attacks" when he is around the heiress...where he wants to take care of her and make sure she's doing OK at school etc.., but really doesn't know how to show concern in a non-creepy/overbearing way. It was kind of cheesy, but it made me laugh.In the margins of the book there are little notes from the writer. She/he seemed so excited and appreciative to be a manga writer; like it was a dream come true. The notes also talked about how the story was thought up...through a conversation with a friend about how a story doesn't have to be "realistic" at all to be enjoyable...That's basically how I would classify this story: Not realistic, but still fun. Man, I thought this one was terrible--I can handle a ridiculous plot like this one has, but the execution of it is...really not great. It's like the equivalent of all those teen paranormal romances I've quit reading less than halfway through lately--practically zero actual character development, just a bunch of stuff happening for little to no believable reason, and with no transitions between events. And the bonus story about the teacher? Ew! Meh. No thanks.
What do You think about Captive Hearts, Vol. 01 (1999)?
This manga was really cute and sweet and romantic. I loved it!! :)
—rickwoodrickle
