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HaruHana
Manga Review
One of the many things that are plentiful in Tokyo, Japan is the amount of themed cafes. There are the maid cafes, butler cafes, neko cafes, or even specific themed cafes. Many of them provide age appropriate entertainment, and services. For a specified cash amount, customers are allowed to request the café to provide them with a service.
In a bustling city, everyday life or situations can be stressful. Isnít it a nice way to let out these often debilitating stresses or worries if there is a skillful massage, soothing music, and delicious cake? Now put this in manga form, and you get Haru Hana, a relaxation café, that is bound to have fans.
 Hana is a girl from Osaka who moves to Tokyo as a way of avoiding the move overseas just as her parents did. She certainly didnít expect to start working at a café. What skills would she have to be of use? Sure, she is a skillful violin player, but what about her tendency to break out in hives if a guy touches her?
At the café she meets Shinnosuke the gay owner, and Haru the skillful masseuse, who is also in her class. Set in the backdrop of a slice of life, and school setting, Haru Hana is of growth and of a youthful love. So with this type of setting, Hana ends up discovering more of what she wants in life.
 There are only three volumes in this series, so Tokyopop happened to release the entire series in an omnibus. This makes for a complete read. If there are any other type of manga that would be similar reads to this series, then Ouranís High School Host Club, or Happy Café would be appropriate read. One is definitely the statue of the heroine, and another is the underlying mention of how service that brings entertainment and happiness for the guest is present in café/club cultures.
Reviewed by Linda Yau, March 2011
Below: Two spreads from the HaruHana manga, to view at full size just click on each image.
Below: Panels from the HaruHana manga.
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