is a Japanese josei

Josei

also known as or , is a term that refers to the target demographic of manga created mostly by women for late teenage and adult female audiences. Readers range from 15-44. In Japanese, the word josei means simply "woman", "female", "feminine", "womanhood" and has no manga-related connotations at...

 manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 by Akemi Yoshimura. It was published by Shogakukan

Shogakukan

is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, manga, non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan.Shogakukan founded Shueisha which founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hitotsubashi Group, one of the largest publishing groups in Japan...

 from 1992 to 1998 in the magazine Petit Comic

Petit Comic

is a Japanese josei manga magazine published by Shogakukan, aimed at young women over the age of 18. Many series in this anthology magazine are romance-oriented and some are well-known for featuring frank depiction of sexual situations...

and collected in 16 tankōbon

Tankobon

, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...

 volumes. The series received the Shogakukan Manga Award

Shogakukan Manga Award

The is one of Japan's major manga awards, sponsored by Shogakukan Publishing. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga since 1955 and features candidates from a number of publishers.The current award categories are:...

 for shōjo

Shojo

The term refers to manga marketed to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10-18. The name romanizes the Japanese 少女 , literally: "little female". Shōjo manga covers many subjects in a variety of narrative and graphic styles, from historical drama to science fiction — often with a strong...

 in 1994.

Characters

She is a chubby, short girl, that was often been called 'ugly'. She lived together with her grandmother in a company dorm, since her grandmother worked at the company canteen. As she discovers when her grandmother dies, she is the daughter of a famous actress, named Shoko Hanai. Her first love is a western actor from a film she watched when she was in junior high. It later became known that it was her brother, Sumire. After she arrived, Yuri did almost all of the chores in Shoko's, house with the help of an old housekeeper. Yuri is actually not Shoko's daughter, but Kusanagi's daughter, meaning Yuri's only sibling relationship is with Aoi. In the Taiwanese drama, she is played by Ella Chen

Ella Chen

Chen Chia-Hwa , more commonly credited as Ella, is the oldest member of the Taiwanese girl group S.H.E. Her name 'Ella', which means courage, was given after the personality test given by HIM Management Co....

.

Shoko Hanai's son with her second husband, an American producer. He was often mistaken as a girl, because of his name. Even though everyone in Shoko Hanai's family looks western, he is the only one possessing blue eyes. He once acted in a film made by his father. His role was a boy who kept silent, and jumped to the ocean to get his hat. Sumire once had a lover, named Seri. Seri is drawn as a perfect girl, kind and pretty with many friends, but was short-lived. After finishing college, he became a novelist.

Shoko Hanai's second son with her fourth husband, named Kusanagi. He was brought to Shoko's house when he was 14 years old. He is homosexual and incestuous, for loving his own brother, Sumire. Aoi is found always eating; his snacks are ramen

Ramen

is a Japanese noodle dish. It consists of Chinese-style wheat noodles served in a meat- or fish-based broth, often flavored with soy sauce or miso, and uses toppings such as , , kamaboko, green onions, and occasionally corn...

 and katsudon

Katsudon

A katsudon is a popular Japanese food, a bowl of rice topped with a deep-fried pork cutlet, egg, and condiments. Variations include sauce katsudon , demi katsudon , shio katsudon , shōyu-dare katsudon , and miso katsudon A katsudon (カツ丼) is a popular Japanese food, a bowl of rice topped with a...

. Even though he developed love for a boy, Fuyo always said he is bisexual, but he hasn't found the girl yet. Later on, he fell deeply in love with Yuri, although it was one sided since Yuri loved Sumire.

Shoko Hanai's first daughter with her first husband. She is a lazy girl, with her motto being "never do what has to be done", but actually she can do anything, from cooking to sewing. She once had a husband, but divorced later because her husband was a cheater with an Electra complex

Electra complex

In Neo-Freudian psychology, the Electra complex, as proposed by Carl Gustav Jung, is a girl’s psychosexual competition with mother for possession of father. In the course of her psychosexual development, the complex is the girl’s phallic stage formation of a discrete sexual identity; a boy’s...

. She collected videos, and watches them all the time while drinking milk tea

Milk tea

Milk tea may refer to* Tea with the addition of a small amount of milk*Bubble tea, one of famous categories of bubble teas is "pearl milk tea"...

. Even though she hates her mother, she has already watched all her films. Fuyo is the first one to discover that Yuri is not Shoko Hanai's daughter, and later, not the daughter of Makurano.

Her real name is Teruko Hanatashiki. She is a pretty, metropolitan actress, who had a lot of boyfriends. Her mother came from Ireland, and lived in Satsuboro, Hokkaido

Hokkaido

, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...

. She is a player, resulting in many children from different men. Despite this, she once loved Yuri's father, Makurano Ichiro, deeply.

Yuri's father, or the one who took care of Yuri for her first three years of life. He was a poor novelist and once Shoko Hanai's husband. Yuri is actually not his daughter, but Kusanagi's daughter. Because of Yuri, Shoko thought he was a cheater and divorced him without knowing that his life was about to ended. He i

Live-action drama

The manga was adapted into a 21 episode Taiwanese drama

Taiwanese drama

Taiwanese Drama refers to dramatic programming of television programming extended stories usually dramatizing relationships through the general range of ten to forty one-hour episodes. They are produced in Taiwan and have gained increasing popularity in the Mandarin-speaking community...

 titled The Rose starring Ella Chen

Ella Chen

Chen Chia-Hwa , more commonly credited as Ella, is the oldest member of the Taiwanese girl group S.H.E. Her name 'Ella', which means courage, was given after the personality test given by HIM Management Co....

 of S.H.E

S.H.E

S.H.E is a Taiwanese girl group whose members are Selina Jen, Hebe Tien, and Ella Chen. The name of the group is an alphabetism derived from the first letter of each member's name. Since releasing their first album Girls Dorm , S.H.E has recorded 12 albums with sales totalling over 15 million, and...

, Jerry Huang, Joe Cheng

Joe Cheng

Joseph Cheng, also known as Joe Cheng, was born on 19 June 1982. He is a Taiwanese model, actor and singer. Although he started his career as a model, Cheng is well known for his role as Jiang Zhishu in Taiwanese drama serial version of Japanese manga Itazura Na Kiss, It Started with a Kiss...

, Joelle Lu and Cecilia Yip

Cecilia Yip

Cecilia Yip Tung is a Hong Kong actress. Cecilia Yip is a well-regarded actress from Hong Kong whose work is known throughout Asia, especially Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. She began her acting career in 1982 with "Nomad" in which she was nominated for The Best Newcomer of The Year Award...

. It was directed by Chu Yu-ning (瞿友寧). It was broadcast on Taiwan Television (TTV)

Taiwan Television

Taiwan Television Enterprise, Ltd. , commonly known as TTV is launched), is the first television broadcast station in Taiwan...

 (台視) from 25 March 2003 to 23 November 2003. The series won Most Popular Drama of the Year at the 2004 Golden Bell Awards

Golden Bell Awards

The Golden Bell Awards is an annual Taiwanese television production award, founded in 1965, presented by Government Information Office, Republic of China . It is usually presented in October or November each year. It is the first television production award in Chinese circulation and Taiwan's...

, Taiwan.