is a 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...

 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...

 series created by Mayu Shinjo

Mayu Shinjo

is a Japanese manga artist. She debuted in 1994 in Shogakukan's Shōjo Comic with "Anata no Iro ni Somaritai". She continued writing for Shogakukan until 2007, with her works appearing in both Shōjo Comic and their other magazine Cheese!...

. It is recommended for teen readers in Germany and has been licensed in North America by Viz Media

VIZ Media

VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...

. In Singapore, the Chinese translation is published by Chuang Yi

Chuang Yi

Chuang Yi Publishing Pte Ltd. is a publishing company based in Singapore that specializes in producing domestic and imported comics and comics-related merchandise, in English and simplified Chinese. Chuang Yi distributes all or some of its products in Singapore, Malaysia, India, and the Philippines...

.

Plot

One day while walking home from her job, Kurumi Akino finds a wounded young man, and saves his life. He mysteriously disappears after that, and leaves only the name “Hakuron”. Next thing she knows she’s been kidnapped from her school, and is on a private jet with that man, heading to Hong Kong. It turns out she saved the life of the most infamous mobster in Hong Kong, and he wants her to stay with him...

Characters

The 17 year old main character. She is a very innocent and naive girl living with her ill mother and two brothers that she constantly needs to take care of. Her first encounter with Hakuron is when she saves his life after he is wounded in the backstreets near her home. The next day she is kidnapped by mafia men who take her to Hakuron. Kurumi finds her beginning to fall for Hakuron whilst she becomes wrapped up in the dangerous world of mafia war and rivalry. Kurumi and Hakuron's relationship takes a sour turn when she witnesses him kill a classmate of hers. Hakuron, frustrated by her rejection, rapes her in order to try to keep hold of her. Eventually, Kurumi loses her memory and the tension between them is resolved. Hakuron proposes and Kurumi happily accepts. On their wedding day, however, Hakuron is shot dead by Kurumi's friend Kaafai. Kurumi is shown three years later to have returned to her mother and siblings but still watched over by Hakuron's loyal workers. She visits the church, the sight of the shooting, and expresses her desire to stay strong and smile for him.

18-year old mafia in the Hong Kong mafia. His real name is and his family descended from the royal line in China. A fortune teller foretold that he would bring the downfall of his clan so his father tried to kill him. It set off a series of events to happen, causing his mother to be killed and Hakuron killing his father, the first of the many murders that would lead to him becoming the much feared man in the Triads. His mother left him with a Dragon Jade of which she swore would protect for the rest of his life. He seems like a very coldblooded man, but actually has a very kind side that rarely anyone notices. He falls in love with Kurumi, but many other organizations use her to try to ruin Hakuron and that leads to Hakuron to thinking that he would rather hurt Kurumi mentally if it means he can protect her. Kaafai, the friend of Kurumi, witnesses Hakuron rape Kurumi and harbours a deep hatred towards him. Later on in the story Kaafai sees that Kurumi has returned to Hakuron despite the periods of abuse. Hakuron proposes to Kurumi and upon the wedding day he relinquishes all his weaponry and guards so he can marry Kurumi as just a normal man. Kaafai, however, appears with a gun and shoots Hakuron dead outside the church.

The jealous fiance of Hakuron. She attempted to ruin Kurumi's life, and by using a few of her high-school classmates, tries to take her virginity

Virginity

Virginity refers to the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. There are cultural and religious traditions which place special value and significance on this state, especially in the case of unmarried females, associated with notions of personal purity, honor and worth...

, but was stopped by Hakuron in time. She becomes Kurumi's 'friend' in order to make her life a misery. She was later killed by him, leading to a misunderstanding between Kurumi and Hakuron.

Kaafai

He saves Kurumi when she runs away from being constantly sexually abused by Hakuron. He takes her to his family's restaurant and they welcome her in. Kaafai eventually falls in love with her, but later on, Hakuron finds the restaurant and forcefully takes Kurumi back. Kurumi might have had a little crush on Kaafai, but she loved Hakuron more. Kaafai kills Hakuron just before Kurumi and Hakuron are about to get married.

Manga

In Japan, Haou Airen has been collected in nine bound volumes

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...

:

1. ISBN 4-09-136757-7 published in June 2002
2. ISBN 4-09-136758-5 published in September 2002
3. ISBN 4-09-136759-3 published in November 2002
4. ISBN 4-09-136760-7 published in February 2003
5. ISBN 4-09-138291-6 published in May 2003
6. ISBN 4-09-138292-4 published in August 2003
7. ISBN 4-09-138293-2 published in November 2003
8. ISBN 4-09-138294-0 published in February 2004
9. ISBN 4-09-138295-9 published in May 2004

External links

• Haou Airen on Mayu Shinjo's official site.