Review: CROWN OF LOVE

Just because a romance is bad (in the sense of it being unhealthy for the participants) doesn't necessarily mean that a manga portraying has to be bad as well.  This series is a good example of that from a mangaka who seems to specialize in these sorts of complicated relationships.

CROWN OF LOVE (Renai Crown), by Yun Kouga.  First published in 1998 and first published in North America in 2010.

PLOT:

Hisayoshi Tajima seems to have it all.  He's a talented music student at Hakuo High School, beloved by all the girls in class, and well on his way towards taking up a respectable classical music career like his father.  No one seems to have any notion of just how indifferent Hisayoshi has become to it all.  His world comes into focus after a chance encounter on a train with Rima Fujio, a lovely teen idol.  Tajima swiftly falls for her, so much so that he's willing to work with Rima's former manager to become an idol singer himself just to get close to her again, something that his manager may want for his own reasons.



STORY:

Yun Kouga has something of a knack for ambitious and complicated stories about interpersonal relationships.  That was true of Loveless, and it's equally true for Crown of Love.  It's a natural fit for a more straightforward romantic melodrama like this, although I still wonder if she's trying to make things more complicated than they really need to be.

Once again, I'm impressed with the complexity she lends to her leading pair without making either of them feel maudlin.  Tajima is fully aware that his obsession with Rima isn't healthy and feels no small degree of guilt over it, but he's so driven by his desire for her that he willingly upends his life just to get close to her again.  Of course, it's easy to make that sacrifice when his father is a controlling, abusive asshole who is determined to mold his son into his own image.  Just like Loveless, Kouga is good at portraying parental abuse in a way that feels emotionally true without making it overwrought, giving it a raw emotional power.

Since the story is told from Tajima's perspective, Rima remains something of a mystery.  Still, Kouga leaves enough clues for observant readers to put together that she is suffering from her own set of problems: a rocky relationship with her own mother, feelings of disconnect from her peers, fear of being overshadowed by Tajima's rising fame, a raging crush on her ex-manager, and insecurity over others finding out that she's not the image of perfection that her public image portrays.  Still, we don't get a real answer as to why she keeps rejecting Tajima despite some degree of interest in him.  I feel like that the story would have benefited from splitting its perspective more evenly between the two.  At the very least, it would make Crown of Love feel less like the story of a stalker.

Then there's the third angle to this love triangle: Ikeshiba, the manager.  It's clear from the start that he's up to something, but his motives are a mystery.  He seems to be at least marginally aware of Rima's feelings for him, and he's keenly aware of Tajima's interest in Rima.  Is he acting out of altruism in bringing these two together?  Is he taunting Rima into an emotional confession by shifting his interest to Tajima?  Is he messing with both of their heads for his own amusement?  Or is he merely content to play up their rivalry for profit?  It could be any combination of these and more, and that uncertainty makes him an extremely effective antagonist.

If there's anything that undermines Crown of Love, it's that the line between Tajima's inner monologue and the events unfolding seems to be a thin and fluid one.  It can sometimes be unclear whether we're witnessing a flashback or just a separate scene.  Maybe that's meant to put the reader in Tajima's headspace, completely in tow to his emotions but not entirely able to control them.  Still, the level of emotional complexity Kouga brings to Crown of Love goes a long way towards making this love story compelling and all too painfully human.

ART:

I've always been a little ambivalent on Kouga as an artist.  Her character designs are handsome enough but they can also be a bit of a gangly mess.  Their faces tend to look similar, but she's good at using their dark eyes to communicate their feelings and she's particularly good with hairstyles here.  While this may be a josei romance, visually she uses a lot of the visual language of shojo, with bursts of flowers and patterns in the most dramatic moments.

RATING:

While it's not as visually striking as it could be, Crown of Love more than makes up for it with its level of emotional complexity.  Its story of star-crossed idols is messy and fascinating, an emotional trainwreck in process that I can't look away from and have to recommend.

This series is published by Viz. This series is complete in Japan with 4 volumes available.  All 4 volumes have been published and are currently in print.