I loved and hated this manga at the same time. There were a lot of moments that made me so frustrated to the point of wanting to smash my keyboard, though there were also cute moments that made me root for the characters.
Okay, let's start with Sumi. Sumi, Sumi, Sumi. Oh, the ever innocent Sumi. From the start, I kind of found her annoying. She was innocent yet arrogant. You see, she has decided to sell herself involuntarily to save the children and she even almost went along with an old guy who offered. And here comes Souichiro who offered to take her instead, as long as she fulfills her end of the deal. In retrospect, she's already achieved something better than selling herself outright. It may be the same, because she also sold herself, but at least, with Souichiro, she wasn't forced to that level. Since she agreed with their deal, to be his wife, the least she could do was respect Souichiro as a person. But what did she do? She just couldn't hide her lovestruck face for Nozomu. I mean, even after the kidnapping/fire incident, how could she "innocently" follow him to his house? This girl. Did she want to be forced that much? She knew the guy had hots for her and it's impossible not to notice that his obsession wasn't normal, and there she goes following him along. Like really, did she think that by not rejecting him firmly, she's being kind? Ugh. Even at that party, when Nozomu announced that she's his fiancee and Souichiro crashed looking haggard and dirty... Even if she didn't mean it, the way she treated him publicly was just too much. Even if it's true that she married for money, how could she disgrace both him and herself like that? I hated how she had to say those words. They crush men's pride and faith much, you know. It's a low blow. Of course, I pity her too. I mean, I sympathized with her, feeling helpless when all she wanted was to provide for the children they took up... I mean, that was her purpose, right? I know that falling in love can't be helped, but I wish she was wiser at least. Also, she's too naive and very easy to fool. I'm annoyed when presented with a female MC who seems to be kind and trusting only to be betrayed later on because she misjudges people a lot. Haaah. Really. She's the character I disliked the most in this manga. I mean, hey, sure, she was talented in more ways than one. Like in cooking and in shogi. She's also deemed beautiful. But other than that, she's just too st*pid. She didn't think things thouroughly and just jumped into action, as if confident that she'll always be saved. Ughhhh.
As for Souichiro, well, he may look really tyrannical in the beginning, but hey, they made a deal and she agreed to it so I guess it gave him the right to act intimate with her. He was moody and he schemed a lot to gain more by using Sumi, but honestly? Sumi benefited a lot from it too so they're just quits. I admired how he became more responsible after choosing to be with Sumi though. And I can see how painful it was to be left like that despite swearing to each other. Ugh. He's been hurt too much in this manga. Tsk.
Nozomu. The prince charming who took the yandere route. He was certainly charming in the beginning and I could tell he truly cared for her. However, one can only take too much jealousy. I say Sumi is to be blamed partly though. Even though they clearly agreed to be husband and wife, she still went ahead to get close with Nozomu showing her lovestruck expression. Erk. Anyway, his obsession was truly excessive, as even the revelation of the blood ties didn't bother him at all and still wanted to claim her. Poor you. You were a victim, too, but I sincerely hoped you at least atoned for all the mess you made.
As for the story, the ending was too rushed and dissatisfying. The story had a lot of loose ends and questions left unanswered.
For a poor girl x rich boy story, I guess this was pretty good because instead of a scheming female rival, we get a male yandere instead, which is kind of rare in my case.
So yeah. Hmm, art was inconsistent but beautiful a lot of times. Especially with Sumi. Maaan. I don't even know how to look at her anymore. She's had too many hairstyles and even her face changed a lot from mature and childish. Like sometimes, she just really looks elegant and classy, then sometimes she looks just her age, 15.
ps. It was hard reading bec of the LQ scanlations, but it was better than nothing.
pps. This was re-read on: 08/12/16. First read around 2014, I believe. Didn't enjoy much this time around.
Hadashi De Bara Wo Fume