The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity: A Romeo and Juliet for the Modern Manga Reader

Nothing makes the heart flutter like a forbidden romance. 

The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity tells a familiar story of two people drawn to each other despite their backgrounds. Instead of Capulets and Montagues, this manga’s star-struck lovers are Kaoruko Waguri of Kikyo Private Academy Girls’ High—a prestigious school known for its wealthy students with high marks—and Rintaro Tsumugi of Chidori High—a boys’ school predominantly attended by lower-class students with grades that are mediocre or worse. For a Kikyo girl to fall for a Chidori boy would be disgraceful in the eyes of their community. And yet…

Rintaro is a second-year at Chidori with an impressive stature, dyed blond hair and piercings, and a fierce face that gets him in trouble time and time again. While helping out at his family’s patisserie, he meets Kaoruko: a petite girl and regular customer who quickly dashes off when the two make extended eye contact. Resigned to the conclusion that his appearance scared her, Chidori blames himself for driving her away. But when Kaoruko shows up the next day to apologize and say that she had simply been embarrassed, she shows him that not everyone judges a book by its cover. 

Just as their new friendship begins to blossom, Rintaro pulls aside the curtain while sitting in class and discovers that the girl on his mind is right on the other side of the window—in the worst place she could be: Kikyo Private Academy.

The Flower That Bloomed Beyond the Odds

While at first glance, the story seems to be a classic tale of opposites attracting, Rintaro and Kaoruko share the same kindness of heart. What makes the manga so refreshing is the genuine likability of the two protagonists and the way they support each other. It’s even clear from the Japanese title (Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku): Kaoruko’s name uses the kanji for “fragrant,” while Rintaro’s name includes the character for “dignity”—suggesting that she will bloom when they’re together.

In a review of the series’ anime adaptation for Anime News Network, Rebecca Silverman writes, “For a romance with minimal touching, no official dating, and no kissing, The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity is incredibly romantic. Freed from the trappings and tropes of the romance genre, it is instead able to focus on the emotional component. It follows the characters’ growth not just romantically, but also as they discover their own dignity and learn how to at least respect themselves, and those allow them to fall in love.”

The manga itself has been a big hit, selling over 8 million copies to date. The series also placed 2nd in the 6th TSUTAYA Comic Awards, took 6th place in the 2022 Next Manga Awards Web Manga category, and received the runner-up prize at the Sanyodo Bookstore Comic Award.

In an interview with Kodansha, author Saka Mikami says, “Although the romantic relationship between Rintaro and Kaoruko is the catalyst for the story, one’s range of emotion broadens the more one interacts with others, and it didn’t feel right to ignore that fact. Of course, being able to explore these elements to this depth is made possible by the support of the readers, for which I’m very grateful.”

Planting the Seeds of the Fragrant Flower

Speaking with Kodansha’s Japanese-language digital platform MangaPoke, Mikami shared that the series which inspired her to write manga was Hajime Isayama’s Attack on Titan. Her other favorite manga, Shugo Chara! by PEACH-PIT, was also a Kodansha release, “So I thought, ‘I can only submit to Kodansha!’ And that’s how I got to where I am today.”

But the road wasn’t totally without its bumps and detours. Though Mikami won the 105th Newcomer Manga Award for her one-shot Song of the Jellyfish, she lamented that her storyboards for Fragrant Flower were repeatedly rejected before the manga was finally approved. 

What compelled her to write Fragrant Flower, she said, was “wanting to draw a manga where every character was kind.”

“Knowing that so many people are reading the series is a tremendous source of encouragement, and I’m filled with gratitude. I believe the best way I can give back is through the manga itself, so I’ll continue working to deliver all of Kaoruko and Rintaro’s most wonderful moments. I hope you’ll keep watching over these two!”