Originally posted here on Anime Radius and here on Yaoi Radius.

The first volume of Flower in a Storm was an introduction into the always hectic world of one Riko Kunimi, a high school girl who insists she's an average teen when in fact she has the physical skills and stamina of a fleet of ninjas. She never expects to fall in love, especially since her first true love dumped her for being so different. That's when young millionaire heir Ran Tachibana drops like a bomb into her life, telling her that she is now his. Naturally, Ran rebels against this crazy Casanova's advances time after time, always finding herself an unwilling participant in his daily adventures (which more than often involved dodging assassination attempts against his life). Somehow, without seeming rushed in her storytelling, manga-ka Takagi showed Riko slowly falling for Ran's charms in an actual believable way - and now with the second and final volume, we get to see if Riko will actually realize what her feelings mean in time for Ran to hear her. With more death threats and assassins than normal going after Ran, Riko might want to realize it a little sooner though . . .

Ran and Riko seem like an unlikely couple as ever. They are constantly fighting and getting into squabbles; Riko's physical strength and class difference makes her feel estranged from Ran's world and Ran's constant romantic (and yet oddly endearing) advances make him more than just a minor irritant in Riko's daily life. But as the story advances, we see that Ran and Riko is actually not only one of the oddest couples in modern shoujo history but a couple that, after volume two, makes a lot of sense. Riko is a girl struggling to accept herself as someone who is not seen as 'normal' by society; Ran is someone who falls in love with Riko at first sight and thinks her physical feats of strength are beautiful. He accepts and loves Riko for who she is and cannot help but pour his affections on her in the most dorky and extravagant ways. In turn, Riko grows fond of Ran's odd behavior and protective of him when he is threatened by assassins (which is a lot) and her affections soon grow to the point that the idea of living without Ran's vibrant present is too sad to bear. The story of their romance is a delight to read for all shoujo fans and I can't see anyone not falling in love with Riko and Ran by the end of this volume, especially after the short Bonus Storm' chapter, which is simply too darn cute for words.

The art isn't the great highlight of Flower in a Storm, although it can be very pretty at times and very effective during the more flashy scenes between Ran and Riko. What is this volume's greatest highlights are the action and the humor. There are guns and helicopters and explosions and motorcycles and ninjas and fist fights and lots of other exciting things, including a very dramatic life-and-death struggle involving Riko and Ran and the latest psychotic rich man trying to kill him this time. Plus, there's more of everyone's favorite arrogant ginger gunman - who still doesn't get a proper name, arrgh! Not only is this a shoujo brimming with excitement, it also contains much needed moments of levity (especially considering how the series dances dangerously close to a tragic romantic series in the vein of Sand Chronicles or We Were There). As usual, Ran's constant showering of outlandish gifts upon the unfortunate and unreceptive Riko is always a source for smiles while reading. Then there is the end of the Ran's Fiancee 'Arc' in which Riko takes down the malicious Rinko in her own typical reckless manner - and with a spectacular jump from a high-up open school window.

As the two volume Flower in a Storm winds to an end, I think many if not most of its fans will be pleased by the way it concludes. It is a perfect hybrid of romance and drama that is pretty astonishing to see in a series so short. Takagi really needs more of her manga available to the English language audience, if this is any testament to her skills as a shoujo manga-ka. This manga is one that definitely deserves a place on any fan's bookshelves.
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Riko acts like she doesn't care when Ran comes back from a trip with Rinko, the fiancee his dad picked out for him, in tow. However, she can't bring herself to just stand back when Rinko admits she wants to marry Ran for his money. Then Riko and Ran celebrate Christmas together at one of Ran's swanky parties. As Riko sees Ran schmoozing with all the rich people, she begins to doubt that their relationship will last.Her fears appear to be coming to pass when Ran begins acting distantly towards her during a cruise, but Riko finds the courage to fight for Ran and their relationship when he's kidnapped by some terrorists.

I liked this volume more than the first, if only because I could pretend that Ran and Riko's relationship hadn't begun with him repeatedly forcing his presence on her. Also, Ran had fewer opportunities to behave horribly towards others.

That's not saying this volume was good, just that it was better than the first. It was a bit of a rushed mess, actually. There I was, expecting more over-the-top goofy fluff, and instead what I mostly got was a tragedy-tinged love story. Riko worried about the difference in their social classes, Ran worried that the difference in their social classes would cause Riko future pain (never mind that he originally forced himself into her life without any regard for her desire to live a normal life), and Riko occasionally remembered that she was supposed to feel a little awkward about her super-strength. There were some over-the-top moments, like the terrorists (who were also Ran's family's business rivals?) and the bit with Ran's fiancee, but I honestly think Takagi would have been better off increasing the goofiness and scaling back the “tragic lovers” stuff. The difference between volume 1's tone and volume 2's tone was off-putting.

Takagi's focus felt off, like she didn't quite know what kind of story she wanted to tell or how to carry it through more than a single volume. There were bits here and there that were good, or would have been good if Takagi had pushed them more. For example, at the end of the volume Riko did things to save Ran that she'd have felt too insecure to do before, due to her desire to be an ordinary girl. This could have made a nice volume 1 finale (if their "romance" hadn't been awful), because that volume mentioned her negative feelings about her physical abilities a lot. However, volume 2 was primarily focused on Riko and Ran's differing social classes. It just didn't fit.

All in all, this was a mediocre ending to a disappointing series. The best thing this series had going for it was its artwork, and even that wasn't anything special.

The volume also included an unrelated extra story, “Warm to the Touch,” which starred a high school student named Kashu. Kashu was terrified of people touching him, due to bad childhood memories of his aunt forcing her affection on him. I know that a lot of people see nothing wrong with relatives forcing hugs and kisses on kids, but since that kind of thing is part of the reason why I have touching hang-ups of my own, I totally understood, although Kashu's reaction was more extreme.

Anyway, the only person he could tolerate touching him was Sayuri Kimura, the biology teacher at his school. When he injured himself, her touch as she bandaged him was reassuringly impersonal. Unfortunately, this led to him deciding he was in love with her. The teacher gently but firmly turned him down (yay!), but then changed her mind later on (boo!).

I'm sure that Takagi intended for this to be a sweet love story, but I just couldn't take it that way. Kashu needed counseling, especially considering that hestarted engaging in self-harm (re-opening the wound Sayuri bandaged) after too much time away from Sayuri.

Extras:

Several author sidebars and a 4-page bonus comic featuring Ran and Riko's wedding.

(Original review, with read-alikes and watch-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )