Hanasakeru Seishonen

I started watching this thinking it would be another Harukanaru toki no naka de, with a whiny willful heroine surrounded by men who just encourage it. Instead, I got the most business-savvy, aggressive, intelligent 14 year old girl I've ever seen. I fell in love. This isn't some huge romantic mess. Kajika is smart enough to know her age and is just intrigued enough to play the game that her father set up, seeing where it will take her. She's definitely one of those heroines who believes the best from everyone, but that's what lets her succeed in reaching out to them and establishing ties of a political, business, and social nature. She is forging friendships based upon family, trust and caring that will last through adulthood. And they're friendships that she'll need as she and all of them become embroiled in the politics of a Middle Eastern kingdom that they try to save from civil war.

Romance is certainly part of this, since one of the men obviously loves her beyond all else in his life, and I'm betting he's the one who wins her heart in the end. But for now, the series is focusing on her traveling and getting to know the people involved, and helping them through whatever problems they find themselves in (whether they want it or not LOL). One thing's for sure, they'll never forget Kajika, and neither will I.

People who like Saiunkoku Monogatari should give this one a shot.

Edited: I'm adding two things to this review. One is that while I like the OP and ED themes a lot, I really have come to hate the monotonous background music, so I've dropped the music score.

Second, a word about how to watch this. The first 4 eps are mostly boring shoujo, though they serve to introduce some of the characters, including Kajika and Li Ren. The main plot gets its start in ep5 where you start to meet the Middle Eastern characters. Eps 6-12, especially 10-11, are vital to understanding the whole story and they're not up on CrunchyRoll yet. I'd recommend watching the fansubs before you jump into the later episodes or the new ones will make no sense.

Brilliant story. It's amazing how the writer connected the story to Kajika's husband-hunting-game to her linage. Some people might already know that Li-Ren will be on Kajika's side at the end of the story, but for the other who doesn't know that idea will lost their excitement because when they changed the intro which shows a more mature Kajika. The funniest part is that they showed Kajika hugging Li-Ren on the Givoli island. But for the cuteness for showing romance is 5/5 for me.

i only watched episode 1 to 4, and jumped to episode 35 to see who she ended up with, i'm sure if i kept on watch the 35 episodes my laptop would be broken by now. I dont see what so good that its given 5 stars for? well thats to prove everyone views things differently. either way i dint like this anime it was annoying and kajika (the heroine) really really piss me off. i'm sure i'm not the only person who thinks this

First, I LOVE this show.

The plot is amazing. At first, I thought it would be your typical reverse harem, but no. The story is something I haven't heard before. I can't remember how many parts I was surprised at (if that makes sense).

I'll admit, I'm not a big fan of the art style- but heck. It's the story that counts, and it's not like the arts unbearable. The characters are amazing and unique. Predictable ending, sure, but what led to that point- awesome.

Literally, I could not stop watching this. You get so carried away with the amazing characters, great plot twists, and budding romance that you find yourself wanting more and more. I have to say that, to this day, I have never found an anime that had every element within it like this one has. There's action, adventure, drama, and a romance that falls on so many levels. It has something for everyone! Perfect! Absolutely perfect!