I randomly selected a book that was the first in a series to read for our manga discussion and it just so happened to be this title. I'm not that familiar with manga but I was able to dive right in. The story was... interesting, but got annoying quickly. Megumi Kuroishi had been living a pretty carefree life with his father, but that all changed when Suzuka Kogami came to live with him in his father. She was the daughter of the owners of the house and they had been missing for over a decade. Upon her return an ancient curse went into effect and now Megumi can't stop being Suzuka's servant. He dotes on her at all times and he can't stop. After a while though he realizes that even without the curse he would still be doting on lovely, Suzuka, he is obsessed with her. She just wants to make him see her as not just a master and maybe something more. Weird and kinda creepy. Good illustrations. ( )

Hmmmm.... As an avid manga reader, I confess that this manga didn't strike my fancy. I enjoyed Vampire Knight, when I read it a few years ago, and had put off reading this other series by the same mangaka(author) due to lack of time. Then while perusing my recommendations I came across it, and it peaked my interest again. I was seriously let down plot wise. The art was the same quality, but it felt really slap-dashed together.
Loosely the story is about a guy that has a family curse to serve another specific family due to an ancestor. The ancestor had stolen an heirloom scroll that summoned a dragon who cursed the thief to 100 generations of himself and his decedents into servitude.
Skip to the present day and some hilarity ensues due to the leading lady showing up after a 14 year absence that only makes the curse that much stronger. For die-hard Shojo fans this is really great, but for myself I'm really pessimistic about romance in general.
VK fans will love this one! Cheers! ( )

This was a light, funny read with over-the-top humor. I had heard of Captive Hearts before and, considering the premise and the author (she wrote/drew Vampire Knight), thought it would be a little darker than this. Even the part where Suzuka and Megumi learned why Suzuka must never give a member of the Kuroishi family an order was played relatively lightly.

The most disappointing thing about this volume was that only half of it was devoted to Captive Hearts. I hate it when I start a manga volume expecting an entire volume's worth of a single story, and then half of it (or more) is something else. The two short stories that made up the other half of this volume weren't bad, but still.

Both shorts were sweet, although fairly forgettable. The first looked like it was going to turn into forbidden student-teacher romance, so I was surprised when it focused mostly on showing the shy heroine's efforts to be strong.

All in all, this was an okay volume. I don't know that I'm interested enough in Captive Hearts to continue with it, though.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )