Manga Review: Entangled with You: The Garden of 100 Grasses
At first glance the stylish, painterly cover drew me in.
Official Summary
A beautiful and self-contained Boys’ Love fairy tale set in the deep, dark woods.
Once upon a time, Marcel’s sister injured herself in the forest while gathering herbs. Marcel was at a loss for what to do until a fearsome horned man appeared, offering help–in exchange for a promise. Now, ten years later, Marcel returns to the woods, steeling himself for death. Instead, he finds something quite different: a gentle soul, friendship…and perhaps something more.
Quick Information
Mangaka: Aki Aoi
Publisher: Seven Seas
Published: December 27, 2022
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Rating: 15+
Series Status: Complete
Review
The BL beauty and the beast vibe with sibling apothecaries was what initially drew me to Entangled with You: The Garden of 100 Grasses. However, it did not live up to my expectations.
This manga is more an anthology of stories which goes away from the main pair of Marcel and Gisel, the two on the front cover. The side stories are nothing to write home about and are very disjointed. The main story is nice and straightforward enough, but nothing significant happens. The characters aren’t deeply developed and what we are shown of them seems very generic. And if you are looking for romance, you really aren’t going to find much of it in this volume. But I guess if head pats are your thing, that happens!
The art style is nice enough with its character design but nothing exciting or unique. I did like the little cards and plants marking the different chapters though.
I think if the story would have stayed with the main characters and expanded on them, it would have made for a better volume.
With all the other competing titles out there, I would not recommend reading this manga. While the first story is fine, it doesn’t add anything that someone else hasn’t already done better. I’ve never been a fan of anthologies and even less because each side story seems worse than the first. This adds an unnecessary layer of confusion for readers looking for a coherent story.