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紳士同盟 クロス [Shinshi Doumei Cross] #7
The Gentlemen's Alliance †, Vol. 7
From the creator of
Full Moon o Sagashite
Please note: Reads Right to Left (Japanese Style)
In return for a business loan of 50 million yen, the prestigious Kamiya family gave their daughter Haine away to the Otomiya family. Haine, now an Otomiya, is appointed to the student council of the exclusive Imperial Academy, a private school for the aristocracy. Even though Haine is of proper lineage to be on the council, she finds herself struggling to find her place among the many secrets of its elite members, especially those of the president who holds her heart--Shizumasa Togu, aka "the Emperor."
Determined to make Haine fall in love with him, Takanari tries to win her over at every opportunity. Haine is troubled by her growing feelings for Takanari, but she's even more concerned about her best friend's long list of paramours...
In return for a business loan of 50 million yen, the prestigious Kamiya family gave their daughter Haine away to the Otomiya family. Haine, now an Otomiya, is appointed to the student council of the exclusive Imperial Academy, a private school for the aristocracy. Even though Haine is of proper lineage to be on the council, she finds herself struggling to find her place among the many secrets of its elite members, especially those of the president who holds her heart--Shizumasa Togu, aka "the Emperor."
Determined to make Haine fall in love with him, Takanari tries to win her over at every opportunity. Haine is troubled by her growing feelings for Takanari, but she's even more concerned about her best friend's long list of paramours...
192 pages, Paperback
First published May 15, 2007
6 people are currently reading
507 people want to read
About the author
Arina Tanemura
185 books1,015 followersName in Japanese: 種村有菜 (Tanemura Arina)
Western Zodiac: Pisces
Arina Tanemura was born on March 12, 1978. She's the author of Full Moon O Sagashite, Time Stranger Kyoko, Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne, The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross, Sakura Hime Kaden, and more.
Her favorite hobby is Karaoke. One song that she sings is Smile, originally by Myco. She has two cats, named Riku and Kai. She has one elder and one younger sister and one brother. She's the type who hates to lose in anything. She also likes Ribon.
Western Zodiac: Pisces
Arina Tanemura was born on March 12, 1978. She's the author of Full Moon O Sagashite, Time Stranger Kyoko, Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne, The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross, Sakura Hime Kaden, and more.
Her favorite hobby is Karaoke. One song that she sings is Smile, originally by Myco. She has two cats, named Riku and Kai. She has one elder and one younger sister and one brother. She's the type who hates to lose in anything. She also likes Ribon.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
May 4, 2021
This volume has less obvious contrivance as far as the plot goes, but we still have some fairly stereotypical stuff like Haine falling off a cliff and Takanari risking himself to save her, and a completely unconvincing scenario where Haine and Takanari are on a school trip, and somehow they end up in a hotel room with just one bed. These are high school sophomores, more or less, and there's also Ushio going to an adult man's room, and this man works for the school she goes to and... yeah, it's fiction, but come on.
In any case, I still think the storytelling's off. With some manga, I can just roll with over-the-top melodrama, no matter how cliched, but this one is missing the mark a bit. I think it's because in the best stories of this type, you can understand why the characters are doing what they're doing, or even feel what they're feeling, even if you would never, ever do as they do. I have no clue what Ushio's motivations are towards the end of the book, nor why Haine makes the decision she does, especially since, by my reckoning, she was asserting the exact opposite just a few pages earlier. Similarly to Jeanne in Tanemura's earlier series, her compass follows that moment's emotional whims, which means her "decisions" can be inadvisable, to say the least.
In any case, I still think the storytelling's off. With some manga, I can just roll with over-the-top melodrama, no matter how cliched, but this one is missing the mark a bit. I think it's because in the best stories of this type, you can understand why the characters are doing what they're doing, or even feel what they're feeling, even if you would never, ever do as they do. I have no clue what Ushio's motivations are towards the end of the book, nor why Haine makes the decision she does, especially since, by my reckoning, she was asserting the exact opposite just a few pages earlier. Similarly to Jeanne in Tanemura's earlier series, her compass follows that moment's emotional whims, which means her "decisions" can be inadvisable, to say the least.
April 6, 2018
OH MY GOD
March 25, 2018
This one was problematic to the point I couldn't really enjoy it. The characters kept acting as if aggressiveness in a relationship was ok. For example, there's a comment about how the main guy is going to make the main girl his and how he doesn't think he can stop himself. Ok, well according to previous context, he means steal her heart, but the current context is them in a room together alone so it can also be sex (which no, doesn't happen). But later they're talking about the situation and the main girl says she knows main guy would stop if she asked him to but her friend says he wouldn't stop in that situation. Ok, that's literally sexual assault/rape. I'm so tired of this bullcrap of dude so in love he can't control himself, whether it be controlling himself from being aggressive to his competition for his love interest or whether it be sexually toward his love interest. Its creepy. The only thing saving this is that he actually does stop when she makes it very clear she doesn't want him to continue, but this whole "dude take charge of girl who doesn't really know what she wants" trope needs to die.
July 10, 2015
OMG Ushio and Takanari and Haine....
All those feels....
All those feels....
October 30, 2025
Students attending the Imperial Academy are placed in a hierarchical order based on their parents' income and social standing. Haine is in the bronze class and is not even allowed to interact with the highest gold class - yet the gold class is reserved for the head of the school council, also known as the Emperor, who happens to be the one Haine has set her heart on. When chance allows for her to join the school council, she finds that now that she can finally speak to the Emperor, he does not seem very willing to do so.
I wish I could cover The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross with praise - yet if I try to describe it in a few words I'd come up with chaotic, illogical and terrible humour. From the time of its release, it has been my least favourite series (one-shots not included) by Arina Tanemura and has yet held that position. It's a bit of a modern take on Cinderella with a school for a backdrop that could have taken many routes - but it seems to have gone all over the place.
Let's start with my biggest peeve - where does this all take place? Judging by the names and clothing, it can only be Japan - or a pseudo-Japan? Because although it reflects our contemporary time in many ways, many of the social norms make no sense. Haine is given up for adoption in exchange for 50 million yen, the school's hierarchy seems absolute - you can't talk with people in higher classes and you can rise up in class if your parents pay enough money. Teachers barely seem present, it's like the students run the school in which gang fights are a thing. There's a lot of family abuse going on and people can be proclaimed dead without any investigation, there are forced marriages and just so many extremes. If this were a fantasy setting I wouldn't have minded - fictional worlds can have any rules. But in the setting in which it's presented, it just caused too much disbelief in me.
With that off my chest, let's go back to the beginning. Although the school's concept could have proven an interesting story, it's barely relevant. The plot consists of the characters' dilemmas - and boy are there many. There is not a single character with a normal life that isn't frightfully melodramatic. Let's look at Haine; she's cute but also an ex-yankee/gangster who can easily beat someone silly (why are there knife and snake fights at school again?). She became a yankee because she wanted to prove that she's not worth anything - because, you know, her dad sold her and all. In her mind, her new adoptive family doesn't really want or need her, she's just a burden - so what better solution than to roam the streets at night looking for trouble.
Of course, her whole adoption thing proves to have much more to it, her father's just another tortured soul trying to do the right thing. Her mum goes half insane over it which, once again, didn't make any sense! She's had her teeth knocked out during her yankee-time and whenever her now fake-teeth come out, she goes all strangely berserk - hello humour, you almost made me smile.
Anyway, Haine goes into depression-phase multiple times throughout the story. There are many would-be-climaxes that are either resolved too fast or just interrupted so it could be resolved in a later volume. And because Haine's problems aren't enough, the author made sure that every.single.character. has at least as many to whine over.
If this story would have been much shorter, less wanna-be-depressing and either in a fictional setting or one that makes sense in our world, this could have been a decent story. The council was quite a nice set of characters. I like how they were all pretty different and became great friends.
Shizumasa, the Emperor, starts off as your standard stand-offish main guy but he turns out to be pretty interesting. I feel as though he actually had a legitimate reason to be a jerk to everyone and you know, he's the first to get over himself. His backstory is by far the most interesting and it led to interesting conflicts - it was pretty easy to root for him and hope for a happy ending.
So, while I could try to look past the many, many flaws and read on for the good aspects and hope for a happy end - I can say the ending was a happy one for the characters, if not for me. It was utterly unsatisfactory and pretty much cheats its way past the main obstacle that stands between Haine and Shizumasa. Why resolve the story's main conflict if you can simply ignore it and they all lived happily ever after!
Despite all, I still find myself reading this from time to time. Although most of it is spent shaking my head, there must be enough good in it to make me reread it.
February 15, 2021
Ce volume se consacre plus à Ushio, même si on a quand même le plaisir de voir Haine se prendre la tête avec ses sentiments (elle est vraiment trop drôle). C’est un personnage que j’aime tout particulièrement et j’ai donc hâte de savoir comme ça va se passer entre elle et Haine. La fin n’est pas des plus intense car j’ai déjà lu la série il y a des années et je sais donc ce qu’il va se passer mais quand même. Je pense que pour quelqu’un qui découvre ce tome pour la première fois, ca peut bouleverser le cœur.
January 10, 2023
This was about to be a 1 star due to so many issues with consent that I have, but damn it, the messiness of this whole story just keeps me invested and I really did enjoy a few scenes. So, 2 stars from me, though I really don't have high hopes for the next volumes 😂
I can't believe 12 year old me ate this up and had no problems with it 😭
I can't believe 12 year old me ate this up and had no problems with it 😭
April 19, 2024
How can Haine love Shizusama??? She has barely spent time with him!!? I like her and Takanari together so much! Now onto this storyline with Ushio???? I guess we are going through all the characters’ problems before we get to the main issue at hand?? Like WHY does Takanari have to be his brother’s “shadow”? Can’t Shizu just be homeschooled? Lol
August 19, 2025
The L word is thrown around a lot but we are getting nowhere in the story. Dubious consent.
UPDATE: I reread some chapters in Chinese and it’s much less cringe than the English translations. The constant mistranslation of “I like you” to “I love you” augmented the melodrama of the story.
UPDATE: I reread some chapters in Chinese and it’s much less cringe than the English translations. The constant mistranslation of “I like you” to “I love you” augmented the melodrama of the story.
July 6, 2017
Pending.
May 31, 2020
It keeps getting more cute by the MINUTE
February 23, 2021
A lot of angst in this volume and setup in this volume.
January 3, 2023
ici on est team takanari + l'histoire autour d'ushio est pas claire
November 28, 2023
Es war verständlicherweise ein wilder Ritt nach dem 6. Band und hat es perfekt eingefangen, wie verwirrend menschliche Beziehungen sein können
December 5, 2024
(Actual: 3.75⭐, rounded up) // Full review to come.
December 24, 2024
3.75*
December 7, 2016
Another good volume.
March 20, 2017
There was certainly an unexpected twist at the end of this volume. I enjoyed it. I liked Haine finally standing up for herself a bit.
July 29, 2019
Zum Inhalt:
Die Lage spitzt sich dramatisch zu, denn Haine kann sich einfach nicht für einen der Zwillingsbrüder entscheiden: Sie liebt Shizumasa und Takanari! Und auch Ushio steckt in der Zwickmühle, denn trotz ihrer vielen Verehrer liebt sie nur eine Person, und die heißt Haine! Als diese ihre beste Freundin zur Rede stellt und die ganze Wahrheit ans Licht kommt, trifft Haine eine folgenschwere Entscheidung.
Haine ist noch immer zwischen Shizumasa und Takanari hin und her gerissen und weiß nicht, für welchen von den beiden Brüdern sie sich entscheiden soll. Immer wieder führt sie sich vor Augen, dass sie Shizumasa liebt, schließlich ist er der Autor des Buches, das sie immer so toll fand und weswegen sie sich eigentlich in ihn verliebt hat. Doch Takanari scheint nicht aufgeben zu wollen. Nachdem Haine den kranken Shizumasa besucht hat, um sich über ihre Gefühle klar zu werden, übergibt Takanari ihr einen Umschlag mit seinem wichtigsten Schatz, den sie aber nicht öffnet. Als sie Takanari küsst, redet sich Haine damit heraus, dass sie ihn nur mit Shizumasa verwechselt hat, worauf Takanari sauer reagiert. Als der Schulrat in ein Camp fährt verunglückt Haine und erkennt, dass sie sich in einer Zwickmühle befindet, denn eigentlich hat sie sich ja entschieden. Noch einmal werden ihre Gefühle mächtig durchgerüttelt, als Ushio ihr endlich beichtet, was sie für sie ist und Haine trifft daraufhin eine folgenschwere Entscheidung, denn sie tritt als Platina zurück und geht zu Ushio.
An sich war dieser Teil wirklich sehr interessant, da man endlich ein bisschen mehr in den Charakter der Ushio schauen darf. Endlich erkennt man die Zusammenhänge, warum das Mädchen so sehr auf Haine fixiert ist. Trotzdem ist das Handeln von Haine wieder einmal in keinerlei Hinsicht nachvollziehbar und was mich wieder sehr schockiert hat waren die sprunghaften Szenen. Der Schulrat ist zum beispiel im Wald unterwegs und Komaki, Haines Schwester, und ihr Stiefbruder folgen ihnen undercover. Aus einer undurchsichtigen Situation heraus steht Komaki auf einmal vor der Gruppe und scheint in die Tiefe zu stürzen, doch Haine rettet sie. Warum Komaki fast abgestürzt wäre - man weiß es nicht. Dass Haine nun hinab gefallen ist, das ist dramatisch. Aber noch sinnfreier wird es, als Takanari sie findet, sie ihm ihre Liebe gesteht und plötzlich ist alles vorbei. Sie sind wieder in der Schule, ihr gehts gut. Puff, Spannung einfach wieder verpufft. Das nervt so dermaßen. Warum konnte sie die Szenen nicht noch ein bisschen mehr ausarbeiten? Da kann sie noch so schön zeichnen wie sie will, aber wenn der Storyhergang nicht stimmt, dann macht es einfach keinen Spaß mehr. Richtig enttäuscht war ich schließlich, als Haine als Platina zurück tritt und sich auf den Weg zu Ushio macht, einfach so, kaum nachvollziehbar - ja sicher, man kann sich seinen Teil denken, aber es ist einfach nur unlogisch. Schade, da hätte man im Allgemeinen echt mehr draus machen können.
3 von 5 Sterne
Taschenbuch: 184 Seiten
Verlag: TOKYOPOP (20. November 2007)
Sprache: Deutsch
ISBN-10: 3865806775
ISBN-13: 978-3865806772
Vom Hersteller empfohlenes Alter: 13 - 16 Jahre
Größe und/oder Gewicht: 12,6 x 1,7 x 18,9 cm
Die Lage spitzt sich dramatisch zu, denn Haine kann sich einfach nicht für einen der Zwillingsbrüder entscheiden: Sie liebt Shizumasa und Takanari! Und auch Ushio steckt in der Zwickmühle, denn trotz ihrer vielen Verehrer liebt sie nur eine Person, und die heißt Haine! Als diese ihre beste Freundin zur Rede stellt und die ganze Wahrheit ans Licht kommt, trifft Haine eine folgenschwere Entscheidung.
Haine ist noch immer zwischen Shizumasa und Takanari hin und her gerissen und weiß nicht, für welchen von den beiden Brüdern sie sich entscheiden soll. Immer wieder führt sie sich vor Augen, dass sie Shizumasa liebt, schließlich ist er der Autor des Buches, das sie immer so toll fand und weswegen sie sich eigentlich in ihn verliebt hat. Doch Takanari scheint nicht aufgeben zu wollen. Nachdem Haine den kranken Shizumasa besucht hat, um sich über ihre Gefühle klar zu werden, übergibt Takanari ihr einen Umschlag mit seinem wichtigsten Schatz, den sie aber nicht öffnet. Als sie Takanari küsst, redet sich Haine damit heraus, dass sie ihn nur mit Shizumasa verwechselt hat, worauf Takanari sauer reagiert. Als der Schulrat in ein Camp fährt verunglückt Haine und erkennt, dass sie sich in einer Zwickmühle befindet, denn eigentlich hat sie sich ja entschieden. Noch einmal werden ihre Gefühle mächtig durchgerüttelt, als Ushio ihr endlich beichtet, was sie für sie ist und Haine trifft daraufhin eine folgenschwere Entscheidung, denn sie tritt als Platina zurück und geht zu Ushio.
An sich war dieser Teil wirklich sehr interessant, da man endlich ein bisschen mehr in den Charakter der Ushio schauen darf. Endlich erkennt man die Zusammenhänge, warum das Mädchen so sehr auf Haine fixiert ist. Trotzdem ist das Handeln von Haine wieder einmal in keinerlei Hinsicht nachvollziehbar und was mich wieder sehr schockiert hat waren die sprunghaften Szenen. Der Schulrat ist zum beispiel im Wald unterwegs und Komaki, Haines Schwester, und ihr Stiefbruder folgen ihnen undercover. Aus einer undurchsichtigen Situation heraus steht Komaki auf einmal vor der Gruppe und scheint in die Tiefe zu stürzen, doch Haine rettet sie. Warum Komaki fast abgestürzt wäre - man weiß es nicht. Dass Haine nun hinab gefallen ist, das ist dramatisch. Aber noch sinnfreier wird es, als Takanari sie findet, sie ihm ihre Liebe gesteht und plötzlich ist alles vorbei. Sie sind wieder in der Schule, ihr gehts gut. Puff, Spannung einfach wieder verpufft. Das nervt so dermaßen. Warum konnte sie die Szenen nicht noch ein bisschen mehr ausarbeiten? Da kann sie noch so schön zeichnen wie sie will, aber wenn der Storyhergang nicht stimmt, dann macht es einfach keinen Spaß mehr. Richtig enttäuscht war ich schließlich, als Haine als Platina zurück tritt und sich auf den Weg zu Ushio macht, einfach so, kaum nachvollziehbar - ja sicher, man kann sich seinen Teil denken, aber es ist einfach nur unlogisch. Schade, da hätte man im Allgemeinen echt mehr draus machen können.
3 von 5 Sterne
Taschenbuch: 184 Seiten
Verlag: TOKYOPOP (20. November 2007)
Sprache: Deutsch
ISBN-10: 3865806775
ISBN-13: 978-3865806772
Vom Hersteller empfohlenes Alter: 13 - 16 Jahre
Größe und/oder Gewicht: 12,6 x 1,7 x 18,9 cm
November 3, 2010
Another catch-up for a series I haven't read in a while. I'm pretty sure this is the last one I had read, so I figured I'd start with this one.
This is a fun series, though I must admit, with secret twins, boys impersonating girls impersonating boys, and lots of girls with long, flowing hair, I tend to get lost at times. Haine is very sweet, though, and despite the fact that she is in love with both twins (which is rather obnoxious), I can't help but like her. Ushio is an interesting character. I always found her rather stoic and a staunchly loyal friend to Haine, but I never realized she was in love with her before. It seems really harsh for Ushio to demand Haine's attention in such a brutal way, but she is her oldest friend, and Haine will do anything for her, even abandon the boy (boys?) she is in love with.
I'm looking forward to catching up with the rest in this series.
This is a fun series, though I must admit, with secret twins, boys impersonating girls impersonating boys, and lots of girls with long, flowing hair, I tend to get lost at times. Haine is very sweet, though, and despite the fact that she is in love with both twins (which is rather obnoxious), I can't help but like her. Ushio is an interesting character. I always found her rather stoic and a staunchly loyal friend to Haine, but I never realized she was in love with her before. It seems really harsh for Ushio to demand Haine's attention in such a brutal way, but she is her oldest friend, and Haine will do anything for her, even abandon the boy (boys?) she is in love with.
I'm looking forward to catching up with the rest in this series.
April 19, 2014
I feel so sorry for Haine. She's so confused. And it isn't getting better with Takanari being waaaay to pushy, almost creepy. What am I saying? He's got a moment when he creeps the hell out of me! (I like him^^)
Other than that in this volume we see many happy romances.
And Ushio's secret! I have to say that shocked me. And then there is more drama and trouble.
And this was the last book I had borrowed. I couldn't stop. I'd started to care about the characters and had to know what would happen. So I went on the internet.
Everybody was sound asleep but had to know.
Other than that in this volume we see many happy romances.
And Ushio's secret! I have to say that shocked me. And then there is more drama and trouble.
And this was the last book I had borrowed. I couldn't stop. I'd started to care about the characters and had to know what would happen. So I went on the internet.
Everybody was sound asleep but had to know.
November 5, 2016
Looks like it's Ushio's turn to get some back story and growth this time around. Once again, everyone is focusing their emotions on Haine. Another set of bad timing for Takanari too, just when it looked like he was making progress. With this much trouble in such a small group of friends (and council members), it's a miracle they aren't constantly breaking down or fighting all the time... oh wait, they basically are. How do the every actually manage to sort anything out this way?!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 29, 2011
I loved it of course, but the ending was very surprising and made me want to scream! I'm so glad I decided to by both the 7th and the 8th book because I was just planning on buying one, but I'm so glad I did...If I had to sit around and to find out what happens after that I would have been pulling my hair out or something...but I just can't wait to see how it all ends! :)
August 28, 2012
I'm not sure how I feel about Ushio. She's a bit of a spoiled brat, in my opinion, and reminds me too mind of a girl I knew back in high school for me to enjoy her character. I don't think Haine should have handled the situation quite how she did, especially since she didn't want to cut things off with her boyfriend. *sigh*
March 22, 2009
Not bad, and I love the art. Arina Tanemura is one of the greatest artist of mangas in my opinion. The story line still confuses me, but I'm starting to understand it and I love all the plot twists.
April 20, 2009
And the plot continues to get deeper and deeper.
June 21, 2013
That cliffhanger.
WHY???!!!
I need the rest. NOW.
P.S. Is it normal to re-read kissing scenes? I think so...
5/5
WHY???!!!
I need the rest. NOW.
P.S. Is it normal to re-read kissing scenes? I think so...
5/5
October 20, 2020
Haine kisses Takanari and is confused on who she really likes Takanari or Shizumasa. Maori and Maguri keep on fighting but they really like each other.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 26, 2013
I officially dislike Ushio.
March 15, 2013
Ugghhhh you can't end like that!!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews