[Manga] The Honeybee Earl and the Flower Dress (蜜蜂伯爵と花のドレス)

Summary from Baka-Updates:

“Dahlia is the only female dressmaker in Galleria. She kidnapped and commissioned by the infamous “Honeybee Earl”, who is known to jump from woman to woman like a capricious bee jumps from flower to flower, to make the ultimate wedding dress for his fiancee. Can Dahlia complete the dress without getting stung by the Honeybee Earl?”

If I were to describe this in three words, that would be “sweet and adorable”. Despite being a one-shot, The Honeybee Earl and the Flower Dress makes it possible to give a solid plot, decent share of characters, and finally, a nice way of wrapping things up to its readers.

I’m a sucker for noble types of stories. Who wouldn’t fall for a “knight in shining armor” type and he is also a noble to boot? Yet I despise damsel-in-distress heroines and overly knightly princes commonly seen in this setting. Sounds contradicting, yes? To my relief, there is no such thing as a weak character in the story.

Basically, it is a simple story balanced with a fair share of humor and a little bit of angst. It is well-paced. The characters take their time to get to know and eventually fall for one another. Emotions, decisions, and thoughts are mostly dependent on the story development; however, it’s not baseless nor sloppily made. Whatever idea suggested at the beginning will be explained as the story progresses.

Let’s face it. The premise of the story is not the most original among shoujo manga. The manga-ka did not only create a straightforward yet solid plot; he/she also crafted logical and likable characters to back up the plot.

Dahlia is a homely girl with an iron will. She takes pride in being a dressmaker and makes sure to double check her every work. She knows her place in the society but statuses do not hold her back to fight for what she thinks right. Unlike other heroines who immediately went to dokidoki mode and blushes like mad right after meeting their prince, Dahlia thinks how absurd Earl’s sweet talks can get.

Meanwhile, Earl is your typical womanizer aristocrat…minus the manly vibe. Yes, he is charming, rich, and good at smooth talking but he lacks the overall manly aura. He does not give you the feeling like, say, Edgar (Hakushaku to Yousei) does. Earl resembles Tamaki Suoh (Ouran High School Host Club) in more ways than one. However harmless he may seem, he can be cunning and calculative too. *wink*wink*

As much as I love this (if you can’t tell it yet XD), I dislike the story in its one-shot form. The story has so much potential and the ending proves that. But at the same time, I am worried that the future chapters will be dragging. Perhaps a short after-story will be good.

The art is both decent and beautiful. It is not over-the-top flowery. One thing that I find quite disturbing is the Earl’s face. He is handsome, that is for sure. It’s just that, he’s left cheek looks stuffed with whatever it is. Or it’s because the gap between his left eye and his lips are quite wide. But he looks better on his chibified face and when he is smiling with eyes closed.

This is a must-read. After all, this is a one-shot so it will not take much of your time. Strong points for this are its good set of characters and beautiful art whilst the weak point is a common plot.