Blaue Rosen

Infobox animanga/Header
name = Blaue Rosen


caption = Cover of volume 2
ja_name = 愛を歌うより俺に溺れろ
ja_name_trans = Ai wo Utau yori Ore ni Oborero
genre = RomanceInfobox animanga/Manga
title = ann manga|id=7511|title=Ai wo Utau yori Ore ni Oborero!, retrieved on 2007-09-22]
author = Mayu Shinjo
publisher = flagicon|Japan Shogakukan
publisher_en = flagicon|Singapore Chuang Yi
publisher_other = flagicon|Singapore Chuang Yi language icon|zh|Chinese
demographic = Shōjo
magazine = Shōjo Comic
first = 2006
last = ongoing
volumes = 5

nihongo|"Blaue Rosen"|愛を歌うより俺に溺れろ!|Ai wo Utau yori Ore ni Oborero! is a shōjo manga series by Mayu Shinjo. In Japan, the short hand nihongo|"Ai Ore"|愛俺 is often used for the series. "Blaue Rosen" refers to the "Blue Roses", a band in the series; the term is German for "blue roses", and is used as the title for Chuang Yi's English translation.

So far, two drama CDs have been released. For the first CD, the story is adapted from vol. 2 of the manga, where the St. Nobara girls go for a school gathering, and Akira decides to tag along. Also, some dialogue from vol. 1 is featured. The second drama CD was released in May 2007.

Another related series, also by Mayu Shinjo, has began serialisation in Kadokawa's "Monthly Asuka".

Plot

Akira Shiraishi, a boy widely regarded as the "princess" in his all-boys high school, nihongo|"Dankaisan"|男海山, decides to pursue Mizuki Sakurazaka, the "prince" of the neighbouring all-girls nihongo|"Saint Nobara"|聖 野薔薇 High. Concealing his true sex to most of the students at St. Nobara's, he even manages to join Mizuki's band, the "Blue Roses". Mizuki, priding herself to be a tough tomboy, soon finds herself at a loss: Should she maintain her reputation as a "bishōnen" and prince in her school, or should she accept Akira, who never fails to make her feel like a woman every time they were alone? Also, would Akira be able to keep his true identity a secret among the girls of St. Nobara, while his schoolmates wish to retain their princess?

Characters

Dankaisan

;nihongo|Akira Shiraishi|白石 秋羅|Shiraishi Akira:"Drama voice by: Soichiro Hoshi":The male lead of the series, Akira may look like an innocent bishōjo on the surface; he is, after all, the "princess" of his school. However, he is actually quite calculative and cruel if he needs to be, or is angered. Disregarding the odds seemingly stacked against him, he seeks out Mizuki as a date. He's also the lead vocalist of Mizuki's band, "the Blue Roses" (BR for short), and the shortest member. In St. Nobara, only the other members of BR know that he's a guy, until his secret becomes known to Misaki Doujima (see below). He's rather adept at drawing out Mizuki's feminine side, who in turn knows about his "dark side", as she puts it. He's also lecherous, as Mizuki finds out to her horror. Oddly, his weakness is milk; he cannot stand the smell of the liquid, and even trembles if he sees it.

:He's the youngest son in the family. His father is a famous boxer, and his three elder brothers are all martial artists in their own right. Due to Akira's reputation in school, they refuse to allow any students from Dankaisan to enter their house. Akira's mother passed away soon after his birth. Despite having a "dark side", one thing is certain about Akira: he would not allow Mizuki to come to harm in any way.

;nihongo|Ran Nikaidou|二階堂 蘭|Nikaidō Ran:"Drama voice by: Akira Ishida":The chairman of Dankaisan's student council, and the only son of a police superintendent, Ran was initially displeased at Akira's pursuit of Mizuki. However, he seems to have developed feelings for Mizuki, and tries to hide it under the pretext of obtaining another "princess", the first "princess" being Akira. Unlike Rui, he is less easily swayed by Akira. Mizuki calls him "four-eyes", because of his glasses.

;nihongo|Rui Kiryuuin|鬼龍院 留衣|Kiryūin Rui :"Drama voice by: Takahiro Sakurai:Ran's deputy in the student council, and the only son of the leader of the largest yakuza in Kantō, Rui is even more displeased over Akira's wooing of Mizuki. He's hot-headed, and thus frequently finds himself manipulated by Akira into helping him with his plans.

aint Nobara

It has been implied that students attending St. Nobara largely come from rich families.

;nihongo|Mizuki Sakurazaka|桜坂 水樹|Sakurazaka Mizuki :"Drama voice by: Mitsuki Saiga":The female lead of the series, Mizuki has a personality which could be said to be the opposite of Akira: tough on the outside, yet gentle and sensitive beneath her tomboy facade. She's a first-year student, and the "prince" of her cohort. Despite her confidence in front of other girls, she finds herself pretty helpless when confronted by Akira's advances. Also, she's afraid of pain, so much so that her ears are not pierced. Although she likes Akira, she still has difficulty letting go of her image in front of him; this sometimes leads to quarrels between them. Initially, she harboured an intense dislike for boys, due to the experience she had with a childhood playmate, who made her feel uncomfortable whenever they played together. Ironically, that playmate turned out to be Akira. :She has a younger sister. Also, she's a fan of Sakuya Ookochi, a member of the band "Λucifer" from Sensual Phrase, another work by Mayu Shinjo.

;nihongo|Kaoru Naruse|成瀬 薫|Naruse Kaoru:"Drama voice by: Shiho Kawaragi":The former lead vocals of BR, Kaoru and Mizuki are good friends since they were very young. The duo were often considered to be "princes" of their cohort, and both received gifts from fans in large quantities. When her family has to leave for New York, Akira managed to prove his singing skills at the farewell concert, and Kaoru decided that Akira was worthy enough to be BR's next lead vocalist. Before Akira, she's the only person who knows that Mizuki is actually a crybaby.

;nihongo|Ai Okita|沖田 愛|Okita Ai:"Drama voice by: Yuki Kaida":A member of the "Blue Roses", Ai is the drummer of the band. She tolerates little nonsense from Akira, who behaves like a helpless girl in front of her, despite the fact that his secret is known to the BR girls. Her identifying feature is her glasses.

;nihongo|Momoko Kidera|木寺 桃子|Kidera Momoko:"Drama voice by: Mitsuko Nagata":A member of the "Blue Roses", and the bassist of the band. She has the shortest hair in BR.

;nihongo|Megumi Yuasa|恵|Yuasa Megumi:"Drama voice by: Hiromi Hirata":The bassist of BR. She is cool and collected with long wavy black hair. She's rather blunt-speaking and is the only BR member who has had sexual experience.

;nihongo|Misaki Doujima|堂島 美咲|Dōjima Misaki:"Drama voice: Romi Paku":A third year student at St. Nobara, she's the "bishōnen" and prince of her cohort. She claims to hate boys, but got more than what she bargained for when she tried to seduce Mizuki (even going to the extent of drugging Mizuki's wine); Akira got Rui to force Misaki into bed, and threatened to rape her. Although the boys were stopped by Mizuki, Misaki became the first girl outside "BR" to know Akira's secret, and vowed to expose him someday. However, as an apology to her seduction of Mizuki, Misaki gave her a voucher allowing her to stay at the deluxe suite of a hotel owned by the Doujima family.;nihongo|Reiko Kuroki|黒木 麗子|Kuroki Reiko:"Drama voice by: Shiho Kawaragi":A close friend of Misaki, Reiko tried to make her advances on Akira, while Misaki did the same to Mizuki. However, she was quickly bound by Akira.

Others

;nihongo|Shinosuke Sakaki|榊 新之助|Sakaki Shinosuke:"Drama voice: Kenichi Suzumura":Shinosuke is Mizuki's neighbour, and a professional boxer. He has a crush on Mizuki, and so challenges Akira to a fight for Mizuki's hand. Although the fight was inconclusive, Shinosuke manages to raise Mizuki's doubts about having Akira as a boyfriend, claiming that the boy wasn't masculine enough. Initially shaken by Shinosuke's words, Mizuki was then reassured by Akira, who told her that he doesn't mind being mistaken for a girl by everyone else, as long as Mizuki sees him as a man. Seeing that he's beaten for now, Shinosuke decided to quit boxing. However, he has not completely given up on wooing Mizuki.

References

External links

* [http://www.mayutan.com/works_e/aiore.html "Ai wo Utau yori Ore ni Oborero"] on Mayu Shinjo's official site