Black Bird: When a Story Has It All

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Kanoko Sakurakouji (or Sakurakoji, depending on which volume of the manga you look at ><; also the author of Backstage Prince) wrote another series that I love, possibly my favorite manga of all time, titled simply Black Bird. This story follows Misao, a high schooler who can see the magical creatures and spirits that are invisible to everyone else. This gift is merely an annoyance until her sixteenth birthday, when she gets attacked by a demon and discovers that she is the Senka Maiden, or bride of prophecy – a human whose blood gives unlimited power to the demon who claims her. Her childhood friend Kyo appears in time to save her, though it turns out he is a demon as well! Kyo is the leader of the Tengu (crow demon) clan, thus the name of the story. His intentions to protect her, however, seem to be pure – and Misao allows him to lick her wounds long enough to fall in love with him herself. Together they must face the challenges that come from courting the Senka Maiden, as well as the curse that befalls her once she bears the child of a demon.
           
This was a fantastic story! The characters were well done with bold personality traits: we can clearly see Kyo’s determination, his brother Soh’s treachery and underhandedness, the Daitengu’s loyalty, even Misao’s simultaneous naivety and bravery. And I absolutely loved the plot. Unlike Demon Spell (another manga featuring demons of Japanese culture), the story was very complete, with no detail left unexplained or unaccounted for. But my favorite part of all has to be the ending. Misao’s pregnancy is meant to lead to her death, but just when all seems to be lost, hope appears. Even if their ending isn’t perfect, it is happy, and you find yourself happy and grateful for the imperfection because it shows you how much worse things could have been.
           
A few of the elements in this story bring to mind my sequel, Beyond the Soul. Even though Kyo is a crow demon, the blood play displayed between Kyo and Misao as he licks her injuries (for healing purposes) brings to my mind the relationship of a vampire with a human (though Alex and Clarity share much less blood in my book). The parallels continue as the stories end, because just as Kyo is on the verge of losing Misao and must give of himself to save her, so Alex finds that he must make a similar sacrifice in order to revive Clarity. In both cases, there is a moment when all is lost before hope is found once more. Also in both cases, the conclusion brings forth gratitude that the characters have finally arrived at their happy ending, however perfect or imperfect that ending may be ;-).
           
At least, I hope my novel shares these wonderful characteristics, and I hope more of my future stories do as well! I love endings that feel as if the story is completely wrapped up with no loose ends, and I love happy endings that make you feel glad that the characters fought long and hard enough to make it to their own place of joy and contentment. Keep reading with me, and let me know if that’s what you see in my books!

What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments section!
Until the next time, keep reading!

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