Hyakunen Renbo (Hundred-Years Love) by Mashiba Nao

Hyakunen Renbo by Mashiba Nao (2009)

My Category: Short Light Romance

Completed: 2 volumes, 9 chapters. Scanalated by Mousou Scans, but they seem to be on hiatus now. They've completed this series.

Eva, a long-lived witch, takes in Fernest kingdom’s youngest prince, Louis, when she is asked to heal him of his illness. Although witches are traditionally despised, Louis continues to visit her even after he is well and they form a close bond. When Louis is called back to the palace to take his place as heir to the throne, Eva must decide whether to let him go or take him back.

(Source: Mousou Scans)

My thoughts: Not my cup of tea, I guess some will like it. For me, acceptable art, pretty superficial, wouldn't read again. Doesn't make me believe in the characters nor the love. Almost acceptable to pass time with, I guess~?

Story: 2/10

  

The premise was rather interesting, since it was about a long lived witch and a young prince. It would have been nice to see more development in their relationship over time but I guess the length of the manga was too short for much of that... I didn't buy into the whole royal drama because it is rather overdone and in this case simple and formulatic. A plus point is that it wasn't confusing and it made sense (mostly). If you ignore everything else there is a certain cuteness in their love I suppose. Not much to comment on since it's short~

Characters: 3/10

There was basically only the two main characters and the royal brother in this short manga. I felt like the brother had potential to be a more dynamic and interesting character but the author seemed to choose to let him go on the 'bad guy' route... sad. I found both Eva and Louis to be rather flat and cookie-cut character types, I'm sorry to say. Eva seems cold on the outside but is warm and caring on the inside, while Louis is kind-hearted, strong, and acts cute and flirty to Eva alone.

Art: 5/10

The art reminds me of Tanemura Arina-sensei's art in certain ways... I'm not a fan of her artwork, so I can't really comment upon it. Overall it did manage to convey the messages clearly, but there's a lot of room for improvement. 

Enjoyment: 3/10

I did not particularly enjoy this manga, but it wasn't painful to read either; although I did cringe at some parts. As I've said though, it's not too bad and it's probably just not my taste.

Overall, 3.5/10.