As a historical romance manga featuring a heavy focus on the gap couple dynamics, False Marigold offers some sobering suicidal and murderous angles tied in with some lighthearted romantic moments.
Hana was travelling to visit her dead brother’s pen pal Lily with a mission. First to inform Lily of her brother’s death, and second to murder Lily if she had been a cause of her brother’s death. What Hana did not expect was to find out that Lily is in fact blind, that she herself might be a reason of her brother’s death, and she would resolved to become her brother for Lily’s sake.
Series Profile
- Author: Sasuke
- Title: False Marigold / Itsuwari no Marigold
- Status: Completed, 2024
The Snapshot Verdict
- Our Rating: 10/10 Highly recommended!
- Best Suited For: Those looking for a dramatic yuri romance with a sensitive end.
- The Vibe in Three Words: Cross-dressing, Disability, Intense
Characters Dynamics
💥Gap Couple: Set in a historical timeline, the connection between Hana and Lily is forged mostly through secretive shared moments due to their class difference, with the latter coming from a wealthy family.
🖤 Wounded Soul (Kasumi Hana): Blames herself for her brother Kaoru’s death, and wish to atone by bringing happiness to Lily in his stead.
💛 Wounded Soul (Urushizawa Lily): Ostracised by her family after losing her mother and eyesight, she found strength in Koga’s (now disguised as Hana) help and presence.
Story Overview
False Marigold is an intense story about:
📖 Latching on any reason to live on even if it’s for others’ sake
📖 Being forced to question your identity when you lose yourself
📖 Finding the strength to make seemingly impossible decisions with the right support
Key Themes
Identity switch:
Hana found herself unable to murder Lily after realising that she was blind and wasn’t the cause of her brother Kaoru’s death. Lily was in fact looking forward to meet Kaoru again as they can finally start their lives together, mistaking Hana as Kaoru as they both smelled of marigold flowers.
When Hana attempts to end her own life instead, she realised doing so will ending both Kaoru and Lily’s promised happiness, and thus decided to live on as Kaoru’s substitute through crossdressing and help from Lily’s maid Nana.
Arranged Marriage:
Lily and Hana often meet in secret as Lily is the eldest daughter of a wealthy family. With the ostracisation of Lily due to her loss of eyesight after her mother’s passing, they usually do not encounter problems having dates. But Lily’s sister Suzu soon caught on the strange dates between Lily and the crossdressing Hana.
Despite being blind, Lily was also not spared the fate of an arranged marriage by her father who informed her maid Nana. Faced with the arranged marriage news and Suzu’s call out of the fake love affair, Lily begun her plans on how to walk the future path alone.
Personal Review
The premise of Hana taking on her brother’s responsibility to bring happiness to Lily despite being a woman herself drew me in. I wondered if Hana thought what would happen if she was found out, and how the damage could be worse due to her identity switch. The story did not leave me wondering for too long, and I appreciate seeing Hana’s breakdown when she realised she did not know her brother well enough to imitate being him. A false marigold indeed.
Lily was a delight to unravel throughout the story. This seemingly oblivious yet deceivingly smart and decisive lady is sensitively shared to us across the chapters. I cannot help but hope she truly find her happiness without the need to rely on lies anymore.
Final Thoughts
False Marigold is an intense soul searching story peppered with romance about these ladies who despite their best intentions to lie to their own self, were forced to face the truth and hopefully rewarded for it.
Deep in Thought: Do you know anyone well enough to imitate being them for the rest of your life?
Review Scoreboard
| Category | Rating (0-3) |
|---|---|
| Romance | 2 / 3 🌸 Lovely dovey moments |
| Intimacy | 0 / 3 Very demure |
| Story and pacing | 3 / 3 📝📝📝 You are in for a ride |
| Fluff | 1 / 3 ☁️ Fluff is a coping mechanism here |
| Emotional damage | 3 / 3 🥺🥺🥺 Out to hurt |
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