V.B. Rose

V.B.Rose (V·B·ローズ) is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Banri Hidaka. The manga was serialized in Hakusensha's shōjo magazine, Hana to Yume from February 20, 2004 to February 20, 2009, ending at 83 chapters. The individual chapters were published into 14 bound volumes by Hakusensha from August 19, 2004 to May 19, 2009. The manga is licensed in North America by Tokyopop, and in Italy by Jpop.

Plot
Ageha Shiroi finds out her sister, Hibari, is pregnant and she will have to be married in less than a month. When shopping with her friend, Mamoru, they meet Yukari Arisaka and Mitsuya Kuromine. Ageha finds out that the bridal store that Hibari is going to is owned by the two men. But during one of their visits, Ageha loses her temper about the wedding and accidentally injures Mitsuya's hand.

To make up for it, Ageha decides to help finish Hibari's wedding dress. Soon after the wedding in volume 2, Yukari offers a part-time job for Ageha at V.B.R. Ageha accepts this job, not knowing that it will ultimately change her life, and cause her to make new friendships-and even love.

Characters
There are many characters in the story, most of them that are the V.B.R. staff and classmates. Ageha Shiroi The heroine of this manga who has a huge sister complex at the beginning of the series and loves to make bags. In order to get her to accept her abrupt wedding, her sister takes her to V.B.Rose, where she meets Yukari and Mitsuya. Ageha quickly becomes fond of the shop and finally decides to support her sister's wedding by helping make her dress. She then continues on to work in the shop as a part-time employee. Her best friend Mamoru, goes to a different school rather than the private all girls school Ageha takes. Ageha is also close to her friend's little brother Nagare, who she calls "Nat-chan". Later on in the series Ageha starts to fall in love with Yukari, but will not confess her feelings in fear of loosing her place in V.B.Rose, and due to the fear of being rejected. She is oblivious about love, not noticing Nagare's obvious feelings and Yukari's as well. She makes friends with Ichihashi and many of the others. At first, she is terrified of Kana, but learns tat she is over Yukari and wishes her luck, only hating her because she was "too happy and cute". In recent chapters, Nagare confesses his feelings for her, with Yukari listening accidentally on the phone. This causes Ageha to become confused, and Yukari mad. However, she and Yukari confess to loving each other in a nearby park, and they become an official couple.

Yukari Arisaka The owner of V.B.Rose despite being a young age of 23. His relationship with Ageha is negative to at the beginning, often violently hitting her and even physically throwing her out of V.B.Rose on two occasions. However, as the story prgresses, Yukari begins to accept Ageha as a fellow designer. Despite, seeming to be rude and violent, Yukari is actually a kind person who greatly treasures those close to him. Yukari inherited the shop after his father died of illness two years prior to the beginning of the series. His mother, a famous actress named Ran, divorced Yukari's father a few years after his birth. Before his death, Yukari's father married a woman from the bridal shop Rosa, which is closely aligned with V.B.R. She then gave birth to Sakura, Yukari's young half-brother. Yukari and Sakura have pratically the same face, which is also strikingly similar to their father's. In volume 3, Mitsuya teases Yukari about Ageha being "cute", which makes Yukari realize he is in love with Ageha. However, he is afraid she doesn't feel the same way about him so refrains from showing any signs of his love. Yukari's old girlfriend Kana from high school, now a corsage maker, also shows up later in the series. Yukari often feels traumatized by their relationship when thinking about Ageha. He is often jealous of Nagare Sakashita or any male who happens to look in Ageha's direction, sometimes including Mitsuya and Sekiuchi. In recent chapters, Yukari overhears Nagare telling Ageha that he loves her while she was talking to Yukari, causing him to get jealous and angry. However, the two manage to confess to one another and become an official couple. Mitsuya makes him red rice, which he "happily" eats.

Mitsuya Kuromine A fellow designer at V.B.Rose and one of Yukari's only friends. He is often viewed as a pervert, especially by Ageha, who is constantly hit on and hugged by him. Despite being a flirt, Mitsuya is often the person that both Yukari and Ageha talk to about their feelings for each other. Like Yukari he is also skilled at making clothing and is extremely passionate about his work, enough to drop out of college to work at V.B.Rose. He is very fond of his younger brother Shizuya and enjoys teasing him whenever he gets the chance. He is considered an in-between, as he knows of Ageha and Yukari's feelings towards one another, though he cannot tell. He does the cooking in the V.B. Rose household. He was friends with Ichihashi when they were children, and when they reunited thanks to Yukari, he began to treat her differently. She loves him, however. He also smokes cigarettes, and wears cologne to block the smell. He manages to help Yukari with his love issues by telling him where to find Ageha, and makes him red rice when he returns with victory in winning Ageha's heart. Makoto was his sempai in high school.

Hibari Shiroi Ageha's older sister. At the beginning of the series Ageha views her sister as a perfect idol, only to have the image smashed by Yukari, who reveals that Hibari is actually extremely clumsy. Hibari and Ageha maintain a strong bond throughout the manga. She eventually give birth to a healthy baby girl, who is named Madoka. Her husband is Makoto. She had an easy birth to Madoka and enjoys it when Ageha makes gifts for her.

Makoto {last name insert here} Hibari's husband. He is very carefree and "boring", and Ageha felt that he was not good enough for Hibari. Her feelings change once she realizes that he is caring and loving of her. He lives with the Shirois for a short amount of time when Hibari was pregnant. He was Mitsuya's sempai in high school. He dreams of raising Madoka to say "I love you, daddy."

Mamoru Sakashita Ageha's best friend. She is very protective of Ageha when it comes down to Ageha's feelings for Yukari. Although she is nice, she also haves a sadistic side like her brother. She is friends with Rei Akiyoshi and Shizuya Kuromine, and they often hang out with Ageha. She goes to a different high school. Nagare is her younger brother by one year. She supports Ageha in her pursuit of Yukari, but is also shown to often help Nagare. However, she claims to like Yukari, if just a little bit. She is often Ageha's support. She is scared that if Ageha and Nagare went out with one another, they would break up and ruin their friendship. She helps Ageha get together with Yukari in recent chapters, though she supports Nagare in not giving up.

Nagare Sakashita Mamoru's younger brother, who is in love with Ageha. Although he seems to be a sweet boy, he seems to also have a sadistic personality, that Ageha is unaware of. He becomes jealous of Ageha's feeling towards Yukari and often tries to secretly sabotage their relashionship. He tells Yukari that Ageha seems unhappier lately, and that causes him to back off for a small amount of time. In recent chapters, he saw Ageha walking home from V.B. Rose after going to visit Yukari, only to find him with Kana, and he comforts her. Yukari then calls her, and he interrupts their romantic moment by confessing his feelings towards her. This causes Yukari to become mad. He then begins to walk Ageha home and pressure her into saying yes. When Yukari arrives looking for her, he tries to stop her from leaving but fails. He then claims that he will not give up in claiming her heart.

Tsuyu Ichihashi A bead specialist who is an old friend of Mitsuya and Yukari. Tsuyu went to the same elementary school as Mitsuya describing him as "a very mature, kind, helpful boy then." but shortly moved after graduation. Tsuyu then befriended Yukari in high school and was introduced to his friend who turned out to be Mitsuya. Despite his being a "kind boy", from then on Mitsuya shows a sadistic side around her, always teasing her when he has the chance. Despite this Tsuyu still is in love with Mitsuya. She thinks that Yukari and Ageha are beautiful people and loves being in their precence. She loves beautiful people and calls Ageha a "big breasted beauty" upon meeting. She becomes Ageha's friend over time and they often meet at a cafe to eat sweets and talk. She is also friends with Kana Hiroe.

Kana Hiroe Yukari's high school girlfriend. She is now a corsage maker. She has a bad relationship with Mitsuya and Yukari and avoids any form of contact with them. At first glance, she appears to hate Ageha because of her relationship with Yukari. However, she hates her because she over uses the word "cute" and is too happy. She is glad that she is going out with Yukari and tells her that she will need good luck. She is friends with Tsuyu. She was attracted to Yukari's pain, and often stayed with her aunt. They broke up because it was too easy to be together, and that made things painful.

Reception
Mania.com's Nadia Oxford criticizes the manga for its cliches but commends the manga for its "cheek-pinchingly cute" protagonist. Coolstreak Cartoons's Leroy Douresseaux commends the manga's art as well as the "characters with gorgeous, stylized features".

The ninth volume of V.B.Rose was ranked 5th on the Tohan charts between April 18 and 24, 2007. The eleventh volume of V.B.Rose was ranked 8th twice on the Tohan charts between January 15 and 28, 2008, The twelfth volume of V.B.Rose was ranked 8th on the Tohan charts between June 17 and 23, 2008. The thirteenth volume of V.B.Rose was ranked 2nd on the Tohan charts between January 20 and 26, 2009. The fourteenth volume of V.B.Rose was ranked 2nd on the Tohan charts between May 18 and 24, 2009.