Barajo no Kiss

Barajō no Kiss (薔薇嬢のキス), and also known as Kiss of Rose Princess, is a Japanese shōjo manga series written and illustrated by Shouoto Aya. It has been serialized in Asuka Magazine since 2008, and has been collected in four tankōbon volumes by Kadokawa Shoten.

Plot
As a young girl, Anís Yamamoto received a rose choker from her father, who said that a punishment would befall her if she ever took it off. But one day, she loses her choker and finds out the punishment: to be the Dominion of four rose knights and go through more tragedies. She is soon shown the unstable devil's seal, a seal created by the first dominion to banish the devil from the world. By invoking the true contract with the four Rhode Knights, she reseals the seal. However, she must now use her newly attained power to search for the Arcana cards, pieces of the devil's seal that have been strewn across the world.

Characters

 * Anís Yamamoto


 * (drama CD)
 * Age: 16 years old
 * Position: Mistress of the Rhode Knights, Rose Princess, Rose Maiden, The Rosette, Dominion, Head Lord Knight, Lady
 * Fears: Thunder, fire, earthquakes, attracting attention, and her papa.


 * A cheerful character who always wore a rose choker which her father gave her saying that it would always protect her, but, he also told her that if she ever took it off, she would be punished. Apparently her father travels all around the world and rarely contacts Anís, plus it seems that he goes traveling with no advice, leaving her going into a relative's house to another. Now she is leaving in an apartment in her aunt's complex.


 * Anís, even if she tried, was unable to take it off until it disappeared after Ninufa, a cat-bat-like-creature, bowled her over. After Ninufa scurried away, Anís found that she was holding a Red card. She ignores the fact and runs after Ninufa to get her choker back when a monster attacks. Itsushi-sensei, the librarian, tells her that she must kiss the card she was holding. When she does so, Kaede appears out of the card calling her "master". Anís becomes the Dominion (Dominia/Domina), able to summon any of the four Rose Knights. However, whenever the knights use their power, they drain the life force from her blood. This causes Anís to believe that becoming the Dominion is her punishment for losing her choker.


 * Although relieved to lose her choker, fearing her father's punishment she begins searching for it with the help of her Rhode Knights. Apparently, one of her special powers as a Dominion is that she is able to call forth a black whip-like rope filled with thorns used to beat them into submission, or to collar them (much to the delight of the black and white roses).


 * Kaede Higa
 * (drama CD)
 * Age: 16 years old
 * Position: A Rhode Knight, Knight of the Red Rose, Head of his family's shrine
 * Ability: Attack Magic


 * Kaede is Anís's classmate and also the Knight of the Red Rose, at first, he didn't seem to like Anís as he had a grudge against Anís beating him in the sports festival. He lives in a temple and often has fights with Tenjou (whose family owns a church) for stealing his followers. He is the neighbor and childhood friend of Seiran, the blue rose. For some unknown reason he is called "mutt" or "dog" by the White and Black Rose. Soon it is shown that Kaede cares for Anís and is is implied that he would still protect her. It is also hinted that he is in contradiction of the "True Contracts". Later in the series it is shown that he is easily angered when the one of the other knights gets too close to Anis—even his best Rose friend, Seiran.


 * Kaede also has a bad relationship with the Yellow Rose, Haruto. Later is revealed that Haruto hates all the other Roses but his hate of the Red Rose (Kaede) runs deeper then the rest. It is revealed because the Red Rose was selected the "'True Rose' of the Dominion" 200 years ago he earned the Yellow Rose's jealousy and hate. This is because the "True Rose" becomes the Dominion's lover. Kaede and the rest learn later on in the series that his friend, Seiran was a homunculus made to be the sacrifice of the demon's seal. All of Kaede's and Seiran's memories together as kids were fake. He is also the only one being called against his will by Anís and also the only one who says foolish words as comfort to her. Kaede specializes in attack magic and carries a sword as a weapon.


 * Mitsuru Tenjō
 * (drama CD)
 * Age: 17
 * Position: A Rhode Knight, Knight of the White Rose, Student Council President.
 * Ability: Healing and defensive techniques


 * Mitsuru is the president of the student council and he appears to be a very levelheaded, handsome and cool young man. He is admired by almost all the female students and even by the male students (Anís used to admire him too), but Mitsuru is in fact embarrassingly devoted to his duties as a Rhode Knight. He will always make statements to Anís and the rest of Roses that will totally gross them out, but surprisingly the rest of the students seem to adore him more for those comments.


 * His special skill lies in healing. An example would be when he heals Kaede and Mutsuki when they become injured. He seems to look down on Kaede and to resent Mutsuki. He will always remember him that he is owned by his family's church and will always speak to him in a very aggressive tone. Mitsuru seems to know far more things than the rest of the Roses and he keeps quiet about it. It is heavily implied that he's a masochist, even going so far as to provoke Anís into slapping him and turning her thorn whip into a collar to drag him to do her bidding. Mitsuru also likes Anís a lot, referring to her as "Lady Anís" and making all the girls jealous of her. He even says to Kaede that "One day Anís will be mine." Even though he said he was only joking, the serious look in his eyes made Kaede feel worried.


 * Mutsuki Kurama
 * (drama CD)
 * Age: Unknown, probably around 200 years old (posing as 17)
 * Position: A Rhode Knight, Knight of the Black Rose, The Last Dark Stalker
 * Ability: Search and seizure techniques, flying.


 * Mutsuki has a very dark aura around him and hardly talks to anyone. That's why there are lots of rumors about him, like he puts curses on people and is the head of delinquents or that he is an otaku. Since He says that he spent many years in solitary slumber, waiting for his master to arrive/resurrect, at first He is reluctant to accept Anís as his master, referring to her as a wench, and a missy. He likes the darkness and says that he is not a human, but a "dark stalker", which has the power to commune with nature and live longer than humans. Other abilities besides flying are unknown. He has "search and seizure" specialties; strings that are controlled by him appear from his fingers and he has an acute sense of smell and perception.


 * It is implied that he is a masochist when he seems satisfied when Anís smacks him around, and seems jealous of the White Rose when he gets collared by the rose whip. Like the other Rose Knights he also falls in love with Anís. In chapter 11 he uses his string to keep the Red Rose away from Anís. Despite his brooding demeanor, he also reveals to have forgotten his past and is thereby the last of his race. It is also said that he is "owned" by the White Rose's family. He specializes in investigation and has a mass knowledge of dark magic, due to his unknown past. He fights his enemies through his dark strings that are invisible to the naked eye.


 * Seiran Asagi
 * (drama CD)
 * Age: 15 (Technically just under three years old)
 * Position: A Rhode Knight, Knight of the Blue Rose
 * Ability: Alchemy, science and knowledge-related technique


 * Seiran is the Knight of the blue rose and is not often at school because he is mostly sick. When he is sick, Seiran stays by himself inside the greenhouse filled with roses, and ironically his illness may be an allergic reaction to roses, as he appears fine when he isn't around them. He specializes in "Alchemy" or rather "science". He is also very cute, cute enough to be a girl. He is the sacrificial rose that was made in the past to help seal the devil's seal. His memories and Kaede's memories are not real, so he plans to use his body to restore the seal. In chapter 11 he is saved from the seal. His rose is not found in nature, because they replace the Yellow Rose with the Blue Rose. But even so he cares a lot about Anís. Once he asks her if she would accept his love and when she does not get what he says, he changes the subject about the love potion thinking it might be too soon.


 * Itsushi Narumi
 * (drama CD)
 * Position: the Classical studies teacher.


 * Narumi is the most knowledgeable authority on the "Rose Contracts" which binds the Dominion and the Rhode Knights. He is a mage as well.


 * Schwartz Yamamoto
 * (drama CD)
 * Position: Anís's father, school doctor


 * Yamamoto is Anís's father and the person who gave Anís the choker. He gave it to her with a specific reason in mind - to hide her from "The Society". He is a really powerful mage and plans to revive the devil by allowing the devil's seal to deteriorate, since the seal cannot be repaired if the Dominion isn't found. He also saves Haruto from total destruction beneath the seal. He entered Anis's school as the new school doctor and associates with the Orange and Lime Roses.


 * Ninufa
 * (drama CD)


 * Ninufa is the guardian beast of the Four Cards which summon Rose Knights. It looks like a bat/cat. It smashed into Anís shortly before her choker disappeared, and accidentally left behind one of the four Rose Knight cards, the red card-which summons Kaede. Later, it gives Anís the remaining three cards. It states that It guards the cards, and Anís has possession of the cards, so therefore it tends to hang around her.He also revealed in the late chapters that he was really the one who took off Anis's choker.


 * Haruto Kusugi
 * (drama CD)
 * Age: 16
 * Position: Ex-Rhode Knight, the Yellow Rose


 * Haruto is Anís's old classmate from Osaka who transferred to her school and has an Osakan accent and cracks bad jokes. He is extremely obsessive about Anís and at one point in time states "If you keep being so cute I will have to kill you". He is the Yellow Rose and is an ex-Rhode Knight. He tried to kill all of the other knights to be the "true knight". His alternate personality as the Yellow Rose makes him hate the other Roses because back in the past, he got betrayed and his life force was used to perform the devil's seal. In reality, he was very jealous of the Red Knight for becoming the "True Rose". The Yellow Rose then tried to break the seal, but then used his life to restore it when he failed. Haruto mistakes it as a betrayal. In chapter 11 Anís slaps him and tells him that no matter what she will like him as a friend. After they save the Blue Rose Anís gets sucked into the seal. Haruto pushes her to safety and says "... the punishment is not over" as he gets sucked into the devil's seal. He was saved by Shwartz just in the nick of time and found himself in Hong Kong, as seen in chapter 13, where Anís received a postcard all the way from Hong Kong with a smiling Haruto in front of a restaurant.


 * Idel Suzumura
 * Position: Pop idol, the Orange Rose
 * Member of the group Rhodecia


 * Yakoh Hasuzaki
 * Position: Pop idol, the Lime Rose
 * Member of the group Rhodecia