Enchanted Well-Hidden Garden

Listen, ... when she first brings it up, that's what it SOUNDS like she's doing. Harding has a tendency to struggle with wording things well, she's life-smart, not book-smart - so that first banter does read as though she's worried FOR Rook in that patronizing way like a parent or older sibling, who thinks they know better... (heck even Emmrich potentially falls into that trap during the argument)

but then there's follow-up banter and it becomes clear that, no, she's not worried Emmrich might be taking advantage of poor innocent younger Rook; it becomes increasingly clear she's worried about HIS feelings. She's always addressing her concerns to HIM, and worrying about how they're "going too fast" (even IF he's made the promise to Rook to move slowly during their first dinner-date).

Harding's making observations about how he's becoming noticeably "mopey", she can TELL something's worrying HIM. (mind you, not even Rook seemed to have picked up on this)

And in turn he's very honest with Harding about how, despite defending himself against Davrin's juvenile jabs and appreciating/enduring Taash's sentiments and all that jazz, the age gap thing DOES secretly bother him. (the fact that he doesn't start moping straight away suggests that Harding was right, they DID go a bit too fast and Emmrich especially, was blinded by the honeymoon-phase so to speak). He does end up genuinely thanking her for her concern and advice, to try and think ahead about the relationship.

(Although sadly it still takes their potential impending deaths for him to reach their crisis-stage of needing to address his worries and I could do a whole essay alone on how he chooses to handle it, but others already have, so not now)

Say what you will about her, out of all their mutual friends, Harding was the ONLY ONE to see the pre-battle argument coming from A MILE AWAY, and she was trying to gently warn them; to try and nudge her two friends to have a serious talk about the consequences ahead, rather than blithely avoiding it.

Dorian's four 1970s cover moments for Viva Princess!

This manga is probably what I would dub as ‘The spy camaraderie you never knew you needed’ (or that it even existed…)

But this was, in fact, a classic work and was really popular in Japan during its time. Just that for some reasons, the manga never made it to international attention - which is a real pity, because, seriously, this is good. Like really really really good.

And the bromance? 24k gold grade, I rest my case. 

From Eroica With Love (Manga) Review

Genre: Shoujo, Adventure, Action, Historical, Comedy

Author: Aoike Yasuko

Running Years: 1976 - 2012

Synopsis (taken from BakaUpdates):

"What happens when a gay art thief and a conservative NATO officer cross paths? Disaster, of course. Dorian is an aristocrat, a thief, and a hedonist; Klaus is a duty-driven espionage agent with no patience for fools.

Follow them as they chase each other across the globe -- from Britain to Baghdad, from Alaska to Alexandria, from Moscow to Madrid. Spectacular locations and non-stop adventures await!"

Length: Completed with 39 volumes

Translation: Ongoing at about 25 volumes - as of 2022

Note: Some sources may list this manga’s genre as Shounen-ai. Well, yes, “ai” (or romantic interaction) between 2 male characters does get depicted in this manga, but it isn’t between the two male leads. And the amount of “ai” you’ll get to see in the whole series is like… 1%. But before you conclude that this will make you want to / not want to read this manga, hear me out first —

Personal review:

➕ The Characters: Meet Earl Dorian Red Gloria, codenamed “Eroica”, a gorgeous, flamboyant, charismatic British thief with blonde hair so perfectly curled it could rival Candy Candy (this is a classic shoujo, what else do you expect?), whose purpose in life is to steal whatever suits his fancy, and causes a lot of havoc while he’s at it.

Meet also Major Klaus Heinz von dem Eberbach, nicknamed “Iron Klaus”, an equally gorgeous, uptight, formidable German officer with black hair so perfectly straight it probably comes from a L’Oreal ad (have I mentioned this is a classic shoujo?), whose goal is to hunt down Earl Dorian, but somehow never actually catches him(?) 

(The 1970s — that period of manga art when guys are 10 times prettier than girls...)

They are both very likeable characters, each with quirks so special that’ll make you remember them in no time. Behind his facade as an art thief, Earl Dorian is an adorable, sympathetic man who values his teammates and has actual sensitivity for beautiful things. Major Klaus might first come off as an arrogant, vulgar man (but his vulgarity is really funny omg), but would you believe that he sings “Mary Has A Little Lamb” to himself in order to sleep? Awwwwww.

Surrounding these two men is a very diverse, colourful cast of supporting characters. With this being a comedy manga, almost every character in From Eroica With Love is funny as hell - so protect your stomach well, because the probability of you hurting it while reading this is transcendently high...

➕ The Story: Set during the Cold War period and against the backdrop of a vibrant Europe, the story tells the extravagant adventures of Earl Dorian and Major Klaus as they tail after top-secret intel, tear down evil conspiracies, take out wicked villains, tumble into life-threatening situations, all while trying to outwit and annoy the f*** out of each other. 

With the title clearly inspired by the James Bond novel “From Russia With Love”, this manga, for the most part, is an endearing parody of the spy fiction genre. Do not be fooled by its shoujo label and its relatively strange first volume. The manga started off rather ridiculous (a trio of college-age ultra-geniuses with ESP abilities given to them by a mysterious man in the forest? What again…), but very soon developed into action-packed espionage with, surprisingly enough, a great deal of real-life historical, cultural and political references. Twists and turns await as we tag along with Earl Durian and Major Klaus chasing after each other (for various hilarious reasons) and dealing with international-scale events across the globe.

➕ The Art: Bearing what I would call 'signature 1970s shoujo art', From Eroica With Love’s feminine, old-style art may take some time to get used to, but will certainly grow on you. Yasuko-sensei certainly deserves praise for her masterful control over both character designs, scenery as well as action sequences.

➕ The Bromance: And, of course, the most important part of this review, the bromance.

Though it’s established very early on that Dorian is gay and always ready to woo whichever man that piques his attention, and that the manga is debatably considered shounen-ai, there's no canon romance between the two male leads (or is there?). 

Starting out as enemies, and arguably still ending as enemies, these two’s dynamics are a real delight to watch. While they couldn’t stop blocking each other’s business and even occasionally get into physical fights, they also pull each other out of trouble plenty of times. There’s just some sort of undeniable camaraderie that hovers above their constant bickering and throwing curses at each other. 

(Why be normal bros when you can point guns and knives at each other?)

But beyond the bromance front, some may sense that Dorian develops feelings for Klaus along the course of the story, and one can’t help but notice that Klaus’ behaviour towards Dorian is, at times, significantly more tender compared to how he treats others. And then there are those yearning intense stares…

(Dorian & Klaus: A tale of unresolved sexual tension that spans almost 40 years…)

The manga never dwells into fan service or has them go lovey-dovey, and even after its supremely long run of almost 4 decades, we never get an answer to the burning question "Will they or won't they fall in love?".

But that certainly doesn't stop the fans from zealously shipping them two together. Because, enemies-to-comrades-to-lovers? We simply devour that trope.

➖ The Negative: To some, the art may look slightly funny in later volumes, but I wouldn’t fault the author much for that. After all, by that time, Yasuko-sensei is already in her 50s-60s.

➖ And what was that first volume really - to deter people from loving this manga too much? (￣▽￣) An entertaining bunch of characters with pretty detailed characterisation (to the point that I almost thought they were the mains!) got introduced, only for them to never appear again after volume 1. Albeit, this may not exactly be a negative thing, since I can tell that most of us would prefer the screentime to be spared for our two lovely male leads.