Taiyou no Ie
House of the Sun

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Such a nice manga! Honestly, there`s very little i would change in this story. Very, very good shoujo manga (also worth noting that this was my first completed shoujo too!) from beginning to the end. Ain`t gonna lie, my first impression was quite bad, mainly because of the art and the fact that the heroine looked way too young and i didn`t like the age gap between the two main characters at all. That and the fact that i was kinda tired back then of annoying love triangles and shoujo/shounen romance tropes (still am), so i really didn`t feel like reading it based on my ... flawed initial impression, which led me to drop it instantly.

Luckily, a few days ago, i decided to give it another try and i`m honestly quite happy i did it, because i had a blast reading it! A very good and compelling story about family and love that has way more to it than what meets the eye.

If i had to summarize Taiyou no Ie in a single word, it would be "genuine". It`s a really genuine manga, with very genuine characters dealing with very genuine issues, both romantic and familiar. The drama never feels forced, it never felt too light nor to dark either. Just right. The character drama here also feels amazingly cliché-free, and the way it tackled the usual shoujo tropes was truly refreshing without never being annoying. The last arc with the heroine`s mother (little spoiler here, i`m sorry) was also extremely powerful, imo. The way the author handled the whole deal was superbly done and even a bit surprising given how realistic and deeply emotive it was. It was also the ultimate "puzzle piece" in Mao`s development as a character and in her relationship with both her family and Hiro, and it finally gave, in my opinion, the necessary balance and impulse that the story needed to be more than just good. To become special and all the more worthy. With such a great final arc, not only it gave a fantastic sense of completeness to the development of pretty much every single character in the cast, but also made the overall theme and even the main duo`s dynamics all the more significant and poignant. At the end of its run, it managed to turn into something great and clearly one of the best romance manga i`ve read.

You know, I always feel like the best stories, the ones that really leave a mark on you are those that end up being greater than the sum of its parts. The ones who manage to be consistent from start to finish, especially with their characters. The ones who get progressively better and whose incessant narrative crescendo results in a giant, virtuous, compelling bang. A lot of stories manage to achieve amazing climaxes throughout their run but somehow end up lacking the consistency (perhaps even talent) to always deliver and make the whole thing as satisfying as it promised to us readers, consequently falling short of making a definite impact at the end.

And i gotta say that Taiyou no Ie was truly a wholesome experience, with some of the finest writing i`ve seen in a while. Sure, it may not be groundbreaking, but not only was able to deliver a truly powerful message, but also did pretty much everything right, in a very genuine way that only a few manga can. And i think that`s the biggest praise i can possibly give it.

**Review contains spoilers**

Story (9/10):

This is one of the sweetest manga I've ever read. It's lighthearted, funny, and entertaining. I never felt bored while reading it. It was not the best that I've ever seen, but it was definitely worth reading.

While the story progresses slowly and steadily, Taiyou no Ie leaves nothing unsatisfactory. Even the ending was good (and this is rare! Most mangakas rush the ending and as a result ruin the story).

I fell in love with every one in Taiyou no Ie. I wonder how I am going to let them go.

... Character (9/10):

First of all, each character in this manga is unique. There's Mao, a high school girl who sucks at cooking and is hesitant to opening her heart. There's Hiro, a dense and child-like man who cares so much about others that he often forgets to take care of himself. There's Daiki, a seemingly cold brother who is actually stronger than the average boy...the list goes on.

Furthermore, I love how the characters are realistic. Taiyou no Ie doesn't really follow that cliche storyline where one day an evil woman comes to separate the main couple. Rather, there is Sugimoto (Radical), who is sweet and mature (unlike most other shoujo characters, who are very selfish).

The characters are also hilarious. I love how clueless and dense a lot of them are.

Art (8/10):
This may be an unpopular opinion, but I actually really liked the art! It is one-of-a-kind. I mean, I've never seen any other manga with this kind of style.

Taiyou no Ie is definitely a remarkable work that separates itself from others. Yes, it is a romance manga, but it is also a story about slowly rebuilding interpersonal relationships, something that a lot of manga won't put full focus on. It was really fascinating seeing how everyone is connected, slowly start becoming accepting of others and eventually themselves as well.

As you might have guessed, what prevents me from giving this the perfect score is the age of the protagonist and her main love interest. Mao is a 17 year old high school student, while Hiro is a 24 year old office worker. And of ... course, they start getting romantic with one another. Essentially, Hiro groomed the shit out of her. Furthermore, they've had this sibling dynamic since they were children. This relationship switching into romantic one is also ethically questionable.

The bitter truth is that this relationship is weird, to say the very least. Especially with one of the main characters being an S-tier, major league professional child groomer. Even with these downsides, Taiyou no Ie is still a unique manga with banger romance sequences, complex relationships, and many heartwarming stories to share. If you can accept the fact that this is a work of fiction and bear with classic Japanese media being classic Japanese media (forbidden/taboo relationships, pedophilia and incest), then you should give it a try.

I give this manga a 9/10.