Mafia Princess: Thoughts on Wild Ones

Wild Ones (Arakure, アラクレ)

(Manga 2004- 2009)

By: Kiyo Fujiwara

I feel much better. 🙂 I’m trying to get back into the swing of things. So to do that I present to you a recent manga I read, Wild Ones.

After her mother passed away, Sachie Wakamura moves in with her grandfather, who she never met until now. Sachie’s grandfather happens to be the leader of a yakuza gang. Sachie gets assigned a bodyguard: the handsome, intelligent, but overprotective Rakuto Igarashi. Sachie now has to keep her yakuza family a secret from her school in order to live a normal life. 

This manga focuses on Sachie and Rakuto’s relationship. Rakuto is unable to express his love to Sachie because he is her bodyguard first as oppose to a man or lover. Furthermore, the two are too shy to admit their feelings to each other, and had to get a little push by Azuma Inui, who has an unrequited love for Sachie. I like Sachie and Rakuto’s “first love” back story. Ten years ago, they met each other for the first time when making New Year’s postcards, and they exchange their cards to each other. It was so cute and adorable.

Furthermore, the yakuza in the manga was hilarious. They may appear to be frightening, but in actuality, they are just cute, heartwarming teddy bears. In addition, they are very protective and supportive of Sachie, which is shown whenever she is in danger or is in need of help with anything. One of my favorite chapters was when some of the yakuza members found Sachie’s underwear on the floor, and they felt embarrassed and horrified by it because it felt like they committed the ultimate sin. It was a fun and hilarious chapter.

So I thought the manga would have a more dramatic story arch when Sachie’s school finds out that her family is part of the yakuza.  Yet when the school does, it was kind of anticlimactic. I expected more, but that was the only downfall that the manga had.

Overall, it is a cute shoujo read. Nothing too complex, but something you can enjoy during your down time.

4/5