Haou Airen
17-year-old Kurumi Akino lives in Tokyo, helping her ill mother to take care of her little siblings and working hard at both school and her part-time job. Her life is pretty ordinary, isn't it? Well, it is... until she's walking home and bumps into a handsome stranger. The guy promptly places his hand over her mouth, kisses her forcibly, and then threatens her with rape if she screams since he's being pursued by other people. He promptly collapses and Kurumi thinks she can't leave him there, so she treats his wounds at home and manages to have him tell her his name: Hakuron Which isn't his real name anyway (it's Li Shen Wong.). However, he gives her a sleeping drug through a kiss and leaves her there, escaping from the Akino household..
Since Hakuron disappeared as soon as he arrived, Kurumi now wonders if it was all a bad dream. It isn't, actually. Few after the incident, Kurumi finds herself whisked off her feet and shuttled to Hong Kong, and the culprit is Hakuron! It turns out that the stranger whose life shge saved is actually the most powerful and badass mobster from The Triads and the Tongs, and he wants to "thank" her by making her his bride. From then on, the poor girl will be caught in the struggles among several triad groups as well as the in-fights in Hakuron's group, and will also have to deal with his extremely screwed up view on life and love. All in a strange land, very far from the Tokyo where her family and her past remain...
Haou Airen (覇王·愛人 Surpreme King's Mistress?) is a shōjo manga series created by Mayu Shinjo, also adapted into 3 CD dramas. Like a lot of Shinjo's works, Haou Airen is heavy on sexual content and the melodrama.
Some more info about it here.
- Alternate Continuity: The CD drama, where Hakuron survives. Apparently, had he lived, he and Kurumi would've been Happily Married and had a daughter.
- Arranged Marriage: Hakuron and Reilan
- Attempted Rape: More than once, but special note goes to the Too Dumb to Live triad guys who grab the escaping and BSOD'ing Kurumi and attempt to make her a Sex Slave and Reilan having her schoolmates try to rape Kurumi, out of jealousy and as a part of her Thanatos Gambit.. Hakuron saves her both times, of course. Which doesn't stop him from sexing her up in non-con/dub-con ways, tho.
- Asskicking Equals Authority: Hakuron went up the Triads's ranks via basically kicking all kind of ass to get there. Also, that's how he recruited Di Long into the group.
- Bastard Boyfriend: Guess who!
- Because You Were Nice to Me, I Owe You My Life and Florence Nightingale Effect: Nothing would've happened in this manga, had Kurumi not decided to treat Hakuron's wounds.
- Betty and Veronica: Kaafai and Hakuron, for Kurumi. Until Kaafai goes Yandere too.. Kurumi and Reilan, for Hakuron.
- Blood Knight: Hakuron, Di Long. A sort-of Justified Trope since both of them are high-ranked Triad members and their fighting skills are what brought them as high in the hierarchy as they are.
- Blood-Splattered Wedding Dress: Horribly subverted: the one splattered in blood is the groom in a white suit. Wow, Hakuron.
- Break the Cutie: Huo Long's backstory.
- And Kurumi, despite her Love Martyr tendences, finds herself pretty broken. A good example would be her huge Heroic BSOD after Reilan's Thanatos Gambit.
- Broken Bird: Kurumi thinks Reilan is one. And Kurumi herself either barely averts becoming one, or by the end of the series she's a Broken Bird in her path to recovery.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Reilan.
- Contrived Coincidence: 15-year-old Hakuron just happened to go in an important mission in Japan in exactly the same day of Mr. Akino's funeral, huh? And then he happened to see the funeral procession and catch a glimpse of 14-year-old Kurumi?
- Corrupt the Cutie: Discussed when Reilan sets up her Thanatos Gambit and claims she wants Kurumi to be tainted by her gangrape as revenge for Hakuron tainting her.
Reilan: How does it feel to see someone you love being tainted in front of your eyes? (....) But everything that hs happened until now, you have done it to me! You heartlessly stole not just my body and my life, but my heart as well!
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Hakuron. Kaafai.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Hakuron. Hoooo. Lee. Shit, Hakuron.
- He ain't the only one. Huo Long, anyone?
- Dangerously Genre Savvy: Reilan invokes this in her Thanatos Gambit. She knows she won't get away with setting up Kurumi for gangrape -- and uses it to spit on Hakuron and Kurumi's faces.
- Darker and Edgier: Arguably. We know that Shinjo uses explicit sex in her works, but this one also includes quite a bit of graphic violence and murder.
- Distress Ball: Kurumi and Huo Long in volume 8.
- The Dog Bites Back: Kaafai, and how.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: Huo Long.
- The Dragon: Fuuron, to Hakuron.
- Facial Markings: Hakuron has a very distinguishing dragon tattoo on the side of his face. Seems that only Kurumi has seen it and lived to tell.
- Fallen Prince: Hakuron was a Chinese nobleman, and he and his Missing Mom tried to escape from his abusive father. Upon being recaptured, Hakuron's mother urged kid!Hakuron to leave her behind, and he had to do so. It Got Worse soon afterwards.
- Famous Last Words:
Reilan: " Kurumi, I didn't really know why Hakuron fell for you. Your virtue is just his opposite. But I'm sorry... I loved Hakuron too... Kurumi, when I'm reborn, we'll be friends. I promise!"
Hakuron: "You're prettier when you smile. I wish I could see the smile on your face forever. Promise me, Kurumi, smile forever..." (last thoughts) "Because I won't be able to wipe your tears away anymore."
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Fuuron
- Five-Man Band: Hakuron, Kurumi, and the Four Kings of Heaven. They arguably double as Five-Bad Band since the guys are all Triad members.
- The Hero / Big Bad: Hakuron (Sort of)
- The Lancer / The Dragon: Fuuron
- The Big Guy / The Brute: Di Long
- The Smart Guy / Evil Genius: Shui Long
- The Chick / Dark Chick: Huo Long and Kurumi.
- Girlish Pigtails: Kurumi
- Go Mad from the Revelation: Possibly, what happened to Kaafai when he's Forced to Watch as Hakuron rapes Kurumi. It would explain a LOT about how he shoots Hakuron to death in the end.
- Gory Discretion Shot: When Hakuron kills Kurumi's first would-be rapists.
- Also, when Fuuron kills the shopkeeper for refusing to sell him the Dragon Sphere in volume 8.
- Averted in the case of Reilan, as we clearly see her bleed and collapse to the floor in a puddle of her own blood after Hakuron shoots her to death. Made worse by how we think it'll be played straight when the scenery changes to the building facade... only to return to the fatally injured Reilan.
- The Hero Dies: Hakuron actually dies at the end.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Oddly toyed with. Hakuron keeps saying horrible things about himself and insists in telling Kurumi that he's a monster and she should reject him for such stuff, but that doesn't stop him from hugging her passionately and sexing her up. Many times, against her will.
- Hong Kong: The plot is truly kickstarted when Hakuron abducts Kurumi and takes her to his home there...
- Crap Saccharine World: This is how the SAR itself is described. It's a bright, shining city full of prosperity and fun things to do... while gangsters train children like Hakuron and several others as well as assassins in a shadow war filled with rape, murder, and suicide.
- Ill Girl: Kurumi's mother.
- Karma Houdini or Redemption Equals Death: Hakuron, as he dies in the last volume. It really depends on your view of him.
- Mafia Prince: Hakuron, Reilan, Shui Long
- Major Injury Underreaction: Hakuron, man, you're bleeding to death. You should do more than lamenting how your groom suit got stained.
- Meaningful Rename: After killing his asshole dad as age 14, Li Shen Wong renounced to his old identity and started calling himself "Hakuron".
- Kurumi gets the Chinese name "Qiuye Laishi", and Fuuron renounces to his former name of Lu Zhaoming as he becomes Hakuron's Dragon.
- The Medic: Shui Long.
- Morality Pet: Kurumi aims to become this to Hakuron, as much as she can be to a Bastard Boyfriend like him. Not very Genre Savvy, eh Kurumi?
- Names to Know in Anime: Tomokazu Seki plays Hakuron in the drama CD's, opposite Kimiko Koyama's Kurumi. Other seiyuus there are Yuu Asakawa (Huo Long), Susumu Chiba (Fuuron), Nobuo Tobita (Shui Long), and Norio Wakamoto (narration).
- Netorare: Arguably used when Hakuron rapes Kurumi in front of Kaafai and when Kurumi has sex with Fuuron.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Great idea Hakuron, raping Kurumi in front of Kaafai and letting him live is not going to backfire in the most important day of your life. OH!
- No Mister Bond I Expect You to Dine: Yishan, to Kurumi.
- I Have Your Wife: What follows. More exactly: "I Have Your Girly Looking Friend Too And You WILL Help Me In My Plans Or He'll Die."
- Parental Favoritism - The Unfavorite : Poor Shui Long.
- Pet the Dog: Or better said, the kitten named Miruku.
- Promotion to Parent: Kurumi gets a partial one, having to help her mother with her little brothers's raising after her father's death. Not only that, but Mrs. Akino is an Ill Girl who badly needs Kurumi's help.
- Rags to Riches: In Tokyo, Kurumi is middle to low class and struggles with her part-time job, her Promotion to Parent and her studies. Suddenly, she finds herself shuttled to Hong Kong and immersed in incredible riches and luxury as Hakuron's "mistress", and he promises to her that he'll send money to Mrs. Akino so she can support herself and the twins without Kurumi (And he does more or less keeps his word in that sense).
- Rape Is Love: Hakuron repeatedly rapes Kurumi in order to get her to love him. What's more horrifying and mindboggling is that it works.
- Reckless Gun Usage: Kurumi waves around a loaded pistol when Hakuron is teaching her to shoot, but Hakuron yells at her to be careful and takes the gun away. Hakuron himself demonstrates unsafe gun usage later, when he repeatedly points guns at people to threaten them, even when he does not intend to kill them.
- Self-Made Orphan: Hakuron's father was an utter bastard. Guess what was his end.
- Offing the Offspring: Hakuron was prophetized to bring disgrace to his family. It Got Worse.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Kurumi fits very well in a Qipao and in a bridal gown.
- Shoot the Dog: Hakuron seems to view his murder of Reilan this way.
- Shower of Angst: Kurumi, after she has sex with Fuuron when very emotionally drained... and then learns about Reilan's Thanatos Gambit.
- Smug Snake - The Rival: Yang Yishan
- Spurned Into Suicide: Reilan didn't exactly kill herself with her own hands, but set a Thanatos Gambit specifically to have revenge against the Bastard Boyfriend that left her for Kurumi.
- Street Urchin: Hakuron spent a while like this, until taken in by The Triads and the Tongs.
- Tyke Bomb: After being "adopted" by the triads.
- Thanatos Gambit: Reilan, as her Take That to both Kurumi and Hakuron. Explained in her last will.
Reilan (written): "If my wish comes true, I'll be murdered by Hakuron in front of Kurumi. Anyway, Father, this is Hakuron's mercy. And that stupid bitch will hate Hakuron for the rest of her life. And as my last trap: " Kurumi, when I'm reborn, we'll be friends. I promise!" Stupid Kurumi, she'll never know it was all a lie!"
- Tragic Keepsake: A jade jewel that Hakuron's Missing Mom gave him.
- Chekhov's Gun: Thanks to having it, Hakuron was taken in by his adoptive father and then into the triads.
- Trauma-Induced Amnesia: Kurumi, after Reilan's death.
- Troubled but Cute: Hakuron
- The Triads and the Tongs: And Hakuron is the most dangerous one there.
- Unwanted Harem: Kurumi has Hakuron, Huo Long, Di Long and Kaafai after her, each in their own ways. Very much NOT Played for Laughs.
- Unwitting Pawn: Many of Hakuron's enemies try to use Kurumi as this.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Di Long
- Wall-Bang Her: Up against a door. With Hou Ron listening behind said door.
- What the Hell, Hero?: In volume 8, Mrs. Akino gives one to Hakuron after the Akino's home is burned down.
- Followed by one from Fuuron, who calls him out for going out of his way too much for Kurumi.
- And Kurumi attempts to give him one when she recovers her memories. Doesn't work as well.
- Even earlier, Kurumi gives a HUGE one to Hakuron when he kills Reilan.
- Followed by one from Fuuron, who calls him out for going out of his way too much for Kurumi.
- White Shirt of Death: Hakuron.
- Yamato Nadeshiko: Kurumi's mother. Kurumi was shaping up into one of these as well, until her life... "changed". She seems to have become a real one after Hakuron's death.
- Yandere: Hakuron, Reilan, and Kaafai after his Face Heel Turn.
- Zettai Ryouiki: Kurumi's school uniform. Also Reilan, who combines it with a Qipao shirt as part of her school clothes.