#captive hearts

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Omni-Spirits Bureau: Dark Fates - Hexu City from Captive Hearts Ghuan., HOYO-MiX

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Captive Hearts thoughts

Captive Hearts is a 5 volume shoujo manga released in Japan from 1999-2002, by Matsuri Hino. This manga is her first serialized work, but she's better known nowadays for her later work: Vampire Knight.

Though I've not yet read Vampire Knight, I found myself wondering about it as I read Captive Hearts. Interestingly, Captive Hearts was not released in English until 2008, AFTER Vampire Knight's 2004 debut, I assume to capitalize on the recent success of Vampire Knight with English audiences. I couldn't help but read this manga with a somewhat critical and hopeful eye--this mangaka captured a lot of hearts with a later work; could I see the seeds of that star power in her first serialization?

The Premise

Megumi, a university student, lives in an extravagant home his father. The father, butler to a wealthy family, inherited their home when that family disappeared in China and were presumed dead. When Suzuka, the missing daughter, is discovered and brought back to Japan, Megumi finds himself compelled to act the part of a devoted servant the moment he lays eyes on her! Turns out his family has been cursed to serve her family, and although he resents it at first, he and Suzuka fall in love and try to find ways to break the curse.

The premise is a classic shoujo dream: this boy and girl have no choice but to engage with each other continuously, often with profuse and uncontrollable desires to be of service (on Megumi's side) that require touching or carrying or kissing the girl's hand. It's a balance of naughty and innocent: They get to have all this physical contact and expressions of affection, but there's always the excuse of The Curse to say: "Don't worry! These characters are good and proper, but they Can't Help It and so you get to experience these heart pounding moments guilt-free!"

There's also a variety of quickly rotating plot points and adventures common in a serialized work. The two main characters figure out their feelings for each other pretty early on, so most their conflicts involve solving the curse OR introducing new love rivals, who usually appear for a few chapters and then lose relevance. The main thoroughline ends up being solving the curse, because the main couple believes that their love is doomed so long as they have the power imbalance inherent to the curse hanging over their relationship.

In my personal opinion, that romantic relationship is weak in one sense: There's not much the main couple have in common. Their primary connection is literally JUST the curse, and although they look into each other's eyes and kiss and say they love each other, I can't fathom what about their personalities or interests actually mesh. All their romantic moments center around the curse. The thing is, I struggle to describe specifics as to why those two might legit like each other, but I can in fact describe why the relationship works on the page:

It's Got Some Sexy

The premise and the shenanigans they get up to is like, Baby's First BDSM with heaps of kisses and a near-sex moment that had my eyebrows fully up and surprised that it was allowed to get that far.

Still, I was surprised how little the BDSM elements came into play. In all the volume covers and special images, Megumi is depicted in chains, but he's only occasionally and briefly physically restrained within the story itself. There's certainly some play with the master/servant dynamic, but their power dynamic isn't strict. Suzuka has the ability to fully dominate him, but she rarely issues commands because of her discomfort with the curse. Instead, Megumi independently ping-pongs between two sides: His service-oriented butler persona, and his dark and sexy lustful young man persona when his love for her grows to be too overwhelming to resist (which is usually interrupted at Just The Right Time by his butler side realizing he shouldn't do this to his master).

It's a "have your cake and eat it to" scenario on both sides: Suzuka gets to have both a respectful servile and a hot horny boyfriend, all the benefits of both with none of the drawbacks. Meanwhile Megumi gets to touch and get close to his girlfriend with the excuse of the butler persona, and although he often indulges in his perverse desires (kissing her, giving hickeys, etc), that butler persona stops him from taking those final steps that "shouldn't" be done before marriage. The magical curse makes it LITERALLY impossible to separate these two, and so their romantic/sexual indiscretions are forgiven by the narrative and the reader.

Did I Actually Like It?

I'm generally a fan of 2000s shoujo romance, and this certainly scratches that itch. But did I love it? Frankly no--as I said, the actual relationship lacked depth, the plot was all over the place with characters introduced and dropped like a child rotating a series of toys. The premise is zany, but there are various sections that bored me--most other manga I've read of the era usually had some comedy or strong character charms that could keep attention even if there wasn't immediate huge plot stuff happening, and this doesn't seem to have that knack.

Still, I came into this knowing that the mangaka would later create Vampire Knight. And although I have not yet read Vampire Knight, I kept an eye out for elements that felt like the seeds of passion from the author which might grow and blossom.

Could This Be Connected to Vampire Knight?

There was often strong imagery, again especially with the chains on the volume/chapter covers. The posing with intimacy was strong--the mangaka is not shy about having characters touch and interact. The sexual tension is also executed admirably, hitting that id with delicious decadence.

One of the few things I know about Vampire Knight is that there is some sort of incest plotline. Because of that, even though this story had no incest, I was particularly sensitive to any incestuous vibes. Notably there's one or two odd parent moments (one character specifically saying he has an "oedipus" complex), but most striking is the brother-sister vibe that Suzuka and Megumi cultivate despite being unrelated. Suzuka directly compares them to a brother and sister early on, and several other characters refer to them as "family", though it's clearly a "chosen family" situation.

Even so, it felt as though the mangaka was idealizing family and blood relations throughout. Captive Hearts is all about a forced bond, and although this bond was a magic curse, can't family be a forced bond as well? It made me curious about the form Vampire Knight's incest situation takes, and whether it's about that unbreakable bond and/or closeness.

I also assume Vampire Knight MUST have some BDSM-style elements. Though there's some in Captive Hearts, it feels relatively restrained (heh) considering the whole premise. I want to believe that Matsuri Hino, after a few more years experience and building confidence, might have been able to really connect with her id to inject Vampire Knight with a stronger and more certain passion for those elements of bondage, power, and pain. Even the term "Vampire Knight" evokes a stronger gothic tone than Captive Hearts... I believe Captive Hearts was struggling to maintain a comedic/sexy vibe, but if Vampire Knight commits to a serious/sexy vibe then it could feel more cohesive.

Then again, I haven't read it, so these are all my silly predictions which may be proven wrong! I'd like to read it at some point and see if my impressions were correct, and also to generally see how Matsuri Hino's storytelling grows and develops.

[nana-71926]

Well WTF

If all my fics got scraped, it's time to turn Captive Hearts into A NOVEL WITH ITS PROPER ENDING!!!

Stay tuned on Patreon!!

[pageofpanels]

WHAT’S WRONG DEARIE? GOT A TOUCH OF THE PLAGUE!? ☠️

[thetarasque]

Some Captive Hearts inspired pics with me as fem!Monseigneur and @tinylazyhobbit as fem!John.

Captive Hearts by @nana-41175 is to this day one of my favorite Sherlock fanfictions, I definitely reccomend checking it out if you haven't already.

[fortheloveofparkjimin1013]

A special photo booklet that came with my LaLaDX. Hino Matsuri’s manga through the years.

[zombiegurlmode]

Afflicted Captivity

What is it with you?

What makes you special?

How did you manage to slip by me? Undetected.

Would you tell me how did you do it?

You grabbed me like gravity levitating towards you.

How did you do that? Unaware.

Am I being hit by puberty again? Back at the days of old where discoveries were made fresh.

Except, we’re not young anymore.

So, why am I allowing myself to play this stupid dangerous game?

I should really stay away you know.

But I’m drawn to you like moths to flame.

I’m still gravitating towards you.

I’m topsy-turvy, world asunder, trying to grasp reality with futility.

Do you truly know who I am?

Would you turn tail if you knew?

Would you shun me away never to brighten my day?

Who are you anyway?

With eyes so piercing.

Hair so lush.

Hands that could save.

Face that could break.

Attitude so boss.

Gait so confident.

I am way over my head feeling so confuse.

Tearing me apart. Fear unfolding.

Questions unravelling. Answers eluding.

Heart in pain. Mind troubled.

Soul lost. Concentration muddled.

Judgment clouded. Truth finally revealed.

Truth I am not seeking.

Truth I am denying.

Truth I am withholding.

Truth I am deceiving.

Truth holding me captive. My undoing.

You are my undoing and you held me captive.

I am afflicted.

[electric-eclectic-collector]

From Captive Hearts by Matsuri Hino (1999 – 2002)