Stepping on Roses

""Back then I never knew what this flower was called... all I wanted was to get a closer look. But this flower would never let me get close to it...""

Stepping On Roses (Hadashi De Bara Wo Fume, literally translated as Stepping On Roses Barefoot) is a romance drama written by Rinko Ueda. Originally published in the Shoujo manga magazine Margaret in 2007, the series received an English language release starting in April of 2010 by publisher Viz Media.

Fifteen year old Sumi Kitamura was the eldest girl in a family of six orphaned children living in Japan during the Meiji era. She spent her days with her younger adopted siblings, doing what she could to care for them in a household with little food and less money to buy it with. Making matters worse was her elder brother Eisuke, a playboy who not only gambled away what little money he managed to earn, but also had a habit of bringing home any abandoned young children he could find. With an ever increasing burden and a family spiraling deeper into debt that she had no means of repaying, Sumi was left with little hope for the future.

Those last shreds of hope were quickly dashed when an enraged debt collector burst into their home one night demanding to find Eisuke, who the man had just caught attempting to seduce his wife. Seeing that Eisuke was nowhere to be found, the man kidnapped Sumi’s younger siblings, declaring that she could have them back when she repaid Eisuke’s debt of two thousand yen (the equivalent of three million yen in modern times.) In desperation Sumi decided to sell her body, though she quickly found that no one was willing to pay such a price. It was then that she met a well-dressed and obviously wealthy stranger by the name of Soichiro Ashida, who made an unusual offer… he would pay her any amount of money she wished, but in return she must agree to leave her old family behind to become his wife. And most important of all, she would be entering a marriage of convenience in which love would not be part of the bargain.

What was Soichiro truly after? Would Sumi be able to leave her siblings behind for the new life that he offered? And would she be able to give up on the hope of ever finding true love to ensure the safety of her family?


 * All Girls Want Bad Boys: Apparently, even if they initially preferred the gentlemanly type.
 * Arranged Marriage: Between Nozomu and Miu.
 * Attempted Rape: After overhearing Sumi telling their butler that she has no intention of betraying her husband, Soichiro rewards her loyalty by forcing himself on her in an attempt to get her to hate him, driving her into the arms of Nozomu. He stops when she promises to try her best to love him, and he replies by yelling that there isn't any love allowed in the marriage. It's not clear if he would actually have raped her, or if it was an attempt to frighten her...still, pretty disturbing.
 * Ax Crazy:
 * It looks like.
 * Be Careful What You Wish For: So Soichiro, you want Nozomu to fall for Sumi as part of an evil scheme to get the Ijuin bank's total support? Okay! After all there's no way he'll ever try to turn out to be an AxCrazy Yandere that will do absolutly anything to posess her later on. Nope, no chance of that happening.
 * Beware the Nice Ones:
 * Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Keiko.
 * Break His Heart to Save Him:
 * Break the Cutie: Miu. She came to her Arranged Marriage with Nozomu as a somewhat Wide-Eyed Idealist, even falling in love with her betrothed, but with Nozomu's downward spiral into obsession with Sumi, she goes on her own downward spiral as well. When Nozumu  She's getting a bit better, though.
 * Cranky Landlord: Sumi's former landlady, who is fed up with Sumi's noisy siblings and the fact that she hasn't been paid for their rent. When she learns that they are up to their ears in debt, Eisuke's charm is the only thing that keeps her from kicking them out on the spot.
 * Crazy Jealous Guy: Oh lord, . To insane proportions. He even goes so far as to.
 * Domestic Abuse: Romance or not, there's no way around it -- this is the way Soichiro treats Sumi as the story begins. In the English translation so far we've had physical violence, verbal abuse, Moving the Goalposts (Soichiro keeps making additional demands as Sumi meets his requirements) and Attempted Rape. And that's not even counting the fact that his nice moments have the effect, intentionally or not, of psychological mindgaming; Sumi is continually thrown off guard as he switches from aloof to violent to pleasant.
 * Elegant Gothic Lolita: Some of Sumi's outfits are more like modern lolita clothing than what would be accurate for the time period.
 * Evil Debt Collector: The thuggish debtor in the first chapter initially offers to let Sumi pay off what her brother owed with her body, later kidnapping Sumi's other siblings and threatening to sell them off unless he had the cash in hand by the next day.
 * Face Heel Turn:
 * Flower Motifs: Soichiro, who well fits the comparison with a rose... beautiful, but painful whenever Sumi gets too close.
 * The Gambling Addict: Sumi's older brother, Eisuke Kitamura. This, even more than the children he brings home for Sumi to care for, is the primary source of their financial troubles.
 * Happy Marriage Charade: Soichiro and Sumi's marriage . Nozomu also thinks this way towards his own marriage with Miu.
 * Heel Face Turn:
 * Hime Cut: Miu's hairstyle.
 * Honey Trap:  tries this once other tactics fail to work, and when that fails she falls back on the Wounded Gazelle Gambit
 * Soichiro's primary motivation for marrying Sumi was to set up a Honey Trap for, with  as the unwitting "mole."
 * Hypocrite: Almost everyone except Sumi and the children. Soichiro orders Sumi not to love him...then gets possessive of her. Eisuke demands that Sumi make sacrifices for their family...while frittering away their income and making everyone's life as difficult as possible. Nozumu calls Soichiro out on his treatment of Sumi...then attempts to murder her. Even Komai, who initially seemed to be the Only Sane Man, viciously blames Sumi's "fickleness" for an attack on Soichiro, causing her to feel worthless and guilty...but at this point, Komai's just after throwing a hissy fit at Soichiro himself and quitting his job as butler.
 * The Ingenue: No, Sumi, going to the house of a man who is obsessed with you and tried to murder you is not a good idea. Especially if you go alone. No amount of purity, innocence or general amiability is going to help you out if he flips.
 * Virginity Makes You Stupid: Despite a couple of close calls, Sumi still falls into this.
 * To be fair though, it's mostly Soichiro's fault for thinking Nozomu was no longer a threat as she initially didn't want to be around him anymore after the hotel incident.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
 * Karma Houdini: Eisuke. Charms and uses everyone in his immediate vicinity, no sign of major consequences (for him) as yet. One of several characters in the story who is long overdue for a piano falling on top of him.
 * Love Makes You Crazy: The drama of the series, in a nutshell.
 * Love Triangle: Soichiro, Sumi, and Nozomu.
 * Manipulative Bastard: Soichiro and his butler.  has his own variation.
 * Meido: Keiko
 * Mood Whiplash: Soichiro is the personification of this trope, but in the story itself we have an Attempted Rape, shortly followed by the heroine cooing over how childish her husband is, then a rather sweet dance scene... which ends with Soichiro ripping up a photo in his wife's face and yelling at her.
 * No Sympathy: Komai initially appears sympathetic of Sumi's situation, but his loyalty ultimately lies with Soichiro. He's quick to blame Sumi when something happens to Soichiro, never taking into account that Sumi is young, confused, lonely and being used as a chess piece.
 * Of Corsets Sexy: Sumi's first time wearing a corset was on the day of her wedding with Soichiro.
 * Only in It For the Money: Eisuke's primary motivation for collecting so many orphaned children, as he plans to have them work for him in his future business endeavors (or, in the case of sister Tomi, to be married off to a family of higher status.)
 * Plucky Girl: Sumi keeps dusting herself off and getting up again, no matter how life treats her.
 * Promotion to Parent: Sumi and (to a far lesser extent) Eisuke for their adopted younger siblings.
 * Rags to Riches: One of the main themes of the series, as Sumi is given the choice to leave her life of poverty behind to become the wife of an extravagantly wealthy young bachelor.
 * The Reveal:
 * Sanity Slippage:
 * Strictly Formula: The author remarks in the notes that this is a "cliche" romance.
 * Taking a Level In Badass: Sumi, who starts out as a naive and confused ingenue, is starting to show shades of this.
 * Together in Death:
 * Tsundere: Soichiro.
 * Yandere:  in the latter part of the series.
 * Your Cheating Heart: Soichiro's scheme revolves around this. Natsuki pulls a particularly cruel example on the smitten Keiko, bluntly telling her that he intends to marry...but not to worry, because he'll keep Keiko as his mistress.
 * Sanity Slippage:
 * Strictly Formula: The author remarks in the notes that this is a "cliche" romance.
 * Taking a Level In Badass: Sumi, who starts out as a naive and confused ingenue, is starting to show shades of this.
 * Together in Death:
 * Tsundere: Soichiro.
 * Yandere:  in the latter part of the series.
 * Your Cheating Heart: Soichiro's scheme revolves around this. Natsuki pulls a particularly cruel example on the smitten Keiko, bluntly telling her that he intends to marry...but not to worry, because he'll keep Keiko as his mistress.
 * Together in Death:
 * Tsundere: Soichiro.
 * Yandere:  in the latter part of the series.
 * Your Cheating Heart: Soichiro's scheme revolves around this. Natsuki pulls a particularly cruel example on the smitten Keiko, bluntly telling her that he intends to marry...but not to worry, because he'll keep Keiko as his mistress.