Haikara-San: Here Comes Miss Modern

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Haikara-san ga Tōru (はいからさんが通る?), also known as Smart-san, is a Japanese shōjo manga series by Waki Yamato. It was serialized by Kodansha in the magazine Shōjo Friend from 1975 to 1977, and released in eight volumes. The title can be literally translated into English as Here Comes Miss Modern or Here Comes Miss High-Collar ("haikara" being the Japanese version of "high collar"), or Fashionable Girl Passing By. In 1977, it was awarded the 1st Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo. It also has been adapted into an anime series from the late seventies, and then into a film and some doramas.

The female lead is Benio Hanamura, a young woman living in the Taisho Era. Benio has been raised by a single father, a high-ranked military man, since her mom died when she was a little girl. As a result, much to the despair of Hanamura Sr., Benio is a huge Tomboy: she doesn't want to get married, scoffs at boys, smokes, drinks, likes reading and riding her bike, and her only resemblances in regards to the Yamato Nadeshiko archetype are her looks and her penchant for wearing kimonos and hakama. Her best friends are Tamaki Kitaouji, a more girlish but also openminded young woman, and Ranmaru Fujieda, a very girly-looking guy coming from a kabuki background.

At age 17, Benio receives the shock of her life. Her father tells her that she's to be engaged to a man! Benio is horrified, naturally, and even more so when she meets her husband-to-be: Shinobu Iijyuin. He happens to be a guy with whom she had several encounters that day, all tinted with Slap Slap Kiss. So Benio is caught in quite the predicament: not only she dislikes the idea of being in an Arranged Marriage, but she has also noticed that Tamaki likes Shinobu quite a bit and she doesn't want to hurt her friend's feelings. Hm, what to do.

Eventually, Benio accepts the engagement -- to try scheming against it via telling and showing Shinobu that she's an horrible excuse for a Yamato Nadeshiko, so he and his family will hate her and call everything off. Yet not only Shinobu turns out to be a Nice Guy who has come to like Benio as a person and has a saint-like patience to her blunders, but she finds herself falling for him...

Tropes used in Haikara-San: Here Comes Miss Modern include:
  • Arranged Marriage: Shinobu and Benio. In a subversion, it's because of a family tragedy (see Star-Crossed Lovers) rather than mere social and economic interests.
  • Asian Gal with White Guy: Genderflipped Shinobu (mixed ethnicity) and Larissa (Russian). He still ends up with the full-blooded Japanese Benio. Also subverted since Shinobu, due to his Hair of Gold and Blue Eyes, looks very Western.
  • Badass Grandpa: Shinobu's grandfather plays it for weirdness.
  • Beta Couple: Tamaki and Shinobu's friend Shingo Onijima. Also, Benio's father and Kichiji.
  • Bittersweet Ending and Earn Your Happy Ending: The manga. On one hand, Benio and Shinobu overcome their difficulties, find each other again and finally get married; not to mention, Tamaki and Shingo get together too, and so do Benio's dad and Kichiji. On the other, this happens right after the 1923 Kanto earthquake and when Benio is about to marry her Second Love Tousei. Larissa is fatally injured via taking a Falling Chandelier of Doom for Shinobu; since he has recovered his memories, her last wish is to have him go search for Benio and make her happy. Benio herself is thought to be MIA after the Catholic church in which she was about to marry Tousei collapses; she has actually survived, so she an Shinobu find each other, but both are injured and are THIS close to be Together in Death, if not for Tousei's efforts and then acceptance of their mutual feelings. And then there's a bit of Fridge Horror when you recall that the now-together Tamaki and Shingo are leaving to Manchuria (it already wasn't an easy place to live in, but what happened in the 20-something years after this made it even worse).
    • In the anime, which was cut short due to bad ratings, it's rather... different. In the final episode, Benio is told that the mysterious Russian count is not Shinobu; Larissa has a photograph of their wedding day to prove it. However, an epilogue narration reveals that Larissa found Shinobu in Siberia; he was severely hurt, and was the spitting image of her late husband (and his long lost half-brother). The final episode concludes with Benio finally being reunited with the not-amnesiac-anymore Shinobu.
  • Bottle Fairy: Benio likes drinking sake.
  • Broken Bird: Larissa, due to having lost her husband whom she loved very much and being both a borderline Fallen Princess and an Ill Girl.
    • Kichiji also had her share of broken-ness in her past, though she takes it kinda in stride.
  • But Not Too Foreign: Shinobu, half-Japanese and half-German.
  • Driven to Suicide: Benio tries to drown herself twice when she believes Shinobu is dead. In the backstory, Kichiji attempted to commits suicide after losing her lover, an army officer, in World War I.
  • Dude Looks Like a Lady: Ranmaru Oh, Ranmaru.
    • Wholesome Crossdresser: He also pulls this more than once. Specially as Benio's "maid" when she moves into the Iijyuin home.
  • Eye Scream: Shingo Onijima was subjected to this in the past, and as a result he lost his left eye. He explains to Tamaki that this happened when he was a child, when trying to protect the girl who was his first love.
  • Fallen Princess: Larissa. She comes to Japan after escaping from the 1917 Russian Revolution, in which she lost pretty much everything.
  • Fat Girl: Tsumeko
  • Geisha: Kichiji. Benio tries to become this to support herself and Shinobu's family, but fails. She then settles for becoming a Hot Scoop.
  • He-Man Woman Hater: Tousei. Uncommonly for the trope, he has a Freudian Excuse: his Brainless Beauty of a mother all but abandoned him, thus he has serious issues towards women. Doesn't stop him from falling for Benio, though, since she's the only woman he truly trusts.
  • Heroes Love Dogs: The Iijyuin family has two: Tenmaru and Chimaru
  • Hot Chick with a Sword: Benio is a kendo student so she has a trusty kendo stick
  • Hot Scoop: Benio
  • Important Haircut: Benio, after deciding to work with her own hands and support the Iijyuin family.
  • Ill Girl: Larissa Mikhailovna.
  • I Owe You My Life: Shingo, to Shinobu.
  • The Ladette: Benio takes pride on being one.
  • Large Ham: Ranmaru can get pretty dramatic sometimes. Justified Trope: he's a kabuki performer, so he has acting training.
  • Long-Lost Relative: Shinobu and Larissa's dead husband, Sasha, were half-brothers: Sasha was born from the marriage between Shinobu's Missing Mom and a Russian count. Too bad he was a high-ranked officer of the Russian Army, and was killed trying to protect the Royal Family; this totally broke Larissa, and then she found Shinobu without knowing he was her older brother-in-law...
  • Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Benio and Shinobu to a degree. Benio and Ranmaru play it straighter, though.
  • Meet Cute: First Shinobu sees Benio crash her bike and finds it funny, so Benio slaps him. Later, Shinobu finds Benio up a tree, then catches her in a Bridal Carry when she falls off.
  • Missing Mom: Shinobu, Benio and Ranmaru lost their mothers early in life.
  • Names to Know in Anime: Keiko Yokozawa (Benio), Katsuji Mori (Shinobu), Rihoko Yoshida (Tamaki), Kazuko Sugiyama (Ranmaru), Mami Koyama (Larissa), Yoshito Yasuhara (Shingo)
  • Please Dump Me: Attempted by Benio at first. Doesn't work.
  • Plucky Girl: Benio, oh Benio.
  • Raised by Grandparents: Shinobu
  • Red Baron: Shingo "The Black Wolf of the Manchurian Steppe" Onijima
  • Romantic Runner-Up: Larissa and Tousei. The first is a specially tragic case.
  • She Cleans Up Nicely: Benio doesn't look halfway bad when in a Western dress. Specially in her gorgeous wedding dress... right before the earthquake hits.
  • Shoujo
  • Single Woman Seeks Good Man: It's Shinobu's kindness that drives girls like Benio, Tamaki, Larissa and Kichiji to him.
  • Spoiled Sweet: Tamaki can be a little child-like sometimes, but she has a heart of gold.
  • Star-Crossed Lovers: Benio and Shinobu, after he goes MIA in Manchuria and loses his memories.
    • Also, there are more cases in the backstory. First, Shinobu's grandma wasn't allowed to marry Benio's grandpa for political differences: the Hanamuras supported the Shogunate, while the Iijyuins were pro Meiji Restoration. (The most they got was the promise of an Arranged Marriage between their descendants).. Later, Shinobu's German mother couldn't stay with Shinobu's father for being a foreigner, and had to leave baby!Shinobu in the care of the Iijyuins.
  • Teen Genius: Ranmaru is just 13/14 yeas old and he's not just an accomplished kabuki actor, but he trains people in acting
  • Trauma-Induced Amnesia: Shinobu.
  • Tomboy: Benio
  • Tomboyish Ponytail: Benio
  • Tsundere: Benio, too
  • The Uriah Gambit: Shinobu was sent to Manchuria by a high-ranked military man with a grudge against him.
  • Unlucky Childhood Friend: Ranmaru
  • X Marks the Hero: Shingo, The Lancer to Shinobu's Hero.
  • Yamato Nadeshiko: What Benio does NOT want to be, despite having the looks. She doesn't seem to fall on Real Women Don't Wear Dresses, though: she adores the much girlier Tamaki and shows empathy for the also very feminine Larissa, to start.
    • Kichiji, being a Geisha, fits in more.
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