From the Slightly Biased Manga review (emphasis mine):
So, the main character, Misao, is a rare girl that demons want to consume for various vitality reasons. She hasn’t had a boyfriend in all this time because she is haunted by childhood memories of a boy named Kyo, the only other person she met who could see spirits and who promised to come back for her ten years ago. Well, lo and behold, Kyo shows back up, and is apparently King of the Tengu and wants to wed Misao. She mistrusts him and assumes it’s for longevity (because wedding Misao affects the whole tribe positively), but Kyo may actually just love her.
Misao can see all kinds of spirits from Japanese folklore (beautifully, lovingly, and weirdly brought to life by the artist), and we can't help but see how awful and distracting her life must have been until now. When her childhood first love Kyo (who used to protect her from spirit bullies) returns to make her his bride as promised, it should be a really happy birthday. Only it turns out he's a demon, and she's a sort of special blood donor, and demons who drink her blood or eat her or marry her get a huge power boost for them and/or their clan. So maybe he doesn't love her and never did, and her perfect little romantic dream is smashed, and you can't really blame her for being bitter against Kyo. But maybe he does love her; she just can't tell. Happy sweet sixteenth!
She can't trust that he loves her because he's a demon. Kind of cliche, but not really. The artist does a good job of showing you that he really isn't quite human. His emotions are different; he comes from a different world with different rules for marriage and love and everything. He's possessive and creepy, and he licks her (even if that is just to heal the wounds inflicted on her by others trying to prey on her). He's doesn't meet her expectations of Prince Charming or match her few precious memories. In fact, he says he remembers everything, and his memories don't match hers sometimes.
But she's not stupid, so she notices that he's still always protecting her, and that even though he sounds incredibly, unforgivably cold and possessive sometimes, his actions could show that he cares for her. He puts himself in danger for her, time and again. But does he love her? Can he love her, you know, they way she thinks of love? And how can she be sure he does?
The author makes sure the reader isn't totally certain, either. He could very well be willing to put his life on the line for the power she could give him. We don't know exactly how powerful she really is, but we suspect incredible things. He feels just inhuman enough that we can make a case either way.
I think one of the reasons this series works so well for me is because the tensions are pervasive. Let's not lie: this can be one erotic story, but what makes it more than simple fodder for prurient interest is what the heroine learns later: that no demon should have the control to be able to simply lick her wounds enough to heal them and not go on to eat her or rape her, but he has, numerous times. When a rival arrives and points out that he doesn't have to wait until she's ready, we realize that Kyo is the same, strong enough to do whatever he wants but also willing to wait until she's ready. He is restraining himself to inhuman lengths for some reason. That restraint and obvious physical attraction pull at each other.
This manga benefits from the restricted point-of-view. We only know what Misao does, only see what she sees, hear what she hears. Kyo's character is developed through action, (lack of) facial expression, and dialogue. Kyo's actions sometimes terrify her when paired with his words. (After he flies with her, knowing she's scared out of her mind of heights, just after she tries to have a human boyfriend and almost gets killed by malicious spirit pranks: "I just wanted to teach you a lesson. You can't live without me. I have to teach your body that.")
He scares the meep out of her, but he also makes her feel safe and loved. She doesn't understand why or how both of these things can be true. Neither do we, but we suspect a lot of things. (Why are her memories so ragged? How could she forget he was a demon? What's up with the hints of ugly clan politics?) We believe he is scary because we see and hear him being scary, but we can't write him off completely because we know that we as humans are trying to explain the actions in human terms and with human reasons, even knowing the actor isn't human.
It's not like a regular romance where I might just get frustrated and want her to come out and ask the boy, "Do you love me?" because he could say yes but be lying or be telling the truth using love as his culture defines it but not as she means it. And anyway, how can she love a being she doesn't understand? How can she love him if she doesn't even know his expectations, ingrained in him by his culture she knows nothing about. Only time will tell if what he has to give is what she wants and needs and what she has to give him that he wants and needs.
I'm hooked; I'll admit it. If the story stays this interestingly conflicted (with those brilliant flashes of comedy) and if it follows up on all these hints of promise, I'm, with it for the long run. This one's a winner, and I hope it does well for Viz.
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