is a Japanese '' shōjo''

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series written and illustrated by

Nana Haruta , is a Japanese manga artist. At the age of 15, she debuted with the short comic ''Ai no Ai Shirushi'' in 2000 and has been since known for her works '' Stardust Wink'' and '' Tsubasa to Hotaru''. Career Haruta published her first story at the ...

. The series began serialization in ''

Ribon is a monthly Japanese manga magazine published by Shueisha on the third of each month. First issued in August 1955, its rivals are ''Nakayoshi'' and '' Ciao''. Its target audience is girls roughly 8–14 years old. It is one of the best-s ...

'' magazine on December 29, 2003, and ended its run on April 30, 2005. The individual chapters were collected into four ''

tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...

'' volumes by

Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...

; the first on August 11, 2004, and the final on October 14, 2005. The series has been licensed by

Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...

for an English-language North American release as part of their Shojo Beat imprint.

Plot

Miku Yamada has liked Kyohei Fujioka since middle school, but once she gets the courage to confess, he thinks it's all a joke. To make things worse, when she gets upset, he calls her a "cactus alien" for being so prickly whenever he's around.

Characters

; : :Average high school student. She was quiet in middle school, but tried to change herself in high school to impress Fujioka, whom she has had a crush on since an encounter in middle school. She is very intelligent, being the top 23 students in her school and despite Fujioka's clueless nature and initial rejection of her feelings, she continues to pursue him and eventually becomes his girlfriend. ; : :He is a former delinquent. He dyed his hair back to black for high school. He is incredibly dense. Upon hearing Miku's confession, he rejects her feelings, saying he only sees her as a friend. However, he begins to reciprocate her feelings and confesses to her in chapter 12.

Media

Manga

Written and drawn by Nana Haruta, the ''Cactus's Secret''

began serialization in

shōjo manga is an editorial category of Japanese comics targeting an audience of adolescent females and young adult women. It is, along with manga (targeting adolescent boys), manga (targeting young adult and adult men), and manga (targeting adul ...

magazine ''

'' on December 29, 2003 in the January 2004 issue of the magazine. The series ended on April 30, 2005, in the May 2005 issue of the same magazine. At their panel at Anime Expo 2009,

announced they had licensed the series for North America as part of their Shojo Beat imprint.

Volume list

Drama CD

A drama CD adaptation of the first chapter was released as a mail-in gift in the December 2004 issue of ''

'', along with ''

The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross is a Japanese '' shōjo'' manga series written and illustrated by Arina Tanemura. The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross premiered in the September 2004 issue of '' Ribon'', running until the June 2008 issue. The 47 chapters were collected and publi ...

''.

Reception

Deb Aoki of About.com says of the first volume that while it has a basic premise, she was "charmed" by it. She also seems to enjoy Miku's characterization, saying "Miku is a likable gal simply because she's determined to get her guy to see things her way, no matter how discouraged she gets. Sure, she cries and gets angry, but she never wallows in self-pity for long. Miku's got too much pride and self-respect for that. That's a good thing, because shojo manga really doesn't need any more whine-y doormat heroines."

References

External links

Viz Media's Page for Cactus's SecretShojo Beat's Page for Cactus's Secret
* {{Ribon 2003 manga Comedy anime and manga Romance anime and manga Sharp Point Press titles Shōjo manga Shueisha manga Viz Media manga