Otoyomegatari

Mori Kaoru. Otoyomegatari | A Bride's Story. 3 vols. Tokyo: Enterbrain, 2009-11.

Reconstructive analysis via the internet hive mind indicates that I heard of this manga via rushthatspeaks' review of Shannon Hale's Book of a Thousand Nights and One Night, who recommended the manga as an example of how to write other cultures well. I know Mori better as the mangaka behind the enormously popular Victorian Maid Emma; I suspect the manga are similar in their levels of attention to detail and the sheer gorgeousness of the art.

Otoyomegatari takes place somewhere in central Asia in the mid-19th century; the protagonist is Amira, who's just begun living with the tribe of her husband Karluk. Amira and Karluk have an approximately eight-year age gap (she's older), and one of the pleasures of the manga is the genuinely affectionate, respectful relationships that develop between Amira and all of her new family members. Another pleasure is watching her hunt, ride, and shoot; the other is, as rush noted, just watching the various aspects of daily life among the nomads go by.

It's something of a slow start, admittedly, but there are hints of a plot in the machinations of Amira's oldest brother in her birth family, and in the presence of a British anthropologist who is completely unexplained thus far and entertainingly clueless ("Why did you change those hangings for these hangings?" "They look better." "Ah, they look better, okay." *scribbles*)--he may or may not be a player in the Great Game. I'll definitely be reading the rest of it.

It's been licensed in English in North America by Yen Press, too, and I'm told it's a nice edition. Yay.

Otoyomegatari

Mori Kaoru. Otoyomegatari | A Bride's Story. 3 vols. Tokyo: Enterbrain, 2009-11.

Reconstructive analysis via the internet hive mind indicates that I heard of this manga via rushthatspeaks' review of Shannon Hale's Book of a Thousand Nights and One Night, who recommended the manga as an example of how to write other cultures well. I know Mori better as the mangaka behind the enormously popular Victorian Maid Emma; I suspect the manga are similar in their levels of attention to detail and the sheer gorgeousness of the art.

Otoyomegatari takes place somewhere in central Asia in the mid-19th century; the protagonist is Amira, who's just begun living with the tribe of her husband Karluk. Amira and Karluk have an approximately eight-year age gap (she's older), and one of the pleasures of the manga is the genuinely affectionate, respectful relationships that develop between Amira and all of her new family members. Another pleasure is watching her hunt, ride, and shoot; the other is, as rush noted, just watching the various aspects of daily life among the nomads go by.

It's something of a slow start, admittedly, but there are hints of a plot in the machinations of Amira's oldest brother in her birth family, and in the presence of a British anthropologist who is completely unexplained thus far and entertainingly clueless ("Why did you change those hangings for these hangings?" "They look better." "Ah, they look better, okay." *scribbles*)--he may or may not be a player in the Great Game. I'll definitely be reading the rest of it.

It's been licensed in English in North America by Yen Press, too, and I'm told it's a nice edition. Yay.
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