The author acknowledged of "moeifying" the Mc. Which usually I would complain about, but her character is just so adorable

A very good historical manga where you follow Isabella Bird, a Scottish Lady and her Interpreter Tsurukishi Ito as they travel to unbeaten paths of Japan in the 1870s.

... Last updated on November 18th, 2020, 9:43pm

Great manga that lets us take a look at a Japan that was lost to time. It is set on a period when the old Japan that remained static for centuries suddenly had to open itself to the world and interact with it, which made it drop many customs and go through a Westernization process in order to catch up with the current world leading countries.

Isabella Bird makes her journey to document that old Japan that will inevitably fade away. We learn of their cuisine, where fish was still mostly absent as eating animals was deemed impure. We see rapidly growing cities and forgotten hamlets in the most abject poverty. Mixed baths were on the verge of disappearing as the government tried to get closer to the current Western morals to appear "civilized" like them.

There is a culture shock factor as a high class Scottish woman gets to see things she's completely unaccustomed to, but that also applies to her Japanese interpreter, a city man that seems to know about everything at first, but becomes as puzzled as the protagonist as they get to see these forgotten villages where "modernity" has not yet reached.

The manga is very reminiscent to Kaoru Mori's work in terms of art and well documented portrayal of everyday life in the 19th century. The author manages to have a personal feel despite the obvious influences. There's even a Mori-Taiga interview where both have an interesting chat. If you like Otoyomegatari or Emma, reading this is a must.

... Last updated on April 8th, 2021, 2:41pm