Blissful Land

This is a very sugary, surface level romance with enough spice from Tibetan exoticism to keep it interesting.

The art style is strong: all of the characters are pleasant to look at and visually distinct. There's a clear enthusiasm for the aesthetics of the setting and the clothing is always very sumptuous and well realised. So too the spreads, which show very pretty and idealised plateaus for grazing or quaint little villages. The author's use of a radical style change for humour or intensity in expression is a bit patchy and you'll go a few chapters then encounter a panel with it, but it's not ruinous or irritating. The environments are a bit lacking in diversity and probably 60% of the story takes place in the main character's house, with the rest mostly being some non-descript rural locations that have no real distinct character. But it's not ugly at all and is enjoyable to look at.

The plot and characters are where this manga falls short. The characters are all likable, but they are all universally shallow. None of them ever go beyond a very surface level characterisation. The main character has a "quirk" of being fixated on collecting herbs. There isn't really any motivation for this, there's no articulation of what makes him like herbs, it just seems to be a shallow vehicle for gags and a shortcut to characterisation. So to with the female lead's fixation on dyes, which is even moreso underdeveloped. That trait exists solely to have some practical compatibility between the two love interests. The other characters don't even have these quirks: everyone is just benevolent and noble and kind, at worst slightly misguided and easily shown the light by the selflessness of the main character. This makes for extremely easy reading, but after the first two volumes, you realise that no conflict will ever exist within this story: the plots of the episodic chapters are predictable within 2 or 3 pages and mostly just involve a character worrying about something, then realising they shouldn't worry about it, and everyone being happy and nice together. Obviously, some people will just want this, which is fine, but it sort of flattened my enjoyment of it. It was nice but nothing more than that.

I think it's fair to compare this manga to Otoyomegatari, since it's quite flagrantly "inspired" by it, just swapping Turkic central Asian cultures for the Tibetan people. Otoyomegatari has two major things going for it over this manga: first, there is an actual romance and passion between characters. The couple feel like real people who are interested in one another and there's a real sense of budding love between them. Second, that manga isn't afraid to introduce violence, conflict and danger into the plot. The marital tranquility is contrasted with tension between families and characters and the risk posed by these events gives gravitas to the feelings of the characters. At no point does anyone in Blissful Land ever have the threat of, say, Monastic Slavery hanging over their head - which was a very real thing that happened in the setting. The author is uninterested in any darker or more troubling potential plot elements, and just wants a very surface level and saccharine depiction of the culture as a backdrop for a not very stimulating romance.

If you want something mindlessly indulgent, it's perfectly fit for purpose, but the brevity and unwillingness to introduce anything potentially painful means this isn't really a classic or must read.