A Bride's Story

This review may contain spoilers.

All forms of literature seek to express and be able to awaken feelings, emotions, or sensations, these being stated in the work, in form of verse, prose, poem, among others. In the case of manga, not being the exception, it take us to worlds and adventures, awaken feelings and emotions, ignite thoughts. And this is because this is its main goal. Manga, as an art form, another legitimate medium of literature, is versatile and broad, and while certain demographics and genres seem to be all-encompassing and compartmentalize what people often assume what "manga" is about, from time to time gentle breezes do us remember that manga is literature and can be considered as such.

Otoyomegatari (A Bride's Story) is one of those gentle breezes.

Kaoru Mori, considered one of the eminences of the manga world today, is the one who brings us this masterpiece that reminds us that manga is more than what we consume every day, that it can be extremely artistic, educational, literary, flexible and superb. That's the word, superb.
Otoyomegatari brings us a very fresh and rare premise, a historical period drama, in a non-mainstream region, where the culture, traditions and customs of its characters are its main attraction. Because that's what Otoyomegatari goes for, and it does it prodigiously.

The Story
The story is located in Central Asia (mainly today Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan), which is already a different point from what we are used to, since this region of the world is little understood and a veil of mystery still weighs on it.
Aside from the location, the story takes place in the middle of the 19th century, and is about Amira, a twenty-year-old Kazakh girl who is married to a twelve-year-old Uzbek boy. The story will flit around this strange couple and how they will face their age difference, their cultural differences, and the times in which they live. All in a very wholesome way.
At the same time, we will see their customs, their traditions, their world, and we will meet more characters who will shape this story of time and space: the English anthropologist/linguist who is in love with the local culture, the neighbourhood, several brides and their respective misadventures, the nomadic tribes of the steppes and an omnipresent enemy, the Russian advance over Central Asia.
All this through a beyond all art.


The Art
The artwork is on a whole 'nother level. It is, in fact, its main attraction. It's the artistic style that really gives life and shape everything that the author wants to tell and there are few words to express it. It is one of the best artworks I have seen in a long time.

Another highlight is that the author really did her homework and did some great research on the peoples she deals with in her story, this is evidenced in her wonderful art and aesthetics. This point is important because the reader comes to know that what we read is legitimate, not half-made-up speculations of the author that is not really interested in the culture of the characters.

Criticism Now, a lot of the criticism that I hear about this wonderful story is that despite the gorgeous art, the story doesn't seem to come to anything, it's slow, and it doesn't seem to have an overall plot. I totally disagree. The story has a course and a point to reach, it has narrative, subplots, development, and a mayor distant enemy, what gives the false impression of no plot is the slice of life kind of pace. But the thing is that the story is not interested in giving you peaks of emotion, it does not need to, it does it when necessary, it flows beautifully at its own pace and in the end, it’s not that the story is boring or slow or does not have an ultimate plot, it's just not your kind of story. The reader's expectation unfortunately plays against many times at this point.

Other criticisms that I heard is that, although the reader already gets an idea of the type of culture and place where the story takes place, everything really feels in a timeless space, without context. I think readers who only read the first chapters will feel that way, but if you continue the story, it is easy to guess that it's the 19th century, taking also as a reference that the Crimean War is over, that the Russian Empire is advancing on Central Asia and that the British Empire is also on the prowl. Taking these data, we know that they are the times of the Great Game, which was basically the cold war between the Russians and the British for the dominance of Central Asia.
So, the readers are well informed and located in time and space.

I will not take my own criticisms into consideration as the manga is not over and I don't think it's fair to rush.

ConclusionSo if you like new and refreshing stories, history and culture, travel through time, old-fashion tropes, and good vibes in general, you should read Otoyomegatari.