Today’s Tub Manga: A Bride’s Story (volume 9)

I’m perpetually in awe of Kaoru Mori’s dedication to research and her artistic intensity. A Bride’s Story is absolutely, incredibly beautiful both visually and with its superb storytelling. Don’t let the title or potential subject matter turn you away–it’s not squirrely-girly shojo. Anyone could (and should!) love this.

As far as volume nine specifically…I loved it. While I love the backward-age dynamic of Amir and her husband, Pariya is the “bride” I can relate to the most. Watching her awkwardness throughout this volume was so endearing and all-too-realistic. And her interactions with Umar were so incredibly adorable and heartwarming.

I love this series and I really loved volume nine. It just made me so so happy.

Today’s Tub Manga: Golden Kamuy (volume 2)

What time is it? It’s Golden Kamuy time! Woo!

Approximately four pages into this volume, I wanted to scream to the world, “OMG I LOVE THIS MANGA!” It is really just that freakin’ good.

Saichi has great scars. Asirpa kicks ass and makes poop jokes. The bad guys are skin-crawly. The violence is intense, the live animals perfectly detailed, and the dead animals…even more perfectly detailed. The entire time I’m reading, I think, “Everything in this manga is perfect.” Even the comedy is totally on point. I can’t get enough.

 

Today’s Tub Manga: Drifters (volume 4)

I. LOVE. DRIFTERS.

I cannot tell you how many times I got goosebumps or flailed around and splashed water everywhere or wanted to shriek with excitement or just laughed out loud as I read this volume.

And omg look who has the cover. [trying not to scream] I thought I might just burst with excitement. I opened this today and I was so happy I kinda wanted to cry.

I know this sounds like a bunch of hyperbole, but I really, really, really love this series. And volume four has been a long time coming.

So, in this volume, we catch up to where the anime ended. We get the coup of Orte’s capital and Toyo’s fight with Hijikata. We get the introduction of St. Germi’s very brawny and topless warriors. Nobunaga’s excitement at his musket crew. Hannibal eating raspberries. I love the drama and the expressions and the cartoony reactions and the action and the violence and the humor and the history and every single panel is perfect…It’s all perfect.

We also go a little beyond the anime in that we see Toyo’s condition after his battle with Hijikata (spoiler: he looks like a mummy); we get a peek into Gumbinnen, where Tamon Yamaguchi is with the Hiryu; and while Nobunaga and St. Germi are speculating why the dog-men and cat-men tribes have risen up, I turned the page and laughed so hard. So we get to see what Scipio’s up to as well. 😉

I loved it all.

Today’s Tub Manga: Kaze Hikaru (volume 25)

I WAIT ALL YEAR LONG FOR THIS ONE DAY! KAZE HIKARU RELEASE DAY!

If you haven’t read it and you’re looking at that “25” number…buy all 25 volumes now. It’s totally worth it. You’ll want to have them rather than starting with one or two and waiting for the rest to arrive.

If you have read it, rejoice: here is another blissfully wonderful volume of Kaze Hikaru. This volume picks up where 24 left off with Hijikata’s flashback to his youth and meeting Kondo. It’s fitting that this volume was released on 8/1 aka “Yaoi Day” because volume 25 gave us some really smirk-worthy but so sweet Hijikata/Kondo panels. (We’ve seen how flustered Hijikata gets when people stay stuff like this, though, so please don’t tell him I said he and Kondo are adorable together.) Later in the volume we have some financial shenanigans in the Shinsengumi and as usual, Sei is a bit too naive and straightforward. But that’s what makes her lovable, right? Just ask Soji… heh. (And Saito, wherever he’s presently lurking…)

I have been reading this manga for a long time and I attempted to learn Japanese JUST to read this manga because it’s only published ONE VOLUME PER YEAR in English. I had to laugh at the author’s note in the back of the volume, specifically: “After all, the story is gradually reaching a climax, so perhaps it’ll be ending by around volume 28..? Then again, I also have the feeling that this series is nowhere near its end (haha)!”

“Haha” indeed. Volume 40 was released in Japan in late May of this year. So at one [English] volume per year…I might spend the rest of my life reading Kaze Hikaru.

AND YOU SHOULD TOO.