There are a lot of mangas that focus on romance, being the path to a relationship the most common; yet these never really expand on developing it, let alone arrive to the point engaging in a marriage. In the case of Otoyomegatari, or in its english title "A bride's story", it presents readers with couples that either are or will be engaged, whilst developing their relationships and the hardships of these. This historical manga is a magnificent slice of life bundled with dramatic and romantic elements, as well as lightly expanding on its setting; even though readers may not care about its premise, the art alone makes it a must read.

~Story~

Being set in the 19th century in Asia, the story of Otoyomegatari revolves mainly around the beautiful young bride Amir and her husband Karluk, who is 8 years younger. Naturally uncertainty is a given, yet this is soon replaced by deep affection, even considering both cultural differences between the two. The synopsis of this manga is a tiny bit misleading, meaning it does not essentially focus on the previously mentioned couple: other brides are presented as well, in addition to developing side characters. The problem with this is that readers will find themselves longing to see how these develop more, meaning a bit more expansion on its story would be desired, instead of focusing on the afore-mentioned couple. Nevertheless, this was a small drawback.

The strength of the manga lies in its presentation and its execution: it settles the reader in an unknown location, with unknown people, as well as the unknown culture. It does a magnificent job by slowly revealing the people's interactions, the customs and its setting through the art and characters. These interactions are very well relayed to the reader, being very realistic, meaning it is not overly dramatized or having over the top action scenes. These are soothing and heartwarming; humor was found throughout the story, which was masterfully done, without any need of having gags in it. Rather, it uses its characters behaviour and their situations to its benefit to accomplish this.

Speaking of human interactions, these portray the life style of the civilization of the 19th century magnificently, while at the same time displaying how tough life was at that time, as opposed as current developed society. This was done through daily events such as fishing for food, herding of the sheep; intense house labour is no exception either, displaying the time-consuming embroidery engrained in the culture for instance. Historical accuracy is certainly a thing that can be mentioned about the manga: being the period that it is, traditions and society are well presented, including occasional conflicts, which naturally brings in some action. The fact that modern tools and science such glasses, doctors or fire weapons are introduced, creates a fascinating contrast of the old technology and its limitations.

~Characters~

The cast of characters in Otoyomegatari is small, yet all are of interest, which could be considered rare in the medium. What makes these characters alluring is the fact that all have a unique personality, each to whom reader may relate to; a positive aspect to this is that these can't be classified in archetypes, to maybe the exception of a tsundere girl. The characters display a great variety of emotions such as anger, fear, embarrassment, indifference which is conveyed very well to the reader. The people presented are not strictly from that area: it also displays foreigner such as british or russians.

Character development could be considered scarce in the story, yet for some of these they undergo certain changes because of events that affected them or their surroundings. This was never really an issue, as its strengths lay in portraying human relationships and developing them. Speaking of which, readers may wonder how the relationship is between couples, in particular that of Arim and Kaluk due to its age gap. This is maternal, rather than sexual. Other to point out is the fact that woman are strong and independent which is a pleasant sight.

~Art~

As mentioned earlier, the art style of Otoyomegatari is outstanding at the very least: the amount of detail and time put into each individual panel is astounding. Taking as example the embroidery, readers clearly observe how detailed and varied its designs are; backgrounds are fantastically drawn as well, matching with the amount of work put onto the whole manga, in addition to having good shading techniques. The character's design is certainly a sight to behold as well: these are beautiful and varied, applying to the male demographic as well. Emotions and character movements are well done as well, easily conveying the emotional state of the people.

~Enjoyment~

Otoyomegatari came certainly as a very pleasant surprise with its magnificent presentation, its characters and the art style: this lead to a very enjoyable reading experience. Its setting was also very alluring personally, as I enjoy the historical genre a lot. The manga had its drawbacks as well, such as the expansion on the story of the different brides, in addition to having no clear goal apparent, which was nevertheless a very small issue. So do I recommend this manga? I wholeheartedly do to anyone with a slight interest in either the historical or slice of life genre, as these were well presented to the reader. Even for those who don't, just reading a few pages for the sake of viewing the art would be commendable as well; you never know, you may begin to like it.

Thank you for reading.