Can we talk about the representation of people of color in this manga?

Apr 19, 2021 4:00 PM

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Mar 2021

My. gosh.

You really don’t see people of color in most mangas. This was a refreshing take on the historical aspect. The author did take their time to really research the customs of a culture.

Most of the time when you do see people of color, they are portrayed in such a haphazard way like a stock character almost and usually in a joking way.

Neeram’s character is portrayed so beautifully in this manga - well written and the art is overall top notch.

I can’t stop gushing over the romantic chemistry in this manga. There is nowhere in the story where it drags out. Just perfect.

So much emotion poured through the characters and this has become one of my favorite underrated series so far and part of it is because the romance is unconventional and the love interest is also unconventional from start to finish!

May 14, 2021 2:47 PM

ANTIENTROPY

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Jun 2019

It's not perfect with Neelam still having some inconsiderate behavior and appearing creepy and imposing initially, but he's also improved drastically! It's really refreshing in general to have a protagonist, especially a love interest that is a person of color since it's usually not seen as the "ideal" or "attractive" but the mangaka takes care to portray Neelam as him, with his cultural values that make him who he is for the better! His loyalty to his kingdom and Mariko, his tactfulness, and his business mind from being a leader, a lot of the manga does feel like a homage to the respect the mangaka has for the culture. There are some discrepancies but it's to be expected.

I do wish Mariko's culture was treated with the same respect as Neelam's in the manga, as she's also never imposed on Neelam for his background and respects his practices and even tries to learn Hindi to make him feel more at home intense times. Although it is nice Neelam tries to learn some Japanese, he loves Mariko for her and the empathy and respect she has. Understandably, the mangaka wanted to be real about the racism that was rampant in the 1960s, but for what the manga is, it is revolutionary in a lot of ways!

Although I wish they'd stop adding that white line on the lips for POC characters, it looks a little jarring but the art for the Indian architecture and attire such as the simple but accurate kurtas are really cool! I really hope a translation for chapters 44-54 becomes available or the series somehow gets localized.

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Can we talk about the representation of people of color in this manga?

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