Art: This is the true strong point of this manga! The art is rich in detail, stunning in scope, breathtaking in beauty, and astonishing in the amount of research that is behind the images. Many portions of the story are told completely with images alone, with the astounding backgrounds and exquisite attention to detail in the character's facial expressions and body language telling the story in ways that exposition could never manage!
The character designs are truly a delight. They are drawn with such fantastic detail and such stunning realism that it boggles the mind. Yes, the eyes are still over-sized for the faces, but other than that one conceit, they are so realistic they practically jump off the page! The one minor quibble I have with the character designs is that the women are a bit too similar looking, making it a bit difficult to tell who's who in some panels. However, the more I read, the better I can tell them apart, and to be perfectly fair, many of the women are related to each other, so they should look alike! Amir's mother-in-law and sister-in-law look so much alike they could be sisters, but closer inspection reveals the fine touches of facial lines and hair highlights on the mother that indicate her more advanced age...
The details in the fabrics of the clothes the characters wear and the wall hangings, rugs, and other cultural artifacts are incredible. There is even a full chapter devoted to the art of embroidery, with one of the young girls learning why she must strive to learn all of the family patterns that have been handed down from one generation to the next, as opposed to just her favorites. It also stresses the importance of embroidery skills for women in this 19th century Central Asian setting.
Amir, in particular, is a wonder of modern manga! She is, without a doubt, one of the most stunningly beautiful ~WOMEN~ in manga! Note the word emphasized in that last sentence! Amir is all woman! There is no trace of girl in her character design! Kaoru Mori-sensei has a penchant for drawing Amir naked, which she admits in the very funny author's notes sections, which pretty much qualify as Omake for these volumes. Don't be concerned with these being eechi in any way, however. They are very much non-sexual. One, in volume 2, is in a bath house, where Amir is bathing alone. The other, in volume 1, occurs when she and Karluk are getting ready for bed, but is entirely non-sexual, and part of one of the best sequences in the volume. The images, however, are some of the most realistic, and beautiful, depictions of the female form I have ever seen in manga! Amir is amazing! Full figured with ample hips and a firm and slim, but not emaciated, waist line. She is so unlike any other woman in manga it is startling at first. It is really art on a totally different level than most manga!
Character: Another strong point of the manga are the characters. Amir is an amazing young woman, with tremendous strength of character and confidence, but also a great deal of vulnerability and a need to prove herself as she finds her way in her new husband's family and home village. Being skilled with a bow and very athletic, she stands out from the other women in her new family, whose lives have been focused on different skills, since they are no longer nomads. The male characters are a bit less defined, but Karluk, her young husband, gets his fair share of development along the way. Many of the other characters have their own moments to shine, particularly Karluk's mother and grandmother, as well as Pariya, a young girl of marriageable age who befriends Amir and struggles with the tendency to be a bit more outspoken than women are expected to be in their culture, leading to some personal problems.
Story: Before I get into the detailed review of the story, let me state that the age difference, and extreme youth of the male lead, Karluk, is not a perversion or some sort of fetish. The average age of marriage in the Silk Road region in the 19th century was 14 or 15, frequently with the bride being even younger. The 12 year-old groom is a bit on the young side, but for their culture, the truly odd one is Amir, who is 20 years-old, far older than most brides of that time period and culture. One of the ironies of the story is that the only thing about their age gap that is remotely scandalous is that she is so old, while our culture would look at it the other way.
The story is probably the weakest aspect of "A Bride's Story", but that does not mean it is not excellent! Where it falters is in the flow and pacing departments, with some portions seeming a bit out of place and others seeming to drag a bit too much. The second volume has fewer problems with this than the first, as it has a more action oriented storyline. However, if one follows the main sequence of the story surrounding our young bride learning to be a wife; live in a village with her husband's family; adjust to the customs of said family; and grow in her relationship with her very young husband, it is a fine story with a strong emotional impact. The relationship between Amir and Karluk and how it progresses from shy acceptance; to curious admiration; to growing attachment; to genuine affection; and finally to blossoming warm, tender, and oh-so-sweet love, is particularly well done! The culmination of the arc, which takes place near the end of volume 2 in the chapter "Heart of a Bride" is really a masterpiece of storytelling, with tremendous character growth for Amir and Karluk.
There are portions of the story that seem to drag, like the intricate details about embroidery, a story of a young boy enthralled by wood working arts, or the tale of a brash, outspoken young girl whose bread is like a work of art, but who is unable to embroider cloth to save her life. These seem to detract from the story and interrupt the pacing of the main narrative, but they also provide a rich and colorful base of cultural background that help the reader to understand the rest of the story. While they might be better placed, so as to not interfere so much with the main plot, they should not be left out, as they really do make Amir and Karluk's world a much more real and understandable place.
And a wonderful, beautiful, and adorably sweet place it is! I recommend it without reserve and, despite the few nude scenes, found it appropriate for pre-teens with a high level of reading ability and an interest in historical fiction.
