Author: Izumi Ichimon
Artist: Izumi Ichimon
Publisher: Kodansha
Genre: Historical, Slice of Life, Shounen, Romance
Release Date: July 11, 2018
Translator: Bordem Society Scanlations
A few days ago, this popped up in on my usual manga site and there wasn't really anything else interesting being published on that day so I decided ''Bleh, let's see what it's about.''
Turns out, it's actually pretty good. There's only Four translated chapters up at the time I'm writing this but so far they've been a pretty good read.
It is a bit different from the usual manga I gravitate towards but then again, I don't really stick to one specific genre anyways.
It's set in Tibet in the 1800's and is based around a young man named Kan Shiba, a 13 year old who's training to be a doctor under his fathers supervision.
On his way back from picking herbs he stops to help a resident of his village when they both witness a group of merchants speaking with another village resident.
Curiously enough, the merchant doing all of the talking happens to have a young woman bundled up and strapped to his back.
It seems that this was/is? a custom in Tibet where the groom will carry the bride out on his back and escort her back to his home if the marriage is agreed upon and the vows have been taken.
(I'm not sure if this is still a continued custom or if I even got it completely right, I'm not too knowledgeable when it comes to customs and history in general, sorry.)
anyways...
After they're done gawping at a not all too common site in their village they get back on topic before heading back to their homes to call it a night.
Turns out, the merchants are staying at Kan Shiba's house. Introduce Mosh Rati, the other half of our story and the moment both main characters meet for the first time.
It's basically a slice of life story about Two people getting to know one another and their interactions with each other and those around them.
New thoughts and new experiences, a flare of romance, the usual day to day thing for people.
I could say more but I don't want to spoil it for you! I'd rather talk about the art style and the setting instead because that's just as important of a factor as the story itself.
Speaking of the art style, let's move on to that!
I actually really like the way it's been drawn, it was one of the selling points for me when I was deciding if I should read it.
There's a lot of attention to detail and the characters are drawn with a lot of care, as are the backgrounds too and it shows that the artist put a lot of effort into his work.
The use of facial expressions work really well too, they fit the moment and add humor to the panel or show when it's something on a more deep and serious level.
It helps to follow the story and nothing ever seems unusual, cringy or out of place unless it's meant to.
The setting helps to add to both the story and the art work too because of the time it's based around. The lack of large populations and technology mean that the beauty surrounding the village is still natural and peaceful and this is emphasized by the clothes they wear and the tools and food they have at their disposal as well as the lush grasslands and hills around the village.
It's all around quite peaceful and nothing crazy is happening. It's not all over the place and hard to keep up with like some of the more recent manga I've seen and it's not so slow that you have to sit through boring and lackluster conversations.
Anything interesting or informative is kept in and the majority of the tedium is removed so as to not slow down the progression.
It's quite pleasant to just flick through the pages and see the different scenes and environments pass by as everyone goes about their daily lives.
I wish there was more I could say but honestly, the setting is simple yet elegant and I'd just end up repeating myself if I try to expand so let's move on to some personalities.
The characters have so far been other residents in the village but I'm guessing that will change come future updates.
There's personality and charm to each characters which go very well to fitting their art styles and from what I've seen so far, even some of the background characters or fillers have details to make them stand out among others and add personality.
This could be for effect or it could be because they may introduce some of them in the future. Who knows?
It's nice to see attention to detail and consistency to make it feel more like a village instead of having to filter people out because of how many there are.
little things go a long way to add feeling to something and make it that little bit more appealing and I do hope it stays consistent.
Now, I don't want to go on too long so I should probably start wrapping things up.
It's probably not something everyone may be interested in but I would recommend giving it a go if you're even the slightest bit keen.
I haven't built a long term opinion on Tenju no Kuni because of how recently I found it and the fact only 4 chapters have been translated so far but I've been really enjoying it.
The interactions between characters and the detailed and carefully done artwork make it an enjoyable read and I'm quite interested to see what happens next.
I'm hoping it continues on in the same manner but I can't do anything but wait til the next chapter so I'll just have to be patient.
Anyways, I'm going to leave it there for now.
Let me know what you think of it and I'll see you all later.
Rhiyous.
Always enjoy these Manga reviews, keep up the good work!