Manga: Ikoku meiro no croisée
The first book of Ikoku meiro no croisée by Takeda Hinata took me forever to find! It hit the bookstores late Nov / early Dec but it was already sold out in stores by mid December.
I hadn’t gone out and bought it immediately thinking that it was running in Dragon Age Pure and it’s probably under the radar, but I ended up having to check almost 20 different bookstores to find myself a copy in December.
The story takes place in Paris in the late 19th century, when Japan had just been forced by Admiral Perry to open trade with the west, resulting in the creation of a Japanese arts sensation in Europe and America.
Yune is a girl from Japan who was brought to Paris to serve in a metal crafts shop with a French family due to reasons that have not been fully explained, and the bulk of the manga is about how she adapts to the different lifestyle.
The author Takeda Hinata is one of those extremely rare artists that can produce detailed and consistent art in both CG and manga, and also draw detailed backgrounds at the same time.
One of the things I loved about the manga is that I get the chance to read about the vast differences between the French culture and Japanese culture 19th century as Yune tries to adapt to her new life.
Like how the French believed that you have to cool your entire body with ice or cold water when you’re down with a fever. (I’m still wondering if it’s true, Google doesn’t tell me!)
Great expressions from Yune too!
Ikoku meiro no croisée is a great improvement over Takeda Hinata’s previous manga serialization Yaeka no Karte actually, I thought she was going to fade away after hearing nothing of her after Yaeka ended, but she pops back years later with this great gem.
