Manga Review – A Bride’s Story Vol 3 by Kaoru Mori (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Manga/Historical Fiction/Seinen
Length: 208 pages
Publisher: Yen Press
Release Date: March 27, 2012
ISBN-13: 978-0316210348
Stand Alone or Series: 3rd book in A Bride’s Story series
Source: Birthday Gift
Rating: 4/5 stars
“Acclaimed creator Kaoru Mori’s tale of life on the nineteenth-century Silk Road continues, this time introducing a new would-be bride–Talas. A young widow, Talas opens her home to the researcher Mr. Smith, who has ventured to her town to continue his studies. However, when Talas’s uncle begins to see Smith as an impediment to his plans to wed his son to Talas, the old man’s schemes land the Englishman in prison! Far from friends and even farther from home, Smith’s outlook seems grim…”
Series Info/Source: This is the third volume in A Bride’s Story. I got this volume as a birthday gift.
Story (4/5): I enjoyed this volume. The story takes quite a different turn from the first two volumes as we instead follow the westerner (Mr. Smith) as he journeys to a different part of China. He gets into some trouble when his guide doesn’t show up on time and his horse is stolen. He ends up sheltering with a young woman and her mother. There was a bit more action and excitement in this volume than in the previous volumes.
Characters (4/5): I enjoyed seeing the story from Mr. Smith’s perspective and enjoyed some of the new characters introduced. Amir and Kharluk also make an appearance towards the end of the story.
Setting (4/5): It was good to travel to a slightly different area of the country and I hope we get to follow Mr. Smith further on his travels. I love that we are exposed to more history and culture of this region.
Writing/Drawing Style (5/5): I enjoyed the beautiful illustration and liked the change of pace. I am a bit curious as to where all of this is going and if the next volume will have us continue to accompany Mr. Smith on his travels, or if we will end up back with Amir and Kharluk.
My Summary (4/5): Overall this was a well done continuation of this series. I enjoyed the change of pace and scenery. This was a bit faster pace than previous volumes but still had a lot of that sort of “day in the life” feel to it. I plan on reading the next volume in the series because I got it as a birthday gift along with this volume. I am not sure if I will continue with it after that because the volumes are pretty expensive and while I like it, I don’t love it.
