Manga Review: Toukyou Lastochika

Name: Toukyou Lastochika
Author & Artist: MIYOSHI Furumachi
Chapters: 12 (approx.)  - Completed
Genres: Comedy, Historical, Romance, Shoujo, Slice Of Life, Tragedy
Plot:

In 1910, Hana Tsumura is hired to work as a servant for the Arima estate, throwing her into a turbulent whirlpool produced by the changing times and her meeting with Mitsuyuki, the young master of the household.

Review:
Recently, I bought this on Renta, a paid, online manga service in English since when I saw this, I had to buy it. I read this awhile ago but was hopelessly waiting for scanalations to pull through. Though I'm really happy to legally obtain it since it was such a good manga. It cost me about $8.64 USD so not too bad for 2 volumes of manga and I might make a post about my experience with Renta if anyone is interested.

I love historical manga, this being set in the Meiji era, had me intrigued from start to finish. It's a battle of social classes and the inevitability of how the two main characters were never meant to be. 


Labelled as tragedy, it doesn't over-dramatise the their situation but gives a realistic take on how things would've unfolded in the 1900s. Tsumura Hana is a meek but no-nonsense servant who has the backbone to stand up for herself. The manga shows the struggles of both the lower and upper class as Arima Mitsuyuki is initially hesitant to pursue what he really wants due to his position. He later realizes, however, that he doesn't want to live his life with regrets.

The love also progresses quite naturally and modestly so don't expect any possessiveness or wrist grabs here. Additionally, the atmosphere isn't too depressing or serious either.

It's short and bitter-sweet if I had to put it simply. It isn't like a tragic epic of star crossed lovers or anything and it won't make you ball your little eyes out. It leaves a pang of sadness and the realities they had to face at the time. I wouldn't hail this as a masterpiece but I could safely say it would rank in my all time favourites list just because of the simplistic art direction, the execution of the story and how it ended.

I am by no means a tragedy fan but it's nice to read a story like this every once in a while and was definitely worth purchasing. Try and buy manga if you can, support the mangakas.