Kakuriyo manga Vol 7 impressions

I got the Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi manga vol 7 a week ago and finished reading it in one night (duh). However, because the world we live in at the moment is such, I couldn’t find the serenity to write down my impressions of manga vol 7 until now. TBH, I’ve been too absorbed with the invasion in Ukraine (and also amazed at the valours of the Ukrainians who keep fighting for their freedom, plus the courageous freedom fighters and freedom lovers from around the world, including those in Russia) to write about an escapee like manga and anime…

But… then I thought, perhaps we do all need a bit of an escapee, only to return again to the real world a bit more refreshed…  hence, this post…

Anyway…

Vol 7 of the manga covers the story of anime episode 10 after Aoi finished entertaining Ritsuko-san and Nui-nō-in-sama at the Moonflower (vol 6 manga, ep 9 anime). Manga Vol 7 starts with Aoi feeding her friends, including Ginji and Byakuya, the latter of which informed Aoi that Ritsuko-san and her husband were staying at Tenjin-ya, and the noble lady would visit Aoi soon. While Aaoi was preparing for the Tanabata Matsuri (the Star Festival) and decorating Moonflower, Ritsuko-san visited her. The lady told Aoi about her WW2 background and she also gave the younger woman the hagoromo (the kimono scarf) called the Scarf of the Seven Stars. That’s standard issue, the same with the anime. But what was NOT told in the anime but we learn from the manga vol 7 is that Byakuya was actually Nui-nō-in-sama’s mentor, and it was Byakuya who whisked Nui-nō-in-sama back to Kakuriyo just before Nagasaki was bombed. In the anime, Ritsuko-san IIRC told Aoi that Nui-nō-in-sama actually lobbied the Court so that he could take her back to Kakuriyo. The manga didn’t tell as such, but the novel might (I need to check the novel). Nui-nō-in-sama then returned again to Utsushiyo after the first atomic bomb blasted Nagasaki… and he then, like in the manga, whisked Ritsuko-san into the safety of Kakuriyo.

(By the way, the manga showed how gorgeous the fairy-like Nui-nō-in-sama was when he reappeared in front of Ritsuko-san… much more gorgeous than his anime version!)

Another thing: the hagoromo was actually passed down through a line of human women who had married into Kakuriyo. Pretty cool eh? And Ritsuko-san has five sons with Nui-nō-in-sama, actually.

After the scene with Ritsuko-san, we have the Tanabata Matsuri scene. Just like in the anime, Ōdanna-sama visited Aoi after Moonflower’s business hour. And just like in the anime, Aoi then served Ōdanna-sama somen with various toppings. However, the manga has more nuances here. First, Aoi left Ōdanna-sama alone at the veranda for a while, and the manga shows how the latter seemed to be rather pensive as he watched the night sky. After knowing his background story, I can’t help but wonder whether he was being melancholic because he remembered his loneliness those centuries ago (and his loneliness to date, from time to time…).

The second difference is that Aoi actually said that she only had leftover somen, but Ōdanna didn’t mind. Hence Aoi served the Master of Tenjin-ya leftover toppings for somen, and Ōdanna-sama ate them happily!

Get this: Aoi served Ōdanna-sama of Tenjin-ya leftovers. In fact, Aoi was also the first person (well, ayakashi included) who ever served Ōdanna-sama leftovers! 

And… not only her guest didn’t mind, he was actually quite happy about it. Ōdanna-sama thinks that Aoi must have felt close to him to be able to serve him leftovers… as close as a family can be! 

Of course Aoi dismissed that notion, but the panels that followed show how she was indeed getting more comfortable having Ōdanna-sama around. Just like in the anime, Ōdanna-sama ended up being too sleepy to return to his own quarters, hence he fell asleep at the Moonflower. Specifically, on the Moonflower veranda (in the anime, he fell asleep inside the Moonflower). Aoi tried to wake up him to no avail, hence she took a futon to cover him from cold. She even brushed a strand of his bang as she watched him sleeping… 

The day after, just like in the anime, Aoi baked a lot of bread for her friends. As they were eating, Sasuke-kun blurted out that Ōdanna-sama would visit Utsushiyo today, and Aoi looked a bit surprised and dejected. The scene that follows was not in the anime: when unbeknownst to Aoi, Ōdanna-sama asked her from behind whether she would miss him, she didn't reply. Instead, she just said that she didn’t know that he was there in the Moonflower. The Master replied that he just wanted to see her, to which Aoi then just said, “You must have had bread before” (because they were enjoying her bread when he arrived). Ōdanna-sama confirmed that, and he said he liked bean buns. Aoi said she liked it too, hence the happy Ōdanna quipped that rumour has it that a couple that has the same taste in cuisine gets along well…

Anyway, Ōdanna-sama tried Aoi’s bean bun, and declared that it was very good. He said he had eaten a lot of bread in Utsushiyo, hence he knows what a good bread tastes like. Aoi looked very pleased to receive his praise. 

(should I try to make bean buns then? Plain and sweet for the bread, with salty beans as Aoi made it? I’m SURE the novel has the recipe!)

Afterwards, Ōdanna-sama gave his orders kindly. To Sasuke, Ōdanna-sama asked him to ensure Tenjin-ya’s safety (because Sasuke’s father (Saizō-san) was going with Ōdanna to Utsushiyo); to Ginji, the management of Tenjin-ya; to O-Ryō, the guest satisfaction. And then to Aoi… he was about to ask her to do something, but then he said he’d tell her his request during dinner-time. 

The rest of the manga was about Aoi getting ready to enjoy the kaiseki (the Japanese haute cuisine) at Tenjin-ya, but just before she met Shizuna-chan. Vol 7 has no dinner with Ōdanna-sama yet here, it would be in Vol 8 then… oh perhaps later this year? Or next year?

Oh yeah, Aoi also asked the Nopperabo Sisters the reason why Tenjin-ya is surrounded by a canyon. The Nopperabo Sisters have no answer to that… but I wonder if it has anything to do with Ōgondōji-sama’s design when she created Tenjin-ya.

Overall, I love the arts of this manga. Waco Ioka has been doing a great job recreating the anime, and I actually love some of his/her arts more. For instance, though Ōdanna-sama is cute and gorgeous in the anime, the anime at times look weird, whereas he always looks crisp and gorgeous in the manga. Nui-nōin-sama also looks much more gorgeous in the manga!

(photos later during daylight, it's night time at my place now...)

 

I also love how the manga gives more details that the anime missed. I’d say the manga has more flexibility in adopting details from the novel, though I do have to check the novel again for more info e.g. re: Ritsuko-san’s sons and also whether Aoi did leave Ōdanna-sama gazing at the stars pensively while she prepared the somen using leftovers… I have a feeling those details would be available in the novel.  

One thing that I hope the manga can improve is the ending of each manga. I have to check again, but IIRC, at least Vols 5, 6 and 7 end in a ‘bland’ note instead of a heightened anticipation. What I meant is this: Vol 6 has Aoi being kidnapped and locked in the freezer. The manga could have ended Vol 5 with Aoi screaming for her life as water poured down the freezing storage room. Yet, IIRC, Vol 5 ended in a flat note. Vol 6 ended with Ginji looking uncomfortable when Aoi talked about the Southern Land mask… and it was okay…ish… However, Vol 7’s ending scene was Aoi being left alone in her lavish Tenjin-ya guest room, and I just feel… well, flat. I understand that if there was no conflict, then there’s no need to create it, but I think there are ways of ending the manga volume that makes us hoping for more. In this case, the anime episodes have been wrapped better, IMO.

Anyway, I’m still looking forward to manga Vol 8 whenever it comes, for it will have Ōdanna-sama and Aoi enjoying the kaiseki. Plus, we will see Hatori and Tokihiko-dono! 

And fingers-crossed, the next post will be the novel Vol 7 Ch 4 translation!

Vol 8 manga, out on 1 April 2022 in Japan!

Update 5 April 2022:

Vol 8 manga has been published in Japan a few days ago on 1 April. I plan to buy vol 8 manga JP ver (and the novel vol 12 JP ver) because I don't want to wait that long for the Eng ver of the manga... Will let you know for sure when I get the book.

Also, still have deadlines, so haven't been able to progress with vol 7 ch 4 novel. But it will be done, for sure! I should be able to resume translation in late April. Thank you for being so patient... ^_^