A manga “review”

I think since FF16 it’s become pathologically impossible for me to develop an interest in media that actually have a fandom. The benefits of enjoying things that nobody else knows about are similar to the benefits of withdrawing from every online community and posting exclusively on one’s own website, and we know who loves to do that. On the other hand, Chroniques de la mariée de Bretagne was always going to be up my street, because it’s a manga (ticks the weeb box) set in 13th-century Brittany (ticks the “weeb about France and especially Brittany” box). Other things it features that I appreciate include swordfights, the Catholic church, internal colonialism, imperfect language acquisition, servants displaying ludicrous levels of loyalty towards their masters, and gender fuckery. In very general terms, there’s a similar vibe to Le loup blanc, which I enjoyed reading last year. I should probably make a list of books I’ve read that are set in Brittany and whether they’re Good or Bad, but it could probably be summed up as “Merlin’s wood is Bad and everything else is Good.”

A single volume of manga always seems very insubstantial to me because of how little text there is … I finished the first one in a couple of hours and it feels like the story is only just getting started, although I suppose that explains why so many manga series seem to go on for years and years. The French translation of volume 4 comes out next week and I’m almost certainly going to order it along with 2 and 3 from the fnac (there is no English translation and tbh I hope things stay that way). I’m looking forward to reading more of the series and having more thoughts about it, safe in the knowledge that I am unlikely to come across anyone else doing so.

My two favourite moments are the following:

An route. An route. This is so obscure and hilarious. (Also on the next page she asks him why his Breton is so bad and he’s like “I’m English” … 10/10, perfect.)

Their faces as they behold the most bishounen monk ever … I can’t. “Vous êtes… un moine ?” was basically also my reaction. Priceless.