Otoyomegatari (A Bride's Story) tells the story of several young wifes from central Asia in the early 19th century. In the first chapters, it shows Amir a 20 year-old woman married to Karluk, who is only 12. But eventually it follows Henry Smith, an english scholar that was a guest in Karluk's house, while he travels and shows other brides.
Otoyome is mostly a slice-of-life manga. It shows the food, the clothes, the customs and the activities of the people from that region at that time. It has it's tense moments, but it's more concerned in showing the life of the people and the brides' stories. This is nice, because unlike Europe, Japan, China, USA and other places, historical series showing that region are very uncommon.
Kaoru Mori's art is excellent. The amount of detail in the characters' clothes is almost insane. The backgrounds are also very detailed and she doesn't overuse the white backgrounds like many mangakas that try to cut corners. The flow of the action is good, though nothing special. The character desing is very good.
But the best thing about the manga are the characters. None of them follow the most common stereotypes and all of them have charisma. They are characters you can care about.
I found the historical side of Otoymegatari very interesting, since I like to know how different people live. But even if you don't care about that, the series has good romance and comedy.
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