Synopsis:
Aoi Tsubaki, the grandaughter of Shiro Tsubaki- a promiscuous man, has inherited his ability to see spirits. After kindly feeding an ayakashi, she is suddenly transported into the world of the spirits to be the bride of the head of the inn, otherwise, her only other option is to get eaten by demons. Unbeknownst to her, Shiro, who has now passed away, had a massive debt to the inn that was now hers to resolve, however, Aoi is not the type to allow herself to be pushed around. She makes a deal with the head of the inn to pay back her grandfather's debts by becoming an employee at the inn but none of the inn’s managers will employ her. Will she be able to secure a job or will her fate lie in the belly of a demon?
Review of volume 1:
First off, Shiro (Aoi’s grandpa) is rather debauched- I can see why he is a very unlikable character especially after fathering god knows how many children. Despite this, we get to see memories of how he spent his youth and what eventually led him to acquire his large amount of debt to the inn- I have to admit he was very handsome (╹ꇴ◠) and I can see how his charm managed to get him out of trouble. Despite this, I do feel sympathetic for the position that Aoi has been left in because of her grandpa.
Aoi cooks a variety of foods which are listed on her lunch menu and it made me feel so hungry- especially the ginger fried pork with pickled plum. From this, we get to learn a bit more about Japanese culture as it's scattered throughout the story such as the inclusion of Japanese cuisines (e.g.Omelette rice and Inari), as well as including oni masks- which are traditional Japanese masks worn for occasions such as Setsubun. I enjoyed getting a bit more of an insight into Japanese culture.
Throughout the story, we don’t get to see that much of Odanna (the head of the inn- pretty sure he is the male lead) so there isn't much development between him and Aoi. But we do get to see a lot of Ginji, a nine-tailed fox, who I believe will play a major role in the story's progression. I absolutely enjoy his innocent portrayal and how helpful he is towards a struggling Aoi. Although I found it suspicious when he mentioned how they had previously met (could this be a possible second lead??) ┐(ﾟ ～ﾟ )┌.
Overall thoughts and feelings:
The storyline is interesting due to being based around Japanese traditional folk tales which I have always found fascinating, and the inclusion of the oni masks piqued my interest. The illustrations reminded me of The Kings Beast (a manga I have previously reviewed) and the characters, specifically Ginji reminded me of Tomoe (a fox yokai) from Kamisama Kiss, another manga/anime I adore (´｡• ᵕ •｡`) ♡.
There isn't a lot of romantic development between Odanna and Aoi which was a shame, as well as not having much character development for any of the characters but there are 12 volumes altogether (as well as an anime- on my to-watch list) that may change this. This wasn’t left on a cliffhanger so I'm not overly eager to collect the hardback versions but I will most likely finish it…at some point. Overall, I’d say this was an enjoyable read and give it a 6.5/10. That is it until next Saturday for the next manga review…
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