A Bride's Story

is a Japanese historical romance manga series written and illustrated by Kaoru Mori. It was first serialized in Enterbrain's '' Harta'' (formerly known as ''Fellows!'') magazine from October 2008 to November 2020, after which it transferred to Kadokawa's magazine in June 2021. Its serial chapters have been collected into fifteen bound volumes as of November 2024. Yen Press licensed the series for an English-language release in North America. As of January 2025, fourteen volumes have been published in English.

''A Bride's Story'' won the ("Intergenerational Award") at the Angoulême International Comics Festival in 2012, as well as the 7th Manga Taishō Award in 2014.

Synopsis

Set in a rural town near the Caspian Sea during the Russian conquest of Central Asia in the late 19th century, ''A Bride's Story'' revolves around a young woman, Amir, who travels from a distant village across the mountains to marry Karluk, a young man eight years her junior. The series follows their relationship as it develops, while introducing storylines about other young women and their daily lives with their respective fiancés and husbands along the Silk Road, and their struggle to keep on their livinghood amidst the advance of the Russian Empire's army.

Characters

Eihon family

The Eihon family descended from nomads, but have lived in a village for several generations. The family is largely patrilocal, but Yusuf, a son-in-law, married into the family.

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:A twenty-year-old woman and Karluk's bride. She stems from a different (semi-nomadic) tribe. She is skilled in archery, horse-riding, and hunting. Despite the noticeable age gap between her and Karluk, she genuinely loves him. She is considered old for a new bride, and long past the traditional age when women in the society have started having children.
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:Amir's twelve-year-old husband. He is the youngest son of Akunbek and Sanira. He works very hard to be a good traditional husband to Amir, but because of his young age, he struggles to form a closer relationship with her. Karluk is considered an oddity in that he is younger than his bride; traditionally the bride is usually many years younger than the groom.
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:Karluk's grandfather.
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:Karluk's grandmother. She hails from the same clan as Amir.
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:Karluk's father. A village elder.
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:Karluk's mother.
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:Yusuf's wife and Karluk's elder sister.
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:Karluk's brother-in-law. Seleke's husband. He lives with his wife's family.
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:Daughter of Seleke and Yusuf.
;, , and
:Sons of Seleke and Yusuf.
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:An English traveler and researcher. He has been researching the customs, language, and culture of the tribes and peoples.
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:A Ukrainian companion of Henry Smith and a veteran of the Crimean War of the Imperial Russian Army.

Residents of the town

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:A young woman who is introduced in chapter 6; attracted to Amir's free-spirited nature, the two become good friends. Her father is Togo, a potter. She is betrothed to Umar.
:Pariya also appears in a short-comic spin-off of the series called "Pariya-san wa Otoshigoro".
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:An old man who raises sheep.
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:A young woman in the village. Through Amira's encouragement, Pariya and Kamola become friends.

Halgal family

Amir's family. They are nomadic during the summer. Introduced in chapter 4.
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:Amir's eldest brother. He becomes the leader of the Halgal clan after his father's death in the battle against Amir's village.
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:A maternal cousin of Amir and Azel.
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:A paternal cousin of Amir and Azel. Unlike Joruk, Baimat is reserved, stoic, and dependable.
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:Amir and Azel's father, former chief of the Halgal clan. He is succeeded by Azel as clan chief.

Jandiq clan

A nomadic clan of the steppe, who agree to join an alliance of steppe clans and town dwellers against the Russian encroachment. They are introduced in chapter 96.

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:The chief of the clan, who agrees bind his clan to the Halgal family through marriage as part of the nomadic clans' alliance. Before agreeing to any engagement, Jahan challenges the Halgal men prove their worthiness by winning a horse race against their prospective brides.
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:The daughter of Jahan. Bique is chosen by Azel as his bride because of her strength and valour.
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:A young woman of the Jandiq clan who takes a fancy to Joruk.
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:A young woman from the Jandiq clan, she attracts Baimat's attention.

Other characters

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:A clan notorious for their wealth and brutality.
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:A young nomadic woman living with her mother-in-law. Introduced in chapter 12. Married at age sixteen, but in a few years became a widow of all its five sons as per tradition, which dictates that a widow with no children marries one of her husband's brothers. She becomes romantically involved with Mr. Smith, and eventually follows him to Ankara.
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:An old nomadic woman. She wishes for Talas to have a future with a loving husband. Later marries Talas's uncle in order to secure a good match for her.
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:The brother of Talas's father-in-law. A wealthy, aggressive man that wants Talas to be a second wife for his son. He reports Smith to the town's authorities which leads to Smith's arrest and later marries Talas's mother-in-law.
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: Smith's guide to Ankara.
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: Identical twin sisters from a thriving fishing village. Their father later marries the two sisters to the first and second sons of one of his friends.
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: Laila and Leyli's father is a fisherman who is strict with his children. He allows Mr. Smith to remain at his house believing he is a doctor. The twins' mother is . The girls' family also includes several younger siblings, their maternal aunt, their grandfather, and their grandmother.
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: Sarmaan and Farsami are the eldest and second sons, respectively, of a fisherman. Both are fishermen themselves. Sarm marries to Laila, and Sami marries Leyli.
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: The young wife of a wealthy and kindhearted man living in Persia. She is the mother of a young son, Hasan. Smith and Ali are briefly guests in the home of Anis' husband, though Smith never sees Anis herself. Anis is isolated and lonely until her maid Maarfe encourages her to join her at the public baths. Anis forms an immediate connection with Sherine, with whom she hopes to form a bond of sisterhood with.
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: A mother to a young son. Shortly after she and Anis commit themselves as sisters, Sherine's husband dies because of an illness. Anis persuades her husband to take Sherine on as a second wife and her family joins the household.
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: Pariya's suitor, a young man close to her age whose father raises sheep and runs a traveler's inn. A thoughtful and observant youth, he is skillful at a number of tasks, including calculating figures on an abacus. Umar and his father consider Pariya's liveliness to be a positive trait.
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:An old friend of Henry Smith. He is employed by the British government in India. Smith was sent to Central Asia by his order to provide access about the possible Russian threat to India during the Great Game. He provides Smith a camera to record life in Central Asia when Smith visits Hawking's personal residence in Ankara.

Publication

''A Bride's Story'' is written and illustrated by Kaoru Mori. It was first serialized in Enterbrain's manga magazine '' Harta'' (formerly known as ''Fellows!'') from 14 October 2008 to 13 November 2020. It transferred to Kadokawa's manga magazine on 18 June 2021. The series' chapters have been collected into fifteen volumes by Kadokawa as of 20 November 2024. The first nine volumes were published under Enterbrain's Beam Comix imprint; subsequent volumes have been published under Kadokawa's Harta Comix imprint. In addition to the release, a '' wide-ban'' collector's edition of the manga has been issued by Kadokawa since 20 August 2021. The ''wide-ban'' features large pages, high-quality paper, fold-out color illustrations, and special boxes to store each volume in. ''A Bride's Story'' is also available in digital e-book format in Japan.

Yen Press licensed the series for an English-language release in North America. The first volume was published on 31 May 2011; the fourteenth and most recent volume was published on 19 September 2023 The series received a digital release starting on 25 September 2018.

''A Bride's Story'' is also licensed for regional language releases by Ki-oon in France, Tokyopop Germany in Germany, J-Pop Manga in Italy, Norma Editorial in Spain, Studio JG in Poland, Punainen jättiläinen in Finland, Level Comics in Indonesia, Daewon C.I. in Korea, Kadokawa Taiwan in Taiwan, Siam Inter Comics in Thailand, and IPM in Vietnam.

Reception

''A Bride's Story'' won the Manga Taishō Award in 2014. It was previously nominated for the award in 2011 and 2013. The series also won the ("Intergenerational Award") at France's Angoulême International Comics Festival in 2012. It was nominated for an Eisner Award in 2012 and 2016. The American Library Association's YALSA division included the first volume on its list of Great Graphic Novels For Teens in 2012.

References

External links

*

Interview with Kaoru Mori, part 1
at ''Comic Natalie''

Interview with Kaoru Mori, part 2
at ''Comic Natalie''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bride's Story, A
2008 manga
Anime and manga set in Asia
Comics set in the 19th century
Enterbrain manga
Fiction about arranged marriage
Historical anime and manga
Manga Taishō
Anime and manga about marriage
Romance anime and manga
Seinen manga
Slice of life anime and manga
Works about Central Asia
Yen Press titles