Customer Reviews

Garden Dreams

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As you know from the description, this is a manga about two minstrels that come and visit a baron. I could sum this work up in one word "Emotion". This is a historical fiction that takes place sometime between the Middle Ages and the French Revolution, there is no technology mentioned so the time frame isn't specific, but the place is likely England or France. The minstrels come from the East Lands, likely the Middle East or Arabia.
One of the minstrels, Saud, is living with the trauma that he murdered his daughter, which he had to do when the Westerners were winning an attack on his family. The other, Farhad, is a talented musician and his somgs remind the baron of his tramatic past. The Baron himself is not your typical baron; he's very gentle and concerned not with wealth or his fiefdom, but about the depression he faces whenever someone he cares about or loves leaves him without a word. There is also a complicated issue of the death of his first love, something he blames himself for. To top it off, the baron was called to go to war in the East Lands, and having to kill furthers his depression. Farhad then manages to calm the baron by his presence and a promise he makes...
The art is beautifully simple, the backgrounds are virtually non existant, and perhaps this is to signify the fact the baron prefers relationships with the characters over material possessions. There's a lot of crying in this volume, and it's very emotional.
There's one scene where one minstrel exposes his "dark secret" which is he is gay. I thought it was cool but if this makes you cringe or you don't like this sort of thing then you might want to avoid this manga. It is DMP/June product so this is to be expected. On the flipside, there is no yaoi at all, and everyone ends up straight anyways so if you're into that then you may be disappointed. Otherwise this is probably the most emotional work I've ever read and gets full marks in my book.

I love Fumi Yoshinaga. This is one of those mangakas who not only knows how to set up the pace/panels to maximum effect--be it heartbreaking or lol-hilarious or ironic or just wonderfully surprising. Some of her works are among my very faves mangas--ANTIQUE BAKERY and FLOWER OF LIFE being my two fave of hers, but, really, she has no duds. Just some more mature and BETTER than others.

This one felt shorter than the others, less intertwined plotwise than some. But it's something of a heartbreaker. I will say that there is a satisfying ending, but there is tragedy galore here.

The theme seems to be one of "lost and found" and of how a kindness can bring redemption from tragedy. Seriously, kind acts here, even something that doesn't seem like a big thing at first (until you see its outworking), end up rippling hugely as time wears on. The beauty of this is that you see how it builds, tragedy after tragedy, loss after loss, mercy after mercy, love upon love...and then the ending that leaves you smiling, but only after the tears have dried.

It's set in a medievalish time with characters who have suffered greatly from war, crime, and poor judgement. But the characters (Baron, Farhad, Saud, Laurine, Isabel, the baron's ward/adopted daughter, whose name escapes me right now) are all essentially very good people who have suffered very bad things, and, especially the baron, seems to have reached the end of his suffering rope near the climax.

This mangaka can nearly do no wrong by me. For those who avoid yaoi, this ain't it. There's a point where it looks like it will veer that way, but it doesn't. In fact, the sex scenes are very brief, no nudity, very subtle, and both are within the bound of marriage. Nothing offensive in that way for those wo are sensitive to this stuff. But the story itself is full of violence (only shown once), because the times (and humans) are violent.

Interestingly, no food depictions. I'm so used to food showing up as a feature in so many of F.Y.'s works, that it was weird not to even see some medieval banquet in all it's feasty glory. HAH.

Recommended. So good.