|| Konohana Sakuyahime ||

92 pgs
Shoujo
Mangaka: SERIZAWA Yukiko
Publisher: Kodansha
Published In: Desert Special, Summer 2001

Note on the title: Konohana Sakuyahime is a goddess of Mt. Fuji. Her name translates roughly as "Princess of the Blossoming Tree Flower." According to myth (as written in the 8th century Kojiki), she was the daughter of an earthly mountain god given in marriage to the prince of a powerful family. She conceived on the wedding night, which caused suspicion. She sealed herself in a cave to prove her virtue, and eventually emerged triumphant along with her child.

Plot:
The summer she was 18, Reiko went to visit her grandfather in the country. She had grown up in Tokyo, so she found it hard to adjust. SUZUKI Noriyasu (a village boy who lives with her grandfather and is learning shamisen from him) tries to help her out, but seems to have little patience for her city ignorance.

One day while out shopping, Reiko faints from the heat. She is rescued by KUROSAWA Tsubaki, a 29-year-old artist from Tokyo. She finds him entertaining and easy to talk to, and stays all day. But when she returns home, Suzuki throws a fit. "He's a killer! Stay away from him!" he rants. Reiko disagrees, and makes her own choices. But what are the consequences?

What I thought:
Woah. I had never read a shoujo story like this before. It starts so innocently and gets so dark. It reminded me more of a novel than a comic. The kind of novel I usually avoid reading at all costs because it will depress the hell out of me. But.... I really enjoyed it.

I'm sorry to say I don't think it's available in tankoubon. But you may be able to special order it through fujisan.com. The Desert magazine code is 16541, but you'll have to be clear that it's the summer special volume, which is different from the monthly magazine.

Or you could just keep an eye on Desert Magazine for some of Serizawa-sensei's other stories.

::Characters::

Translation
Not yet transcribed.