Fushigi no Kuni no Bird - Vol. 7 Ch. 30 - Omono River

[MangaDex]

 

[hananoyuuki]

This manga never fail.to impress me. Its cute and informative.

 

[kuma]

it's always funny when someone bring "it used to be this way" but even traced little back to further past, things do change.

 

[Knonderd]

Is it true that western people used to value a women based on their purity? If that is indeed true, than it's kinda surprising to be honest.

 

[Nunally]

Hmm.. Considering she given birth her first daughter when around 14-15 and her daughter now is old enough to work (in another manga I see that 8 year old girl can already work). I predict the madam is around 22-25 year old now.
That and she already got 17 husbands 😂

@Knonderd I think so, Agatha Christie in her novel sometimes pictured how different (England) older & younger generation way of thinking are. Btw Ms. Bird is from England too, so I think this can be relevant comparison.

 

[toriaezu]

@Knonderd While not as bad as Regency England, even around the early 1900s there was very strong prejudice against any woman with a child out of wedlock, and divorce was almost completely unheard of. It wasn't really until the post WWII generation there was a big change in mindset.

 

[NoraDaimio]

I'm not liking these attempts at shipping them. Clearly Ito is catching feelings. It's rough watching this happen when you know the OG Ms. Bird married a guy called... John Bishop. So yeah, fuck that.

 

[denzith]

Will this ‘Clara Whitney’ appear in the future chapters? She seems like a rival to Isabella, would be interesting to see!

 

[toriaezu]

@denzith Highly unlikely, she only met Miss Bird after her journey was over and she was waiting for a ship to take her back home. I picked up the book from the library since it looked interesting and it was only sheer coincidence that Miss Bird was mentioned in it.

Incidentally Clara Whitney was descended from inventor Eli Whitney and ended up marrying a son of famous Japanese statesman and naval hero Katsu Kaishu.

 

[Panino]

They talk about an intermediary to discuss the divorce, but here Isabella served as an example that could be another way, acting as an intermediary for the couple to talk and solve their problems.

@toriaezu
Because I'm studying japanese a bit I could not miss how "proper" Katsu Kaishu's name is.
勝 海舟 = "Victory" "Ocean" "Boat".

Anyway, this Clara is a reminder that Isabella wasn't "cutie shoujo manga protagonist" at all.

 

[toriaezu]

@Panino Katsu Kaishu is only a nickname, so it is very appropriate. His family name really was Katsu though.

Clara's diary was very different from Bird's travel journals. She was much more focused on the social aspect of early Meiji Tokyo, in particular with the expats. She met quite a few important people, including the emperor himself and President Ulysses Grant, though she herself was essentially a nobody. It's an intriguing read, if you can manage to find a copy (as it is sadly out of print)

 

[jeezits]

Piggybacking off Panino's comment, folks need to realize that in real life Isabella Bird is in her late 40's during this trip and Ito was a teenager or in his early 20's. Moefication, as the translator puts it in the notes of the first chapter, of her appearance and manners is putting it lightly. But the manga is still very enjoyable despite the liberties taken with history.

 

[waled9k]

sheesh natsu for the streets

 

[jonathaneze]

womens are scary