Emma, Volume 2

The Emma series is one of the best anime series I have read in a while, and worth reading through. It is a romance set in 1850s England. The story is driven by recurring and well-developed characters. Illustrations are well done and capture the settings well, as Emma moves between poor and wealthy houses and in-between. I don't like romances, but I liked this series. In this book, upper-class William finally gets Emma, the maid he has been interested in since meeting her, to join him on a date. They visit the Crystal Palace, and it's pretty and magical. Meanwhile, William's socially conscious father is moving on plans to set William up with a socially connected wife. William is paired with debutante Eleanor at a fancy dinner party, and the two hit is off talking about how their parents make them go to fancy dinner parties and it's not their favorite thing in the world to do. Emma's childhood also emerges, with some flashbacks to her arrival in London and early childhood before she was taken in by the kindly retired governess, Kelly. Emma also confronts her childhood, and decides to go back to her home town for the first time in 10 years. Overall, this series was a good quick read. It's a mindless romantic comedy. There isn't much that's serious, including the ominous class differences which are not at all developed and just sort of there. Characters reemerge through the series and are fleshed out over the course of 7 books. Even minor characters are likely to reemerge and become more developed at some point in the future. The series does a good job of building personalities, and a self-contained world.

Granted, the story and plotting has been somewhat predictable so far yet I'm still engaged by Kaoru Mori's intricate illustration along with it's weepy melodramatic tone. Without spoiling too much, there is a lot of significant plot developments in this volume that will seemingly take the story in new directions.

That was my initial (and continuing) thought as I read volumes 1-5 of Emma. Mori's crisp artistic style conveys the same emotions of love, fear, and hesitation that Jane Austen did 200 years ago. Fans of "Pride and Prejudice" and "Sense and Sensibility" will also fall for Emma's mishaps in her journey through life and love. However, reading is easier due to the manga format. Volume 2 continues in the same manner. The ever-popular maid Emma has feelings only for William, yet society can't permit two lovers from upper and lower class to be together. William crosses this unwritten rule and asks Emma out to the Crystal Palace. At nightfall, they are locked in and must wait until morning to return home. Although the romance between the two seems secure, Emma must soon decide whether or not to stay in London or return to her birthplace after her employer's death. Jane Austen-like mishaps ensue even though this drama plays out 90-so years after Austen's novels. This review refers to the German translation of Emma, but I recommend it to anyone who wants a clean, refreshing romance...because compared to some of the trashy manga out there, that's exactly what Emma is--refreshing.

As Kelly is tended for her deteriorating health, Emma and the Young Master Jones go out on a very proper tour (date) of the historic Crystal Palace, which leads to an unexpected romantic evening together. But perhaps things are not meant to be as news of their love comes rather tepidly to the rest of the Jones household... the most powerful of whom still has designs on Eleanor for the Young Master. All of this, and another spoilerific event, leads Emma to make a most drastic decision concerning her class-breaking relationship with William. A dinner party gives Eleanor a chance to strut her tailfeathers a bit while continuing to display her naivete. This gives the Old Master Jones a window to keep her in the picture and interested and serving as a piece of contention between father and son. Stephens, the Jones's head butler is given quite a few moments here and there to illustrate proper behavior whilst inserting a few droll (yet properly subtle) jibes... whenever I see him in panel, I instantly think of Anthony Hopkins and smile. Emma's origins and her first meeting with Madame Stowner are shown in this volume, along with the introduction of several new characters, the most important of whom only gets a few panels and is never ACTUALLY introduced... and keep an eye out for the shifty looking carriage driver as he shows up later as well (in almost Dickensian fashion).... Needless to say, volume two does a great job of thrusting the young lovers into the stark reality of their forbidden love while providing much in the way of character development. Paper stock issues are the same as the first volume, rough texture cover that easily bows and offwhite newsprint that muddles the crispness of the art. But, it's Emma, so I'm buying it anyway. I must reiterate my Vol.1 recommend here and implore you to buy this series... it is well worth it. As a post script, I must say I really enjoyed the alley cat's denouement and how it almost parallels with Emma's situation in this volume. Well done, Mori-sensei... well done.

Emma Volume 2 continues the heartwarming story about a shy maid who has fallen in love with William, a man from the upper class (and vice versa). The way Kaoru Mori tells this tragic and beautiful story is like reading a Jane Austen novel, except it's much better (in my opinion) and it is told through beautiful, simple, cross-hatched imagery rather than ironic and spoofy storytelling. As hinted in the first volume, this volume focuses more on the impossibility of William and Emma's relationship, at least in the eyes of William's family and a few other characters. This volume finally shows William and Emma together at last on their first date, but the ending (after hearing Emma's tragic past and some nasty confrontations with William's stuck-up family) is far more tragic, at least to the readers. The volume begins happily but ends sadly. Thankfully, unlike the anime that was originally going to end here (before season 2 was announced to begin this Jan in Japan), the manga goes on for five more volumes. Mori has us on pins and needles, and she probably enjoys it. Never before have I wanted two people get together so much in any manga, anime or any type of media/literature. Hats off to Mori, the genius romantic authoress.