Blissful land vol 1 by ichimon izumi

Khang Zhipa loves collecting medicinal herbs in the mountains above his peaceful, farming village. As he journeys home for the day, he stops and diagnoses a fellow villager with exhaustion, and rushes home to get him some medicine. As he arrives, he finds out a traveling merchant’s family will be staying the night with them, along with a bride-to-be who eagerly helps Khang make more medicine. In the morning, he finds her still in their home but without her family. To his surprise, he discovers he is the groom-to-be! Khang and his fiancée, Rati, spend time together, getting to know each other and helping each other, and integrating Rati into his family's daily life.

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This is a very comforting read and a little more kid-friendly than A Bride’s Story. Khang and Rati  are relatively the same age, and, so far, there’s no nudity. The whole story has a very slow, comforting pace that blends slice-of-life with iyashikei. The two mains are both good people with good hearts who want to help each other and other townsfolk, so the message of building community is strong and wholesome. This might appeal to romance readers who want something a little more laid back and without the usual comedy-of-errors storylines that abound in romance manga. 

The art is also extremely detailed like A Bride's Story​. Character are designed with intricate, beautifully detailed clothing and soothing facial features. I hope in future volumes, the characters can transition into other outfits, though, as everyone remained the same throughout. While it would historically stand that Rati would only have one supremely fancy outfit, I would like to see her in the every-day garb of the rest of the town.

Note: this story is currently only available in English in ebook format.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 7-12

Publisher: Kodansha
Publication Date: November 27, 2018
ISBN: 9781642125566 (ebook)

​Tags: Rating: 8/10, Suitability: Middle School, Suitability: High School, Manga, Romance, Slice Of Life, Iyashikei, ​Kodansha