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A BRIDE'S STORY
Vol. 1
(by Kaoru Mori, Yen Press, $16.99)
FROM THE BACK COVER:
"Acclaimed creator Kaoru Mori (Emma, Shirley) brings the nineteenth-century Silk Road to lavish life, chronicling the story of Amir Halgal, a young woman from a nomadic tribe betrothed to a twelve-year-old boy eight years her junior. Coping with cultural differences, blossoming feelings for her new husband, and expectations from both her adoptive and birth families, Amir strives to find her role as she settles into a new life and a new home in a society quick to define that role for her.
Virtually every character gets a little bit of the limelight in nigh-on every episode (although you may have to keep a sharp eye out for some of them), all without ever feeling crowded, rushed or forced. Juggling a cast of this size without letting any of them drop is no mean feat, yet Mai-HiME manages to make it look effortless. The ability to write episodes that seem like simple filler, while inconspicuously seeding them with important portents and subtle developments is a skill that, while not as flashy as composing bombastic explorations of the human psyche, is no less difficult or praiseworthy. The plot may only begin to kick in in episode 11, but the preceding episodes are no waste of time.
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