Manga: Emma Vol 1

[meganbmoore]

Emma is a romance about Emma, a maid in Victorian England who mutually falls in love with William, the heir to a rich family(fortunately for her, she works for his former governess, not his father.)  While the series is visually perfect in depicting 1880s London, the class distinctions and interactions between the classes actually have very little resemblance to the proper mindsets of the time.  This becomes very obvious in the first few pages, when Emma and William meet when Emma accidentally opens the door of her mistress's house and smacks William right in the face then apologizes to him as an equal instead of as a servant of the times, and later teases him when her mistress gives him a hard time about standing so close to the door. 

While it keeps some vestiges of Victorian class society intact, the class distinctions here are closer to modern rich boy/poor girl differences than to actual distinction of the times, though many social and political issues of the times are evident here, though in small doses.  While the interactions between the classes are more modern, most of the speech and the actual depiction of Victorian London itself(especially the costuming and background art) are fairly spot on.  While part of its sales pitch is about the series being about a forbidden love between two classes, that aspect hasn't actually factored in very much, though it looks like it will in the next volume, as William's father has appeared and made it very clear that he expects William to make a socially beneficial marriage, and already has a bride in mind.

All that said, while fairly simple and straightforward so far, the story itself, and the characters, are very enjoyable, if not charming, so far, and I liked it a lot.  And let's face it, a strictly socially accurate story about a rich man pursuing a maid in Victorian England would likely lead to some rather uncomfortable situations that would be out of place in what appears to be a sweet and charming romance.

Number of manga

 

 

meganbmoore needs to get the rest of the volumes of so she can binge=3(as opposed to the "0" of not even 10 days ago...)