Our protagonist here in this tale is Khang Zhipa, a 13-year-old doctor’s apprentice living in a mountain village. Set in 18th-century Tibet he is going about his daily duties of collecting medicinal herbs and such and comes home to unexpected guests! A bride-to-be around his age and her wedding party stay the night and Khang is due for the biggest surprise the next morning. The bride’s name is Moshi Rati and it turns out she’s actually Khang Zhipa’s fiancee from another land! I initially pegged this book for the slice of life genre for the slower paced focus on everyday life and such and I don't think I'm wrong.

For those who like their historical manga and or are history buffs, this manga is set in Tibet, and we get to learn proper Tibetan honorifics. For example when early in the book when Khang approaches Tenzin and calls out to him with "Tenzin-La" it is noted that "-La" is a honorific similar to the Japanese "-San" so it is a formal way to greet and refer to someone, in this case someone older and more established than him. "Pema-ga" is in the same vein as "Pema-chan", an affectionate honorific sometimes assigned to equals like friends or affectionatly given to those younger than you like children.

Learning about the different customs such as how Brides-to-be traveled: on the backs of their fathers--or on the backs of their husbands! Seeing the different herbs collected for certain medicines for certain ailments is also worth looking into (Barberry for eye drops, the Pelt of an Otter to stop bleeding) --with certainly I'm pretty sure many of them are still collected and used today. Seeing certain Tibetan foods like Tingmo, steamed bread and Sha Phaley, meat pie sends me down a rabbit hole on youtube looking up videos and getting hungry.

The artwork is a real treat to look upon and immerse yourself in from the opening shots of the mountain village with the farming plots and animals to the elaborate clothing. I got sucked into whole pages of interiors of buildings like the kitchen with such elaborate details where where herbs, cooking items and cupboards are all on the page. The pages that feature cooking and preparing medicines alongside chanting and conversation alone are worth their weight in gold. Khang, himself has a variety of silly and intense expressions that happen to make it on his face and can be seen in his body language throughout the book that speak to his boyish charm and innocence. Such captured moments are hilarious fun while others touch upon the severity of the situation.

At just fifteen he's still very much a child on the cusp on becoming a man yet old enough to be considered to apprenticed and relied upon to help out his household. I started off reading thinking the story would center on this boy and found that it focuses on Rati, his future bride, his family including his younger sister Pema and other fellow villagers. As adorable as it is to see him be wowed by Moshi in their first meeting, it is equally enjoyable to see him slowly learn about who she is and what her passions are. The two teens are still growing up and maturing emotionally and physcially: they're still figuring out each other and trying to process not just what being married will be like one day but who they'll be marrying. I had worried that Rati would be a side character, a means to an end--but she does have some budding agency. She's along for the ride and manages to be helpful being a key player in helping to resolve some of the conflicts in the book along with starting to find her voice in a new home, in a new village.

I'm a sucker for the focus on crafting the medicines and food items with healing properties of that time period. Young Khang's dedication to his doctor apprenticeship and his consideration and care of the people around him really comes across the more and more I read. He happens to think beyond himself to the people in the villages and surrounding areas without a doctor or healer and how, he wants at least the people local to have blissful smiles--with one less worry because he's around and can serve them. And tied with that is his blossoming relationship with Roti and how they'll figure out how to move forward. Not sure how long a series, how many volumes Blissful Land will be yet if the first volume is any indication of what the heart of the series is about, I'm game for the next volume following his and Roti's journey. Come for the slice of life premise, stay for the absolutely endearing journey of food and family and young adults figuring out how they can heal those around them with more than just medicine.

An absolutely adorable slice of life comic with insight to Tibetan life!
The scenery in this book was breath taking i loved how very detailed the art is especially with the clothing.
The dialogue is easy to follow and understand, just like your talk with friends and family. The comic gives a warm fuzzy feeling.

Overall it''s a good and easy story to follow.

This was such a cute manga. And not only was it really cute and an enjoyable read, the end had some very useful information on the customs, the prayers, and even how to make Butter tea! Rati really stole my heart. She was sweet, eager, and shy, but also proud of the things she created and excited to share more about them with her soon to be husband Khang Zhipa.

Being so young, I like that the author didn't have them married right away but spent the first volume letting us get to know the characters as individuals and meet their family. We know they will be wed, but attraction wasn't the main story point here at all. It was how will these two do together? How do they get along and what do they have in common? Khang Zhipa is a doctor in training who is obsessed with herbs, but we see him getting to know Rita and appreciating her more and more as the story progresses. He doesn't change who he is, but he grows up a little by asking for help from Rita and sharing his resources so she can use them as dye.

Overall I would recommend this to people who like happy easy reads and want to enjoy some beautiful scenic drawing with adorable characters in gorgeous clothes.

A cute little manga about a teen doctor in a tibetan village and his bride to be.
I must admit, it was a little weird to read about those children (about 13) who are about to marry, since child marriage is really a foreign concept to me. I'm glad that it doesnt't exist in my culture, even though some others still practice it, but it was interesting to get the different perspective of another and it is done in an innocent, endearing way.
The characters are sweet, even though I couldn't always understand the change of their moods, since I'm not familiar with asian culture or way of thinking. Also it took me some time to realize that the manga had to be read from right to left (don't judge, it has been some time since I read my last).

Anyhow, it is a cute story and the art is fine - so if you're interested in that stuff, definitely go for it. Blissful is a good word to describe the overall feel of the story.

I thank Kodansha Comics and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review.

Oh my gosh, how cuuuute is this manga? The cover is gorgeous. I was hoping the manga would also be in colour but it was in B&W line art. Not sure if that's because it's an ARC?

Blissful Land is an adorable story about 13 year old doctor-in-training Khang Zipa, who lives in a small mountain community somewhere in Tibet. He is dedicated to his future vocation and is an absolute nerd for herbs. He returns home from foraging one day to find that his future foreign bride has arrived. It was an arranged marriage he knew nothing about, but Moshi Rati is not only super cute but has an agreeable personality. No conflict there.

Also, no sarcasm from my end. This manga felt like a relaxing holiday between the more "serious" books on my current reads.

This is probably the second book I've read that takes place in Tibet (the other was far more serious) and I enjoyed the detail that went into it. Blissful Land packed the herbs, medicine, food and culture into the story, and because Khang Zhipa and Moshi Rati were strangers to each other's culture, we got to listen in as they explained it to each other. without feeling like it's an info dump.

Zhipa has a lot of heart and potential for his age. Rati is resourceful and hardworking. Parts of the story already hint how well they will complement each other. Both are young and learning to grasp the idea of being together. I keep expecting some nasty surprise to pop up, but it's been wholesome.

Perhaps my only complaint is that I can't tell the parents apart from the teenagers!

As far as art style goes, the cover is gorgeous. It's B&W on the inside, starting out with tonal washes, but progressing into line art, shading, and more typical manga art such as exaggerated facial features. I wish they kept this more consistent, or better yet, make it full colour like the cover. But it does make you wanna take some colouring pencils to the page and do it yourself!

ARC courtesy of NetGalley.

You ever read books that are just - niiiice? Definitely not page-turners but something about them keeps you going? Not boring, not that interesting, just - niiiice? That’s how I felt about the very blissed-out Blissful Land, Volume 1: niii - alright I’ll stop that!

It’s a Japanese manga about a small mountain community in 18th century Tibet. 13 year old Khang Zipa is a doctor-in-training who discovers he’s got an arranged marriage to the beautiful Moshi Rati. The two get to know each other. There’s no real story, barely anything remotely approaching what you could call “conflict” or “drama”; they make food and medicine together (no, those aren’t euphemisms - this is much too innocent a book for that!).

Still, it says something about Ichimon Izumi’s storytelling that I kept reading despite little happening. The main characters are likeable and it’s super cute seeing them “courting”. Learning about 18th century Tibetan culture was interesting and Izumi’s art is really lovely - the backgrounds are remarkably detailed and the food in particular always looks delicious.

Obviously this isn’t going to be for everyone and I think you need to be in a pretty chill mood to even kind of enjoy it or be a very young reader. Still, if you feel like the literary equivalent of being wrapped up in a duvet while eating the fluffiest sponge cake, check out Blissful Land!

My thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for a review copy of this one.

Blissful Land is a manga comic/graphic novel set in eighteenth-century Tibet, and it was this setting that essentially drew me to this book. This tells the story of Khang Zhipa, a thirteen-year-old “doctor-in-training”, who lives with his father, a doctor/farmer, his mother, also a farmer, and younger sister Pema. He is somewhat obsessed with the herbs that he collects, and prepares medicines to treat whoever is in trouble. He in fact dreams of helping not only his village but other villages around. When the story opens, he is returning home from another herb collecting excursion accompanied by his Yak and Sangay, his dog when he tries to help a farmer who’s been suffering exhaustion. They notice a party of travellers heading to their village, which is bring a bride all dressed in her finery. When Khang arrives at home, he is surprised to find the travellers there, and after a day or so, to find that the bride is in fact here to be married to him in due time, and will be staying with his family till then. The story is basically a very simple one with each chapter giving one a peek into the kind of life people in Khang’s position may have led every day, the things they did, the food they ate, and of course how Khang and his bride-to-be, Moshi Rati, get to know each other better, learn of each other’s interests, and importantly learn to communicate with each other as time passes. This is of course only the first volume so the story stops part way.

This was a really pleasant and charming story—despite having nothing much in terms of plot, it is wonderful to see what life may have possibly been like in a small mountain village of Tibet of that time. I loved the artwork, which is really very beautiful--the buildings and the surrounding mountains, and especially the costumes of the characters—I wonder if the final product has coloured pages because that would really make it so much better (like the cover, which is gorgeous). I also really liked how the author incorporated information on the various herbs and plants that Khang used in his treatments, and also the time and effort the actual preparation of various medicines took. Also the way the characters are introduced to the reader is fun. This was overall very pleasant to read, though I would have liked if the story didn’t stop somewhat abruptly even though it has a second part. 3.75 stars.

Loved this, historical manga is my favourite type! As this is the first volume there was a lot of set up but I enjoyed getting to know the characters and their daily life. The attention to detail in regards to to the clothing and culture was brilliant, it really added to the tone of the story. Looking forward to reading the second volume!

The setting is a peaceful mountain village in Tibet during the 18th century. We have 13 year old Khang Zhipa, apprentice to his doctor dad who loves collecting medicinal herbs. Come to stay is his bride to be from another land, Moshi Rati! The two get to know one another as they deal with situations around the area...

I was totally drawn to this manga because of the gorgeous cover art! I've read slice of life manga like this before and the art really sells it if done well. I loved the character design of our doctor apprentice on the cover and I hoped the internal black and white art would wow just as much... and for the most part it did! I really loved all the setting details and the clothing made the entire story pop. I loved Rati and his parents and sister, who was adorable. Zhipa though had this terrible propensity to be drawn with goggily eyes that made him look shocked. It seemed out of place and one note at times. I learned to ignore this look and concentrate on the other details which added so much more to the story!

I was really blown away at the different way the plot twisted and turned for such a peaceful, slice of life sort of story. Essentially this is a historical story of life for a doctor's apprentice in Tibet in the 18th century. It's not really very stressful expect for the day to day situations that come up... But the story still had a lot of emotional depth and explored different character's feelings in different situations... Like Rati is homesick and Zhipa doesn't know how to handle it and that is explored through the chapter. The countryside is utilized almost as a staging ground for peaceful negotiations as our couple get to know one another.

Yeah, so the tension in this is practically nil... Yet I love all the food, herbs, healing and day to day life facts. It’s a peaceful story sure but had such heart I was happy to keep reading to see what they would show next! It really is a testament to the story telling that the little dramas that arouse were enough to keep me engaged and wanting to learn more about this time and place.

The heart is probably what really sunk deep in my soul... Rati is a lovely girl and you just want to see her happy and settled. I found Zhipa has a lot of potential even though he is still clearly a boy. And the family gives this lovely environment for two teenagers to learn to grow and love together. It's certainly a different kind of life than we live now and even if it isn't totally historically accurate I find it quite close and doing a perfect job of giving us a sense of the pace of life and the day to day concerns of the people.

Blissful Land caused me to learn about another type of manga called iyashikei. It's a genre that is specific to Japan due to their high stress environment and busy lifestyles; its about contrast choosing country settings with a slower way of life and simple desires. It focuses on a calm and sedate pace that is centered on peace rather than tension. It's about an atmosphere of healing and finding beauty in the mundane.

Blissful Land is actually quite a strong example of an iyashikei manga. I found Zhipa has a fascinating profession with a lot of little fun facts to learn. The household activities were also quite compelling and just fun to learn about. This is the way history ought to be distilled... with calm stories and beautiful art.

Blissful Land vol 1 is a sweet, heart felt slow burn romance between two teenagers during a time in history when people married young and it was arranged by their parents. It's a bit of history that feels more like life in bites as we explore food, culture, locations and relationships in Tibet in the 18th century.

This is a gorgeous slice-of-life manga set in 18th century Tibet. The protagonist is his village's young doctor who gathers the herbs he uses to make medicine himself. Having visitors from another village is a big deal, and one of them happens to be a cute girl who helps him out with making medicinal butter. Meet-cute, 18th century Tibet-style! The first volume sets up the story very well and I am looking forward to the second volume.

The Blissful Land: Vol 1 by Ichimon Izumi is a lovely tale about a young Tibetan doctor. Khang Zhipa is following in his father's footsteps, learning to be a healer. His is a sensitive soul, and he hates seeing people in pain. One day, Khang Zhipa gets the surprise of his life, when his betrothed shows up. Moshi Rati is a cloth-dyer. She bonds with, her betrothed over barberry and safflower, herbs used in both professions. Rati begins to settle into the family, as the day of the wedding approaches.

Delightful artwork tells much of the story with little to no use of words. It is set in Tibet, and we get to learn proper Tibetan honorifics. Ex: -ga is equivalent to Japanese -chan when referring to an equal or younger person. Clues to Tibetan culture abound. There is a section at the end giving even more information. The anthropologist in me loved the culture lessons.

This isn't an action-packed story. Rather, it is a slice-of-life set at the Zen pace of the Tibetan village. Time passes in lazy fashion, as Rati settles in with the family that will be her in-laws, and gets to know her future husband. I adored Pema, Khang Zhipa's little sister. She's so spunky! Quite the little firecracker. Ohhh, and I just loved the conversation Khang Zhipa has with his da on how to talk to women. Rati had been acting distracted, and Khang didn't know how to approach her to ask. I'll definitely be on the lookout for the next volume!

***Many thanks to Netgalley and Kodansha Comics for providing an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Blissful Land, Vol. 1 by Ichimon Izumi is a very slow, lovely slice of life manga centered around a 13-year-old boy, Khang Zhipa, who is apprenticed to his father, the town’s doctor. It is a sweet, slow manga that is more iyashiki than slice of life. Iyashikei, for those who are unaware, are very slow manga that focus on the everyday activities of people, the tiny, happy moments in life, and nature as a calming, healing read. The emotional and plot driven stakes are virtually nonexistent, instead presenting the reading with a very calm, mellow story.

Blissful Land, Vol. 1 introduces Khang Zhipa, a 13-year-old boy who is apprenticed to his father, the town doctor. Khang assists his father in healing the town’s people of various illnesses, traverses the woods for medicinal herbs, and assists his mother in the kitchen when needed. One day a travelling merchant arrives in town with his daughter, Moshi Rati, who is to marry Khang.

What follows is a slow story of Khang and his fiancé getting to know one another. It’s a story about family, friendship, and budding love. It’s slow and sweet. The stakes aren’t very high, but they don’t need to be for this sort of story. Instead, the reader is immersed in a world very different from our own. We are invested in this young family and the everyday issues they face.

There isn't much more to say about this title as plot and character development are secondary to the everyday activities of Khang's family and creating a warm, happy feeling in your chest. And that's okay. The manga does exactly what it sets out to do.

The art in this manga was quite lovely. The village where Khang and his family live is idyllic, with a quiet beauty you never tire to look at.

If you like slow, sweet stories this is absolutely a manga you want to pick up. I quite enjoyed reading The Blissful Land, Vol. 1 by Ichimon Izumi. It was the perfect manga to pick up between denser reads, and I’m looking forward to further volumes in the series.

Culture and customs in the 18th century of Tibet were showcased in this great Japanese manga. Buddhist tradition was also presented because of how the young protagonist, Khang Zhipa, uses healing Buddhist mantra while making his medicines.

Furthermore, here in Asia, some children are subjected to arranged marriage by their parents and usually, they are sent off to get married during the adolescence period. Thankfully, this custom is slowly fading because of the modern age and on how children strongly opposed getting involved. However, in remote areas and in some indigenous tribes, it is still being practice because of poverty, lack of available schools and education, and mainly because on how elders want to maintain the tradition.

In this graphic novel, both parents of Khang Zhipa and Moshi Rati set up their children to get married. Moshi Rati's father even literally brought her to Khang Zipa's house and left her there in their care because he needs to depart to take care of his business. The wedding ceremony is still far from happening thus Moshi Rati needs to get accustomed to her fiance and his family.

I wonder about what kinds of problems Khang Zhipa and Moshi Rati will encounter as they try to get to know each other, or if this would continue as a light-read graphic novel that there are no huge complications involve in the flow of the story. Lastly, I learned about the traditions and the culture of Tibet during that time through reading this; I'm eager to know more so I want to get my hands on the succeeding volumes of this manga.

LOVE THE COVER!

Blissful Land, as the name suggests, gives off a serene atmosphere mirroring the hardworking but peaceful life of the mountain villagers. Even the supposed conflicts, if you can call it that, were the simple everyday, amusing sort that were resolved in a calm, reasonable way.

The manga is set in the 18th century at the time when people get betrothed at 13. Khang Zhipang is a pure-hearted boy more fascinated with herbs than with girls. He treats Moshi Rati as a friend which I think is a great way to get to know your future wife. Moshi Rati is a cute, sweet girl who fit right in her fiance's household. She listens with a smile when Khang Zhipang goes on and on about herbs. I think they're perfect for each other! I just hope we don't get one of those third party conflicts in the future volumes because that would be so cliche!

Khang Zhipang and his dad were the village doctors and the manga serves as a primer for Tibetan traditional medicine. This is good if you have an interest on the subject and I commend the amount research the mangaka did on Tibetan culture. However I tend to gloss over these panels because I don't even recognize most of these ingredients.

Overall, Blissful Land gives us something different from the usual high school setting. Tibet here feels like a mystical place and I get a fantasy vibe as well even though it's really slice of life. The mangaka's respect for Tibetan culture was very apparent and all the cultural aspects were handled with care.

I recommend this manga for those into historical, slice of life with a dash of romance.

P.S.

I received a copy of Blissful Land from Kodansha Comics via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.


SOUNDTRACK
To Heal
Underworld
Oblivion With Bells

I rarely ever review mangas, but this one appealed to me the moment I laid eyes on the cover.

This story centers around a boy named Khang Zhipa, as revealed in the synopsis. Khang is a doctor-in-training and hopes to help as many people as he can. However, reaching a few pages in, it's revealed that Khang is engaged to a foreigner girl named Moshi Rati. Their relationship quickly evolves to something of a friendship, and it seems like things will be alright.

However, I did have a problem with how slow-moving and repetitive Khang's story was becoming. It seemed like every other sentence was about herbs or Khang's job as a doctor. And while I know that it's important to the story, it was getting to be a little too much.

The art made up for this, though. I am not an artist by any means, nor do I know the correct terms to use when describing it. But I can say in my illiterate-artist way that I thought every page I scrolled to was absolutely beautiful. I loved the details implanted here and there, and I loved how fitting it was to the plotline.

For this, I rate Blissful Land 3.5/5 stars. I do hope to pick up the second volume and see what happens next.

When I saw the cover for <i>Blissful Land</i>, I was immediately taken with the lovely artwork, and the summary helped cinch my interest. This is a historical, slice-of-life story about a young boy, his family, and his young bride-to-be, and it was such a joy to read. The art and story reminded me so much of <i>A Bride's Story</i> by Kaoru Mori, though without the drama involved in that series (along with the controversial marriage). <i>Blissful Land</i> has such a calm and easygoing pace to the story, I think most readers would enjoy seeing Khang Zhipa's everyday experiences with his family and Rati as he learns more on how to be a proper doctor. I've not seen any (that I'm aware of) manga that take place in Tibet, so the background for this story was quite intriguing in that regard. I think the only thing that caught me off-guard about the art was the fact that Khang Zhipa's eyes are drawn rather wide for the majority of the volume. I would guess this is to show that he's always paying attention (if not "spacing out" to quote Pema, his younger sister), but I grew accustomed to it.

Between the endearing story and the beautifully detailed artwork, I would highly recommend <i>Blissful Land</i> to manga readers.

I rarely read manga, comic books or graphic novels. They don't work well on my kindle (since that's a paperwhite, and the resolution is just not the best, even if the illustrations are not in color), I prefer not to read on my pc or even my phone. That leaves paper versions, and those I just.... forget about?

But I saw Blissful Land on <a href="www.netgalley.com">Netgalley</a> and it was just so pretty, and the blurb so interesting, that I could not help myself to click "request".

I was slightly disappointed that the rest of the manga was in black and white. As I mentioned, I rarely venture into this area of books, so this might be a common thing. Even in black and white, the pictures are stunning. Lots of nature and detail. It made for a very peaceful read.

The stories in itself were homely and peaceful too. It is indeed slice-of-life, where you see how the doctor's apprentice goes about his day, gathers herbs (his passion) ans makes medicine to help his fellow-villagers. The research done on this shows in the details, with explanation of the herbs used and how the medicine is prepared.

What I disliked, was that the pacing seemed off. The stories move at a slow pace, but then you get a unexpected SUDDEN resolution of a problem. Sometimes I also seemed to lack some cultural background to really grasp things. Like why are Khang and his fiancee allowed to go off by themselves for an overnight camping trip? My western view of the 1800's and their purity culture raises an eyebrow there. You can't blame the author for this, but maybe the translator could have added some explanations points like these. The genderessentialism also irked me ("women are fragile and complicated! Men don't understand them!"), which is just a personal pet peeve.

I think I'd like to read the next volume, mostly because of the lovely imagery and my love for depictions of calm daily life.

This post will appear on https://readingthething.wordpress.com/ on 19/12/2018

Thank you, NetGalley for the preview of this graphic novel.

Blissful Land by Ichimon Izumi is a lovely manga with beautiful artwork, rich with Tibetan culture. I have always been a fan of slice of life mangas and this was a perfect read.

This is a very sweet story, I loved all the little details both in the illustrations and in the accompanying text, you definitely get the sense of the world these characters inhabit - but don't read this when hungry I implore you unless you want to be made even hungrier!

This was a lighthearted historical story set in 18th century Tibet, featuring a young doctor's apprentice and his newly arrived bride. The art is lovely and captures both the culture and the slice-of-life vibe very well. I wasn't as invested in the relationship between Rati (the bride) and Zhipa as I'd hoped, but I did love all the medicine-making and cooking scenes.

Recommended for lovers of historical fiction manga.

Review copy provided by the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.