Sakuran Paperback – 9 Aug. 2012

Quick read.I bought this manga at London Expo ComicCon 2014 because I have loved the film for many years now. Because it is a stand-alone manga, there are things that are explored more in the movie, but overall, the story was intriguing and entertaining. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and will definitely re-read it in the future.The artwork is amazing. Although, at times it was hard to distinguish some of the artists apart, the artwork was glorious, and there were several full-colour pages that were just stunning. The front cover itself is beautiful, with such vibrant colours - love it!Warning: this contains graphic images because, well, it's about Japanese courtesans in the Edo period. They have sex. A lot.

A mio avviso un piccolo capolavoro.

I cannot put this book down! I read it as soon as I got it cover to cover and here, I read it everyday! Great Art, Story, and you get the behind the scenes what it must have been like to be an Oiran in Japan. It wasn't easy, you had to be tough. You had to be perfect in the Arts, Music, and most of all Conversation. You couldn't have too many customers. You had to be Exclusive. Falling in Love is a No No! The only way out was to be bought out by a customer. 2 Famous lies in the Yoshiwara: "I Love You" and "I Will Marry You." Courtesans still are in Japan but only played by Actresses. Geisha on the other hand is a Profession. Dance, Music, Art, and Lively Conversation. (Sorry it is not permitted to take Customers to Bed.) You can fall in love and have private meetings but it all has to be discreet for a Geisha. Some marry and retire. Some marry and keep working. And some keep to the profession.

Sakuran is a pretty neat story. The issue i had with this manga was the actual book. It had poor binding at each of the color pages, and almost every color page in the book started to fall out on my first read through while the others detached completely. I purchased this new and was pretty disappointed at the physical copy. It's still a good read and worth your time, just be careful not to crease the manga at any point.

Manga arrivato in perfette condizioni, è sempre un piacere poter leggere autrici come Moyoco Anno!

I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick read but easy to read. It didn't get boring and the story kept going nicely. Sad story, as I expected it to be.