テンジュの国

TENJU NO KUNI

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
5
RELEASE
October 9, 2019
CHAPTERS
25

DESCRIPTION

Khang Zhipa is a 13-year-old doctor’s apprentice living in a mountain village in 18th-century Tibet. One day, when he gets back from collecting medicinal herbs, he finds a bride-to-be and her wedding party will be resting at his home for the night. The bride’s name is Moshi Rati and it turns out she’s actually Khang Zhipa’s fiancee from another land, here to stay! Enjoy this heartwarming slice-of-life tale woven by a kind-hearted boy and his mysterious bride.

(Source: Kodansha USA)

CAST

Moshi Rati
Khang Zhipa
Nima Dolkar
Pema Kelsan
Derek Kund
Senge

CHAPTERS

REVIEWS

Shellshock
70/100
Overall its good. I liked it. Plays a lot of things well albeit i would have wanted more. 7/10
A sweet calming story. Not at the level of Otoyomegatari though to be fair not many can.

The series is about a 13 year old doctor in training, who has 1 day gotten a new bride. She and he are both living under 1 roof. and need to learn to cope with what is going to be there married life as they aren't officially married yet. Set in 18th century Tibet you have beautifully and incredibly well drawn culture of the Tibet people.

The manga is quite beautiful and i don't think i can really explain it any other way. Its quite similar to Otoyomegatari in terms of the theme and setting. The whole marriage concept and accepting new cultures and languages as well as moving to an entire different regions. Making new friends.

The MMC is that kind of boy that doesn't really care about girls. All he cares about is herbs and everyone knows this. I personally found this dynamic to be hilarious and heartwarming. As being an olden type of culture he has a big family. Everyone respects and loves the MMC but also understands that he's a freak when it comes to herbs and plants and shit.

The relationship between the FMC and MMC was actually quite good as well. Lots of blushing and cute moments. But i think it could've have worked better in the romance angle. Again i don't want to do this. But Otoyomegatari just did it better. I understand i shouldn't keep comparing a series to Otoyomegatari much less something that is as good as Otoyomegatari. To those who haven't read this series, It's like if i compared a battle shounen to One piece. But again Otoyomegatari did the whole understanding a new culture better and i think a lot of this related to the fact that we saw it from a girls perspective. In Blissful Land the MMC is more of a main character rather than the FMC and honestly i thought that was a bit determinatel.

Though we did see some of the Learning to accept new culture from the FMC's side its mostly the male lead that was taking the show. Who himself did have a lot of charm but i would've liked to see more on her side rather than his.

The FMC and MMC are both shy characters. Which in manga means that they are both chad-tier flirts. They say stuff that really embarrassing without realizing it and making each other blush. This happens not on many occasions so it has a good impact. Makes me giddy instead.

Like i said i did complain about the lack of physical intimacy between the main couple but to be fair they weren't wed yet, but maybe saying that i wanted some 1 to 1 action between two 13 year olds probably wouldn't work well either.

Anyway.

I enjoyed Blissful land. Its not winning any awards but the side characters are fun and exciting. No one is really an asshole, the parents are responsible and exist unlike many other shounen protagonists.
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BonBonVoyage
60/100
Sweet but shallow romance kept enjoyable by the Tibetan aspects
This is a very sugary, surface level romance with enough spice from Tibetan exoticism to keep it interesting.

The art style is strong: all of the characters are pleasant to look at and visually distinct. There's a clear enthusiasm for the aesthetics of the setting and the clothing is always very sumptuous and well realised. So too the spreads, which show very pretty and idealised plateaus for grazing or quaint little villages. The author's use of a radical style change for humour or intensity in expression is a bit patchy and you'll go a few chapters then encounter a panel with it, but it's not ruinous or irritating. The environments are a bit lacking in diversity and probably 60% of the story takes place in the main character's house, with the rest mostly being some non-descript rural locations that have no real distinct character. But it's not ugly at all and is enjoyable to look at.

The plot and characters are where this manga falls short. The characters are all likable, but they are all universally shallow. None of them ever go beyond a very surface level characterisation. The main character has a "quirk" of being fixated on collecting herbs. There isn't really any motivation for this, there's no articulation of what makes him like herbs, it just seems to be a shallow vehicle for gags and a shortcut to characterisation. So to with the female lead's fixation on dyes, which is even moreso underdeveloped. That trait exists solely to have some practical compatibility between the two love interests. The other characters don't even have these quirks: everyone is just benevolent and noble and kind, at worst slightly misguided and easily shown the light by the selflessness of the main character. This makes for extremely easy reading, but after the first two volumes, you realise that no conflict will ever exist within this story: the plots of the episodic chapters are predictable within 2 or 3 pages and mostly just involve a character worrying about something, then realising they shouldn't worry about it, and everyone being happy and nice together. Obviously, some people will just want this, which is fine, but it sort of flattened my enjoyment of it. It was nice but nothing more than that.

I think it's fair to compare this manga to Otoyomegatari, since it's quite flagrantly "inspired" by it, just swapping Turkic central Asian cultures for the Tibetan people. Otoyomegatari has two major things going for it over this manga: first, there is an actual romance and passion between characters. The couple feel like real people who are interested in one another and there's a real sense of budding love between them. Second, that manga isn't afraid to introduce violence, conflict and danger into the plot. The marital tranquility is contrasted with tension between families and characters and the risk posed by these events gives gravitas to the feelings of the characters. At no point does anyone in Blissful Land ever have the threat of, say, Monastic Slavery hanging over their head - which was a very real thing that happened in the setting. The author is uninterested in any darker or more troubling potential plot elements, and just wants a very surface level and saccharine depiction of the culture as a backdrop for a not very stimulating romance.

If you want something mindlessly indulgent, it's perfectly fit for purpose, but the brevity and unwillingness to introduce anything potentially painful means this isn't really a classic or must read.
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