シャーリー

SHIRLEY

MANGA

STATUS
RELEASING
VOLUMES
Not Available
RELEASE
Invalid Date
CHAPTERS
Not Available

DESCRIPTION

Yet another maid-tastic manga from Kaoru Mori, "Shirley" is an evocative glimpse into the daily life of winsome, 13-year-old Shirley, a maid in turn-of-the-century England.

Volume 1 includes two other short stories:

An Afternoon with Nelly and Me
Mary Banks

"Mary Banks" tells about a maid with a Master who loved playing pranks on his servants. Frogs, spraying them with water, trip ropes and other forms of foolishness were all she could look forward to any day. But when her employer passes away unexpectedly, what will happen to Mary Banks?

Shirley or Shirley Medison/Madison?

Shirley and the oneshots in volume 1 were first published as fanzine (doujinshi) around 2000-2001, at that time the title was "Shirley Medison". In 2003 the first volume was released by Enterbrain publisher as just "Shirley", CMX later translated her name as "Shirley Madison". In 2006, the author decided to continue her work with Shirley and released two chapters under the title "Shirley Medison", these were followed by 2 more in 2010, then another 2 in 2013 and again 2 in 2014. Finally in 2014 all previous "Shirley Medison" chapters were released in "Shirley" volume 2.

CAST

Shirley Madison

CHAPTERS

REVIEWS

Krankastel
70/100
The typical Victorian lives of an atypical duo.
Third Mori Kaoru review, this will be brief. Just like Emma, Shirley is a maid show set during the Victorian era, yet rather than a historical romance it is a slow paced and lighthearted slice-of-life read, without fanservice or conflict.

Iyashikei lovers (especially fans of Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou) may appreciate this much but overall, I recommend it to everybody who craves for a short and easy read without violence.

__[1. A few details on its premise…]__
Outside two standalone stories included, the manga is devoted to the intertwined lives of 13 years old orphan Shirley Madison and 28 years old Cranry Bennett, a cafe owner.

After advertising for a maid in order to release some burden from her hectic lifestyle, Cranry takes in little Shirley, a decision that proves beneficial for both.
- Shirley is an adorable girl but her true noteworthy trait is being precocious, for she shows to be quite competent as a maid-for-all-work, especially impressive given the enormous amounts of work maids-of-all-work had to bear.
- Her mistress Cranry is also a fascinating character and an oddity for Victorian times, a strong woman marching to her own beat and desiring to conserve her independence emotionally and fiscally (to the extent of refusing suitors).
The two ladies' chemistry and time spend together drives the work, and they gradually forge a wonderful bond not unlike that of sisters. There are also foundations for character-driven drama unrelated to their relationship, but this has yet to be shown and might be included in a future release.

__[2. On Shirley's artwork…]__
The artwork is functional, overall good and greatly detailed quite some times, especially in tools and clothing (this is Mori Kaoru we are talking about). There are also some great backgrounds and parts are also quite cinematic, e.g. key details frequently made for good contrasts with blank space.

However, although it might be unfair to compare the artwork to that of her other larger works, Mori Kaoru appeared to have prioritised her larger pieces over Shirley. There were occasions where panels were drawn in a relative rush, evident in e.g. backgrounds that devolved from functional to seriously lacking needed details.

Nonetheless, the occasional drop in quality did not affect me too much, for I was in bliss over the slice-of-life. Shirley's true drawback is the short number of chapters plus the ongoing status, but one won't spend too much time reading up to the final chapter.
Hope you enjoyed my review! I also recommend you browse Jayne Walker for more meido.
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