SUBSCRIPTION
NEW TOP HIT R18+
FavoriteYoshiwara, old Edo's paradise of pleasure, has been reborn in modern-day Tokyo.... In this playground of the powerful, where money rules all, women sell both their bodies and the idea of romance to their male clientele. Thrust into this world is the ingenue Asuka, who's been sold out by her foster parents to pay off their debts. While at first oblivious to the nature of Yoshiwara, she accidentally barges in on a "transaction" between a courtesan and her client. Confronted with her new reality of being bought and sold, she longs to make a break for it... but is there anyone around her she can trust...?!
Page Count 27 Pages
Publisher Solmare Publishing
Color or Monochrome monochrome
Ongoing
Digital Release Date February 28, 2022 (PST)
Juuoku no Are. - Yoshiwara Ichi no Oiran
Genre
Categories
Category Recommendations
Minikui Yuukaku no
Ko
Manga Grimm Douwa - Yoshiwara Oiran Reijou
Yoshiwara Aku no Hana
Omae o kutte ii
no wa ore dakeda zetsurin oyako no ejiki
The Husky and His White Cat Shizun (Novel)
Recommendations
N/A
Author(s)
UZUKI Ai (宇月あい)
Artist(s)
UZUKI Ai (宇月あい)
Year
2019
Original Publisher
Solmare
Serialized In (magazine)
Licensed (in English)
Yes
English Publisher
Mangaplaza
Activity Stats (vs. other series)
Weekly
Pos #688
Pos #1659 (No change)
3 MonthPos #3510
Pos #4589
Pos #2649
List Stats
On 11 reading lists
On 22
wish lists
On 12 custom lists
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Where to Read: Mangaplaza
Note: If you sign up for mangaplaza subscription and account, you are on a 7-day free trial where the first 10 chapters can be read for free. Thereafter, each chapter costs $0.99. It’s so worth it IMO. I don’t regret being it at all.
Synopsis: Yoshiwara, old Edo's paradise of pleasure, has been reborn in modern-day Tokyo.... In this playground of the powerful, where money rules all, women sell both their bodies and the idea of romance to their male clientele. Thrust into this world is the ingenue Asuka, who's been sold out by her foster parents to pay off their debts. While at first oblivious to the nature of Yoshiwara, she accidentally barges in on a "transaction" between a courtesan and her client. Confronted with her new reality of being bought and sold, she longs to make a break for it... but is there anyone around her she can trust...?!
Status: 21+ Chapters, Ongoing
Warning(s): First chapter contains depiction of attempted rape. There are some spicy panels throughout, but they lean more towards the artistic rather than smut.
Remarks:
I was exploring the new platform mangaplaza for smut (ahem) and blindly clicked on this read. I was expecting a trashy smut manga based on the premise, but holey -- this read was the experience of looking for copper and striking diamond. This manga is up there with my favorites now. I went back to reread after my initial read… and then I went to read for the third time yet again because I loved it that much.
What I didn’t expect was how well it handled the narrative of navigating the spaces between what it means to be a courtesan,and while being female and protecting one’s autonomy over one’s sexuality -- oftentimes, the delicate balancing act juggling both at the same time.A courtesan is elegant, charming, knowledgeable in all walks to charm her clients. But most importantly, a courtesan shall never falter, holding their visage high in her gait. In their endeavor to climb the echelons to the top of the social stratus, embodying the paragon of femininity; but alas it can only temporal, since a female’s primary value is in her youth.
A continual question or theme that gets explored, with different facets -- what place does love in such a system/society of courtesans if the nature of the business conducted treats love as transactional, thereby contradicting love as an ideal? Even in circumstances characters know their role and place, why do their hearts waver in spite of knowing better? I think it says a lot about human nature, that we endeavor to hope in the form of love even if the outcome is bleak. Through the various character portraits, you learn more about the people in the various roles in the operation -- the people who had no choice, but must endeavor nonetheless, straddling the conflicting interests; or the people who make the choices to take back their agency but end up as foolish losers in history. Even though elements of Yoshiwara are portrayed as ruthless and unforgiving business, there are heartwarming moments and interactions laden with a lot humorous character inactions. It’s almost strange to see… well, interactions between people who appear to genuinely care for each other, juxtaposed in a place like this.
Speaking of love and romance, oh my god I love LOVE the ML. He makes me so soft, but his interactions with the FL make me even softer into putty. It’s a delicious slowburn of two people who can’t have a future together due to current circumstances; but nevertheless, little small stolen moments weave their way in and lingering gazes that hang for just a little too long. The slowburn is almost like an inner candle, smoldering in and flickering emanating in the background all along. The ML is a sleeper hit, I did not see that coming.
The art is exquisite. The artist has taken a lot of care to research real life courtesans to capture not only their clothing/fashion, but also their expressions, gait and mannerisms to convey elegance. The storytelling told through is incredible as well -- especially in the character facial expressions that amplify the storytelling to new dimensions and convey subtleties. The dialogue will say one thing, but the facial expression and belies the small cues that tells the real story. It's absolutely incredible how the artists can completely transform your perception of the same character with just a turn of a facial expression. I’m a personal fan of the art style, with the fully rendered noses and faces, as well as the attention to line weight in hair and clothing.
Other awesome things to highlight:
Positive and complex female interactions, especially between the mentor and the FMC.
Female characters delivering the best showroom verbal smackdowns while dressed to the nines and all while maintaining their class
Trashy men getting their ass served through aforementioned above(^)
Character development from the FL. It’s very rewarding to see go through from a sheltered/naive to understanding the mindset of what it takes to succeed. There is a positive feminocentric message that the FL has to gradually learn that may surprise you.