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Sennen Mannen Ringo no Ko (Apple Children of Aeon) #1
Apple Children of Aeon, Vol. 1
Yukinojo doesn't know his past, but he knows his future—a marriage to Asahi, heir to an apple farm in Aomori. But what should have been a quiet, pastoral life is interrupted one snowy day...and what should have laid dormant was awoken by his naïve hands...
168 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 6, 2012
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82 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
March 20, 2022
First, my gratitude to Kodansha Comics and Netgalley for providing me with a reading copy of this series in exchange for an honest review.
This is late. I was supposed to read this last week but I was held back by a busy schedule. But I'm free now, and I'm just so grateful that I tried to open this tonight. Worth the read, starting from the first few pages, I was already hooked. It left me in tears, and I'm really hungry for more! It just tugs at your poor, poor heart! The plot and the setting (countryside) gives me that Studio Ghibli vibe, and I wouldn't mind seeing it as one in the future. Calling Hayao Miyazaki's attention!
This series is just poetic, beautiful, with a pinch of salt and a slice of life. I just love everything about it. It's a perfect read after my depression with the last book that I read. This just made my heart start beating once again. Gah, this is precious. I need to see more!!
This is late. I was supposed to read this last week but I was held back by a busy schedule. But I'm free now, and I'm just so grateful that I tried to open this tonight. Worth the read, starting from the first few pages, I was already hooked. It left me in tears, and I'm really hungry for more! It just tugs at your poor, poor heart! The plot and the setting (countryside) gives me that Studio Ghibli vibe, and I wouldn't mind seeing it as one in the future. Calling Hayao Miyazaki's attention!
This series is just poetic, beautiful, with a pinch of salt and a slice of life. I just love everything about it. It's a perfect read after my depression with the last book that I read. This just made my heart start beating once again. Gah, this is precious. I need to see more!!
June 12, 2022
2.5 rounded up for both an excellent set of translator's notes and a very interesting use of folklore. The elephant in the room with this story is the use of a Scottish accent to render the Aomori dialect used in the original Japanese. While I understand the theory behind it, I do think it an unnecessary distraction to the story, as dialectic writing has both fallen largely out of favor in popular fiction (with the major exception of Scotland-set romance novels) and can present a barrier to reading for some learning differences. That said, the parallel between the teind of Scottish folklore and the bride for a local god in the unnamed village in Aomori is fascinating and speaks to the universality of certain folk practices. (As a note, "teind" simply means "tithe," but it's used in folktales like Thomas the Rhymer and Tam Lin to mean a human tithe paid to the fairies.)
Having finished the entire three-volume series before sitting down to write this, I can say that this volume does do a good job of setting the whole story up. I can also say that if you don't love this book, the rest of the series may not work for you as a whole, because it really only gets more esoteric from here. Still, it's an interesting piece, and the setting of 1971 gives it the feel of being just long enough ago that memories are hazy - modern enough for us to question the magic, but long enough ago that we can still wonder. That's the main vibe that the entire story gives off. It's hindered by the accents and a few elements of the series itself, but in some senses, folklore is just like that, an ambiguous statement that sums up my feelings on the story as a whole.
Having finished the entire three-volume series before sitting down to write this, I can say that this volume does do a good job of setting the whole story up. I can also say that if you don't love this book, the rest of the series may not work for you as a whole, because it really only gets more esoteric from here. Still, it's an interesting piece, and the setting of 1971 gives it the feel of being just long enough ago that memories are hazy - modern enough for us to question the magic, but long enough ago that we can still wonder. That's the main vibe that the entire story gives off. It's hindered by the accents and a few elements of the series itself, but in some senses, folklore is just like that, an ambiguous statement that sums up my feelings on the story as a whole.
March 11, 2022
[Thanks to Netgalley and Kodansha for a copy of this manga in exchange for an unbiased review.]
Upon graduating university, Yukinojo enters an arranged marriage with Asahi, whose family runs an apple farm in Aomori. Not quite fitting in, Yukinojo struggles to adjust and then he curses his wife with forbidden fruit. As one does.
This manga leads off with a very underwhelmingly slow first section, where Yukinojo wants to leave his adopted home because [no reason given] and so he gets married. And moves. And he gets to know his bride and the family, or at least tries - only Yukinojo has any amount of development.
Yukinojo works hard, starts to connect with people, learns the ways of apple farming, the usual. It’s incredibly pedestrian and accurately portrays both the demands of farming and the laid-back, gossipy nature of village life.
It looks like this is about to be a spirited discourse on the fish out of water story, but it then takes a turn as Yukinojo violates local custom that he had absolutely zero warning against and finds himself pitted against a Shinto god for his wife’s hand.
That part is more interesting, obviously, as the villagers are a suspicious and distrustful lot, as it turns out, and the curse slowly, but insidiously, starts to change Asahi’s body. It’s a unique take on body horror, really, and I quite liked it. Poor Yukinojo is at fault, but he’s also blameless, and just getting to know Asahi.
So, you have something that sounds decent enough, if not for the decision of the translator to make all the villagers Scottish. This is such a bad idea that I think this is the only manga I’ve seen where the translation notes should be at the very front.
The rationale makes sense, it does, but the rationale does not make up for the cognitive dissonance of having a small Japanese village full of Scots. For me, it was so staggeringly off-putting that I could hardly focus on anything else.
I’m not suggesting there was a better way to do this - my knowledge of Japanese dialect begins and ends at the attempts of translators to handle people from Osaka. However, this is a perfectly okay, if somewhat plodding, story otherwise that I couldn’t connect with. I’ve seen books that were brought down by bad translations before, but this might be the first where a specific choice felt so detrimental to what was on offer.
Again, this is all me. I think your own perspective is very key to enjoying this and it will definitely be for some people. For some, plodding is just slowly paced and the accents won’t be noticed and I think the story rewards those readers. I envy them.
2 stars - if you can handle the dialogue, nudge it higher. I feel for the translator, caught between the devil and the deep blue sea with trying to portray a very regional dialect, I really do. But I could not in my wildest dreams think of handling another volume of this.
Upon graduating university, Yukinojo enters an arranged marriage with Asahi, whose family runs an apple farm in Aomori. Not quite fitting in, Yukinojo struggles to adjust and then he curses his wife with forbidden fruit. As one does.
This manga leads off with a very underwhelmingly slow first section, where Yukinojo wants to leave his adopted home because [no reason given] and so he gets married. And moves. And he gets to know his bride and the family, or at least tries - only Yukinojo has any amount of development.
Yukinojo works hard, starts to connect with people, learns the ways of apple farming, the usual. It’s incredibly pedestrian and accurately portrays both the demands of farming and the laid-back, gossipy nature of village life.
It looks like this is about to be a spirited discourse on the fish out of water story, but it then takes a turn as Yukinojo violates local custom that he had absolutely zero warning against and finds himself pitted against a Shinto god for his wife’s hand.
That part is more interesting, obviously, as the villagers are a suspicious and distrustful lot, as it turns out, and the curse slowly, but insidiously, starts to change Asahi’s body. It’s a unique take on body horror, really, and I quite liked it. Poor Yukinojo is at fault, but he’s also blameless, and just getting to know Asahi.
So, you have something that sounds decent enough, if not for the decision of the translator to make all the villagers Scottish. This is such a bad idea that I think this is the only manga I’ve seen where the translation notes should be at the very front.
The rationale makes sense, it does, but the rationale does not make up for the cognitive dissonance of having a small Japanese village full of Scots. For me, it was so staggeringly off-putting that I could hardly focus on anything else.
I’m not suggesting there was a better way to do this - my knowledge of Japanese dialect begins and ends at the attempts of translators to handle people from Osaka. However, this is a perfectly okay, if somewhat plodding, story otherwise that I couldn’t connect with. I’ve seen books that were brought down by bad translations before, but this might be the first where a specific choice felt so detrimental to what was on offer.
Again, this is all me. I think your own perspective is very key to enjoying this and it will definitely be for some people. For some, plodding is just slowly paced and the accents won’t be noticed and I think the story rewards those readers. I envy them.
2 stars - if you can handle the dialogue, nudge it higher. I feel for the translator, caught between the devil and the deep blue sea with trying to portray a very regional dialect, I really do. But I could not in my wildest dreams think of handling another volume of this.
February 25, 2025
Algo muy diferente a lo que venía leyendo. Un josei lleno de misterio y de foreshadowing para lo que tal vez pase al final. PRECIOSO ARTE. Me he quedado tiempo viendo los paneles tan bellos. Tengo miedo por lo que pase con Yukinojo...
October 6, 2022
A manga that carries a strong sense of creepiness and nausea. The translation definitely needs some help, but the art was the saving grace of the tale. Rule number one don’t kill the cat.
March 10, 2022
Abandoned as a baby, Yukinojo can't help but feel adrift in life, so when an heiress to an Aomori apple farm proposes to him, he takes up her offer.
However, after he feeds his newlywed wife an apple from a mysterious tree, she becomes irrevocably changed, and the two of them are left trying to deal with the consequences.
Apple Children of Aeon, Vol. 1 by Ai Tanaka is a surreal and contemplative slice-of-life manga that’s steeped in Shintoism and magical realism.
I’ve got to say, this manga has such a wonderful sense of place, transporting readers to the idyllic Aomori countryside. I think it’s precisely because the setting and characters feel so grounded that the subtle fantastical elements woven into the story feel all the more believable.
On top of that, the art style feels like you’re opening up an old illustrated folktale. It’s simple yet charming and atmospheric. Honestly, the artwork and covers are so gorgeous that I wish that Kodansha will eventually come out with a print release.
Lastly, I love how introspective this manga is. Yukinojo is a poetic narrator who meditates on themes of life and death and identity through dream sequences. He lays bare his doubts and fears to the reader, making for an earnest and heartfelt read.
Overall, Apple Children of Aeon is a wistful and poignant beautiful gem of a manga that’ll endear fans of Go with the Clouds, North by Northwest and Spice and Wolf.
Thank you, NetGalley and Kodansha, for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
However, after he feeds his newlywed wife an apple from a mysterious tree, she becomes irrevocably changed, and the two of them are left trying to deal with the consequences.
Apple Children of Aeon, Vol. 1 by Ai Tanaka is a surreal and contemplative slice-of-life manga that’s steeped in Shintoism and magical realism.
I’ve got to say, this manga has such a wonderful sense of place, transporting readers to the idyllic Aomori countryside. I think it’s precisely because the setting and characters feel so grounded that the subtle fantastical elements woven into the story feel all the more believable.
On top of that, the art style feels like you’re opening up an old illustrated folktale. It’s simple yet charming and atmospheric. Honestly, the artwork and covers are so gorgeous that I wish that Kodansha will eventually come out with a print release.
Lastly, I love how introspective this manga is. Yukinojo is a poetic narrator who meditates on themes of life and death and identity through dream sequences. He lays bare his doubts and fears to the reader, making for an earnest and heartfelt read.
Overall, Apple Children of Aeon is a wistful and poignant beautiful gem of a manga that’ll endear fans of Go with the Clouds, North by Northwest and Spice and Wolf.
Thank you, NetGalley and Kodansha, for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
March 17, 2022
This is a wistful tale of rural Northern Japan's apple folklore. The main character is a slightly damaged orphaned young man who marries into a fruit-growing family. Is he of European descent? (I don't know the pictorial conventions of manga.) The translation is excellent, very ambitious, with explanatory notes.
March 26, 2022
My thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.
This one was too slow going for me, so I DNF'd. It's not bad, the storyline was just too slow in getting to the action for my taste. Very gentle though.
2.5 stars, rounded down to 2. Not my cup, but I probably read this one wrong.
This one was too slow going for me, so I DNF'd. It's not bad, the storyline was just too slow in getting to the action for my taste. Very gentle though.
2.5 stars, rounded down to 2. Not my cup, but I probably read this one wrong.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 23, 2022
Firstly, many thanks to Netgalley and Kodansha for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
The artstyle was simple and neat. Not my favourite style but i do like how it fits the storyline. The story was quite interesting, blending slice of life and mystery horror with fantastical elements. There are so much things to look forward to in the next volumes. This was an interesting premise and i like it for what it is
The artstyle was simple and neat. Not my favourite style but i do like how it fits the storyline. The story was quite interesting, blending slice of life and mystery horror with fantastical elements. There are so much things to look forward to in the next volumes. This was an interesting premise and i like it for what it is
March 25, 2022
I received a copy of this manga through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Not my cup of tea at all but I can appreciate the atmosphere and story-telling. It has art that reminds much older more traditional pictures and gives it an old vibe. The story has a slow and steady pace and the magic is flimsy if actually real.🙂
I am not a fan but I’ll give this manga its due credit!😉
Not my cup of tea at all but I can appreciate the atmosphere and story-telling. It has art that reminds much older more traditional pictures and gives it an old vibe. The story has a slow and steady pace and the magic is flimsy if actually real.🙂
I am not a fan but I’ll give this manga its due credit!😉
April 1, 2022
Rating: 3.88 leaves out of 5
Characters: 4/5
Cover: 4/5
Story: 4/5
Writing: 3.5/5
Genre: Folklore/Romance
Type: Manga
Worth?: Yes
First want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this in exchange for an honest review! The cover is what drew me in the most and then the summary of the story was so/so but enough to want to read it. When I did start it I wasn't so sure if I was going to actually like it. It seems kind of ordinary, it is a bit difficult to explain. I kept reading and was slowly, like the story, becoming interested then when I was very much into the manga the end came up. I was so blindsided. Lol. Needless to say I have to read the second volume. I need to know what happens.
Characters: 4/5
Cover: 4/5
Story: 4/5
Writing: 3.5/5
Genre: Folklore/Romance
Type: Manga
Worth?: Yes
First want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this in exchange for an honest review! The cover is what drew me in the most and then the summary of the story was so/so but enough to want to read it. When I did start it I wasn't so sure if I was going to actually like it. It seems kind of ordinary, it is a bit difficult to explain. I kept reading and was slowly, like the story, becoming interested then when I was very much into the manga the end came up. I was so blindsided. Lol. Needless to say I have to read the second volume. I need to know what happens.
January 15, 2023
Obosuna, Obosuna, apples in the snow.
Aeons and aeons, children in tow.
Once you are blessed, you are spirited away.
Have but a bite, and be blessed on this day.
Opening 2023 with this haunting tale of forbidden fruit and winter brides.
The story takes place in Aomori, where Yukinojo gets married to Asahi and relocates to Aomori, beginning a new life together with Asahi's apple farmer family. With apples as their source of livelihood and specialty produce of the Aomori region, the apple trees and fruit hold a cultural and almost mythical significance for the members of Asahi's community.
When Yukinojo offers to run a delivery for a cold-ridden Asahi, he runs into a snowstorm on the way home. As the storm subsided, he runs into a huge apple tree in Kuromori forest that is full of fruit and without its leaves withered. Seeking to help alleviate Asahi's cold, he decides to pick some and grates one for her to make her feel better. When the rest of the fruit turns to earth once Asahi had partaken of a bite, Yukinojo brings up the matter with his in-laws along with mentioning his discovery of the huge tree, making Asahi's family drop silent — the apple tree belongs to the great god Obosuna, and that partaking of the fruit would let a "blessing" befall the one who ate it. The blessing which means that a woman partaking of Obosuna's fruit becomes the god's bride as well. And then, the god will take away his bride a year later, on the day of the next Oneri, a festival. When Asahi's body undergoes changes (her hair and nails growing long, subtly shrinking in stature), Yukinojo decides to take matters into his own hands to save his wife.
Apple Children of Aeon volume 1 opened with a subdued pace that eventually sets the atmosphere of the whole book. Set in winter, and contrasted with the small town setting, it provided a very folklore/ fairy tale atmosphere that brings up an unnerving feeling little by little. The art style is also very distinct and suited to the atmosphere of the book and the unraveling lore behind Obosuna and his brides are very intriguing. In particular, I was very interested in the use of the apple as the center of the mystery and supernatural, which is often a fruit associated with something forbidden, death, love, or immortality. There also seems a more underlying reason why the town has such a link with Obosuna, so I am looking forward to read more in the following volume.
The dialogue took some getting used to, especially since the translation worded it in a way to differentiate it as a dialect, but it doesn't hamper the reading experience much — in my case, at least.
Aeons and aeons, children in tow.
Once you are blessed, you are spirited away.
Have but a bite, and be blessed on this day.
Opening 2023 with this haunting tale of forbidden fruit and winter brides.
The story takes place in Aomori, where Yukinojo gets married to Asahi and relocates to Aomori, beginning a new life together with Asahi's apple farmer family. With apples as their source of livelihood and specialty produce of the Aomori region, the apple trees and fruit hold a cultural and almost mythical significance for the members of Asahi's community.
When Yukinojo offers to run a delivery for a cold-ridden Asahi, he runs into a snowstorm on the way home. As the storm subsided, he runs into a huge apple tree in Kuromori forest that is full of fruit and without its leaves withered. Seeking to help alleviate Asahi's cold, he decides to pick some and grates one for her to make her feel better. When the rest of the fruit turns to earth once Asahi had partaken of a bite, Yukinojo brings up the matter with his in-laws along with mentioning his discovery of the huge tree, making Asahi's family drop silent — the apple tree belongs to the great god Obosuna, and that partaking of the fruit would let a "blessing" befall the one who ate it. The blessing which means that a woman partaking of Obosuna's fruit becomes the god's bride as well. And then, the god will take away his bride a year later, on the day of the next Oneri, a festival. When Asahi's body undergoes changes (her hair and nails growing long, subtly shrinking in stature), Yukinojo decides to take matters into his own hands to save his wife.
Apple Children of Aeon volume 1 opened with a subdued pace that eventually sets the atmosphere of the whole book. Set in winter, and contrasted with the small town setting, it provided a very folklore/ fairy tale atmosphere that brings up an unnerving feeling little by little. The art style is also very distinct and suited to the atmosphere of the book and the unraveling lore behind Obosuna and his brides are very intriguing. In particular, I was very interested in the use of the apple as the center of the mystery and supernatural, which is often a fruit associated with something forbidden, death, love, or immortality. There also seems a more underlying reason why the town has such a link with Obosuna, so I am looking forward to read more in the following volume.
The dialogue took some getting used to, especially since the translation worded it in a way to differentiate it as a dialect, but it doesn't hamper the reading experience much — in my case, at least.
March 16, 2022
Apple Children of Aeon is a fantastic manga that took me by surprise! What first drew me to it was the quality of the cover, which I thought beautiful and, now that I read the manga, I would say it is very representative of it. The story follows Yukinogo, a young man who freshly graduated with a science diploma at the University and whose particularity is that he was adopted—he doesn't know his past. So when he meets Asahi, a very direct and bold girl who is not especially graceful, and when she asks him to marry him, thereby drawing a clear line of his future before his eyes, he accepts her proposal. Here starts their story as apple farmers in the countryside. Yuki has to fake some smiles, be useful, and learn all the traditions of the village. Some on time, some too late: when on a snowy day he picks the apple of a beautiful tree, he doesn't know that he committed a sin towards the God Obosuna and that he has blessed his little wife by making her eat one.
I think that what I liked the most about this story is all the traditions created by the mangaka. I learnt that all of them were fictional, inspired by Shinto legends. There was a theological aspect that I found very interesting, and it was even more after I read the notes by the translators at the end of the manga.
I don't think this is the type of story that makes you fall in love with its characters. You can still relate to them at some points, but I didn't feel particularly close to them. Still, I think that the relationship between Yukinogo and Asahi grew to be very adorable and cute, and I'd love to see where the story is going to watch them grow to be inseparable. It is clear that, by the end of this first book, Yuki is attached to Asahi. She makes him feel like no one has done so before.
There were some parts that touched sensible strings of my heart because it depicted life so fully that it reminded me of my own, and that made me very emotional.
On the whole, I would say that Apple Children of Aeon is a very insightful manga, which I wouldn't recommend to everyone because its themes are very specific and not to be read the same way one would read another manga like, let's say a shojo or a shonen. This one is definitely seinen.
I'm very happy to have read it! It was a great discovery! Thank you so much Netgalley and Kodansha for letting me review Apple Children of Aeon! As always, it was a pleasure!
I think that what I liked the most about this story is all the traditions created by the mangaka. I learnt that all of them were fictional, inspired by Shinto legends. There was a theological aspect that I found very interesting, and it was even more after I read the notes by the translators at the end of the manga.
I don't think this is the type of story that makes you fall in love with its characters. You can still relate to them at some points, but I didn't feel particularly close to them. Still, I think that the relationship between Yukinogo and Asahi grew to be very adorable and cute, and I'd love to see where the story is going to watch them grow to be inseparable. It is clear that, by the end of this first book, Yuki is attached to Asahi. She makes him feel like no one has done so before.
There were some parts that touched sensible strings of my heart because it depicted life so fully that it reminded me of my own, and that made me very emotional.
On the whole, I would say that Apple Children of Aeon is a very insightful manga, which I wouldn't recommend to everyone because its themes are very specific and not to be read the same way one would read another manga like, let's say a shojo or a shonen. This one is definitely seinen.
I'm very happy to have read it! It was a great discovery! Thank you so much Netgalley and Kodansha for letting me review Apple Children of Aeon! As always, it was a pleasure!
March 22, 2022
Story: This story did take a complete turn on me. I thought this might be a mysterious but slow coming of a ge story about a guy who doesn't know who his parents are marrying into a family that owns an apple farm and slowly remeberin and finding out where he comes from and who he is now. Instead this story became a totally different way of mysterious relating to a folklore from the town of this apple farm family. Still we have some kind of coming of age and him falling for his wife as the marriage was mainly an act of convenience for both of them. I loved that story but somehow I wished I had known it was abput folkor/mythology beforehand. The story is really heavy and what makes it even harder to understand is that nearly the whole manga is written in a dialect. I am not a native english speaker so for a few smaller words it took me like half the manga to even understand their meaning and even after that it just took time reading in that language. I still appreciate the translation though. I often see people either not translating a dialect or know from german translations that they can also be cringy if a dialect is taken that doesn't fit the actual image of the japanese dialect spoken. This manga is set in the countryide of Aomori which is one of the most northern prefectures of the main island of honshu. I enjoyed that there was also a small travel diary from the research trip the author took to Aomori to write this manga and therefore getting more background as a reader. AND THERE WAS A GLOSSARY. In stories as complex as this one and the background worked into this manga makes a glossary really help readers and understand the effort behind the research for this manga and the story behind it.
The story was amazing and I am really waiting for the second volume now and hope that all 3 volumes will get translated as this will for sure be no easy manga to read a beginner in japanese.
5/5
Art: The art was really simple but with the direction the story went it grew and more details in shadows would maybe have made the whole story too dark in pictures. Also this simple style kind of fits the timesetting of after war in my opinion. I enjoyed it.
4/5
The story was amazing and I am really waiting for the second volume now and hope that all 3 volumes will get translated as this will for sure be no easy manga to read a beginner in japanese.
5/5
Art: The art was really simple but with the direction the story went it grew and more details in shadows would maybe have made the whole story too dark in pictures. Also this simple style kind of fits the timesetting of after war in my opinion. I enjoyed it.
4/5
July 1, 2022
Time to dive into another new manga (I am determined to read the first volume of as many series as possible, so I can find favorites worth following!). This time I picked Apple Children of Aeon Vol. 1.
Yukinojo can't remember his past, so he only has the future to look to. Following graduation, he entered an arranged marriage with Asahi. As the title may have already been given away, Asahi and her family run an apple farm (orchard?).
This life would be perfect for many, but Yukinojo struggles to feel at home – to feel like he belongs and fits in with his new home and family. Until one day, everything changes, and something wakes within his bones.
Apple Children of Aeon Vol. 1 was an interesting and relatively quick read. Admittedly the first part of this book (about the first half?) is slower than I would have liked. It takes a while to get to know Yukinojo and Asahi, and unfortunately, even longer to care about either of them.
Based on the description, I knew there was going to be a twist in this arranged marriage-turned story – however, I was wrong about what sort of twist it would be. I think I like this twist better than I had assumed. It was certainly more interesting and a little less predictable.
All things said and done, Apple Children of Aeon Vol. 1 does a solid job of wrapping many story tropes into one cohesive story. I'm not sure that it's a series I would enjoy following in the long run, but I can easily see why some readers would fall for it.
Thanks to Kodansha Comics and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.
Read more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Comics
Yukinojo can't remember his past, so he only has the future to look to. Following graduation, he entered an arranged marriage with Asahi. As the title may have already been given away, Asahi and her family run an apple farm (orchard?).
This life would be perfect for many, but Yukinojo struggles to feel at home – to feel like he belongs and fits in with his new home and family. Until one day, everything changes, and something wakes within his bones.
Apple Children of Aeon Vol. 1 was an interesting and relatively quick read. Admittedly the first part of this book (about the first half?) is slower than I would have liked. It takes a while to get to know Yukinojo and Asahi, and unfortunately, even longer to care about either of them.
Based on the description, I knew there was going to be a twist in this arranged marriage-turned story – however, I was wrong about what sort of twist it would be. I think I like this twist better than I had assumed. It was certainly more interesting and a little less predictable.
All things said and done, Apple Children of Aeon Vol. 1 does a solid job of wrapping many story tropes into one cohesive story. I'm not sure that it's a series I would enjoy following in the long run, but I can easily see why some readers would fall for it.
Thanks to Kodansha Comics and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.
Read more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Comics
March 16, 2022
arc provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review!
This is more of a 3.75 I was more than happy to round up. Apple Children of Aeon is a slow-moving, atmospheric story that centers around Yukinojo, a man abandoned at a temple as a baby. Never feeling like he quite belonged, Yukinojo wishes to leave home and is connected with Asahi, a woman from a family of apple farmers. Life moves in slow cycles through their partnership until Yuki, unbeknownst to him, awakens ancient folklore and has to fight for his own wife's hand.
I think this is one of those manga where I really liked it but can still see why others wouldn't. As I said, this story moves slowly, so it really helped that I loved the art style and the atmosphere. The story being centrally focused on Yuki did leave the side characters underdeveloped until he had to look outside himself a little more. I really liked the tender moments between Yuki and Asahi and the countryside scenery. I think this would make a really good animation or series!
I read a few other reviews and saw some people off-put by the decision to translate the Aomori accent as Scottish. I've taken Japanese-focused translation courses and accents are a hard thing to convey. I think in this setting it was the right decision, illustrating Yuki's continued isolation from the people around him and also the values and themes of the setting, though I can see why others wouldn't care for it.
Overall, I really enjoyed this story and I'm looking forward to the continuation!
This is more of a 3.75 I was more than happy to round up. Apple Children of Aeon is a slow-moving, atmospheric story that centers around Yukinojo, a man abandoned at a temple as a baby. Never feeling like he quite belonged, Yukinojo wishes to leave home and is connected with Asahi, a woman from a family of apple farmers. Life moves in slow cycles through their partnership until Yuki, unbeknownst to him, awakens ancient folklore and has to fight for his own wife's hand.
I think this is one of those manga where I really liked it but can still see why others wouldn't. As I said, this story moves slowly, so it really helped that I loved the art style and the atmosphere. The story being centrally focused on Yuki did leave the side characters underdeveloped until he had to look outside himself a little more. I really liked the tender moments between Yuki and Asahi and the countryside scenery. I think this would make a really good animation or series!
I read a few other reviews and saw some people off-put by the decision to translate the Aomori accent as Scottish. I've taken Japanese-focused translation courses and accents are a hard thing to convey. I think in this setting it was the right decision, illustrating Yuki's continued isolation from the people around him and also the values and themes of the setting, though I can see why others wouldn't care for it.
Overall, I really enjoyed this story and I'm looking forward to the continuation!
March 9, 2022
Apple Children of Aeon, Volume 1 is a story that follows Yukinojo, a young, educated man who marries into a family of apple farmers in rural Japan. In this first volume, we don't really see much development between Yukinojo, his wife, and his new family. The plot moves very quickly, so as a reader, it felt like I had very little time to get to know the characters and their motivations.
Aside from the quick pacing, one of my biggest gripes with this manga was the dialogue. There's a stark difference between Yukinojo's and his new family's speech. And while I understand where the translator is coming from in portraying a rural accent, I feel like the dialogue for the apple farmers was a bit distracting and sometimes hard to understand.
Here's an example of Yukinojo's wife's dialogue: "Da says 'e windnae hae gotten an education were it no fer this tree an' what it gave the family." Pretty much all the townsfolk of the rural village speaks like this, while Yukinojo's dialoge is written to be polished and grammatically correct. I think there are better ways to portray this difference in speech.
Overall, Apple Children of Aeon had potential, but I the pacing was too fast and the dialogue was too distracting for to find the story worth reading.
*I received a free copy of this manga from NetGalley*
Aside from the quick pacing, one of my biggest gripes with this manga was the dialogue. There's a stark difference between Yukinojo's and his new family's speech. And while I understand where the translator is coming from in portraying a rural accent, I feel like the dialogue for the apple farmers was a bit distracting and sometimes hard to understand.
Here's an example of Yukinojo's wife's dialogue: "Da says 'e windnae hae gotten an education were it no fer this tree an' what it gave the family." Pretty much all the townsfolk of the rural village speaks like this, while Yukinojo's dialoge is written to be polished and grammatically correct. I think there are better ways to portray this difference in speech.
Overall, Apple Children of Aeon had potential, but I the pacing was too fast and the dialogue was too distracting for to find the story worth reading.
*I received a free copy of this manga from NetGalley*
March 20, 2022
A story about a university graduate Yukinojo (who was abandoned as a child in front of a temple, his basket found in the snow) who chooses to marry Asahi and into her family of Aomori apple farmers, in a rural part of Japan. The story evolves into him working on the farm, and after coming across an apple tree in winter, he accidentally gets involved with a local curse which puts his family in jeopardy ...
This is set in the 1960's I believe, and the art is really nice and clean - though I have to say it is fairly slow paced and not much happened. I hate to say this but I found some of the characters a bit bland.
The family have a distinct dialect which is written in a Scottish-type fashion in the English translation, and I have to admit, though familiar with the accent it made it a very difficult read. If you are unfamiliar with the Scottish accent (and seeing it written is an entirely different experience altogether) I think this may be a bit challenging.
Overall I think the art was clean and simple, and the story has potential, though I felt not enough of it was evident in this first volume. It will be interesting to see how far into the 'curse' side of the storyline it goes, and if the pace picks up!
Thank you to Kodansha and Netgalley for the complimentary copy of this volume in exchange for an honest review
This is set in the 1960's I believe, and the art is really nice and clean - though I have to say it is fairly slow paced and not much happened. I hate to say this but I found some of the characters a bit bland.
The family have a distinct dialect which is written in a Scottish-type fashion in the English translation, and I have to admit, though familiar with the accent it made it a very difficult read. If you are unfamiliar with the Scottish accent (and seeing it written is an entirely different experience altogether) I think this may be a bit challenging.
Overall I think the art was clean and simple, and the story has potential, though I felt not enough of it was evident in this first volume. It will be interesting to see how far into the 'curse' side of the storyline it goes, and if the pace picks up!
Thank you to Kodansha and Netgalley for the complimentary copy of this volume in exchange for an honest review
March 31, 2022
Apple Children of Aeon is something we hardly see outside of Japan's manga market. It's josei and set in the countryside in the Showa era. Yukinojo was abandoned as a child on the steps of a temple. Now he marries Asahi, who's the daughter of an Aomori apple farmer. He moves in with the family to Northern Japan. Their life is full of work and quite simple until Asahi falls ill. Yukinojo ends up offering her a forbidden apple belonging to a God and now Asahi and everything starts to change slowly. The setting is interesting and ghostly even, eerie surely. It shows a world long lost and depicts the people living with their believes strongly. It was somewhat hard to follow the story though, since the Tsugaru dialect is turned into Scottish. It takes time to get what is said, since Scottish isn't the easiest to follow and somehow it felt superimposed at times.
The art looks nice, simple and fits well with the time period. I'm glad manga like this is translated into English and the story is only three books long. I like the slow world it depicts and the rhythm feels nice too. The series has won an award and no wonder, since there's something oddly displaced about it and still it makes you feel strongly.
The art looks nice, simple and fits well with the time period. I'm glad manga like this is translated into English and the story is only three books long. I like the slow world it depicts and the rhythm feels nice too. The series has won an award and no wonder, since there's something oddly displaced about it and still it makes you feel strongly.
March 13, 2022
I requested this book and then promptly forgot why, so by the time I was reading this, I thought I was going to be a cute slice of life story about a now-adult foundling desperately trying to start over with a new family. Well! How wrong I was, lulled by the rustic-chic art style. My first complaint is probably one of its strengths: you've got your cute Stardew Valley-esque life that Yukinoji is now living, only to suddenly turn sinister, so it almost feels like the author changed their mind on what kind of book they're making, or maybe they're just that good at writing suspense. Your mileage may vary. My second complaint is that the way they adapted the accents are annoying and takes some getting used to, since it almost feels like they gave up on adapting it and just decided to give the townspeople some neo-Gaelic accent. In spite of my complaints, I enjoyed reading the book. The first book is a good set up, and the underlying plot is based on mysticism and intrigue that actually makes you wonder what would happen in the second book. (I received a free eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.)
September 25, 2022
Yukinojo is about to graduate from the university. He has a bright future ahead of him. That becomes less important when country girl Asahi asks to marry him. What follows is a simple life in a closely-knit community, with hard work and superstitions. It all takes a hard turn into the supernatural midway. Yukinojo's family is threatened by an apparently innocent act.
March 16, 2022
thank you netgalley & kodansha for the arc!
Yukinojo wants to escape his current life, so gets married to Asahi whose family runs an apple farm in the countryside. He's in the midst of adapting when he accidentally awakens an archaic arrangement with a spirit.
We're given a background to all these characters - most prominently Yukinojo, Asahi, and the rest of her family. As the start of the series, we don't know much about the countryside and its history (which coincides to how Yukinojo feels, struggling to adapt with his need to make people like him in a new environment) nor do we know much about Asahi herself. But surely our understanding of all the characters will grow with further volumes.
The pacing's great. It slows you down. It relaxes you and immerses you into the countryside where all your worries disappear. I was in a reading slump, so this was a great way for me to slowly bring up back my motivation to read. I'd recommend this to anyone who'd like a lighthearted read with down to earth characters.
Yukinojo wants to escape his current life, so gets married to Asahi whose family runs an apple farm in the countryside. He's in the midst of adapting when he accidentally awakens an archaic arrangement with a spirit.
We're given a background to all these characters - most prominently Yukinojo, Asahi, and the rest of her family. As the start of the series, we don't know much about the countryside and its history (which coincides to how Yukinojo feels, struggling to adapt with his need to make people like him in a new environment) nor do we know much about Asahi herself. But surely our understanding of all the characters will grow with further volumes.
The pacing's great. It slows you down. It relaxes you and immerses you into the countryside where all your worries disappear. I was in a reading slump, so this was a great way for me to slowly bring up back my motivation to read. I'd recommend this to anyone who'd like a lighthearted read with down to earth characters.
December 6, 2023
I LOVED this story, and volume 1 is SO griping! You really want to know what happens next.
The one downside is what other people have already mentioned. The Scotts English translation was super weird. Like, I understand the logic, but going so far as to change the name of the Japanese festivity to a Scottish one...nope. That was too far, because this story deals with Japanese folklore and was very much Japanese. Also, although this may be nitpicking, some parts were very hard to read for me as a non English speaker, and while I understand some of it HAD TO be that way to mirror the struggles of the protagonist (and I really liked that), the bits where backstory is being exposed should be able to come across clearly to the reader.
Conclusion: amazing story, I cried and I'm still mad at it (in the best way), but the translation lost focus of what it was doing at some point and became too distracting.
The one downside is what other people have already mentioned. The Scotts English translation was super weird. Like, I understand the logic, but going so far as to change the name of the Japanese festivity to a Scottish one...nope. That was too far, because this story deals with Japanese folklore and was very much Japanese. Also, although this may be nitpicking, some parts were very hard to read for me as a non English speaker, and while I understand some of it HAD TO be that way to mirror the struggles of the protagonist (and I really liked that), the bits where backstory is being exposed should be able to come across clearly to the reader.
Conclusion: amazing story, I cried and I'm still mad at it (in the best way), but the translation lost focus of what it was doing at some point and became too distracting.
March 25, 2022
arc provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review
This was a bit of a confusing read for me. I feel like a lot of things weren’t properly explained which might be partly due to the main character not knowing very much but either way it took until pretty much the end of the volume for me to really clue into the story.
The ending did intrigue me! I like the subtle hints of magic and gods and monsters that lurk in the forest, ready to steal his wife away. This is a slow burn type of story for sure! I’m curious to see if a real relationship will develop between the main character and his wife he married in an arranged situation!
If you like slow burn stories with a slower plot, a bit of a confusing start but a very intriguing cliffhanger— try out this manga!
3/5⭐️
This was a bit of a confusing read for me. I feel like a lot of things weren’t properly explained which might be partly due to the main character not knowing very much but either way it took until pretty much the end of the volume for me to really clue into the story.
The ending did intrigue me! I like the subtle hints of magic and gods and monsters that lurk in the forest, ready to steal his wife away. This is a slow burn type of story for sure! I’m curious to see if a real relationship will develop between the main character and his wife he married in an arranged situation!
If you like slow burn stories with a slower plot, a bit of a confusing start but a very intriguing cliffhanger— try out this manga!
3/5⭐️
March 14, 2022
Yukinojo recently graduates from college and is looking to settle down. He soon marries Asahi, the Heir to the Aomori apple farm. The life out on the farm is very different than his life before in the city and discovers just how much work goes into running a farm. Life drastically changes one day when he discovers a strange tree in the snow.
I found the story to be a bit slow but it fit with the quiet country life. One thing I didn't like was the rural dialect, I often found myself distracted from the story while I had to stop and figure out what they were saying. The art was beautifully done, simple but fits perfectly. I enjoyed the story and definitely want to know what happens next.
Thank you to Netgalley and Kodansha Comics for the e-ARC.
I found the story to be a bit slow but it fit with the quiet country life. One thing I didn't like was the rural dialect, I often found myself distracted from the story while I had to stop and figure out what they were saying. The art was beautifully done, simple but fits perfectly. I enjoyed the story and definitely want to know what happens next.
Thank you to Netgalley and Kodansha Comics for the e-ARC.
November 18, 2022
This is interesting because it is almost slice of life but it has some elements of fantasy and mystery as well.
A young orphan man decides to marry a woman he doesn't know in order to start a new life on an apple farm. His new wife is very sweet and he enjoys his new life until the day she becomes sick and he feeds her an apple from a forbidden tree (which no one bothered to tell him was forbidden. This turns out to be a bad idea.
YM only really big issue is that it was actually kind of difficult to read, because in order to express that the farmers spoke in a different dialect of Japanese, the translator decided to make them sort of Scottish or something? Their speech is written basically like Scrooge McDuck's in Disney Dreamlight. It is kind of off-putting to read.
A young orphan man decides to marry a woman he doesn't know in order to start a new life on an apple farm. His new wife is very sweet and he enjoys his new life until the day she becomes sick and he feeds her an apple from a forbidden tree (which no one bothered to tell him was forbidden. This turns out to be a bad idea.
YM only really big issue is that it was actually kind of difficult to read, because in order to express that the farmers spoke in a different dialect of Japanese, the translator decided to make them sort of Scottish or something? Their speech is written basically like Scrooge McDuck's in Disney Dreamlight. It is kind of off-putting to read.
March 5, 2022
Basically it’s about a young graduate who marrys a girl and when she gets sick, he goes to an apple tree where strange things happens around him such his wife shrinking to a child, her hair growing and that she is marrying someone else. It’s pretty strange manga I’ve read but it shows Japan back in the day so the historical sense is interesting! Pretty good manga I’ve read yes yes!
Thanks Netgalley and publisher for the first volume!
Thanks Netgalley and publisher for the first volume!
March 8, 2022
Thank you Netgalley and Kodansha Comics for the opportunity to read and review this.
I found this hauntingly beautiful to read. Written in a country dialect, which was hard to understand, this story follows a young graduate who marries a girl, whose family runs an apple orchard. When she falls ill, he picks an apple from a mysterious tree, and strange things start to happen...
I really look forward to the next volume!
I found this hauntingly beautiful to read. Written in a country dialect, which was hard to understand, this story follows a young graduate who marries a girl, whose family runs an apple orchard. When she falls ill, he picks an apple from a mysterious tree, and strange things start to happen...
I really look forward to the next volume!
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March 8, 2022This book was a little difficult for me to get into, as I found chapter 1 to be a little boring. As I dived into chapters 2 and 3, the plot really begins to get set up and my interest grew. I found the characters to be a little flat and not show much in the way of development, or even care at all about their relationships and marriage. It felt like a very surreal reading experience, but the mystery might call me back to check out volume 2 when it's released.
March 12, 2022
ARC Copy...It was felt like a combination of slice of life within a farming community and farm with a touch of horror. It was interesting aspect but also made it hmmm on how to approach the narrative. The pastoral farming scenes were relaxing with honestly friendly locals + inlaws but the sinister aspects and/or the weird customs of the same world that crawled in did create an air of "what is going on the farm" slightly, so interesting to see how this goes.
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