It is 1900, and Hanako, a Japanese woman, has traveled to England to find her favorite author, Victor Franks, whom she can’t meet. With no options, she is taken in by Lady Alice, a beautiful young noblewoman who carries a deep sadness. Alice offers a deal to Hanako – she will introduce Hanako to Victor Franks, but only if Hanako helps Alice die. Hanako accepts the offer, but is sure she can somehow convince Alice to live.

Hanako learns Alice doesn’t want to marry Edward, although doesn’t understand why since he seems nice enough. As her maid, Hanako can see that Alice lives in a darkness that she’d like to bring light to. Unbeknownst to Hanako, she’s actually caught up in a surprising coincidence, which turns out to be no coincidence at all.

Deciding that she wants to be by Alice’s side is Hanako’s choice, but what Alice wants is still a mystery to her.

Despite the mystery with which they are treated, the complications here are not all that complicated. In fact, by the end of Volume 1, you ought to know who Victor Franks is and why Hanako was sent to England. ^_^ Nonetheless, if you were looking for a less-realistic Yuri Emma, with an emphasis on underwear and books, you won’t be disappointed. Dr. Pepperco’s art is competent. This is not meant in a dismissive way – the Victoria Sponge looked, even in black & white, like a recognizable Victoria sponge. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 7
Character – 8
Story – 7
Service – 4 Underwear because of course there is
Yuri – ACTUALLY, it’s LGBTQ. There is a discussion of same-sex relationships and Japan and England’s relative lack of feminism. So…7?

Overall – 7

Very recently, I have been reading a number of historical Yuri/lesbian romances and they all do exactly the same thing. But I will let Dr. Pepperco explain it themselves in the author’s note, as “Drawing all my proclivities!” ^_^ So not only do we have maids outfits lovingly detailed and teacups and corsets and stately home libraries and other Victoriana miscellany, but we enjoy pretense to upperclassishness in scene and language. This inconsistency in historical knowledge and desire to set tone has been rendered in English as well as can be hoped, so the occasional lapse into faux-Wildean (as faux-Sperian is not a valid term here,) is not on translator Amber Tamositis and adapter Cae Hawksmoor. They do a fine job. Katlyn Wiley’s lettering is surprisingly delicate. You might never notice it, which is exactly what one hopes for from lettering and retouch. As usual, Seven Seas does such a decent job, you may never even think about it. You should. That’s a lot of work by a lot of people to make this book work.

When I originally reviewed the Japanese volume just over a year ago, I never expected to be reviewing it in English. But here we are and I’m glad you to encourage you to look up Victoria Sponge on your own. ^_^

Thanks very much to Seven Seas for the review copy!