For the first time ever, I read a volume of Saitou Chiho’s amazing version of the Japanese classic Torikebaya and thought…maybe, just maybe, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

If you recall, Suiren and Sarasoujuu have switched back, as it were, to take up the roles assigned to the gender they were born with. They are, in effect, masquerading as each other, rather than being themselves.

In Volume 8, the person in Sarasojuu’s role, Suiren, is having a slightly easier time of it, as he is not under a lot of scrutiny, but the person in Suiren’s role, Sarasojuu, has yet *another* problem on her plate which is already fully crammed with problems.

Sarasoujuu, as a Naishogami, a lady in waiting, has come to deeply admire and love Toguu-sama, but of course is not in love with her. She is still drawing the frank and open attention of the Emperor, who used to look at her too longly and deeply as a male courtier and now desires her as a female one. This is complicated for many reasons. Sarasojuu as Naishogami has befriended San-no-hime, the elder sister of her own wife (argh!) and while she wants to support her friend in front of the Emperor, ends up taking his attention away from San-no-hime, thus betraying her. (Argh!) And worst of all, Sarasoujuu-as-Suiren has fallen in love with the Emperor (who is extremely handsome, as one might expect in a Saitou-sensei manga.) (ARGH!)

Toguu-sama I think has figured out the charade  but says nothing until she falls ill and asks to see Suiren-as-high ranking courtier, Udaisho. To get Suiren into the women’s quarters an elaborate scheme is concocted, but as the volume closes, Suiren is discovered and the ruse falls apart. (AUGH!)

Despite my protestations, I managed to read this volume without groaning once, because I thought I saw a way out. It’s an absurd, complex way out. BUT.

If Suiren remains in her place as Naishogami by day, but takes Sarasojuu’s place as Udaisho at night, and vice versa, they could be who they really are by day and also sleep with who they want to at night. It would horrible to have to switch back and forth and undoubtedly complicated and doomed to failure, but it’s a story and maybe could work. Probably not. But there you go, as dim a light as it is, I am fixated with the idea.

Obviously it would be amazing if they just were allowed to be happy as is. I just don’t see that happening ever. Even the Tengu switching them permanently isn’t a fix, because Suiren as Naishogami can’t sleep with Toguu-sama and Sarasojuu as Udaisho can’t sleep with the Emperor. Hrm.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Service – 1
LGBTQ – 1

Overall – 9

Once again a luscious and lovely and emotionally wringing volume of this Heian classic. I’m enjoying the heck out of every single panel!

In Volume 6, Sarasojuu lost the child, and Suiren left court to look for her…and found her. In Volume 7 of Torikaebaya (とりかえ・ばや ) by Saitou Chiho, together they visit Yoshino no Miya-sama, a man wise beyond his years, who already knows about their secret.

While they are at Yoshino no Miya-sama’s place, the Mikado comes to visit and their learn some amazing things. The Mikado is Yoshino’s older brother and Toguu-sama is Yoshino’s daughter. In exchange for a vow to protect Toguu-sama, as she has few allies in the capital, Yoshino promises to help the siblings. They, to the utter delight of their family, return home. (Their family has been a high point of the series from the beginning. Totally supportive and loving.)

At which point we come to the most interesting moment to date in this amazing & infuriating manga. Because the “help” Yoshino offers is to assist them to trade places. In the original Torikaebaya, the “trading” was the original choice for them to take the place of their sibling in the other sex’s world in order to be more comfortable with themselves. In this version, it is the moment they leave the life they had known and were comfortable in to “trade” to the world that did not suit them at all. In short, Sarasojuu would become Suiren and serve Toguu-sama and Suiren would take the position of a man at court, as Sarasojuu.

And so they do. Suiren still can’t stand being too close to men, and has a tendency to be delicate, but passes as Sarasojuu. Sarasojuu walks too fast and speaks too loudly for a woman at court and, although mostly everyone just assumes she is Suiren, Toguu-sama sees right through her instantly.
Sarasojuu confides in Togu-sama, and even allows her to speak to Suiren, who assures her that they are her allies from beginning to end. And in this, they are completely in synch. They will do everything to protect this young woman.

Finally a good thing happens. The Udaisho, Sara and Suiren’s father, begs the Mikado to *not* ask for Suiren to come up to the palace to be one of his women.  Mikado graciously agrees, so I steeled myself against something else horrible happening instead. ^_^;

The “something” turned out to be an assassination attempt on Toguu-sama. Sara (as Suiren) is able to move quickly, but it is another lady-in-waiting that makes it possible to capture the miscreant. Her name, she says, is San-no-hime. Sara-Suiren is shocked…is this her wife’s sister? Indeed it is. And now that they have become confidants, will Suiren help her? She’d like the Mikado to take notice of her. Um, sure, Sara says, wondering what on earth she could possibly do.

This series makes me chew my liver out, it really does. But that the “trading places”is not in the initial switch but here is so fascinating and modern, I’m foolishly still holding onto my hope that there is some small possibility of this all working out. Hey, I wanted only one thing from Gunjo, and I got that, so yeah. I’m sticking with foolish dreams.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Service – 1
LGBTQ – 7

Overall – 9

Compelling like a train wreck, I cannot stop reading this.

When we last left Chiho Saito-sensei’s beautiful and tragic retelling of the Heian classic tale, Torikaebaya (とりかえ・ばや ), I was having a crisis. It’s so damn beautiful, I want to keep reading, but it’s so damn heart-wrenching, it’s hard to keep reading.

Volume 5 ended with Sarasojuu running from the capital, pregnant with Tsuwabuki’s child, devastated that she can no longer live her chosen life. Suiren, overcome by love for Toguu-sama, gives in to desire and kisses her.

As Volume 6 opens, I keep wondering if there are any more boots to drop…and, of course, there are.

Suiren has been called up to the Emperor’s residence to be one of his women. This precipitates a decision that Suiren can never go back and change. Refusing the Emperor’s call, Suiren confesses that he is a man to Toguu-sama. He leaves her service, and returns home, to become the man his sister was. Passing is merely a matter of not interacting because, although Suiren and Sarasojuu are identical in looks, Suiren has none of Sarasojuu’s skills at horseback riding or other pursuits.

Suiren, disguised as Sarasojuu, overhears a rumor of Tsuwabuki’s second woman being pregnant, guesses what has happened and heads off to find Sarasojuu.

Sarasojuu, having been taken in by Tsuwabuki, is now called Sara-hime, and is pining away, as the baby’s birth grows near. Conversely, Tsuwabuki is beside himself with joy, having both the women he loves and their children in his home. Sara is not on board with this, and poor, poor Shi-no-hime, who had no idea who this other woman was, until her son calls Sara “father”. Shi-no-hime, who has been unconscious for much of the volume swoons once again. Of everyone, I feel the most pity for her, a woman drawn into someone else’s story with no good way out.

Sara’s baby is stillborn and, naturally, she blames herself.

Suiren finds Sara, at last, as she is just about to drown herself. Suiren tries to convince Sara to return to the capital and resume their lives as before, even though he himself is not sure he can ever return to the life he’s left.

I am less distraught this volume, as I carefully fed myself a few pages at a time, knowing that this story was going to offer no respite. Parsing out mere pages of exquisitely gorgeous, emotionally agonizing story, meant that I was able to get through it without trouble. I’m desperately flailing in mind, as I read every fresh hell, to come up with ideas for a non-horrible ending. So far I am failing. And the one ending I foresee that will give the characters the happy end they deserve will have to be a very annoying tengu ex machina. ^_^;

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Service – 1
LGBTQ – 6

Overall – 9

Saito-sensei’s art has always been exquisite and here, she reaches her pinnacle. It’s so perfect a tale for her style.