Holiday Review: MAIDEN RAILWAYS

Josei manga continues to creep into the US, helped along in no small part thanks to publishers like Denpa Books.

MAIDEN RAILWAYS (Tetsudo Shojo Manga), by Asumiko Nakamura.  First published in 2011 and first published in North America in 2019.

PLOT:

This collection of short stories cover a wide variety of romantic and relationship intersections along railways, be it the fumbling beginnings of new ones, the struggles of long-term ones, and the messy conclusions of failing ones.

STORY:

Maiden Railways is a lot more even in quality than most anthologies we cover here at The Manga Test Drive.  That's surely a credit to Nakamura's talent as a writer, that there's not a dud of a tale to be found here.  At most, there are stories with some questionable pairings, such as "Overpass Crossing" where a heartbroken lesbian gets together with a high-school girl.

I do appreciate that she doesn't get too gimmicky to tie these stories together.  While most do take place along the same railway, there is enough variety in the set-up to keep things from getting stale.  Indeed, one of my favorite stories was "Savarin Thursdays", where a young husband and father gets caught up in a secret gathering at a bakery based around a model railroad.  Instead, Nakamura is using the concept of railroads (and rail stations in particular) as metaphor.  These are liminal spaces, places where people are in a state of transition.  The same goes for our many, often nameless protagonists, who find themselves in a state of romantic transition.  Some end happier than others, but it's within these liminal spaces that they can find the understanding they need to move on.

ART:

Nakamura's particular, lanky, even wispy style of character art will not be for everyone.  I rather like it, though, as that lankiness actually helps to draw the eye to the characters' movements.  Beyond that, there's not a lot of particular detail - most of the stations and trains don't look all that different from one another.  Still, her linework is delicate and her use of vertical panels compliments the character designs.

RATING:

Maiden Railways makes the most of its gimmick and Nakamura's signature style to deliver some good stories of love lost and found.  I'm glad Denpa is around to bring us quiet little gems like this.

This book is published by Denpa Books.  It is currently in print.

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