I love historical manga, and this year gave me quite a few of them to talk about, including this underrated little gem.
THE KNIGHT BLOOMS BEHIND CASTLE WALLS (Kishi-tan wa Joheki no Naka ni Hanahiraku), by Masanari Yuduka. First published in 2020 and first published in North America in 2023.
PLOT:
Rosa wants nothing more than to become a great knight. Currently she's just a squire at Castle Claustra, serving the young and handsome Sir Cervus. She's eager to start training with weapons, but before she can do that she has to learn how to tend the horses, serve the knights and the lord's family, and assist the many various servants and artisans around the castle, all while keeping her true gender under wraps.
STORY:
You can tell that Masanari Yuduka really loves medieval history. That love shines through on every page of The Knight Blooms Behind Castle Walls, where he uses it to craft an engaging all-ages story.
Rosa herself is all childish earnestness, eager to help, to learn, and to grow up. Her body can't always keep up (to the point that it's a running joke among the occupants of the castle about how often she trips out of excitement), but she takes her bumps in stride. The rest of the cast isn't quite as well-sketched, but that's mostly because Rosa's tasks have her crossing paths with so many other people working within the castle. She does manage to end up on friendly terms with both of the lord's children, and she looks up to Sir Cervus and his fellow knights like older brothers.
For the most part, Yuduka does not take liberties with the actual history. If anything, I'm sincerely impressed how many concepts and bits of trivia he's able to deftly weave into the story without stopping things dead for a lecture. There's just one exception, and it's a big one: Rosa is a girl. In the real world, girls were not allowed to become knights in medieval Europe and no one around Rosa seems to question her gender. Rosa's still young enough to pass readily as a boy, but that is slowly but surely changing as she struggles to hide her developing body from others and with feelings for Sir Cervus that are verging upon a crush.
Yuduka's clearly saving the full explanation for future volumes, so the most the reader can do in this volume is glean what they can from passing comments. It's clear that very few people aside from Rosa know the truth, and there's hints that some sort of family tragedy drove her here from her home. It clearly doesn't get her down, although there are times with the lord's daughter Viola that you can see Rosa yearn for a lifestyle she chose to forsake. It's just one dramatic thread in the wider tapestry of this manga, and I for one am curious to see just how it will all come together.
ART:
Yuduka's attention to historical detail doesn't stop with the story. The costumes and backgrounds are certainly testament to that. Yet there's a light and energetic quality to the art that pervades the whole manga. Some of that may be due to Yuduka's light linework and lack of heavy shading. Some of it might be due to their skill at capturing and framing action, be it a simple practice strike or a formal joust. This is best captured in an interlude where Rosa helps a local healer woman harvest herbs, only for much of the supporting cast to end up joining in comical ways. There is no dialogue in this chapter, only bits of omniscient narration explaining relevant trivia.
Indeed, Yuduka inserts little trivia panels all throughout the book. Most of this stuff would be common knowledge to any adult who's read beyond the basics as far as medieval history goes, but kids who are into history will likely pick up on all sorts of things. They are scattered throughout the pages in a playful way that reminded me a little of Kamome Shirohama. Admittedly, Yuduka's inserts are nowhere near as decorative or metatextual as hers, but it gives the whole manga its own unique flavor. I also like the way he often has Rosa literally running and moving out of her panel frames, which also brings a lot of visual energy to the series. It's simply irrepressible, much like Rosa herself.
RATING:
This manga is published by Seven Seas. This series is complete in Japan with 3 volumes available. All 3 have been released and are currently in print.
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