Nanao was destined to marry the attractive Lord Reito of the Byakurenji clan, which seemed to promise her a bright future. However, her life takes a tragic turn when she is attacked by an ayakashi and marked by an orangutan spirit. Spurned by her fiancée, who instead weds her cousin Akemi, Nanao is forced to hide her face behind a monkey mask. Relegated to the status of a mere servant and labeled as ‘tainted,’ she suffers abuse from her family. Her fortune seems grim until she encounters Yako, the young master of the Benitsubaki clan, in the forest where he sees her unmasked face.

Upon returning to the main house, Nanao is alarmed to discover spirit bugs attacking Akemi and Reito’s infant daughter. In a courageous act, she shields the baby with her own body. Akemi, hearing the child’s cries, rushes in and accuses Nanao of attempted harm. Just then, Lord Yako arrives in time to prevent Reito from striking Nanao. In a firm voice, Yako declares, “Had she not intervened, your daughter would be mere bones by now.” As he assists the injured Nanao, some of her blood transfers onto his finger, which he curiously licks. This revelation of her power excites him. “This is the spiritual power I’ve sought,” he declares. “From this day, you shall be my wife.”

Yako takes Nanao to his estate in the imperial capital, where the household staff greets them. To Nanao’s amazement, numerous ayakashi reside there, ranging from cute little spirits to human-like figures, some concealing their faces. Yako clarifies that he eradicates malevolent demons and spirits threatening the capital. “Those who pledge themselves to the Benitsubaki clan are not evil; they’re my family.” Nanao’s ability to see them affirms her spiritual abilities to Yako. When they visit the Onmyo shrine, the spiritual hub of the empire, Yako proposes she assist him in hunting malicious ayakashi to protect the capital. “In return, I will cherish you, and I will not take any concubines.” Overwhelmed by his words after years of rejection, Nanao faints. But as she adapts to the household’s life, she begins to feel at ease. Yet, there remains a crucial matter Yako hasn’t revealed, related to the peculiar incident when he tasted her blood…

The Ayakashi Hunter’s Tainted Bride is a webtoon with two creators well-known for their earlier fantasy works: Midori Yuma, who is responsible for the story, is also the creator of Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits and artist Mamenosuke Fujimaru is the mangaka for Captive Hearts of Oz and the Alice in the Country of… series. Yen Press describe The Ayakashi Hunter’s Tainted Bride as ‘Noragami meets My Happy Marriage’ and the parallels with My Happy Marriage are undeniable, especially the Cinderella-style treatment of Nanao as a drudge by the Byakurenji family and the way she’s rescued by a powerful young lord who recognizes that – like him – she has great spiritual powers. However, it’s the delightful details and world-building that bring this story to life. Nanao’s thoughts on preparing the right kinds of food for Yako’s breakfast take two pages but this helps to illustrate who Nanao is and how she’s been trained – and will also remind fans a little of Kakuriyo!

The story is set in an alternate Japan, the Empire of Yamato which roughly corresponds to Japan in the Meiji Period with electricity and Western influences (such as the calendar) to the fore. Humans and ayakashi ended up going to war because of the opening up of the empire. As the capital is constantly assailed by hostile ayakashi, it’s protected by a barrier maintained by five clans (including the Byakurenji) and the Imperial Chamber of Onmyo.

Even though Nanao is sympathetically portrayed in the mangaka’s attractive art-style, it’s early days and we don’t learn a great deal about her in these first chapters where she’s very much the victim. Inevitably, she’s emotionally as well as physically damaged after the ayakashi attack, so even though Yako begins the process of restoring her self-confidence when he takes her away to his estate, she’s still a cypher. Hopefully we’ll get to see more of the real Nanao in later volumes but for now it’s Yako who makes the most vivid impression. Her description of him as ‘with eyes of crimson, sharp features and a burly build’ in the bonus ‘Nanao’s Master Yako Observation Log’ chapter at the end (part prose fiction, part manga) is almost reminiscent of Jane Eyre musing about Mr Rochester whom she also comes to regard as her saviour. Although, I’d be very pleased to see Nanao manifest the quiet self-confidence and perceptive intelligence of Charlotte Bronte’s ‘plain Jane’ in this alternate Japan fantasy!

Hyped as a ‘steamy new historical fantasy romance’, there’s very little in the way of steaminess in this first volume – in fact Yako proves what a considerate man he is when Nanao starts to disrobe in front of him and he hastily assures her that he won’t touch her until they’ve been officially married (the implication being that the training she received at the Byakurenji included how to behave in situations of a sexual nature). But then Nanao learns about his secret (no spoilers!) and we begin to wonder exactly how this unusual marriage of convenience is going to work out for both partners.

Kodansha are bringing us the physical edition of The Ayakashi Hunter’s Tainted Bride in trade paperback format which displays Mamenosuke Fujimaru’s art to good effect. Sadly, there’s no colour art inside, as the cover art is very striking, and given that the Benitsubaki clan has (natch) red camellias flowering at all times on their estate, one can only guess how striking the splash pages must be in their original colour versions. However, there are two pages of humorous little sketches that come after the chapters collected together at the end and two translation notes.

The translation for the physical version reads well (as expected as it’s from the very reliable Jacqueline Fung!) but the digital edition (not seen) is translated by Sarah Kellis. Lettering is by Madeleine Jose (and by Sonya Kravchenco for the digital edition).

The series is ongoing at six volumes in Japan and the next volume from Kodansha is due out in May. If only we could access K Manga in the UK, we’d be able to read ahead – but as that isn’t currently an option, we’ll just have to wait. And as this volume ends on an ominous (and perplexing) pronouncement from Lord Reito, it’s lucky we don’t have to wait too long to find out what the future holds in store for Nanao, the ‘tainted bride’.

Read a free preview at the publisher’s website here. 

Our review copy from Kodansha was supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.