Day 1 has come and gone and I think it some parts of the world (at least in mine) it’s already inching towards the 3rd day.

Nonetheless, I’m happy to receive some contributions with regards to the MMF. Hopefully, it’ll give us a glimpse on the titles that we can explore about histories most loved in Manga.

For these days, we’re looking at the women. Women have been long overlooked in history and still struggle as a voice still waiting to be found under piles and volumes of men’s history. The most fervent of women historians long for a change of history to ‘herstory’ but I think that women are

Matt Cycyk shared his thoughts on Ooku: The Inner Chambers by Yoshinaga Fumi, a powerful retelling of Tokugawa Japan had the men been powerless and the women take reign of the shogunate. Matt’s article focuses on the historical legacies incorporated in the story which enriches the authenticity of Ooku’s alternate history.

In Manga Xanadu, Lori Henderson looks at A Bride’s Story, Kaoru Mori’s epic tale about a new Mongolian bride living along the Silk Road. She speaks about Kaoru Mori’s attention to detail as well as the treatment of women as illustrated by Mori. Terry Hong of Book Dragon from the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American center has also taken a look at a good number of volumes of A Bride’s Story.

Kaoru Mori’s quite fascinating and her love for history bleeds on to her pages, making it alive and real to us. She’s one of my favorite authors and I’ve lovingly dedicated a spotlight for her and her works, analyzing how her art historicizes the lives of her subjects. I’ve also written an in-depth for a previous MMF on Emma’s historical worth.

Of course, we’re not letting Shigeru Mizuki’s “granny” go unnoticed. Terry also looks into Nononba, Mizuki’s biography on his experiences as he listens to the old ladies’ stories about ghosts and such. I believe it was in Susan Napier’s The Fantastic in Japanese modern literature that she mentioned that women in Japanese literature were often associated with evil thus they are often written as ghosts in old tales. It’s rather interesting because Nononba is anything but ghost but her stories have left a great impression unto a young boy who eventually gave birth to some of Japan’s most treasured monsters.

For a first day, it ain’t that bad! I’ve got a few more links to put up but stay tuned for the rest of the MMF! Again, if you have any contributions, send an e-mail with HISTORY MMF as a title or tweet or tumble with #historymmf as a subject.