On the MangaRock app, they have these categories about like historical shoujo or about geisha in the red light district or something along those lines. For some reason I'm really attracted to them lately. Not in like a perverse way or anything weird like that, but just the stories they tell and the vibe of them is really interesting to me. I'm sure I'll get over this weird stage soon enough, but they're just really different. You should really try to read one, they're pretty good.
{Spoilers and there's an actual plot this time}
This takes place in the Showa era where it was still common for girls of poor families to be sold off as geishas. Our main character, Butterfly, yes her name is Butterfly, is a young girl who befriends the neighboring tattoo artist Chinatsu. All this time, Butterfly has constantly bothered this guy while he's working and just whenever because he's literally right next door. You can already see where this is going. And you can already tell I like it because it's my favorite childhood friend trope. Anyways, as Butterfly grows up, she begins to realize that her feelings for Chinatsu go beyond just friends. This climaxes when Butterfly gets sold to some random visiting European dude and she solidifies her feelings for Chinatsu. Eventually she gets returned because Chinatsu bought her back or something, I don't really know how this all happened. This transaction and seeing Butterfly's love for him, confirmed Chinatsu's feelings as well that Butterfly was no longer an innocent child. You start to see this transition within him because before, when she was a child, Butterfly would always ask for a tattoo but Chinatsu would only paint with ink on top of her skin. However, when he realizes his feelings for her, he then accepts that she wants to be tattooed and then gives her a beautiful butterfly tattoo. And honestly it's pretty wholesome because he treasures her so much, even though this frustrates her that he treats her as a child under his care rather than as a love interest. But this just makes it cuter somehow? I dunno, it's hard to explain which is why you should just read it for yourself and see!
The main point of this manga, or the climax I guess, was when Chinatsu was drafted to fight in the war. At the time, Butterfly became pregnant and they had to separate for a while, with Butterfly safe in her father-in-law's house. And at one point they believed Chinatsu to be dead. But don't worry! There's a happy ending to the story. Chinatsu comes back from the war, physically unscathed and the family is reunited!
I would definitely recommend the manga. It's pretty wholesome and sweet, with Butterfly not being incredibly annoying, and all of the characters being really sincere and consistent with their character motivations and actions and everything like that. For a 10 chapter work it's incredibly well-done and somehow really endearing.
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