Eve

The thing that gets me about Kaoru Mori is that she doesn't just have impeccable detailing skills and an insatiable thirst for historical accuracy. She also knows when to keep things simple.

No doubt she could have filled in the entirety of this page. Every pebble and pothole, every ornamental plant. But the emotion demands less, not more. A gesture at lace, the swoosh of ruffled petticoats, and a blank void to the left hand side, because all Emma really sees is William, and all that matters in that moment is the two of them together.

It's most noticeable with her faces, I think, which she keeps extremely simple in contrast to the lush detailing of fabric and furniture. Which can sometimes lead to a lack of diversity, but which also means that emotions gets communicated so impressively and effectively.

Exceedingly funny that this volume is mostly an excuse for Kaoru Mori to flex (as though she ever needed to do that again in her life) by drawing infinite horses, the bane of every artist. Anyway this manga continues to be the best, full of richness and detail and tenderness. I truly love how much it tries to embody the lives of the characters from the inside out. I think the most tiresome and boring critique people have of it is that the central relationship has an uncomfortable age gap - which it does (amir is almost 21 at this point, karluk is almost 13) - but to focus on that is to profoundly miss the point of what the story is trying to do, which is to think about all the kinds of lives people have had, and to wonder without prejudice or assumption "what did it feel like to live those lives?" And imo there really is no higher bar historical fiction can hit.

(also she yet again manages to draw some very gorgeous female nudity while ~mysteriously~ not bothering with any male nudity, very odd, wonder why she would possibly do that)

Exceedingly funny that this volume is mostly an excuse for Kaoru Mori to flex (as though she ever needed to do that again in her life) by drawing infinite horses, the bane of every artist. Anyway this manga continues to be the best, full of richness and detail and tenderness. I truly love how much it tries to embody the lives of the characters from the inside out. I think the most tiresome and boring critique people have of it is that the central relationship has an uncomfortable age gap - which it does (amir is almost 21 at this point, karluk is almost 13) - but to focus on that is to profoundly miss the point of what the story is trying to do, which is to think about all the kinds of lives people have had, and to wonder without prejudice or assumption "what did it feel like to live those lives?" And imo there really is no higher bar historical fiction can hit.

(also she yet again manages to draw some very gorgeous female nudity while ~mysteriously~ not bothering with any male nudity, very odd, wonder why she would possibly do that)