Crossposted from my MAL review which was written as a response to a handful of folks assuming solely by the cover that this was a ripoff of The Ancient Magus Bride Copycats are a dime a dozen within the realm of anime and manga. With the advent of a successful series oftentimes a publisher will seek content of a similar formula with hopes of capitalizing on the trend set by its predecessor. Im sure youre aware of where Im going with this: The Girl From the Other Side is clearly a ripoff of The Ancient Magus Bride Mahoutsukai no Yome... or is it? Well Im here to tell you that this is in fact far from the truth. While its clear as day that Comic Garden was hoping to emulate the success of Mahoutsukai what weve received is a doubleedged sword. On the one hand copycats have never fared well with fans of the medium and most will immediately write them off as the inferior product without even giving them a fair chance. However those who opt to give The Girl From the Other Side Totsukuni from here on out a shot will realize its magnificently penned story and that its similarities to Mahoutsukai end with the cover image. Since theres no shortage of comparisons and assumptions that the two works are similar I feel the need to elaborate on the differences Note: bear in mind that Im keeping a neutral stance on Mahoutsukai and in no way intend to let biases whether good or bad affect these points: Totsukuni is a low fantasy story with a touch of influence from Norse paganism while Mahoutsukai is high fantasy not in always setting but in tone inspired by fairy tails and Celtic mysticism. The former focuses on an otherwise normal medieval setting inflicted with a curse while the latter is set in modern times and treats magic as commonplace for certain individuals that is. Shiva Totsukuni is a young child while Chise Mahoutsukai is a teenager. The relationship between the two protagonists in Totsukuni is strictly familial while Mahoutsukai employs elements of romance. Mahoutsukai focuses more heavily on character interactions and relationships while Totsukunis focus is on the mysteries of the world and its curse. Mahoutsukai boasts a wide cast of characters while Totsukuni prioritizes the two protagonists. Totsukuni follows a linear storyline while Mahoutsukai pursues a more episodic formula. While both stories have occasional slice of life bits theyre much more frequent in Mahoutsukai. Totsukunis dismal tone is relentless and you never truly feel at ease. The art of Mahoutsukai is much more realistic while Totsukunis artwork is heavily stylized and unique. While both stories are under the same publisher Totsukuni feels like it belongs to a seinen serialization rather than shounen this is just my opinion of course. So now that you understand that the only real similarity between the two works is the dynamic of a mystical horned man/creature and a young human girl to whom he acts as a teacher in one way or another lets get to what I love about this manga. Totsukuni is a somber low fantasy tale with a setting very similar to that of 14thcentury Europe in the wake of the Black Death. Now for those who may be unfamiliar with the term low fantasy or intrusion fantasy is when you have an otherwise normal world in which some mystical or magical element intrudes on their way of life. In this story its referring to the curse that plagues the kingdom and this curse is where Ive drawn many similarities to the outbreak in medieval Europe. I also mentioned that the story also has ties to Norse paganism and mythology but its never showcased in a magical way. This is primarily seen through the design of the creatures resulting from this worlds curse and their ties to the earth that slowly become more obvious over the course of time. While the groundwork of the story might not be particularly unique or revolutionary it comes as a breath of fresh air in a genre thats so commonly littered with cliches and tropes. The story begins with the introduction of a young child named Shiva and her mysterious Sensei a strange yet eloquently spoken humanoid creature with pitchblack skin and horns. He is an outsider: a cursed being who will transfer his affliction via any contact with a human or as theyre called insiders. Aware of the circumstances he makes it clear to Shiva that she must never touch him for any reason and as he shows a deep affinity for the child he puts her wellbeing above everything else. From the getgo author Nagabe employs a show dont tell tactic and he slowly unveils the details of the world little by little rather than through longwinded exposition. The relationship between Shiva and Sensei is natural from the start but only through delving further into the story will one begin to understand how they ended up in their peculiar living arrangement. Furthermore the use of cliffhangers works toward making this a wonderfully addicting read and somewhat torturous given the recent chapters and wait for volume 8 and as the mysteries begin to unfold the picture becomes far grimmer than one might expect from the start. I might also add that the manga includes a few small elements of dramatic irony while the story is usually either told from the perspective of Shiva or Sensei the reader is often given insight into events happening in the world around them helping to build the tension leading up to our protagonists inevitable revelations. Moving on I must say that the art of Totsukuni is simply spectacular. Similar to that of old childrens picture books it possesses an elegant painterly quality that feels truly unique amidst the generic design of other fantasy works of recent years. I for one am a huge fan of heavily stylized designs that take risks stepping outside the norm of what we see in most anime and manga. Each panel is absolutely gorgeous and while the tone of the art is bleak and dreary it works wonders for the dark fantasy setting perfectly emulating the kind of serious and melancholic mood I would expect for such a tale. Just go and take a look at the first chapter skim through a few pages and youll see exactly what I mean. I understand that art is subjective and that people have varying tastes but I personally cant help but praise the style of this manga. From a purely aesthetic standpoint this is one of my favorite series Ive read thus far. Overall if youre a fan of fantasy I strongly recommend giving this series a chance. If you were initially skeptical or hesitant to try it due to its apparent similarities to Mahoutsukai no Yome I hope I was able to explain how drastically different they are at their core. Im not saying that one is better than the other but this is one of those rare cases where I felt I needed to defend this work in particular due to the obvious bias that comes from assuming something is just another copycat. Ive thoroughly enjoyed every page of Totsukuni and I eventually plan to collect the entire series in print. Volume 8 is easily my most anticipated release at the moment and I cant wait to see where the story takes me next.