365 Days of Manga, Day 170: Wedding Eve

WEDDING EVE (ウェディング・イブ) • Keiko Honda • CPM (2007) • Ohzora Shuppan (2000) • 1 volume • Jôsei Romance • 13+ (brief sexual situations)
Yui, a single businesswoman in her late 20s, is the top designer of wedding dresses. Taiyo, her best male friend, is a pastry chef who specializes in wedding cakes. As Yui deals with professional challenges through her faith in miracles and love, she and Taiyo grow closer, but they must face a tragic past involving Taiyo’s fiancé, who died in a car accident. For readers who like this kind of old-fashioned story (”Do you like transforming yourself into a beauty?” “Of course I do! I’m a girl!”) this is actually a decent short romance manga, a little smarter than Honda’s Over the Rainbow and a smidgen deeper than a Harlequin Manga, which it strongly resembles. The art is appealing, with “fan service” in the form of, not nudity, but page after page of wedding dress designs. The short omake manga in the back, in which Honda talks about her own marriage, provides a nice glimpse of the artist behind the work.

Today’s winner is Melinda G. of Montana. Congratulations, Melinda!