Manga Review: Dorothea Volume Two

[Jason]

Title: Dorothea
Volume: Two
Mangaka: Cuvie
Genre: Shoten, Historical, Action
Originally Serialized In: Kadokawa Shoten
Licensed by: CMX
Price: $12.99/US

Lucky for me that what happened in the first volume is summed up in the splash page. This story is set in 15th century Germany, not a good time to be female, and different because you could end up being burnt at the stake as a witch. Sadly, for the point of view character, Dorothea, she’s both. She’s one of the White Children of Nauders, a group of albinos, and she’s been trained for combat all her young life. When war comes, Dorothea breaks with tradition and becomes a landsknecht, a German mercenary soldier. You can just imagine how well this sits with her fellow soldiers.

Running a constant risk of being declared a witch, Dorothea stays with her new companions, one assumes for two reasons: one is to protect the Nauders and two, because her childhood friend, Gyurk, is one of the few who knows her skin needs protecting from the sun and that she needs special medicines to bolster her (medicines that could be seen as a witch’s brew). In the background, there’s a constant whisper about Dorothea: half the troops thinking she’s a witch and the other half thinking, who cares, she’s pretty. Much of these thoughts are stirred up by Anton, an established and unpleasant soldier, who Dorothea laid out flat in the last volume. Luckily, Dorothea does have a few allies besides young Gyurk, including the company commander and Edwynna, a high-class prostitute.

Dorothea does win over some of her doubters by sheer intelligence and skill, saving much of her troop. However, her first true battle is anything but what she expected. Killing someone is hard, bloody work and somehow she didn’t expect the rape and pillaging, something she tries to put a stop to, only to find she can’t be savior to both sides. Reality of her situation depresses Dorothea, but it does stop her from taking her commander’s suggestion, pretending to be a witch to lure the enemy into a trap. If only she knew that back home in Nauders her beloved grandmother and the other White Children are under attack.

This isn’t something I would’ve picked up on my own, but it was surprisingly good. There are not that many good strong female characters in manga and even those who’re supposed to be tend to end up needing rescue by their male companions. Not so with Dorothea. She is strong and skilled yet remains a believable girl in that she is unsure of herself and killing has a real human impact on her. She’s not perfect and the risk she’s taking should, and does, make her afraid.

The art is very good for the most part and very detailed. The sound effects have been removed and replace by English ones. The one thing I would have liked, however, is more German names. These are German people and while the last names are German, most of the personal names aren’t and Gyurk… well, the first time I saw it I thought it was a strangling sound effect, but really that’s a minor complaint.

If you like historical (and I’m using that word loosely here) sword battles and strong ladies, you’ll enjoy this.

Reviewer: D.M. Evans
Proofer/Editor: Lissa Pattillo