GOLD KINGDOM AND WATER KINGDOM
Writer/Artist: Nao Iwamoto
Translator: Alan Cheng and Rowena Chen
Lettering: Lys Blakeslee
Publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment
Publication Date: November 28, 2023
Rating: Teen (13+)
Genre: Manga, Romantic Comedy, Historical Fiction
RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 stars (Recommended)
Any manga fan will tell you it’s easy to start reading Japanese comics. Pick up the first volume of a series, read the next volumes in order, and you’re good to go. What manga fans won’t always tell you, though, is just how long these series can be. One Piece is over 100 volumes long (editor’s note: indeed, creator Eiichiro Oda has won a Guinness World Record, not once (2015) but twice (2022), as being the creator with the longest-running comic book in the world). The much shorter, but still long, Jujutsu Kaisen is over 20 volumes. These books don’t stand alone, either. Compared to superhero comics, which are packaged and sold as distinct arcs in trade paperback, manga flows from one chapter to the next without pause.
Nao Iwamoto‘s Gold Kingdom and Water Kingdom is an exception. This 2016 series features likable characters, an unusual setting, and a self-contained story under three hundred pages. This is as good a place to start reading manga as any.
Gold Kingdom and Water Kingdom tells a tale of star-crossed lovers. Sarah is a princess of Kingdom A, famed for its trade and wonderful inventions. Naranbayar is a son of Kingdom B, blessed with natural resources but devastated by war. The two of them meet and work together to unite their warring homelands.
The stage is set for an old-fashioned historical romance. But Gold Kingdom and Water Kingdom doesn’t take itself too seriously. Sarah and Naranbayar’s two kingdoms are called simply “A” and “B.” Kingdom A has a working escalator and a Minister of the Left named Saladin Moonlight. He shares his name with a great sultan but introduces himself like a J-pop idol: “I’ll be the moonlight that lights up the dark sky!”
Iwamoto happily defies reader expectations. Sarah’s sister, Leopoldine, is teased as a potential villain. In reality, she’s an ally who dreams of modernizing Kingdom A. Her handsome concubine, Saladin, is a refugee with a canny grasp of politics. The most absurd of these characters (and probably my favorite) is Lailala, a small woman in a burqa who’s part servant, bodyguard, and ninja. Despite being a simple cartoon drawing, she’s the greatest physical threat in the comic.
Sarah and Naranbayar don’t quite fit the roles they’re meant to play, either. Sarah, the ninety-third of one hundred princesses, is down-to-earth compared to her stylish sisters. Naranbayar is a librarian’s son with the gift of gab. The two fall in love not because of divine providence but because they are smart and nice to each other. Their greatest weapon is kindness to each other, animals, and the people of their respective kingdoms.
Gold Kingdom and Water Kingdom was published in Flowers, the current home of Yumi Tamura (Don’t Call it Mystery) and Akimi Yoshida (Banana Fish.) I think Iwamoto’s work has less in common with those artists, though, than it does with web manga like Mob Psycho 100 and Ranking of Kings. All three of these series fixate on empathy as an all-purpose superpower. All three include characters that are surface-level cliches but contain hidden depths, like the Body Improvement Club in Mob and Boji’s mother, Hilling, in Ranking of Kings.
Iwamoto’s designs are unusually diverse in shape and size. Saladin is a classic bishonen (handsome man.) Lailala is a blob. Sarah is an expressive heroine who functions as either an ordinary person or a romantic heroine, depending on the scene’s needs. Iwamoto is no slouch when it comes to drawing environments, either. I’m especially fond of the architecture, textiles, and food of Kingdom A. (Iwamoto credits her assistants in her author bio for helping her “draw the difficult backgrounds in this work.”)
That said, this is not A Bride Story. The Gold Kingdom and Water Kingdom cannot match the backgrounds crafted by Kaoru Mori and her team of wizards. It doesn’t help that Iwamoto rejects the accouterments of real history. The names “Kingdom A” and “Kingdom B” allow for creative anachronism but are also a missed opportunity. I might have found Sarah and Naranbayar’s respective worlds fully convincing had the author either committed to fantasy or situated the action in a real-world context.
Gold Kingdom and Water Kingdom also features plenty of miscommunication for a series about the importance of communicating effectively. It begins with a misunderstanding: Sarah and Naranbayar don’t realize until the very end of the comic that they’re technically engaged to each other. They are kept apart by a running chain of coincidences, which becomes another way of playing with reader expectations. I found the resolution of Sarah and Naranbayar’s story very satisfying, but some readers may be frustrated by just how long they spend pining for each other.
At the end of the day, this is a charming and self-contained series with plenty to offer. Iwamoto’s drawings are simple but appealing. Her story is unfailingly optimistic but has just enough gritty politicking to convince. If you’re a comics reader of any stripe looking for an under-the-radar hit, this should be your next stop. There is even a cute cat and a dog in this book. What more do you need?
Gold Kingdom and Water Kingdom is now available in print and digital from Seven Seas Entertainment.
