Tales of the Tendo Family, vol. 1 | Review & Interview with editor Eric Margolis

When a son of a prestigious family meets his intended bride, Hojo Ran, he learns  the girl in front of him is not actually Hojo Ran. She is a fake. The Hojo Ran in front of him is a girl willing to die. The real Hojo Ran has heard tales that no bride has made it out of the Tendo family alive, especially when the betrothal involves the groom, Masato Tendo. So why would this girl risk her life for a stranger?

She does it to reunite with her deceased adoptive grandfather, who was the only one who loved her. The imposter was willing to risk her own life for the doomed bride because not only does she die with honor, she will be with her family again. To avoid embarrassment, Masato decides to keep fake Ran by his side while she continues to maintain her honor for her grandfather. 

I really enjoyed this story, and found it to be very different from other shojo stories I have read. While the suicidal ideology (and a scene of brief non-graphic nudity) might ruffle some feathers, I think readers will enjoy how this relationship of opposites attracting develops throughout the story, along with its gorgeous imagery. The artwork is beautiful to behold and the flow of the storytelling was just enough to keep readers hooked for more. 

To get a better glimpse of Tales of the Tendo Family, I had the pleasure of interviewing Eric Margolis of One Peace Books to learn more about this new series. 

Tales of the Tendo Family is a fascinating tale of identity swapping along with a story of finding your place in the world. What was the inspiration to bring this story to Western audiences?

There were several points about Tales of the Tendo Family that made us really excited about licensing and translating the title. First, we love a strong heroine with a unique personality, a powerful backstory, and genuine growth. Second, we had only ever released one shojo title before, Usotoki Rhetoric. But that was a big hit with our readers and was in fact named manga of the year last year. So we definitely wanted to do another shojo title. And third, the story has meaningful themes about what it means to follow your dreams, perhaps sacrifice them for someone that you love, and how to find those dreams and that love in the first place – themes that we were confident would resonate with all audiences.

Our main character, Ran (not her real name) switches places with the real Hojo Ran after finding the latter in a dire predicament. What do you think would drive her to do so? 

Ran is a truly fascinating character. She’s heroic, impulsive, naive, shy, confident, and as stubborn as a bull all at once. Only a heroine with nerves of steel would jump straight into the lion’s den by taking Hojo Ran’s place as Masato Tendo’s bride – along with a very powerful motivating backstory. We find more and more about her motivations and mindset as the story goes on.

The fake Ran has a goal of dying with honor in order to reunite with her deceased adoptive grandfather. Do you feel that readers might find this decision controversial?

It’s extremely controversial, and I think this series definitely deserves a trigger warning for suicidal thoughts. Ran is very cheerful on the surface, but readers will see through that and realize that she is actually incredibly depressed and traumatized by the loss of the one person in the world who truly cared for her. Is her motivation to die saving another altruistic, or is it actually selfish? There are real depths to what Ran is going through and what her motivations are, and I hope that readers care to think about it and sort it out.

The real Hojo Ran’s intended groom, Masato Tendo, is rumored to be a cold-hearted groom and an outsider to his own family. But when he sees how far the fake Ran will go to protect the real Ran, Masato begins to grow fond of her.  How do you think readers will react to the pairing of these two outsiders?

Tales of the Tendo Family doesn’t shy away from certain shojo tropes and stereotypes, so I’m sure our seasoned shojo readers may be able to guess where certain aspects of the story are going. However, Masato and Ran are both such strong personalities – genuinely weird, spunky characters with a variety of complex motivations – that I’m also sure that there will be certain aspects of the series that catch even the most devoted shojo readers off guard.

With the success of recent historical fiction titles such as My Happy Marriage and The Apothecary Diaries, what makes Tales of the Tendo Family special compared to the titles mentioned, along with its beautiful artwork and story?

I think it’s the characters. Ran and Masato have strong main overtones – Ran’s wish to die saving another, and Masato’s sadism – but they are anything but one-note characters. What I think sets Tendo apart is the grey moral nature of the cast of characters. It’s not that Masato seems bad but actually turns out to be kind underneath – he’s a genuinely messed up, complicated guy. And Ran is hardly a pillar of perfection herself. That should be really appealing to manga fans. 

Final thoughts for our readers.

We think that fans of Usotoki Rhetoric will like Tales of the Tendo Family and vice versa. Volume 6 of the highly-acclaimed historical-mystery manga just came out, so we encourage everyone interested in Tendo to pick up a copy of Usotoki Rhetoric. I’m sure that you’ll like it!

Thank you Eric for taking time out for this interview. I hope you all enjoy Tales of the Tendo Family, and be on the lookout for my review of One Peace Books’ Usotoki Rhetoric, coming soon. 

Filed under: Interviews, Manga, Reviews, Young Adult