Alpine Rose: Old School Lovin'

My latest Ivy Scans assignment is Vol 2, Chapter 1 of Akaishi Michiyo's Alpine Rose. It's the story of a poor young lovers set in Switzerland on the eve of World War II. The girl Jeudi was found by Lundi in a field when they were children. Lundi [1] had also lost his parents and was being raised by his Aunt and Uncle. At the earliest time possible, the Aunt and Uncle packed away Jeudi to work in a nearby town [2].

She was happy with her work for a time, but her old boss passes away and is replaced by a tyrant who tries to violate her. Jeudi flees to her only sanctuary, which is with Lundi. Lundi's aunt and uncle try to make her go back, but he stand up for her. While this mess looms over them, they accidentally the two get tangled up with a philandering noble, and then then adventure really get started.

From the start, Jeudi & Lundi are fond of each other with the uncomplicated ease of children. The night of Jeudi's arrival, they curl together in the same blanket. She is not content to sleep in the bed if he must sleep on the floor.

At the start: Close, but not quite lovers.
AKA Friends WITHOUT Benefits

The stakes rise once the Count Gourmont enters the picture, and Jeudi and Lundi rise to the occasion. Lundi incurs the wrath of Gourmont by protecting Jeudi's pet cockatoo, then Jeudi confronts Gourmont after the Count strikes Lundi. And so it goes. They have nothing but each other, and they hold on with everything they have. Their pure feelings transition from childhood fondess to the first declarations of romance.

Jeudi does not fear to stand up for her man!

This manga was published in the early to mid '80s. What were remarkable were

1. the lack of angst
2. the external conflict
3. the strength of both Lundi & Jeudi in the face of this conflict.

Karekano was the first shojo work that I got into. In the first half of the anime, most of the conflict is internal and, boy, is there ever a streak of angst that runs on after the couple gets together. Souichirou Arima is plagued with powerful doubts, and Yukino is little better.

Most modern day shojo (as I've complained about before) focuses on or degenerates (Lovely Complex) into focusing on the feelings itself. While love is important in this earlier work, it is one aspect of the story, not the encompassing theme that it's become. The later works seem to have not only romance, but a morbid fascination with meta-romance: ruminations about the feelings of love, the effects of romance, what it's like being in love, etc.

Akaishi wrote "Alpine Rose" when she was in her twenties. Her parents lived through the reconstruction. However, Karekano is two generations distant from that time of deprivation, which is safely relegated to black and white images and stories from the senile side. The internal conflict may speak more clearly to the current generations, but I have my doubts that this is positive development.

The internal conflicts also mean that the mind is sliced and diced as each emotion is dissected. This calls for shades of gray, which can become a pall if there is too much angst. In Alpine Rose, the attacks from without are met with grit and clarity by both Lundi and Jeudi. It is telling that
in this portrait, both of them are clad in armor:

No need for damsel in distress.

While I enjoyed Karekano [3], the clear strength of Jeudi & Lundi have become the exception. And the old has become new again.

[1] I have trouble remembering that Lundi is the guy. I associate the moon with a woman, so it's counter-intuitive for me.
[2] This was translated as "shop" or "beverage shop". The frame says "Schloss", which is German for castle. It could be a bar or beer hall or tavern.
[3] Especially Yukino's moral damage.