by Bayani Miguel Acebedo
Sumomo Yumeka is best known for her work as a Yaoi artist, but from time to time, she will also make some seinen titles, but under a different pen name, Mizu Sahara. To western audiences, Yumeka’s most popular work are titles like “Same Cell Organism” and “The Day I Became a Butterfly”, and her Sahara persona is known for being the author of “Voices of a Distant Star” and “My Girl”. For this review though, we’re going to be looking into the latest title from Sahara, “A Tail’s Tale” or “Okashiratsuki”.
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“A Tail’s Tale” is essentially a high school romance between two main characters, Nachi Hiyama and Kaisei Utsumi. Like any romance protagonists, the two actually don’t fit in too well at school. Nachi has a weird skin condition that leaves her with a pale complexion, but Kaisei ultimately has it worse when Nachi discovers that he has a literal pig’s tail at the end of his back.
Oddly enough, the tail is endearing to a ‘weirdo’ like Nachi, and this leads to the two becoming friends—eventually it evolves into a high school romance. Though the tail kind of comes out of nowhere, it’s revealed to be a huge source of conflict for Kaisei; as whenever it’s discovered by friends or classmates, his family has to uproot themselves because he suddenly becomes a media circus and his parents don’t want any of that for him. When Nachi discovers the tail though, she promises to keep his secret, and the two continue to know more about each other.
In English, “Okashiratsuki” means ‘with a tail’, but contextually, Japanese people say “okashiratsuki’ when a whole grilled fish is served. The term is said to mean ‘a fish with head and tail’ which implies ‘perfection’. When you consider this context with Nachi and Kaisei’s relationship, you could say that Nachi thinks Kaisei is ‘perfect’ because she likes his tail—despite it being the source of all of his problems.
A Modern Romance Manga
When it comes to romance manga and its tropes, the story usually tries to stretch out the tension of a romance by constantly teasing the audience with ‘events’ for the leading couple—with each one making them grow closer toward each other. The series will then end with an eventual confession of love, and maybe the two would share a kiss for the first time.
For modern romance manga though, there have been some titles that have been known to break the formula, and “A Tail’s Tale” is one of them. The series doesn’t spend a lot of time playing with the “will-they-won’t-they” chemistry of Nachi and Kaisei—instead, Nachi outright asks Kaisei to date her early on in the book; and we get to watch the two slowly develop their relationship from there—which is where the real meat of the story is.
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Themes of Mixed Race Families and How They Adapt
Though the tail is considered to be one of the major plots of “A Tail’s Tale”, what the manga really wants to delve into is the effects of having a tail, and what it really means for Kaisei and his family. It’s actually revealed in the book that his mother is not Japanese, and she’s the reason why he has a tail. What’s more, his mother is also revealed to have all these different kinds of rituals that are strange to Japanese culture—sometimes it’s downright magic.
When Nachi is exposed to Kaisei’s family, she’s suddenly thrust into this world of different customs that other local Japanese people—specifically his neighbours—find strange and annoying. With Nachi being the way she is though, she tries to take the blame for the family’s odd rituals all in order to get the neighbors off the family’s back. This endears her to the family, and most importantly Kaisei, who has admittedly been having it tough whenever someone discovers his tail, because he’s often teased about it, and it scares off any potential relationship he could have had.
What the Tail Means Thematically
When it comes to what the tail actually symbolizes thematically, it can be read as being of a mixed-race. Because Kaisei is not a ‘pure Japanese’ person, the tail often becomes a source of ridicule for him and it’s what leads others to keep him as an outsider.
Just looking at social media, there have been some mixed-race Japanese citizens who have openly admitted that the rest of the population kinds of treats them as outliers and it’s often hard for them to blend in—whether it be because of the shape of their eyes, or the color of their skin. With “Okashiratsuki”, it does seem like Sahara wants to say something about the status of mixed-race people in Japan, and is offering the audience a look at just how difficult their lives could be because of the country’s nationalistic and exclusive culture.
While foreigners who visit Japan also post about how the locals like to treat visitors of their country, it’s a completely different experience for mixed-race children. Because for them, they were born and raised in Japan, but they’re somewhat treated like they come from somewhere else—which is a perfect metaphor for how people treat Kaisei because he has a tail.
The Current Status of the Manga
Though this is only a review of the first volume, it’s worth noting that the story has already been completed, and the original manga ran from 2019 to 2021. “Tail’s Tale” has a total of 24 chapters, split up neatly into 4 volumes.
As far as adaptations go, there isn’t an “Okashiratsuki” anime yet, but there was a live-action adaptation that released in 2023 from director Mikiya Sanada. The original manga also boasts a circulation of 150,000 copies sold and is said to be quite popular among millennial women.
Overall “A Tail’s Tale” feels like a relaxing slice-of-life romance with some very interesting themes explored. When it comes to the art, Sahara definitely has a very unique style that evokes imagery that is common with the genre; albeit she does have some more unique flourishes—like how the characters’ ears look.
I also have to say, her history with yaoi kind of stands out when you read the material, because the tension between boy characters are somewhat palpable—sometimes even more evident than the romance between the main characters
