Gwyn J.

Snow and Ink almost has a little bit of everything in it: Romance, tragedy, drama. But since there are actually four (not three as originally posted) translated books released by Kodansha so far, it’s hard to say if there is comedy in it. Romance wise, I would call it “Josei”, because instead of the typical romance shoujo with younger characters, Snow and Ink’s main characters Freya and Neneo, are pretty much adults, but the book doesn’t really tell us their ages.

The story begins with Freya purchasing Neneo, who was set to be executed for murdering a whole village, which had been his home. Freya was shunned by her family as she had destroyed her father’s company by making bad decisions. So here we have two characters that are really down on their luck and are pretty much miserable.

Then we have Neneo, whose life is completely difficult, because he can’t get a job because of the tattoos on his hands and arms. The tattoos are a sign that he was a murderer, and doesn’t do him any good when walking around towns in broad daylight. Neneo is an attractive young man, with vivid red eyes and shaggy brown hair. He had been sentenced to death when Freya rescued him from that execution. Throughout the story however, it explains in detail why he murdered the entire village.

Unlike Freya who was born and raised in a wealthy family, Neneo is from a small village where it was isolated from everything, and snowed a lot, meaning access to the village would be too difficult. Neneo would travel to town and stay there for some time, until his brother Cis had called and told him that their mother was dead. When Neneo returned home, he discovered everyone in the village was sick and dying from an illness that was contagious through touch, and not airborne. He told Cis that he was sorry he didn’t get there sooner, and Cis told him even if he had, there was nothing he could do.

It doesn’t fully say how the virus started but it does give a hint when Neneo’s mother mentioned their grandmother had a rash on her arm. So it appears it starts as a rash. But how it’s caught hasn’t been mentioned.

Freya and Neneo start to travel up north, and a woman yells out that Neneo is a murdered. At the next stop, Freya purchases gloves and heavier clothing for Neneo since all he had was clothes from when he was in prison. The two finally make it to a cabin, where Neneo collapses- Freya discovers that Neneo’s wounds had gotten infected, so she panics because she doesn’t know what to do. It’s about this point in time that Neneo realizes she was the only one that cared for him, and he kisses her.

There seems to be a time skip in the first volume at least, because the friendship between them is more than just friends. It isn’t too bad however, but it does leave out answers as to how Freya fell in love with Neneo. Neneo at least gives signs of interest due to Freya saving his life, and showing him that she truly cared for him.

Freya informs Neneo that she would have to talk to Halvard, her ex-fiancé, which Neneo yelled at her for not telling him, and also not going to see him in the first place. Neneo goes with her, and Halvard at first is a bit harsh with them, trying to figure out Neneo, since he was aware of the murder at the village. Freya and Neneo are in luck however, as Halvard gives Neneo a job as his research assistant. Halvard also wants to go to the village and get samples of the villagers, which Neneo tells him the first few villagers had actually been buried and most likely well preserved because of the snow and cold temperatures.

There is a good, solid storyline in the first volume, which not every book has. The character development is pretty good too, as you see different sides come out from both characters. That they are more than just a young woman that pretty has no experience in life, especially operating a business, or a man that is branded a murderer for life. They are just like everyone else, full of emotion and finding love with one another. They just can’t live a normal life without their history tormenting them such as Neneo’s case, or not completely going away, like Freya.

What I liked about the story, is that it shows that people with completely different lifestyles can be attracted to the other person. Even with the time skip, I found the first volume to be hard to put down and I couldn’t wait to get the next two volumes. I strongly recommend this series, especially if the reader wants something different than the typical shoujo romance series.