This manga is the sequel to Taishou Otome Otogibanashi. An argument can be made that it is not necessary to have read the prequel before reading this, but I would strongly recommend still doing so. Even though the plot in a sense is stand alone, there is a lot of overlap between the two series in terms of the main characters. The background of the male lead’s in both series is also heavily linked. As such the cast will be easier to understand and emotional moments will carry more weight if you have read the prequel. Thus, the rest of the review will be fromthe perspective that the reader has read Taishou.

While this manga is a sequel to Taishou, it is very very different. Taishou was the tale of Yuzu’s light bringing Tamahiko out of the darkness. Shouwa on the other hand is the tale of two people equally in the darkness struggling to keep the other from falling even further. The manga begins with the childhood friends, Jintarou and Tokoyo, living in very unfortunate circumstances. Jintarou starts off in a semi-abusive household while Tokoyo lives with a stepfamily that treats her as if she’s completely worthless. But then Jintarou gets adopted by Shima Tamayo. Yes, that Tamayo, the evilest of the Shima siblings from Taishou. And thus, the two are separated.

They reunite after three years, but Jintarou has changed considerably and initially tries pushing Tokoyo away. However, Tokoyo vows her unconditional love and that she’ll be with him forever. The first half of the manga is centered around the two helping each other break free of what binds them. I mean this in a literal sense, in that both of them need to escape from their respective families. But I also mean this in a mental/emotional sense in that Tokoyo helps Jintarou feel more human and less like a demon, while Jintarou helps Tokoyo get over her feelings of being useless allowing her to be more proactive. The second half is hard to discuss without spoilers, but it involves the two having to face a series of new grave crises that strongly convey the fragility of life.

Overall, the writing in this is weaker than Taishou. This is overall darker, but I don’t think the mangaka was able to handle that all that well. Jintarou and Tokoyo’s relationship is supposed to be twisted, with a common theme being lover’s suicide, but the darker aspects just kind of came and went. There is also definitely some good romantic fluff, but it’s much rarer than in Taishou. Part of that comes down to how Jintarou dislikes physical intimacy. I think this was supposed to play into the twisted aspect of their relationship somehow, but it didn’t really work. The two’s character arcs are pretty good, but they’re heavily concentrated to the first half of the series. What the story tries to do with them in the second half is messier and doesn’t come across nearly as well.

This heavily has to do with the plot during key moments being really messy. There’s a pretty intense arc as the transition from the first half to the second half. Tamayo is the clear antagonist in this arc and there’s a lot of effort put into trying to make her seem evil. However, she ends up coming across less as evil, and more as just downright insane, which doesn’t really fit the themes the manga is going for. How she is dealt with is also ultimately very rushed and lacks impact. The final stretch of the manga is similarly rushed. There are still some really heavy emotional beats that are really painful. However, the manga doesn’t really commit and things move on before things have even properly sunk in. As such, while I am fine with where the manga ends up, I am not all that satisfied with the finale that was used to reach it.

This manga also doesn’t do all that much with its side characters. There are two new side characters that feel somewhat important, but ultimately neither has all that much of a story. Returning characters from Taishou fare better, however that is in the sense of their stories here being epilogues. It’s nice to see how they’re continuing through life, but they don’t really have much in terms of any further developments. Also, while quite a lot of the cast of Taishou show up, there were some pretty noticeable absences made more prominent by the fact that so many reoccurring characters showed up. I think Ryou and Kotori deserved at least a cameo.

The art overall in the manga is still about as great as it was in Taishou. There is definitely still some great art, but I feel that there aren’t as many scenes that played to its strengths. The fantranslation seems to be solid without any remarkable issues.

tl;dr: A darker sequel that isn’t able to use its darker aspects all that effectively.