Emma, Vol. 4

Emma (5 books edition) #4

by Kaoru Mori

With the postmark of Emma's last letter--and his heart--guiding him, William makes a bold journey across the Atlantic to begin his search for Emma in the town of Burnley in the United States. Even if he finds her among the hundreds of new arrivals from England, the life ahead of them will not be an easy one. The broken engagement of the Viscount's daughter has set him--and, through him, all of London society--against the Joneses, and it will take time to rebuild those business and social relationships. Even more difficult will be convincing society that Emma is worthy to join their ranks despite her humble origins. With dogged persistence, patience, and a little help from Mrs. Mölders, Emma and William aim to carve out a place in this world where their love can thrive at last!

Genres: Manga, Romance, Historical Fiction, Historical, Comics, Graphic Novels, Seinen

482 pages, Hardcover

First published October 10, 2013

About the author

Kaoru Mori (森 薫) is a Japanese manga author. Her stories tend to be intricately drawn female lead historical dramas set in exotic locations like Britain and along the silk road. Her series include Emma (2002-2008), Shirley (2003-present) and the best known A Bride's Tale (2008-present).

Reviews

[Grumpy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certains chapitres étaient incroyables ❤️

[DJL · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting volume as the first half was the conclusion of Emma and William's story (or at least as far as I could tell) while the second half was a collection of short stories featuring various side characters and a couple I don't remember... (Edna? Bayer?). I have to say while I was pleased with the overall conclusion, I was a bit surprised that it was resolved as quickly as it was. Perhaps there will be more in the final omnibus volume, so yay for a bit more!

[Jen13 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is this really the end of Emma’s story? Seemed very abrupt and anticlimactic. The rest of the volume introduced some new characters and caught up with some side characters. I hope the final volume will give us more from the main characters.

[Darby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glad things had a happy ending ^-^ excited for all the little extras

[Mahra · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this volume we saw a progress between William and Emma, a peaceful one. But at the last 200 pages we got to see what happened to the other characters, miss Campbell, the Indian Prince, the German family, the other maids,
BUT THE BEST WAS THE PAST OF THE GOVERNESS AND HER HUSBAND OMG THAT MADE ME JUST WANT THEM TO BE HAPPY AND EVERYTHING BUT LIFE!

I think I have mentioned this in the other volumes but the art is breathtaking, the buildings and the details, really astonishing!

All in all; if you want to read a 1880ish British love story with so much realism in it followed by good plot and research done, this is the one

[Doc · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Emma series is rated Teen but has some female nudity so use your best judgment if that sort of thing bothers you.

Imagine my surprise when I was almost half way through the book and I come across a chapter titled "The Final Chapter: The Blessed Flowers." What? But there are at least a book and a half to this series to go. Not knowing what to suspect I kept reading and got treated to Emma beginning her transformation from maid to Lady with the help of Williams mother and her former employer. After a little bit of awkwardness Emma and William march into a world opposed to their union even though they chose each other over those doubters.

Now here is the cincher. The story of Emma and William may be over (though I kinda hope for a future story so we an see how they turned out) but the mangaka is not done yet so the rest of the book and volume 5 (or about 3 books worth of normal size) are going to be side stories of the people William and Emma have touched in their lives. I wonder if everyone (except the Viscount who can suck a lemon) will have happy endings or at least better than terrible stories coming up in volume 5. Only time will tell. :)

Favorite part of the book for me is William's bold outburst to the Viscount who as I mentioned above can suck a lemon and as far as I am concerned a number of inappropriate acts that would make him uncomfortable. :)

[Space Cadette · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ending was so abrupt💀

Fr tho...what was that?? Things were just getting interesting and all of a sudden...IT ENDS?? And apparently the next three volumes are just side stories.
I feel like she left so many questions unanswered, so many characters that could have had interesting arcs but just never did.
I really wanted to see more of Tasha, Aurelia, Arthur, Hakim, Richard, Eleanor, etc.

On a positive note, the story itself, before it so suddenly ended, was quite interesting, and I though the romance was cute. Beautiful art, but I expect no less from Kaoru Mori!

I hope the side stories in volumes 9 and 10 will at least provide some more conclusion, but overall this chunk earns a 3/5⭐️ because it had an unsatisfactory conclusion

But idk, maybe the author wanted us to interpret our own ending? If that was the point, then I think it just wasn't executed very well.

[Greta K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seems like a bizarre choice to end the main story at volume 7 when mori clearly still had the publishing opportunity to do more, especially considering I really do think the Emma plot line could’ve used just like one more volume to really knock it out of the park. That being said I was a big fan of the story overall. Similar to how I felt about Cross Game earlier this year it just feels like a very good and charming execution of some classic tropes. I did think the way the Indian characters were written in here was Not Great so that kinda sucked, but judging from Bride’s Story I think Mori’s learned her lesson about respectfully depicting people from other cultures. I really liked the short stories here! Sounds like the final volumes will be fun.

[Gabby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Kelly and Doug’s story! (And yet I also hated because I knew it was going to be sad!😭) I love the random little story of the Times newspaper and the little epilogue story of the little girl who found William’s hat! I’m glad Eleanor has someone who could make her happy and feel loved and appreciated (especially after her *bleep* of a father said such horrible things to her and sent her away! I’m also glad his mistress is getting a happy ending as well! That man deserves to be miserable and lonely while everyone he tried to trample lives happy lives!)

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

William and Emma’s journey comes to an end.....unexpectedly?

I’m sad now. I thought their story would last through the entire series but now I’m saddled with......side stories. All in all it was an excellent love story and as always, I highly recommend it. That’s all I can say without spoiling it.

(And FYI, the side stories aren’t bad. I just thought the whole series was solely the main story(

[Lisa B Buesing · Rating 1 out of 5]

The main storyline “wrapped up” about halfway through the book and the rest was random unnecessary short stories. I put wrapped up in quotes because it felt like the story was just chopped off. It wasn’t at a natural ending point. It just felt like the author got tired of telling the story. The next volume is supposedly all short stories, so I think I will skip that one. Such an unsatisfactory ending to the series.

[Rrlgrrl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finally obtained the big volumes of this series and have reread the first three volumes. The story of Emma essentially ends in this fourth volume and has a bunch of one-offs for the minor background characters. I felt there were places where Emma's story had a time-shift or story jump, so I'm wondering if something got left out in the translation. I still have the fifth volume to read, so I'm hoping to revisit Emma's adventure, and get more of the story of the other characters.

[Cristina Huelsz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Somehow Emma and William finally are able to decide what they want to their future, and that both are going to fight for it. Half of the book seems like the final for Emma, and the rest are short stories, although I knew there´s another volume with the wedding.
I really like how Mori-sensei is able to portrait about Victorian era.

[Tiphaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enfin, Emma et William sont réunis ou en passe de l'être. Mais la route vers le happy ending est encore longue, et il reste de nombreux obstacles à franchir.

Les paysages sont fabuleux, on découvre encore de nombreux personnages et leurs histoires présentes ou passées.

[Cassandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t see the point in some chapters/characters

[Loz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kaoru Mori is such a good storyteller and crafter. I am truly enjoying this series.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Felt like the main story ended too soon/ without an ending, but I do really appreciate the one & done stories that build out the Emmaverse.

[Freya Abbas · Rating 4 out of 5]

The plot got better in this volume. I feel very bad for Eleanor and wonder what will happen to her. I hope Monica makes a reappearance.

[Chrissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gotta say - having the "end" of the main story happen roughly halfway through the volume was kind of a mean trick. :(

[Shae · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE!!! Full thoughts here: https://youtu.be/G4V4cCG6aUE?si=ae_G0...

[The Book Dragon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emma has been kidnapped and forced to immigrate to America. William finally sets his mind to something and goes hunting for her (with the help of Hakim). And they succeed, Emma and William are reunited, return to England, and are determined never to be parted again, society and family be damned. There's a bit more to it, but funnily enough, the story ends with volume 7. Everything after this is extra bonus side stories. (I take it back, it's more of a time skip and the story picks back up in the last 3 chapters of volume 10. Totally worth it.)

So in Volume 8, we have two chapters about Douglas and Kelly Stowner visiting the Crystal Palace; two chapters about Eleanor Campbell's exile vacation to a Health Resort. a chapter that floats from story to story like a newspaper on the wind, and a chapter about Tasha returning home on holiday.

This omnibus contains volumes 7-8.
This series has 10 volumes.

[Skye (Skye's Scribblings) · Rating 3 out of 5]

THIS IS A REVIEW OF THE ENTIRE OMNIBUS SERIES

Genre: Adult Historical Romance
Content Rating: Adult (some unnecessary nudity, kidnapping)
Format Read: Hardcover

Series/Purchase Note: This physical US edition consists of 5 omnibus volumes. The original Japanese release consisted of 10 volumes. The digital US version appears to be for sale as 10 individual volumes as well.

Author Kaoru Mori's current ongoing series, A Bride's Story, about a traveling Englishman and the local families he meets in 19th-century Central Asia, is one of my favorites. Because of it I consider the author's signature style to be elaborately drawn details and backgrounds, an abundance of interesting historical minutiae, and occasional unnecessary female nudity. Emma was Mori's debut series, and when I was recently able to borrow the complete omnibus set from the library I decided it was time to finally give it a read.

At its heart, Emma is a lord-and-maid forbidden romance set in the late Victorian era. But as is custom with Mori, it's really about so many more people than that. The first 3.5 omnibus volumes mainly center on maid Emma and wealthy William's sweet but fraught romance. Despite a few dramatic turns, the couple was rather plain for me and their relationship a relatively simple one. Because of this, there was a lot of room to introduce and expand a host of colorful side characters who quickly and easily outshone the quiet couple. As the focus on Emma and William's romance faded halfway through volume 4, the lesser cast, with a few new faces, were given time to shine in a collection of short stories exploring everyday life in England. While not as interesting as the exotic culture in Bride's Story, these side narratives proved even more entertaining than the main one, and I learned a few new things about English history and social structure. The last few chapters do return to culminate the quiet couple's romance though, and with most of the characters receiving hopeful resolutions in their lives and loves, the series ends with a sweet and boisterous conclusion.

Conclusion: While not as good as Mori's current series, Emma was an interesting saga of maid love. Entertaining enough to hold my attention through five extremely thick and heavy hardcovers, the detailed artwork and historical tidbits were intriguing, and the side characters and their stories were fun. If you enjoy Mori's A Bride's Story then I do recommend trying this series as well, especially if you have a penchant for English period dramas as I do.

For Fans Of: English period dramas

[Yoda Bor · Rating 5 out of 5]

L’histoire d’Emma se termine très très vite. William la retrouve très facilement grâce à Hakim et la ramène chez les Mölders.
Bien que j’ai trouvé ça un peu trop rapide, j’ai apprécié qu’on voit également les répercussions de ce retour dans la famille d’Eleanor. Le Vicomte est toujours autant une ordure et j’ai bien aimé les interventions de Monica, qui était pourtant un peu agaçante dans les tomes précédents. Ce nouveau point de vue est très intéressant puisqu’il m’a permis également d’apprécier Eleanor que je trouvais jusque là très idiote.


C’est sans doute également pour ces raisons que j’ai beaucoup aimé la seconde partie et les petites histoires sur les personnages secondaires.
L’histoire de Kelly et son mari et leur visite au Crystal Palace était très touchante et éclaire un peu mieux certains dialogues de la première intégrale.

Tasha est toujours aussi tête en l’air et la visite dans sa famille va bien le montrer.

Étrangement, c’est l’histoire d’Eleanor qui m’a le plus touchée. J’ai été très contente de voir qu’elle réussissait à aller de l’avant après un échec amoureux autant retentissant.

Les autres aventures m’ont un peu moins plu, je les ai trouvées trop décousues pour m’attacher à des personnages pour la plupart inédits.

J’ai maintenant hâte de me procurer l’intégrale 5 pour voir si Arthur et Hakim, mes petits chouchous, y seront présents.

[reese · Rating 4 out of 5]

read this whole series in one go and im lowkey teary eyed because everything about it was wonderful. the only criticism i have is that i wish we got to see more of emma interacting with william's family, seeing as how post-time skip they've kind of warmed up to her a little more. regardless, this was beautiful.

[Sarah Schanze · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful installment that wraps up Emma's storyline. I'm not sure if they'll continue to publish the side stories, but I enjoyed them a lot and would continue to buy future volumes for them. I love Kaoru Mori's work.

[Noémie · Rating 4 out of 5]

le tome le moins bien de la saga mais les dessins je suis définitivement fan!!!!

[Salimbol · Rating 4 out of 5]

[3 and 1/2 stars]