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The abrupt ending and lingering unanswered questions of the anime adaptation of this title left me wanting more, so I purchased the manga! Unfortunately, only six English volumes are available from Viz, and they carry the story approximately through Episode 9 (out of 26) of the anime.

While there's nothing groundbreaking about this story, it's still a pleasant one to follow. It follows Tsubaki Aoi, who never knew that her rascal grandfather Tsubaki Shiro used her hand in marriage as collateral for a deep debt incurred in the realm of the Ayakashi. Aoi is good-hearted and plucky and, with her innate spiritual power and talent for ... cooking to Ayakashi tastes, one by one wins the hearts and loyalty of the spirits surrounding her. The stakes in this story are not global: they are personal, as Aoi strives to work hard and prove her worth and belonging as a fragile and vulnerable human in a demon's realm.

Compared to the anime, the manga does a much better job of communicating precisely what kind of rascal Shiro was. It also more clearly expresses many issues in Aoi's past: the manga definitively states she is not related to Shiro by blood, but was taken in by Shiro as an orphan. Shiro is also explained to have had many children by many women and therefore many grandchildren, but Aoi, who possesses the most spiritual power of all of them, is special.

The manga also does a better job of expressing Aoi's personality. In the anime, while nothing about Aoi's words or actions seems anything but composed and polite, Ayakashi frequently admonish her for being rude. In the manga, Aoi is shown to be more impatient, stubborn, and strong-willed, so the reactions of the arrogant Ayakashi wishing to put this human interloper in her place make more sense. Somehow I just don't think this transferred to the screen.

The art is fine, relatively large with 3-5 panels per page and occasionally highly detailed drawings, and closely resembles the anime.

Hoping to see more volumes of this manga published in English!

Okko's Inn is a film that celebrates what it means to be a consummate host: one who derives their life's meaning from placing the enjoyment and fulfillment of their ryokan guest above everything. EVERYTHING. Even if that guest hurt you very, very badly. Especially when that guest is sorry for hurting you very, very badly.

There is a lot of good about this film. It is breathtakingly beautiful. For Western audiences, it opens windows into Shinto practice, Japanese superstition, and--of course--the magic of the ryokan. But--and I do recognize that I am bringing my Western perspective to this--I found the film's cultural insistence on Okko's forgiveness ... fairly upsetting.

I've seen the film and its manga marketed as helping children cope with loss. I think it MAY be helpful for this purpose if plenty of context is given. Trauma is a complicated and multi-dimensional and personal thing, and healing from it must be led from within by survivors themselves.

Okko's emotional distance from her trauma throughout the majority of the film, including the ways she copes with or even ignores it, makes the sweeping climax of the movie--her readiness to forgive and serve someone who has wronged her deeply--fairly unbelievable. The film strongly suggests that had Okko decided she wasn't ready to forgive, everybody around her, not to mention the culture of her resort world personified by her frenemy Frilly Pink, may have understood why, but would have been deeply disappointed in her.

I want every trauma survivor to know that forgiveness should always be on their own terms, no matter what friends, family, or culture dictate. People who are healing don't deserve to have the weight of others' disappointment on their shoulders. I can only reservedly recommend this film.