Hotaru, a young girl, lives with her grandpa in a small village by the mountains. She doesn't like going outside, and rather spends her days inside, thus her family members only realize quite late that she's blind. For Hotaru, the diagnosis from the doctor hasn't changed her life much, except that her cousin doesn't force her outside anymore, though her days keep being just as tranquil as before.
One day, when a group of musicians, called "Goze", travel through the village, Hotaru, awestruck by the sparkling melody, learns that the Goze are blind women like her. With her newfound ambition, she starts her training to become a Goze and make music just like them.

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A wonderful start of a historical – with a sprinkle of mythology – Manga, which hopefully will be a long series.

It opens with a bit of a mysterious vibe, but continues to be mainly slice of life, making you think it's just that – a slice of life of a young Goze in-training. And while it is that, it's also much more, though the mysteries are still lurking in the background. The last chapter with the little cliffhanger showed its second mythological theme, that may also turn a bit dark.

As for Hotaru's disability, she's actually treated better than blind people in our world. Sure, the family members were shocked about the diagnosis, and stopped taking her out to work, but otherwise still treat her normal, especially her grandpa doesn't treat her any different. While things are more difficult, which is proven in the last chapter, she's not taken aback by any of it and keeps pursuing her goals willfully.
I'm just a bit surprised that the past seems much more barrier-free than our modern world. And you'd think it's supposed to be the other way round...

The art is beautiful, as well as the character designs. Not the typical modern animanga style, but more realistic. A bit sketchy and messy here and there, all the while detailed enough. Reminds me a bit of "Princess Kaguya" from Ghibli. The colored pages look like oil paintings, something straight from a history book.
I'm particular in love with the eyes. They're like a kaleidoscope.

Overall, it feels very poetic while at the same time child-like (probably due to the protagonist being around 12 years old), (similar to the manga series "The girl from the other side"), yet still luring you in, like a Danmono that's just began.

-24.07.24

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Ps. MangaPlus released an official english translation on their site, where you can read each chapter for free.
The Japanese Volume 1 has chapter 1-6, and the 2nd volume is coming out in September this year (not sure how many chapters it'll have), but there are 18 chapters already out, both in japanese and english.

I do hope it gets a physical release, cause I'd love to have it in my bookshelf.