The Blissful Land: Vol 1 by Ichimon Izumi is a lovely tale about a young Tibetan doctor. Khang Zhipa is following in his father’s footsteps, learning to be a healer. His is a sensitive soul, and he hates seeing people in pain. One day, Khang Zhipa gets the surprise of his life, when his betrothed shows up. Moshi Rati is a cloth-dyer. She bonds with, her betrothed over barberry and safflower, herbs used in both professions. Rati begins to settle into the family, as the day of the wedding approaches.

Delightful artwork tells much of the story with little to no use of words. It is set in Tibet, and we get to learn proper Tibetan honorifics. Ex: -ga is equivalent to Japanese -chan when referring to an equal or younger person. Clues to Tibetan culture abound. There is a section at the end giving even more information. The anthropologist in me loved the culture lessons.

This isn’t an action-packed story. Rather, it is a slice-of-life set at the Zen pace of the Tibetan village. Time passes in lazy fashion, as Rati settles in with the family that will be her in-laws, and gets to know her future husband. I adored Pema, Khang Zhipa’s little sister. She’s so spunky! Quite the little firecracker. Ohhh, and I just loved the conversation Khang Zhipa has with his da on how to talk to women. Rati had been acting distracted, and Khang didn’t know how to approach her to ask. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for the next volume!

***Many thanks to Netgalley and Kodansha Comics for providing an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.