Bradherley no Basha

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Become lord
Alternatives: Synonyms: Brad Harley no Basha, Bradherley's Coach
Japanese: ブラッドハーレーの馬車
Author: Samura, Hiroaki
Type: Manga
Volumes: 1
Chapters: 8
Status: Finished
Publish: 2021-03-06 to 2021-03-06
Serialization: Manga Erotics F

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3.3
(11 Votes)
9.09%
36.36%
36.36%
9.09%
9.09%
0 Reading
0 Want to read
0 Read
Alternatives: Synonyms: Brad Harley no Basha, Bradherley's Coach
Japanese: ブラッドハーレーの馬車
Author: Samura, Hiroaki
Type: Manga
Volumes: 1
Chapters: 8
Status: Finished
Publish: 2021-03-06 to 2021-03-06
Serialization: Manga Erotics F
Score
3.3
11 Votes
9.09%
36.36%
36.36%
9.09%
9.09%
0 Reading
0 Want to read
0 Read
Summary
Every year, Lord Nicola A. Bradherley, one of Europe's leading aristocrats, sends his coach round to various orphanages to adopt little girls and trains them to join his opera troupe. But most of these girls never make it onto the stage—a far more sinister fate awaits them, sacrificed in the name of the greater good.

(Source: MU)
Reviews (11)
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Bradherley no Basha review
by
ModusOperandi9
Apr 09, 2021
I decided to read this after reading Sarah Horrock's review of Der Wergelder, where she writes:

"I think one of the disjunctions in Samura’s work, is that at times Blade of the Immortal was a thin veneer over the monstrous abyss lurking in the back of Samura’s predilictions as an artist–and the extent to which he is removed from that darkness is the degree to which his work loses its beauty. My hope going forward with Der Wergelder is that it moves closer to Brute Love and Bradherley’s Coach..."

Of course, going by some of the reviews here, it seems apparently no one realized that Samura was, firstly, a pre-dominantly erotic artist, and, secondly, a pre-dominantly erotic artist of Sadism. Anyway this serves as a reminder that, before you even read anything, go research what the Mangaka normally does first. You don't want to be wandering into any of Shintaro Kago's other works, by accident, after reading Paranoia Street, for example.

Anyway I'm inclined to agree with Sarah Horrock's here, in that Samura's style is a beautiful style, and half of the Beauty comes from the disjunct between cruelty and the lingering quality of the Art. The result you get is this strange mix of Anne of the Green Gables (which, Samura himself writes in the post-notes, that he was inspired by, the fucker), a Prisoner of War rape-drama, a series of brutally depressing vignettes, Germanic culture, and figments of transient beauty and humanity among scores and scores of suffering.

Within these vignettes, you get several points of view, each fleshing out the whole scope of the setting even further. You have the view of the orphans, the view of the guards, the view of the prisoners, the view of the members of Bradherley's Troupe etc... Very missing though is the POV of the aristocrats themselves, whose motives create an inhuman void that pushes much of the cruelty forward, although some moments do underline what they could have been feeling at the time.

It has always been my predilection to view the best type of artist as one who can come down from an observer's point of view, weaving together events in an anti-judgmental way. There's an interesting quote about Macbeth from the TV comedy Stings and Arrows, where a character mentions that what is terrifying and cursed about Macbeth is that Macbeth, as a play, is not a work that commentates on Evil, but a work that portrays Evil, and in that regard, Samura himself sits coldly away from the events of the narrative. The scenes he draws are eroticized, but unfeeling beyond any measure, and this is a plus, because he doesn't shy away. In opposition, an artist like Shintaro Kago blatantly makes fun of all the Sadistic impulses he has to create zany brutally slapstick comedy.

And, the result, is that Art like this is frequently misconstrued to serve moralistic purposes. People forget that the depiction and narrative is separate from the plot. The plot itself is cruel and unsavory, but the depiction, and the structure of the events and how the story is told, weaves itself around in a completely different way. Human Brutality is supplanted with Human Nature, and that, is the core difference between an Act of Evil, and a Portrayal of Evil.
Bradherley no Basha review
by
Koibito-H6
Apr 09, 2021
Mod Edit: review may contain spoilers.
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With the limited amount of 10/10s in existence, I am forever on the lookout for anything of the more serious and twisted variety, for if there is anything that can get a reaction out if me, it is not blushing wuv shoujo, or the usual braindead school anime.

Bradherley's Coach certainly fits the bill: set in Europe in the early 1900's (the setting matching best with England), is is about girls from orphanages getting picked based on their appearance to join the opera troupe of one of the most powerful nobles (the fourth, to be precise!) in existence - Bradherley. The girls view this like we would see winning the lottery in modern times; jumping from rags to riches.

What the girls do not know about is a plan Bradherley put forward to parliament after something serious occurred at a prison. (There was a riot, the result being a lot of death and injuries.) Seeing his chance in the aftermath, Bradherley suggested taming the wild urges of the inmates serving life at prisons by offering a 'lamb' to counter their violent and lustful needs after a certain amount of months, preventing any further riots by allowing the inmates to give into their urges by offering them one innocent victim who would be sacrificed for the greater good.

The 'lamb' would be tricked into thinking she's being taken to Bradherley's estate in a coach, get taken to a prison instead, then get lead into a room full of 30-60+ inmates and, finally, the prison guards would then watch on as the inmates beat and rape the girl over and over. This would be allowed to continue for as many days as it took for the girls to die.

For handling the payments given to the orphanages for the 'lambs', supplying the girls and basically taking all the risks, Bradherley gained more power within the government and maybe even was allowed to evade paying taxes. There were a lot of benefits balanced against the risks. But, really, what risks were there in allowing inmates who wouldn't ever leave prison to have their way with girls with no family; girls who wouldn't be remembered?

Following the short introduction of a girl leaving her orphanage, blissfully unaware of her fate, the manga started off by showing a fairly graphic rape sequence. It didn't disturb me - I've seen one too many doujins on the internet to be easily disturbed, as well as a fair few other things - but I have read that some of the early parts of the story made some people stop. But, after the opening two chapters, the chapters that followed didn't show that kind of thing quite so graphically, instead mainly focusing on short stories involving different girls outside of the prisons...or, in other words, the events leading up to them becoming 'lambs'. The mangaka showed what happened to the girls in detail at the start in order to get the readers to fully understand what the girls had to endure and then stopped so as to not make the series pornographic. There was even a chapter telling the story from the perspective of a few prisoners; a chapter that was good because it helped me understand how the prisoners handled the situation they found themselves in.

What I loved when reading this series was the art. It was drawn with the intention of being realistic in an attempt to make the events more believable and disturbing, and it worked a treat. I couldn't spot any flaws in the art, either. The mangaka is meant to be pretty famous and, if this effort is anything to go by, I can see why.

To sum it up, Bradherley's Coach is an excellent series to read... if you can handle something realistic to the point of being disturbing. Rape is only shown in graphic detail at the beginning and it does veer away from being pornographic, though. It's short enough to read in one go, it only lasting for eight chapters, and the fact that each chapter tells the story of a different girl (or two) keeps it fresh. I highly recommend it to lovers of short 'n grim stories.
Bradherley no Basha review
by
Memerulesworld14
Apr 09, 2021
I don't get it. Bradherley no Basha is basically 8 chapters of abject filth, and it offers its audience no consolation. It's about pre-teen orphan girls getting gang-raped by violent prisoners. The common interpretation of Bradherley no Basha is that it's either a condemnation of the depicted acts or is a mere depiction and should not be taken as anything more. This strikes me as false, seeing as the mangaka contrived the premise of the story illogically, just to force the circumstances where these girls are subjected to the abuse of the prisoners. What I mean is that the reasoning behind giving the girls to them seems unrealistic and forced. This is not a story driven by human struggle, but by the mangaka himself. So what's the point? What am I supposed to get from this? How am I supposed to react?

Some seem to find this manga shocking, but I wasn't shocked by it so much as bored. It's all very unremarkable and, despite its explicit subject, rather mundane. There's no social commentary or realism here and there isn't enough going on in the way of plot or character to keep the reader entertained. There is no tension and no sense of urgency. Bradherley no Basha really wants to shock its audience, but it doesn't seem to be willing to put in the work required. Maybe if the characters underwent proper development before they were brutally killed it would be different, but they didn't and it isn't.

If I had to describe Bradherley no Basha in a word, it would be 'superficial.' Everything about it sits lazily on the surface. The art is easily the strongest point. The characters aren't very distinctive, but they don't matter here anyways, and I like the sketchy style. It's nice. Unfortunately, there isn't much appeal to what is actually drawn. There isn't much appeal to be found anywhere in this manga. It just has nothing going for it. It's bland.

Story: 1/10
Art: 7/10
Character: 2/10
Enjoyment: 4/10
Overall: 3.5/10

We'll call it a 3, because I was very generous with the enjoyment and art scores anyway.
Bradherley no Basha review
by
vaberella12
Apr 09, 2021
This is not a review, since most of the points I could talk about concerning this manga has already been said by others. The score I'm giving it does represent my opinion, but this "review" is more about the background information surrounding it.

Right of the bat, this kind of situation did happen in history. In fact, there are so many similarities that I'm convinced that Samura, the mangaka, was directly influenced by it(more on this later). The event I am referring to is the second Sino-Japanese war. Specifically the comfort women in the war. I am not going to go over any details about the war itself since I am qualified enough for it and you can Google it at your leisure but I will specify what "comfort women" are.

If you are an eastern Asian, then you probably already know what those words mean, but it is very rare that a westerner knows them. During WWII, the Japanese military would trick young Japanese girls, often underage, into joining the military and turning them into sex slaves. They would lie to the girls about how they can become nurses or medics on the front line. Telling them that if they join the army, they are serving their empire and making the emperor proud. After they run out of domestic girls, they start to kidnap girls from China and Korea.

As I said, there are a lot of resemblances between the manga and the real-world event. The manga promises the girls in the orphanage a better future in the theatre. While the military manipulates girls with patriotism and a promising career. The manga states the carnival has been going on for 7 years, while the war lasted for 8 years. The cabinet abolished the carnival after learning they could be exposed, while the military executed most of the comfort women after Japan lost the war to silence them. A very interesting point is that the noble who started the carnival was killed by a plane piloted by two men crashing into his castle, while Japan lost after being hit with two atomic bombs, named fat man and little boy.

What I have provided is just one example, but not the only one. There are tons of instances in history where young, innocent girls are traded as sex workers, either for money or supposedly stability(watch Sandakan No.8 for more details). Orphanage forcing its kids to work under harm condition is nothing new.

The final question then becomes why? Why did Samura create a manga with such cruelty and depressiveness inspired by real-world historical events? This has to do with how he writes and draws women in general. Samura believes women are superior to men, and in his work, women are always mentally or physically better. Makie is the strongest character in the blade of the immortal with most female characters being either very courageous or strong-willed. This all might sound conflicting considering the ill-fated girls in the manga, but that is kind of the point. Just like how the festival is abolished in the end, the treatment for women is getting better as time goes on. But we must not forget the poor treatment of them in the past. Or he is just a huge hentai who gets a kick out of seeing women suffer to an extend.
Bradherley no Basha review
by
Erik_The_Red6
Apr 09, 2021
I'm re-reading this (years later) and revising my review/rating.

I got into this because I liked Samura's work on BOTI. A bit of gratuitous sex and violence is also within my tastes. However I got a hell lot more than I bargained for. Most people have a line they draw somewhere right? Mine are: eye injuries and underaged rape. This manga has both. I was close to puking at one point. Anyway let's break it down for the rating.

The story: 6/10
There isn't really a plot. This is just a collection of short stories that revolve around a central premise, a premise that I find...a bit hard to believe, at first. To prevent prisoners from uprising, a heinous plan is put into operation involving female orphans. If this was a hentai manga, I'd be like okaaay whatever, moving on! But this story--although technically hentai (which in Japanese literally just means, "perverse")--is not meant to be taken in the same grain. Because of how detailed it is and the lack of gratuitous sex scenes (the sex is an integral part of the story, so it's not really gratuitous), it's probably meant to be taken a bit more seriously...and it's hard to do that because the logic of it is just kind of ridiculous. Could such depravity exist, and on such a scale?

Then...I remembered. I come from a country where we receive some education on the atrocities committed by the Japanese during WW2. I later on read more about it myself as an adult, and I knew...the kind of evil men are capable of. The things the Japanese military did during that time, mainly to the Chinese, were far worse than what the Germans did to the Jews during the Holocaust. Being gassed to death is merciful in comparison. You may have heard of "comfort women" -- the concept is similar to what this manga is depicting. But the Japanese did a lot more stuff than just rape; I don't even want to go into detail. So yes, such depravity--even worse than that depicted in this manga--can exist and have existed, and on an even larger scale, in real life. When I think of that, then the premise becomes more believable. BUT--to any decent person--it's still distasteful. Samura says in the afterword that he did some research, suggesting that there's a chance this story might be based on reality and that it took place somewhere in Europe...actually he can just research the Japanese themselves (although admittedly that might prove difficult to do in his country as it's a known fact that their government has censored and revised their history books on that period.)

Objectively, each story is well-written enough; there's proper setup and denouement. The last story connects to the first by sharing a character, and this provides a sort of resolution. In my original review, I remarked that this manga didn't have a proper resolution -- this is not strictly true; I just didn't get the resolution I expected or hoped for, at the time.

Subjectively, I cannot rightfully say I enjoyed myself reading this manga, and so I will dock a point for that.

The Characters: 6/10
Since these are short stories, the focus isn't on the characters. That said, each of the main characters do their part in shedding more perspective on the overall story. They are not deep characters, but that is due to the inherent constraints of the story structure and length. Can the author make a character more endearing and strong? Possibly, but that would fundamentally change the type of story he was intending to portray. This is not a Good triumphing over Evil story, this is a story about an Evil...that came to an end on its own (thankfully.) It's not "dark" either; a dark ending would be if the bad things depicted in it continued and there's not even a hint of a chance of them ever ending. I would have liked to have seen a chapter devoted mainly to Bradherley himself, to see his perpective, but he--somewhat disappointingly--remains a peripheral figure throughout, and his perspective is only suggested at through one of his "daughters."

The Art: 8/10
You can tell that Samura put effort into his drawing. There are times in BOTI where he would get lazy on certain panels, but here, every panel seems drawn with equal attention to detail. He still has this flaw where the faces sometimes look really similar (especially young girls) but that's pretty common in manga and anime and perhaps unavoidable if you're not drawing photorealistic faces.

Overall: 6.67/10
Even if you liked Samura's art or other works (e.g. Blade of the Immortal)--which I personally do--be warned that this is an entirely different kettle of fish and might not suit you if you have delicate tastes.
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