Yaneurabeya no Koushaku Fujin or The Duchess Of The Attic comes from the same minds that brought you the stunningly mediocre “By Spring”. This was a series that I found in a similar vein to “By Spring”. Whilst randomly strolling along the columns of Manga and Mahwa in Mangakalot’s library I stumbled upon a series that like “By Spring'' had some lovely art and a story that piqued my interest. So I gave it a good read. With only 10 current chapters it’s clearly not a completed story, but I would like to throw in my opinions on this Manga.

[~Story~ 5/10]
In similar vein to by spring, the story of Yaneurabeya no Koushaku Fujin is mediocre and is again another generic shoujo manga. It reminds me of a show like Akagami Shirayuki hime (and is similar in quality to it) and Mahoutsukai no Yome. Opal Halloway is the daughter of a count, after being deemed a dangerous woman and labeled as a whore she was cut from many social circles and is then married off to some Duke nearing poverty (as you can see this writer has got a thing for people in poverty). Opal wanting to genuinely help the family is cast aside by her jackass of a husband and all of the equally unlikable staff.

Whenever I read a shoujo/romance Manga i always ask one question, How does this one set itself apart from the competition? In many genres that are filled to the brim with tropes and stereotypes you start to feel like you're watching the same shit over and over again. So when reading a series I find myself asking has this been done before. And with Yaneurabeya no Koushaku Fujin it feels as if I've seen 1000 stories just like it. Like my previous examples Akagami Shirayuki Hime and Mahoutsukai no Yome it’s like i’m watching the same show with a different cast. I understand that it’s hard to be original, but there are plenty of new series that have original ideas and concepts, for example Kubo-san wa Mob wo Yurusanai. However this could all be forgiven, if the story was any good, there are plenty of shows that aren’t terribly original yet manage to be amazingly good. However Yaneurabeya no Koushaku Fujin seems to be going down a similar root as “By Spring” it feels like it’s being rushed, we are only 11 chapters in and there are still more to come yet it seems as though this series is already hitting a wall. 11 chapters in and it feels like the climax has already happened, whilst i am interested in where this story goes, how well it progresses is a different story.

[~Art~ 8/10]
Like before the art is pretty great, it’s not amazing but it’s certainly very well drawn, the artist for this series (Mori) is certainly a very talented artist. The characters all look very pretty and the scenery all looks very nice, the outfits and designs all look very period authentic and if anything this manga has going for it is that it looks nice. So again, very well done Mangaka.

[~Characters~ 5/10]
The Characters are definitely a step up from “By spring”. In “By Spring” I mentioned that i couldn’t sympathise with the characters because they consistently made poor decisions, like they were in an episode of Hanna Barbera’s Scooby Doo, but the main character is a competent and a pretty well written character, while she reminds me of Shirayuki from Akagami Shirayuki Hime, she is leagues above her in storytelling, Opal doesn't feel like a mary sue, while Shirayuki feels like one because she is a goddess loved by all and everyone, Opal is a hated character but remains sweet and kind, aside from being pure waifu material, she has some great character moments and this is in large part due to how shit the rest of the characters are. When i say shit i mean both i hate them as people and poorly written. At this point the Duke and all of his lackeys are basically 1 dimensional villains, like Dio from JJBA or that stupid fucker with the long hair from Kabaneri and the Iron fortress. However the Duke is 100000x more ignorant, stupid and outirght retarded, he feels like a side villian who is used to demonstrate the power of the protagonist in some Shonen manga. And there are 2 reasons why this character is eons better than say a character like Takasaki from “By Spring”, this is because it feels like he is intended to be the villain of this story, unlike Takasaki. And the second reason for much less desirable reasons, he’s really fun to shit on. All the best moments in this story are because he is stupid and he gets fucking owned by Opal. On one hand i really want to see him grow and develop as a character and on the other hand i want him to stay as a punching bag. But that's more personal, i find it very satisfying to have his stupid smug wiped off his fucking face. However it would be nice to see him develop further. As for the rest of the characters I'll speed through them, all of the Dukes lackeys except for this dedicated bottom are all 1 note “haha i am bad” characters who seem to hate Opal for really no reason. All of Opals' lackeys are nice kind people who do no wrong, unless it’s because of the Duke, then they go ape shit. They’re really generic and it would be great to write more about them, but honestly what can you write when they basically have no personality.

TL;DR / Summary
Yaneurabeya no Koushaku Fujin is a generic manga written for a generic fanbase but satiates my thirst for beating on poor Rich kids. A great improvement from “by spring” yet still feeling that this author can do more with their storytelling. Excited to see how this story continues.

[~Overall/Enjoyment~ 6/10]
Fun, generic and a bit stupid, give it a read and do keep in mind this review is based off the first 10 or so chapters of the manga, so for now, take it with a grain of salt but heres my 2 cents on the story and that about wraps it up.