is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Sana Kirioka. It was serialized in Shueisha's Jump Square from July 2015 to September 2017, with its chapters collected in five tankōbon volumes. An anime television series adaptation by SynergySP aired from October to December 2021.
Plot
It is late 1921, the 10th year of the Taishō era. Tamahiko Shima, second son of the wealthy Shima family, has his life turned upside-down after his right arm is paralyzed in a car accident that also claims the life of his mother. Now seen as worthless to his calculating father's long-term plans for his business empire, his family treats him as “dead”. But since it would bring shame to the family were they to disown him outright, he instead finds himself shunted off to a villa in the mountains of Chiba, out of public view. Though he quickly resigns himself to the idea that he will die alone and forgotten, one snowy December night a girl appears at his doorstep and announces that she is there to be his live-in caretaker, and when she is old enough, his bride. The girl, named Yuzuki Tachibana, or “Yuzu” for short, was purchased from her impoverished home by Tamahiko's father, and while she too finds herself uprooted from her home and family, she throws herself into her new role with gusto.
Tamahiko is initially extremely cynical and depressed due to his exile, and Yuzuki's irrepressibly sunny disposition grates on his nerves at first, but her presence gradually helps brighten his mood. In time, Tamahiko and Yuzuki fall in love. In 1922, Tamahiko's younger sister, Tamako, visits the couple, and, though initially cold, warms up to Yuzuki. They also meet Ryō Atsumi, the older sister and caretaker of a number of younger siblings, who teases, picks on and steals from Tamahiko. However, she grows close to him and Yuzuki, and Tamahiko helps her younger siblings with school.
In 1923, Yuzuki and one of Ryō's brothers, Ryotaro, leave for Tokyo - the former to see her friend from school, and the latter to pursue an apprenticeship. However, they are caught up in the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, leading Tamahiko and Ryō to walk to Tokyo, with Tamahiko leaving his house open as a temporary shelter for the affected population in his town. Tamahiko finds Yuzuki, bringing her to a temporary hospital run by his estranged uncle. After the earthquake, the famous singer Kotori Shiratori visits Chiba and plays a show with Yuzuki and Ryō attending. Later on, Tamahiko returns to school, passing the entrance exams and making friends with Kotori's twin brother, Hakaru. Kotori visits Yuzuki and Tamahiko and asks them about love to support her songwriting.
Yuzuki suddenly leaves one day, and Tamahiko falls back into his depressed state. It is revealed that the heir to the Shima family, Tamaki, has died, and Tamahiko, despite being previously ostracized, is invited back into the family to serve as heir. As a result, Yuzuki is assigned to become the wife of Tamahiko's brother Tamao. Tamahiko goes back to Tokyo, gets Yuzuki back, and cuts ties with his father, with Tamako and Tamao following him, leaving only the oldest sister, Tamayo, to succeed the Shima family. In preparation for their wedding, Tamahiko and Yuzuki visit Yuzuki's family in Iwate. Eventually, Tamahiko takes Yuzuki's last name, Tachibana, and becomes a teacher. Tamao and Tamako are adopted by their uncle.
Characters
Taisho Otome Fairy Tale
, Daisy Guevara (young) The viewpoint character of the series. Second son of the wealthy and calculating Shima family in Tokyo, Tamahiko is in a car crash that kills his mother and robs him of the use of his dominant right hand. Deemed worthless by his father, he is banished to his family's mountain retreat in Chiba. Filled with self-loathing and resigned to his fate to live and die in ignominy, he is slowly dragged out of his depression when Yuzuki comes into his life. He develops a deep attachment towards her and falls in love with her, although he wants to become a better person before marrying her. When his older brother dies and it becomes clear Yuzuki will be taken away in order for him to become the new Shima family heir, he severs ties to the family, marries Yuzuki, and they have three children. Having a knack at tutoring children, he later becomes an elementary school teacher.