History Manga / IkokuMeiroNoCroisee

[[quoteright:246:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/IkokuMeiro01_8178.png]]

''La Croisée dans un Labyrinthe Étranger.'' A Stroll in a Foreign Labyrinth.

It's the late 19th century, and Japan has recently emerged from its self-imposed isolation. As the nation starts to take an interest in the wider world, so too does the wider world take interest in Japan.

Paris, France. In the trading emporium Galerie du Roy, there is an iron-crafting shop, Enseignes du Roy. The emporium, and the shops inside, have seen better days.

Enseignes du Roy is currently run by a young man named Claude. His grandfather, Oscar, has recently returned from Japan with an unexpected addition, a young girl called Yune.

Yune doesn't know what to make of France. Claude doesn't know what to make of Yune. They're going to find out together.

Originally a {{manga}} by Hinata Takeda, who was also the illustrator for ''LightNovel/{{Gosick}}'', it's been made into an {{anime}} for the [[Summer2011Anime summer 2011 season]].

There's also a {{spinoff}} manga, ''Ikoku Meiro no Alice-chan'', spotlighting [[OccidentalOtaku Alice's]] adventures with Yune.

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!!Tropes:

* AlliterativeName: Claude Claudel.
* AnimalMotifs: Yune is associated with kittens, due to her innocence and naivete.
* ApologisesALot: Yune.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: [[spoiler:When Yune was a child, she wished that her older sister could only see her because the latter feared being looked upon due to her blue eyes. Her older sister later became ill and blind, making Yune convinced that her sister's condition is all her fault.]]
* BerserkButton: Claude certainly has quite a few.
* BilingualBackfire: Claude and Oscar think that Yune can't understand French, so Claude ends up saying some rather callous things in front of her thinking she won't understand. [[spoiler:Yune does in fact speak French, though, but is too polite to say anything about the insults.]]
* {{Bishonen}}: Claude.
* BloodlessCarnage: Averted [[spoiler:with Claude's father's death and Yune getting seriously injured during the Grand Magasin's fire in Chapter 8.]]
* BoyMeetsGirl
* BridalCarry: Claude does this briefly to Yune in Chapter 5 when she's missing her ''geta'' sandals and later in Chapter 8 when one of her ''geta'' sandal straps snap while Claude and she try to escape the crowd.
* CantHoldHisLiquor:
** When Oscar slips some red wine in Yune's drink to substitute for ''sake'' in Chapter 7 (in the manga) and Episode 11 (in the anime), Yune gets quite sleepy for a bit and talks about her older sister.
** One of the Picture Dramas also has Yune eating an entire plateful of macarons infused with alcohol. She wakes up not remembering her hilarious exchange with Claude and even forgets that she ate the macarons at all.
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: [[spoiler:When they were children, Camille confessed that she was in love with Claude, but still wanted him to visit and play with her even if she got married to someone else. It's unknown what Claude thinks of Camille, but it's clear that there is some tension between them and Camille's words seem to easily influence Claude.]]
* ChildhoodFriends: In Chapter 6, it's revealed that Claude and [[spoiler:Camille]] are childhood friends.
* CoolOldGuy: Oscar.
* CreepyBlueEyes: In appearance only. Yune's older sister Shione has pale blue eyes that frighten people because no one else in Nagasaki has them. She is often shunned as a result.
* CultureClash: Half the point. Yune does all kinds of things that Claude just can't wrap his mind around [[spoiler:like give up her late mother's kimono.]]
* CuteLittleFangs: Both Yune and Alice have one, for no particular reason.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: [[spoiler:Both Claude and Yune have this.]]
* UsefulNotes/EarlyAnimation: In-universe. Oscar and his friends make a performance, a zoetrope and magic lantern show, to impress the neighbors.
* ExpressiveHair: Yune has her moments, including her first attempt at drinking coffee
* FamilyBusiness: Enseignes du Roy.
* FishOutOfWater: The central premise.
* ForeignQueasine:
** Yune swears she likes cheese and coffee, but it's quite obvious to everyone that the opposite is true.
** Claude's reaction to Japanese food. He ends up trying to follow Yune's example, though.
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** Yune's older sister Shione is mentioned quite a few times before Yune's past with her is revealed.
** The Grand Magasin is briefly mentioned before it becomes a plot point in Chapter 7 and Chapter 8.
* GratuitousEnglish: In the second episode, when Yune's asking the names of vegetables, Claude answers with their English names rather than French names. It's hard to tell though whether or not that's just because modern Japanese uses the English word anyway.
* GratuitousFrench: For the most part justified, since after all they're in France. Every once in a while a French word is slipped into the conversation when there's a perfectly good Japanese word for it, though--for example, "Japonaise" in the first episode.
* HairTriggerTemper: Claude.
* HotBlooded:
** Claude. He has a tendency to get mad at Yune a lot if she does things that he doesn't understand or he finds offense to, but once he cools down, he realizes his error and apologizes.
** Yune herself also tends to get ''really'' [[PluckyGirl stubborn]] about things, and is not easily swayed in that mode.
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: It's not that the men are big. It's that Yune's so small. Japanese people are typically a bit shorter than Europeans (Oscar says he felt a bit like a giant when he was in Japan), but Yune is still exceptionally small.
* IllGirl: [[spoiler:Yune was ill as a child, but overtime she got better while her older sister's health worsened and she became blind.]]
* ImTakingHerHomeWithMe: Alice to Yune.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Claude
* KimonoIsTraditional: Yune wears nothing but kimono.
* MeaningfulName: Yune means "the sound of hot water." Her older sister Shione's name means "the sound of an ebbing tide."
* MementoMacGuffin: Yune's late mother's kimono.
* MoodWhiplash: There's a lot in this series, but notably [[WhamEpisode Chapter 8]].
* MyGreatestFailure: [[spoiler:Yune considers her older sister's weak health and blindness her fault, while Claude considers his father's death his fault as well.]]
* NoCommunitiesWereHarmed: Galerie Du Roy, as seen in the series, appears to be based on Galerie Du Roi in Brussels.
* OccidentalOtaku: Alice is obsessed with Japan, eagerly collecting any Japanese memorabilia she can. She doesn't know what half of it is, though.
* OhCrap: In the first episode/chapter, Yune's sleeve catches on a butterfly piece designed by Claude's father before he died. It smashes to the floor and everyone freezes. Claude is... disappointed, going as far as saying to Yune that she should go back to Japan. At the time, however, [[spoiler:[[BilingualBackfire Claude thought Yune didn't understand French]].]]
* {{Ojou}}: Alice and Camille.
* OjouRinglets: Alice.
* OlderThanTheyLook: Yune is thirteen years old. Claude thought she was ''ten''.
* ParentalAbandonment: Yune's mother is dead and her father isn't mentioned; Claude's father is dead and his mother [[spoiler:left to live with another man.]]
* PetTheDog: [[spoiler:The boy who stole the candlestick later brings Yune flowers/weeds after learning she had gotten sick.]]
* PhenotypeStereotype: Almost all of the French characters are blond-haired with blue or green eyes.
* PimpedOutDress:
** Yune's kimonos often fall under this, but the one she is introduced in takes the cake.
** Also Alice and Camile's dresses.
* PluckyGirl: Yune. To {{Determinator}} levels in Chapter 8 when [[spoiler:she attempts to escape the Grand Magasin during the fire through a window, falls and gets multiple injuries, but still manages to play a ''shamisen'' in spite of it to hide her pain and in hope that Claude will hear it and find her.]]
* ThePromise:
** Claude promising Yune that he will become someone worthy of her trust, and Yune promising Claude that she'll never let go of anything dear to her again.
** As children, [[spoiler:Camille]] asks Claude to promise that he'll still come and play with her, even if she gets [[ArrangedMarriage married]].
** [[spoiler:Claude promising to pick Yune up at the entrance of the Grand Magasin, should they get separated inside. Considering that Yune gets locked in a room, a fire breaks out in the department store, and there's a stampeding mob everywhere, Claude has to go looking for Yune, while Yune tries looking for Claude.]]
* ProperLady: Camile
* RapunzelHair: Camile
* RealPlaceBackground: Paris is depicted rather faithfully, except for the Galerie itself, which is based on one in Brussels.
* RichBitch: Alice, although she's leaning towards the "[[LovableAlphaBitch with a heart of gold]]" variety.
* SceneryPorn: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSe8g2Y25Hg The opening]] is just a sample of it.
* SickEpisode: Chapter 4 in the manga, Episode 7 in the anime.
* SliceOfLife
* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''{{Manga/ARIA}}''.
* StepfordSmiler: Both Yune and Camille have their moments.
* StreetUrchin: There is one in particular whose given emphasis on occasionally.
* SuperDeformed: In ''Ikoku Meiro no Alice-chan'', everyone is depicted this way. Also happens on occasion in the anime.
* [[SurprisinglyGoodEnglish Surprisingly Good French]]: The opening narration from Episode 2 and onward, also the title of the episodes are all said in French.
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: Hilariously in Chapter 3.
-->[''Oscar enters a room to find Claude and Yune cleaning the floor'']
-->'''Claude:''' Grandfather! At such a time!! Don't come in! The basement ''isn't'' soaked with water! There's ''nothing'' to see!
* TragicKeepsake: [[spoiler:Claude's father's gloves.]]
* TranslationConvention: Both French and Japanese are rendered as Japanese. This is... confusing, to say the least, at least in the first episode (since Yune responds to Japanese and not French).
* {{Tsundere}}: Claude has his moments.
* YamatoNadeshiko: Yune, often in ways that Claude really can't understand. Also, Yune's older sister Shione.
* {{Yonkoma}}: ''Ikoku Meiro no Alice-chan'' is pretty much this, though it's usually one large panel and four smaller ones per page.
* YoungerThanTheyLook: Yune is 13, but as Claude remarks, she looks about 10.

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* {{Kawaisa}}: Yune might cause some ''kawaii'' overload with some viewers.

* EarlyAnimation: In-universe. Oscar and his friends make a performance, a zoetrope and magic lantern show, to impress the neighbors.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/IkokuMeiro01_8178.png

** Yune's kimonos often fall under this, but [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/ikoku_meiro_no_croisee/v01/c001/8.html the one she is introduced in]] takes the cake.

* YoungerThanTheyLook: Yune is 13, [[http://www.mangahere.com/manga/ikoku_meiro_no_croisee/c007.1/4.html but as Claude remarks]], she looks about 10.

** [[NamesTheSame It might be archetypal in anime to have a]] {{Bishounen}} [[StarOcean blond guy named Claude]] [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII who is awkward around the ladies]].

* CantHoldHisLiquor: When Oscar slips some red wine in Yune's drink to substitute for ''sake'' in Chapter 7 (in the manga) and Episode 11 (in the anime), Yune gets quite sleepy for a bit and talks about her older sister.

** ChildhoodFriendRomance: [[spoiler:When they were children, Camille confessed that she was in love with Claude, but still wanted him to visit and play with her even if she got married to someone else. It's unknown what Claude thinks of Camille, but it's clear that there is some tension between them and Camille's words seem to easily influence Claude.]]

* PimpedOutDress: Yune's kimonos often fall under this, but [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/ikoku_meiro_no_croisee/v01/c001/8.html the one she is introduced in]] takes the cake.

** [[NamesTheSame It might be archetypal in anime to have a]] {{Bishounen}} [[StarOcean blond guy named Claude]] [[FinalFantasyVII who is awkward around the ladies]].

* PredatoryBusiness, CorruptCorporateExecutive: The ridiculously pecunious Blanche family. They basically own Paris. Even Alice is entitled to some (of the smaller) business properties, one of which being Enseignes du Roy. In-universe, no one likes them, ''especially'' Claude. [[DracoInLeatherPants Still, fans adore Alice like she's the purest]] [[{{Moe}} Moe in the world]].

* YoungerThanTheyLook: Yune is 13, but as Claude remarks, she looks about 10.

* BlueEyes: Yune is keen to notice Claude's, Alice's, and Camille's blue eyes in the manga and anime adaptation. [[spoiler:This is probably due to the fact that they remind her of her older sister Shione, who uncannily has blue eyes as well.]]

* DidNotDoTheResearch:
** Lactose intolerance can be fairly common among cultures that don't typically consume dairy products (including Japan), so it might not be that wise to let Yune eat cheese and drink café au lait. Justified, since that fact was little known at the time.
** In-universe, Alice has quite a few examples with the things she gets from Japan: for example, a ''chasaku'' (spoon for scooping matcha), an ink brush, and an ''usu'' (bowl for grinding rice flour), which she thought were a hair ornament, a makeup brush, and a water basin respectively. Also justified, since the information about such things was not easily accessible to the public at the time--and most of the items ''could'' be used the way she envisions them.

* PrincessCurls: Alice.

* HimeCut: Yune and her older sister Shione. Also, Alice's older sister Camille.

Originally a {{manga}} by Hinata Takeda, who was also the illustrator for ''{{Gosick}}'', it's been made into an {{anime}} for the [[Summer2011Anime summer 2011 season]].

* NoCommunitiesWereHarmed: Galerie Du Roy, as seen in the series, appears to be based on the Galerie Du Roi in Brussels.

** In-universe, Alice has quite a few examples with the things she gets from Japan: for example, a ''chasaku'' (spoon for scooping matcha), an ink brush, and an ''usu'' (bowl for grinding rice flour), which she thought were a hair ornament, a makeup brush, and a water basin respectively. Also justified, since the information about such things was not easily accessible to the public at the time.

* {{Bishonen}}: Claude.
** [[NamesTheSame It might be archetypal in anime to have a]] {{Bishounen}} [[StarOcean blond guy named Claude]] [[FinalFantasyVII who is awkward around the ladies]].