History Manga / Otoyomegatari

* RomanticTwoGirlFriendship: Anis and Shirin; playing their first meeting like LoveAtFirstSight is just the tip of the iceberg.

-->'''Mori''':The Silk Road region of Central Asia is all about hot-spring baths! [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial And it isn't just because I wanted to draw people in the nude!]]

** Already foreshadowed from Chapter 30 onwards, when Amir's tribe ally themselves with the Russian-aligned Batan tribe in order to raze Karluk's town, seize their land and get Amir back. Due to their links with the Russians, the Batan have ample Russian weaponry, which they promise to place at the Halgals' disposal. In the ensuing battle, [[spoiler:the Batan betray the Halgals, seeking to seize the town and get rid of their "allies" at the same time. No doubt the Batan are doing the Russians' dirty work for them.]] Even though Karluk's hometown prevails, it, and the whole region, will eventually be annexed by the Russian Empire.

%%* BigDamnHeroes:
%%** [[spoiler:Karluk]] in Chapter 8. Arguably his CrowningMomentOfAwesome as well.
%%** And Amir returns the favour in Chapter 33.
%%** Biamat and Joruk in Chapter 34 to Azel[[spoiler:, Amir and Karluk]].

* BigDamnHeroes:
** [[spoiler:Karluk]] in Chapter 8. Arguably his CrowningMomentOfAwesome as well.
** And Amir returns the favour in Chapter 33.
** Biamat and Joruk in Chapter 34 to Azel[[spoiler:, Amir and Karluk]].

* {{Badass}}: Azel does NOT give up without a fight. In the female camp we have Balkirsh and Amir.

* FirstKiss : Karluk shares it with Amir. A moment the readers will etheir find charming... or get incredeble pedo vibe.

* NoYay : Plenty of akward moments betwen adult Amir and young Karluk, including some creepy sexual tention.

** The twins even spend virtually their entire wedding day stuffing their faces.

* ActionGirl: Amir. It's actually stated that this was part of a normal education for girls where she's from.
** Chapter 33 drives the point firmly home when she [[spoiler:takes out her own father, the enemy commander, single-handed]].

* AuthorAppeal: Obscure setting? Check. [[CostumePorn Gorgeously intricate clothing?]] Check. [[ShownTheirWork Obsessive attention to historical detail?]] Check. Intelligent, beautiful, and unusual female lead? Check. This is very much a Kaoru Mori manga.
** Mori stated that she has had a fascination with the period subject (pre-Russian Silk Road) since high school.

* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:Karluk]] in Chapter 8. Arguably his CrowningMomentOfAwesome as well.

* BigEater: The twins even spend virtually their entire wedding day stuffing their faces. Joruk also complains about being hungry a lot and pilfers food whenever he can.

** Anis's new friend Shirin, she clears a loaded plate, as in a whole chicken, in the time Anis looks away and looks back.

* BoomHeadshot: A comedic variant where one of the twins' harebrained schemes involved taking out a passerby with a headshot... using a ''fish.'' They threw it hard enough to knock him out cold.

* CompletelyMissingThePoint: After Amir hunts down a fox, Karluk admits he worries she may one day run into a wolf. Her response?

* FoodPorn: In Chapter 16, Mori applies her prodigious talents to all manner of food in the market, and the characters literally spend the entire chapter looking for the best food and then finally eating it in an impromptu feast. You probably should not read it while hungry.

* GrandmaWhatMassiveHotnessYouHave: Karluk's mother already has a few grandchildren, but is still very beautiful. She's young by grandmotherly standards, though.
** Heck, her husband notes how good she looks for her age. [[http://www.batoto.net/read/_/132858/otoyomegatari_ch25.5_by_prozess/6 He's damn right.]]

* KickTheDog: Amir's family wants to marry her to a man who is so violent that, due to brutal treatment, he pretty much ''killed'' the two women the family previously married to him! One of whom may have been Amir's younger sister.
** Further, they do this by trying to forcibly break Amir's already performed (even if yet unconsummated) marriage and one of them was ready to kill Karluk even if she went with them, simply so there would be no loose ends.

* NeverMessWithGranny: Karluk's grandmother Balkirsh fires an arrow at Azel as a warning shot when he comes to retrieve Amir and successfully bluffs him out of the village. Do ''not'' threaten anyone who she considers part of her family.
** In a side story Balkirsh rides up a mountain on a goat to rescue a little boy. At the end of the chapter she is deemed the strongest and coolest woman in the whole manga.
** And when Azel's father doesn't get the warning, she [[spoiler:''[[ShootTheDog kills him personally]]'', even though he's Amir's father too.]]

* RescueRomance: Laila and Leili's mother apparently met and fell for their father after he rescued her from stormy waters by ''lifting her and her boat'' and carrying it all the way to land. As mentioned in RelationshipUpgrade, this applies for Amir and Karluk as well as she only begins to view him romantically after he rescues her from her father.

* VictoriousChildhoodFriend: Laila and Leili end up engaged to their childhood friends Saahman and Farsahmi, respectively. Played with in that both pairs of siblings are at first unenthusiastic about it as they feel like they're just settling for each other at the behest of their parents. After they go on dates to get to know their respective fiances, however, both sisters come to like what charm the boys hide behind their [[TheStoic usual bored expressions]] and each becomes convinced that they got the better catch.

* TricksterTwins: Laila and Leili are the epitome of this.

** Already foreshadowed from Chapter 30 onwards, when Amir's tribe ally themselves with the Russian-aligned Batan tribe in order to raze Karluk's town, seize their land and get Amir back. Due to their links with the Russians, the Batan have ample Russian weaponry, which they promise to place at the Halgals' disposal. In the ensuing battle, [[spoiler:the Batan betray the Halgals, seeking to seize the town and get rid of their "allies" at the same time. No doubt the Batan are doing the Russians' dirty work for them.]] Even if Karluk's hometown prevails, it, and the whole region, will eventually be annexed by the Russian Empire.

* ArrangedMarriage: The story begins with one between Amir and Karluk. They get along very well despite the fact she's from another culture and the eight year age gap. By setting default, you can safely assume ''every'' couple you see are in an ArrangedMarriage.

* RomanticTwoGirlFriendship: Anis and Shirin, playing their first meeting like LoveAtFirstSight, is just the tip of the iceberg.

* RotatingProtagonist: After the second volume, the story switches from Karluk and Amir to Mr. Smith on his journey to Ankara to receive an item prepared for him. Later the focus goes back to Karluk and Amir for a while, before shifting again to Mr. Smith's arrival in Persia and introducing the wife of his host.

* TheMessiah: Basically, everyone who Amir meets ends up loving her... but really, who could blame them?

* ShipsThatPassInTheNight: Pariya and Azel have never even met, but fans have taken to shipping them of late on the basis that their personalities are similar.

* DoingItForTheArt: Aside from the aforementioned CostumePorn, many things are also incredibly detailed. Chapter 2 is mostly devoted to showcasing Mori's painstakingly-drawn rendition of traditional carvings.

* AccidentalMarriage: Trouble twins Layla and Leyli try their damnedest to invoke this by running into chosen people, wearing their headscarves loose (because touching a woman's bare head would be scandalous unless you're her husband... or [[ShotgunWedding marry her right away]]).

* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:Karluk in Chapter 8.]] Arguably his CrowningMomentOfAwesome as well.

* {{Bishonen}}: Azel and Joruk, Amir's elder brother and cousin respectively.

* CostumePorn: Especially the embroidery. Dear gods, the embroidery.
** This series may as well be called ''Costume Porn: The Manga''.

* EyePatchOfPower: Amir's father, the clan chief, wears one.

* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Layla and Leyli's parents. While their mother is regular sized, their father is a towering, powerfully built man easily over twice her size. His size/strength explicitly played part in a RescueRomance that won his wife's affection.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Mr. Smith's guide Ali, who is very blunt to the point of rudeness, but is a hard-working young man nonetheless who wants to earn enough money so he can get married.

* LongHairIsFeminine: As is very fitting for the setting, it's said that most women never once cut their hair in their lifetime.
* [[MeddlingParents Meddling In-Laws]]: Talas' mother-in-law does everything she can to convince her to remarry, even though she's already accepted her lonely fate. Later [[spoiler:the man Talas' mother-in-law marries in order to try and assure Talas finds a bridegroom too. He's even more meddlesome, being absolutely against hearing anything about Talas' own arrangements.]] Of course this is all {{justified|Trope}} seeing how going against your parents [[spoiler:and especially the male head of your family]] was unthinkable for women in that time and place.
* MeetCute: The twins Layla and Leyli planned to do this on would-be suitors with their head coverings loosened. In their culture, touching a woman's uncovered head is seen as very intimate and was only allowed for those intending to marry, though it never goes right. Their inspiration for the plan was an older relative who actually managed to pull it off.

** Oh, you enjoyed that last part? Well, I guess it wouldn't be too much trouble for him to take his shirt off again. And let's give him a few bruises and bandages as well, why not?

* NippleAndDimed: Averted in that both men and women have visible nipples.

* ThePatriarch: Karluk's grandfather Mahatbek, who spends a lot of his time carving wood into elaborately designed charms and furnishings. Karluk's father Akunbek serves as one of the village elders.

* RescueRomance: Layla and Leyli's mother apparently met and fell for their father after he rescued her from stormy waters by ''lifting her and her boat'' and carrying it all the way to land. As mentioned in RelationshipUpgrade, this applies for Amir and Karluk as well as she only begins to view him romantically after he rescues her from her father.
** Layla and Leyli also try to [[InvokedTrope invoke]] it themselves... by knocking someone into the water so they can rescue him. HilarityEnsues.
* RotatingProtagonist: After the second volume, the story switches from Karluk and Amir to Mr. Smith on his journey to Ankara to receive an item prepared for him. Later the focus goes back to Karluk and Amir.

* ShirtlessScene: Azel spends most of Chapter 29 wandering around shirtless after saving a foal from the river. [[{{Fanservice}} Completely relevant to the plot, of course]]...

* SingleMindedTwins: Layla and Leyli start out as this ([[LampshadeHanging it's even lampshaded]]), however they eventually realise that when it comes to marriage they are attracted to different things in their potential grooms.

* TextileWorkIsFeminine: See Tomboy.

** The twins Layla and Leyli could count as this as well. They swim, dive, fish and climb trees on their own. They're physically strong enough to knock a man unconscious with a projectile. And they were quite averse to their mother's lessons on domestic chores and crafts.

* TrainingFromHell: Layla and Leyli get put through rigorous training by their mother so that they can be prepared for their wifely (and later motherly duties) in less than a month. This includes teaching them how to cook and clean with efficiency, medicine and health, strength training, sewing and berating them with chickens when they mess up.
* TricksterTwins: Layla and Leyli are the epitome of this.

* TwinBanter: Layla and Leyli again. It actually serves as a real shock to them when they have a differing opinion.

* VictoriousChildhoodFriend: Layla and Leyli end up engaged to their childhood friends Saahman and Farsahmi, respectively. Played with in that both pairs of siblings are at first unenthusiastic about it as they feel like they're just settling for each other at the behest of their parents. After they go on dates to get to know their respective fiances, however, both sisters come to like what charm the boys hide behind their [[TheStoic usual bored expressions]] and each becomes convinced that they got the better catch.
* [[WhenSheSmiles When He Smiles]]: The ecstatic smiles on Saahman's and Farsahmi's faces (which normally show either sarcasm or exasperation) at the end of their marriage reception in Chapter 26 actually stun the normally loud twins, now their wives, into silence.

* YouAllShareMyStory: The "Young Bride" differs with every story arc. It started with Amir, then Talas, then the twins Layla and Leyli, and then Anis.

* MrFanservice: Hey, remember Amir's brother, Azel? He was kinda hot, right? Here, let's get him soaking wet and watch him strip.

* {{Badass}}: Azel [[{{Determinator}} does NOT give up]] without a fight.