The Cradle of the Sea

I don't know if easy or that "tons" had done it, though I am somewhat aware of a number of documented cases. A woman had to pass both to senses and in ability (depending on the work, that could be quite difficult), plus they had to have an unusual desire to do "men's" work, enough to deal with various risks--which I can't imagine being desirable to many ladies of many former eras. Some such pirates and soldiers I know of seemed to be rather eccentric characters who might have overcompensated in roughness in order to pass.

I suppose there's no real way to know . . . if many women successfully passed as men, we wouldn't have heard about them because they successfully passed as men.  As to the men's work . . . sure, ladies might not want to switch, but women did not have easy work, or much to show for doing it.  The tradition of proto-feminism is long; many women were aware that they were being kept down by men, going back to ancient times.  In the middle ages there was a thing where women of a certain class were known to be pleased when their husbands died because it's the only way they got to run the business themselves; there were quite a few successful widowed craft guild members and similar businesswomen--brewers and so forth.  So it's believable that some women might have opted to "become" men to get in on the action without having to get married and hope for a dead husband.

Was reading this on mobile so when the two page marketplace spear filled the screen, I had to admire her work and look at every detail lolol

Can you even see the details on mobile?  Do you get out a big magnifying glass or something?

Was reading this on mobile so when the two page marketplace spear filled the screen, I had to admire her work and look at every detail lolol

Sorry about the writing getting a bit awkward. Can you explain?

Hey there, sorry about the very, very late reply. I always forget to check for those on this site. When talking about the awkward writing, I'm talking about like, story progression stuff. Some spots early on had some really odd progression from one scene/event to the other. The translation is a-okay, though! It's very nicely done.

I am pretty sure it is inked, with rather thin pens/nibs, and maybe shaded digitally? The approach that might look unusual to some is the way the artist adds lots of texture. Pencil has a rather distinctly rough line, even when cleaned up with software. It seems mostly frowned upon for manga, though there are some very notable mangaka who can rock it. Hiroaki Samura, known for Blade of the Immortal is one, though he started out with a light approach that shows why one might not use pencil (I think he almost exclusively used ink later).

 

She does actually use a 4b pencil for this manga. No inking was done as far as I can tell with how the line strokes look. She states this in the afterward in volume 1. =) Of course she adds some of the shading via pc.

 

edit: Hmmm maybe a combo of both? She inks the outlines and does the details in pencil? 

If you noticed the art is not even inked. It's just drawn in pencil and charcoal it seems. Which I think is why it gives off a unique art style. It also kinda reminds me of Miyazaki's stuff? Mostly the little boy. =D

I am pretty sure it is inked, with rather thin pens/nibs, and maybe shaded digitally? The approach that might look unusual to some is the way the artist adds lots of texture. Pencil has a rather distinctly rough line, even when cleaned up with software. It seems mostly frowned upon for manga, though there are some very notable mangaka who can rock it. Hiroaki Samura, known for Blade of the Immortal is one, though he started out with a light approach that shows why one might not use pencil (I think he almost exclusively used ink later).

I am usually more excited about historical manga, but this is not working for me even a few chapters in. I could deal with some inaccuracies if I found the writing more believable. The art is good, but I am surprised by the raves toward it. Perhaps the style is a little too cute for me. Based on comments, I am guessing it gets a bit better somewhat into it? Maybe I will try again someday! Forgive me if you love it. I am just old and unromantic! XD

Historically, it was extremely easy to pass as a dude. Mandated physical examinations are a very recent thing. If a woman wanted to get in on a "male-only" position, all she had to do was claim she was male and then show that she could do it, and that was that, really.

Tons of women were soldiers and sailors and whatnot through this sort of unspoken "if they claim it, they are" rule.

I don't know if easy or that "tons" had done it, though I am somewhat aware of a number of documented cases. A woman had to pass both to senses and in ability (depending on the work, that could be quite difficult), plus they had to have an unusual desire to do "men's" work, enough to deal with various risks--which I can't imagine being desirable to many ladies of many former eras. Some such pirates and soldiers I know of seemed to be rather eccentric characters who might have overcompensated in roughness in order to pass.

I have always has a soft spot for manga with art like this.
Too bad there arent many of them.
This story is also nice.

Superman's disguise is so much better!

Superman's disguise is a disgrace to human intelligence and common sense.

Historically, it was extremely easy to pass as a dude. Mandated physical examinations are a very recent thing. If a woman wanted to get in on a "male-only" position, all she had to do was claim she was male and then show that she could do it, and that was that, really.

Tons of women were soldiers and sailors and whatnot through this sort of unspoken "if they claim it, they are" rule.

Spoiler

I think more than the hat, it was her posture that gave it away.

 

*re-reads*

 

ok. nevermind. magical hat it is

 

Some of the writing in a few areas got a bit... awkward? I guess would be the word for it? All in all, though, an enjoyable story so far! (I wouldn't really classify it as "gender bender," tbh)  The art style is pleasant to look at and the characters are fun. Definitely looking forward to seeing how Monica develops as the story goes on.

Spoiler

Kind of surprised they seem to be going for the reveal so fast? Also, magical hat of 'now no one can notice your gender'.

The art and detail in this manga never ceases to amaze me~

Thanks a ton for the update!!

Some of the writing in a few areas got a bit... awkward? I guess would be the word for it? All in all, though, an enjoyable story so far! (I wouldn't really classify it as "gender bender," tbh)  The art style is pleasant to look at and the characters are fun. Definitely looking forward to seeing how Monica develops as the story goes on.

Spoiler

Kind of surprised they seem to be going for the reveal so fast? Also, magical hat of 'now no one can notice your gender'.

 

 

Sorry about the writing getting a bit awkward. Can you explain?

Some of the writing in a few areas got a bit... awkward? I guess would be the word for it? All in all, though, an enjoyable story so far! (I wouldn't really classify it as "gender bender," tbh)  The art style is pleasant to look at and the characters are fun. Definitely looking forward to seeing how Monica develops as the story goes on.

wow~ found some good gem with great art! Although the story is slow, its good. 

Thank you, now I got onboard this... ship. (Lol, lame... :''D) Quite the speedy one, this here, as in there's a surprisingly great amount of action. It's fun~ And gives a nice balance to Akagami no Shirayuki-hime, which seems to get published at the same time ^^

This has been on my follow list for a while, and I just read it, so I'm between Why did I not read this earlier and Why did I read it before it accumulated 10 volumes' worth of reading material because waiting for releases of a good series is torturous. Thanks for the great scans, Antisense!

Hmm... The setting doesn't look like Age of Exploration at all! Age of Exploration or Age of Discovery lasted from the 15th to the 18th century. And looking at the art (for example, the omnibus on page 18 in the first chapter or ships or clothes), this manga is set either in the middle of 19th century  or in its second half. Which is more preferable, at least for me. I love Victorian era very much!

Okay, please give me some honest opinions. Is this worth it, despite the somewhat dodgy description? Because the art style looks yummy but kidnapping some kid sounds far-fetched for a beginning... Mainly, is the plot and are the characters better than they seem from that alone...? [possible likes I'm gonna count as "read plz" xD]

Yes.  Really quite good so far IMO.  I often skip period manga because I'm picky about period authenticity, which manga tend to ignore with gusto; this does it well.

Okay, please give me some honest opinions. Is this worth it, despite the somewhat dodgy description? Because the art style looks yummy but kidnapping some kid sounds far-fetched for a beginning... Mainly, is the plot and are the characters better than they seem from that alone...? [possible likes I'm gonna count as "read plz" xD]

The Cradle of the Sea is amazing. There is a reason for the main character to kidnap the child (it has to do with a conversation she hears his relatives having). The characters are well-written and feel real as individuals. The art style is so beautiful and there's a bit of mystery involved (with more than just the search for the child's father). I highly recommend this if you like pretty art, adventure, history, sailor stories, the Victorian era, and/or mysteries.

 

How the hell is that cap supposed to be a disguise? Is keeping her long hair hidden that important? This is a 19th Century British ship, a good chunk of the sailors would have longer hair than her. Just the way she's dressing would do it, since she could pass for a teenage boy, and no one would expect to see a woman manning a ship anyways.

I think part of it is so we as readers easily recognize the main character Monica. However, I also think it's accurate to say that there are people who can look more boyish with their hair hidden and more girly with it down and framing their face. There was a time when I was younger that I tucked my hair (which was about the length of Monica's short hair) into a newsie cap and someone said I looked like a boy. I wasn't even wearing clothes that hid my figure at the time.

The way Monica is drawn suggests that she has a round face, which might look more obviously female to people when her hair is down. And of course, when cross-dressing in a time when it was looked down on/illegal/dangerous on a ship full of men, in addition to stowing away on a ship when passage cost a lot (not to mention they didn't calculate for two extra mouths to feed when getting supplies), there would be a great deal more caution involved to avoid any suspicion.

Okay, please give me some honest opinions. Is this worth it, despite the somewhat dodgy description? Because the art style looks yummy but kidnapping some kid sounds far-fetched for a beginning... Mainly, is the plot and are the characters better than they seem from that alone...? [possible likes I'm gonna count as "read plz" xD]

How the hell is that cap supposed to be a disguise? Is keeping her long hair hidden that important? This is a 19th Century British ship, a good chunk of the sailors would have longer hair than her. Just the way she's dressing would do it, since she could pass for a teenage boy, and no one would expect to see a woman manning a ship anyways.

You're right, Superman's disguise is so much better! hahaha

I think the old "wear a hat" thing is just so widely used it's an easier way to denote "disguise" than to do a full-on disguise. That way she'll still be recogniseable to us, but there's a clear marker when she's "girl" and when she's "boy". 

How the hell is that cap supposed to be a disguise? Is keeping her long hair hidden that important? This is a 19th Century British ship, a good chunk of the sailors would have longer hair than her. Just the way she's dressing would do it, since she could pass for a teenage boy, and no one would expect to see a woman manning a ship anyways.

I think it's more, better-safe-than-sorry type of thing. And caps can hide faces sometimes, if you look down enough, your eyes will be shadowed. But yeah, it doesn't really do much.

How the hell is that cap supposed to be a disguise? Is keeping her long hair hidden that important? This is a 19th Century British ship, a good chunk of the sailors would have longer hair than her. Just the way she's dressing would do it, since she could pass for a teenage boy, and no one would expect to see a woman manning a ship anyways.

You have a good point, but I doubt the author put that much thought into it beforehand.