The Hachioji Specialty: Tengu’s Love Manga Prioritizes Character Development

Sometimes, the official description for a manga or anime doesn’t do the series justice. I’d say The Hachioji Specialty: Tengu’s Love is a manga where that especially apt, as the first volume’s summary don’t really capture what’s going on in the lives of its main characters. Because this series is more than it seems like. It isn’t just a love story between a human and a supernatural being. It’s also about the two growing as individuals, finding new freedoms through their relationship with each other, and coming to terms with traumas they might not know they have.

Editor’s Note: There will be minor spoilers for the first volume of The Hachioji Specialty: Tengu’s Love manga below.

Kotarou is an orphan. He’s returned to his grandfather’s home, where he spent time as a child, now that he’s grown up and found a job. However, now that he’s returned, he also gets flashes of memories from when he was lost in the woods. They’re of a woman with wings. It’s only after properly moving in that what was lost comes rushing back and he reunites with Hime, a tengu who found him and cared for him when he was little, alone, and scared.

However, there’s a catch to them reuniting. She tried to warn him back then and now. But because they met again under a certain tree, tradition dictates that the two of them marry. Her family and clan encourage this, given she’s the princess and leader of the group now.

It seems like a set up that is perfect for a romantic comedy! Except, not quite. Tomo Nanao instead goes a bit deeper by taking other elements into consideration. As a result, Kotarou and Hime feel like deeper and more realized characters in The Hachioji Specialty: Tengu’s Love manga. As I read, I found myself hoping that the two would recover from their troubled pasts and grow because of each other, rather than just get together as a couple.

In the case of Kotarou, it’s clear he’s dealing with trauma from being orphaned and alone. During moments both on his own and with Hime, Nanao conveys his loneliness and situation with the art. He’s clearly unaccustomed to the sudden company she provides. He’s recovering memories, happy ones, and shocked when people from the area remember him from his brief time there. I also felt like he was sometimes surprised by Hime’s care and enthusiasm. 

With Hime, we’re seeing a woman who is finally getting a chance at both freedom and doing things she only dreamed about. She always wanted to see what the human world was like. She craved chances to engage in experiences we take for granted. Because of the circumstances in her clan, she’s needed to carry a load and responsibilities for the sake of others and not do things for herself. Meeting Kotarou again isn’t just a chance to fulfill a promise the two shared. It’s an opportunity to make her dreams come, especially in a way that will allow her to be safe and not a spectacle due to being a tengu. 

Going through the first volume of The Hachioji Specialty: Tengu’s Love, it is pretty obvious to know what’s going to happen with the characters in the manga. The fact that there is this “promise” between Kotarou and Hime, as well as obvious attraction, makes it feel like a given. But I feel like the fun of it will come from the growth and recovery the two will get to experience as a result of the developing relationship.

Volume 1 of The Hachioji Specialty: Tengu’s Love is available via Yen Press, and volume 2 of the manga will appear on December 10, 2024.