The Fall 2023 Manga Guide

Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister

What's It About? 

Uryu Kamihate has had a rough start to life, but plans to forget it all by achieving his dream—matriculating into medical school. But when he arrives at his new foster home, a working shrine, his dream of a quiet place to study goes up in smoke. Not only will he be living with the three beautiful, lively Amagami sisters—but he learns that he must marry one of them and take over the shrine!

Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister has a story and art by Marcey Naito. English translation by Devon Corwin, with lettering done by Arbash Mughal. Published by Kodansha Comics (October 10, 2023).

Is It Worth Reading?

Christopher Farris

Rating:

There's something almost momentarily comforting about starting Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister. Here, we have a straightforward harem romance comedy of the exceedingly old-school model. Our main dude, Uryu, is dropped into a particular living situation (a shrine, in this case) with three girls so that hijinks, light fanservice, and mandated marriage arrangements can ensue. There's a hint at some other mysterious elements by the end; otherwise, it could not get more basic. And while I have memories of this genre from my earlier manga-reading days, I don't know that I could say there's a special sense of nostalgia for it. Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister ultimately demonstrates how old this setup quickly becomes.

One issue particular to this book is how it attempts to have a little awareness of its well-worn status. Early on, Uryu consciously tries to avoid the old "Walk in on the girls changing, get accused of being a pervert" introductory gag, only for it to happen in stock fashion anyway. This is the sort of trap too many meta-aware series fall into, in that cracking wise about how hoary your old tropes are doesn't work if you go ahead and indulge them after all. But when it's not being twee about its basic genre space, Tying the Knot instead comes off as just that basic itself. Plot points like the girls' hair cords or Uryu's photo with his mother are introduced and exposited precisely before they become plot devices. The last three chapters of this volume focus on marriage interviews with each of the three girls so they can line up for character definition even more rigidly than they were taking turns in their pratfalls in the previous parts. It all comes off as generic padding as the characters get into circular arguments or arrive at understanding platitudes.

Tying the Knot could have at least used its few unique points as more than garnish. The series thus far has yet to delve into any deeper details of spiritualism or Shintoism, mainly using it as backing for Uryu's atheism-based back-and-forth with the shrine maiden sisters. And the backgrounds are so sparse most of the time that the shrine only gets to feel like its own character the way you might hope for in a series set like this. The volume-ending pseudo-cliffhanger does hint at a more spiritual element to compel you to check out the next volume, but it mostly just left me shrugging uninterestedly. If you're (somehow) nostalgic for this specific kind of series, you might find some value in checking out Tying the Knot, though it might also only remind you of how we already have plenty of series like this, many of which do what it's doing better.

MrAJCosplay

Rating:

I'll be honest; this one won me over. I initially thought the series would be a dated throwback to many older harem manga. Oh, look at this: we have a stoic main character obsessed with studying and being forced to live with three cute girls, with one of the leading girls constantly at odds with him, and comedically perverted hijinks ensue. Oh, let's throw in a sprinkle of forced marriage for good measure! (Yes, I did read Love Hina). All those elements are there, but I was surprised at how much heart was in the series. It's not just about the marriage, and a few interesting conversations occur between the characters.

The idea of faith comes up surprisingly thoughtfully, given that the primary setting is at a shrine and all the girls are shrine maidens. Uryu is a self-proclaimed atheist due to trauma that happened in his life, which is very relatable, but you can tell that he doesn't want to give up on the idea of faith itself. That's a very interesting and unique conversation point for our leads to have with each other. Plus, while the series does lean into a lot of the comedy you'd expect from this genre thirty years ago, there are a surprising amount of unique laughs born out of the incredibly detailed artwork or the snappy sense of comedic timing. Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister genuinely surprised me, and if you're looking for a lighthearted harem romance, then I think it's worth a shot!