If you’re looking for a forbidden romance set in the Taisho era, this one may catch your eye! It’s a rather short series, complete at only 2 volumes! Perfect for those looking to finish a story in one sitting.
To get to the point..:
Who would I recommend this manga to? Fans of historical romances, those who don’t mind enforced gender roles.
Will I be reading on? As I have both volumes already, yes.
Trigger warnings: Constant mentions to the FL being crippled (ableist behaviour).
Information About the Manga
Who wrote The Heiress and the Chauffeur?
This manga was written by Keiko Ishihara!
- You can check out their X here.
How many volumes are out?
This volumes is complete in both English and Japanese at 2 volumes.
First Impressions and thoughts
I’m pretty sad that I didn’t end up enjoying this one as much as I thought I would! I really wanted to as I loved the art, and I’ve been enjoying a similar story about the romance between a butler and a rich young lady ( Oshiete Shitsuji-kun ). Unfortunately, it feel flat in too many aspects for me to be able to really enjoy it.
At first I did enjoy it! I really did enjoy the overall premise, as well as the character and story introductions. I just wasn’t a fan of the execution.
It was by no means a bad volume – it just really wasn’t for me.
What’s it about? *SPOILERS*
After suffering a permanent disability, and losing her mother in a car crash, our protagonist, Sayaka has lead a rather lonely life. Her father has all but abandoned her, leaving her in the care of servants while he does business abroad.
Among these servants, Sayaka has grown especially close with her chauffeur, Narutaki. They met for the first time when they were children, and Narutaki has been Sayaka’s whole support system ever since.
I think it’s important to say that while they did meet as children, they were no means brought up as siblings. The line between heiress and worker has always been clearly present.
Sayaka, ever since being all but abandoned by her father, has been doing her best to be recognised by her school in order to impress him. She thinks that if she is recognized by her school, her father will be proud of her and come back. Unfortunately that really doesn’t seem to be the case, however it seems to be her only motivation.
At school, Sayaka’s teachers are rather strict, and make multiple attempts to force her to make changes to her staff. When they notice her butler isn’t wearing his hat, they threaten to reprimand her. They go as far forcing her to whip him when he breaks the school rules (though he breaks the rules to ensure her safety).
Throughout the volume, the relationship between the two keeps flip flopping from romantic to friendly, with the two clearly having feelings for each other from page one.
Because of the strict rules in the society of this manga, they are forbidden from having a romantic relationship. The teachers are quick to take note that there could be something going on between the two, and are quick to make big threats to try and separate them.
My Favourites
๐ The art – it really is pretty!
๐ Sayaka not following orders, but instead following her heart – it was nice to see her trying to stay true to herself, despite the circumstances!
My Least-Favourites
- The sexism
- The non-growing relationship between our two leads – if it was a longer series I could accept it, but this is a two volume series, and there hasn’t been any romance yet!
- The teachers holding so much power of students lives – I understand this isn’t far-fetched at all, however I really didn’t like it ๐ฆ
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