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The Merchant of Romance

The Merchant of Romance
浪漫の商人
Roman no shounin

The Merchant of Romance follows a few days in the life of Yukari, a young woman that has inherited her late father's wedding chapel. The chapel has become run down and rarely recieves customers anymore. Yukari has had to lay off most of her staff, and now needs to earn enough money to pay her oldest employees severance pay.

While visiting her father's grave, Yukari sees another couple offering a prayer to her father. When she asks if they knew him, the man tells her he used to work at the chapel many years ago. He tells Yukari about how her father loaned him a large sum of money after his apartment was broken into, which helped pay his way to America. The couple tells Yukari that they were never able to have a ceremony when they were in America, and would like to renew their vows at the chapel. Yukari decides to hold one last ceremony in order to make enough money to pay the final severance fees and finally close the doors to the chapel. During the ceremony Yukari begins to wonder about something her ex-husband had recently said to her. She begins to think that maybe they could have a future together, and that maybe she could be the one getting married again someday.

In the end, Yukari is inspired by the old married couple to keep the chapel open. She realized that just like the marriage vows say that she would take care of the chapel "for richer or poorer, in happiness and sorrow".

Published In:
  • Big Comic Original 1987 Vol. 7.20
  • The Tragedy of P
Publication Date: July 5, 1987
Pages: 32 (black and white)
Anime Adaptation: Episode 2: The Merchant of Romance
Notes: