Goodbye, My Rose Garden

Goodbye, My Rose Garden
	Cover of the first Japanese volume
さよならローズガーデン; (Sayonara Rose Garden)
Genre	Historical, Romance, yuri
Manga
Written by	Dr. Pepperco
Published by	Mag Garden
English publisher	NA: Seven Seas Entertainment;
Imprint	Blade Comics
Magazine	MAGxiv
Demographic	Shōjo manga
Original run	2018 – 2020
Volumes	3

Goodbye, My Rose Garden (さよならローズガーデン, Sayonara Rose Garden) is a Japanese yuri manga written and illustrated by Dr. Pepperco. Goodbye, My Rose Garden was serialized online on MAGxiv starting in 2018 and was collected into three bound volume by Mag Garden. It was licensed for an English-language release by Seven Seas Entertainment in 2019.^[1]

Plot

Early in the twentieth century, Hanako travels from Japan to England to follow her dream of meeting the reclusive novelist, Victor Franks, and to become a novelist herself. In her attempts to meet Victor Franks, Hanako finds herself employment as a personal maid to noblewoman Alice Douglas who reveals that she can introduce her to him — but only under one condition. Hanako must kill Alice. Shocked by her request, Hanako tries to learn more about Alice to better understand why she would make such a request, growing closer to her in the process.

Characters

Hanako Kujo

An aspiring novelist who travels to England in hopes of meeting her favourite author, Victor Franks. She instead finds herself as a personal maid to the noblewoman Alice Douglas.

Alice Douglas

A noblewoman who takes Hanako on as her personal maid after finding out that she is trying to find Victor Franks. Alice fears that rumours surrounding her once having an affair with her governess will cause disgrace to her family.

Edward

A nobleman who is arranged to marry Alice. He hopes their marriage will do away with any of the rumours surrounding Alice and is suspicious of her relationship with Hanako.

Media

Manga

No.	Original release date	Original ISBN	English release date	English ISBN
1	January 10, 2019^[2]	4800008239	April 14, 2020^[3]	978-1-64505-291-3
2	August 9, 2019^[4]	4800008832	July 21, 2020^[5]	978-1-64505-506-8
3	February 7, 2020^[6]	4800009367	December 15, 2020^[7]	978-1-64505-815-1

Drama Readings

On February 8 and 9, 2020, a reading of Goodbye, My Rose Garden was performed at TACCS1179 in Tokyo, with Moeka Koizumi playing Hanako Kujo and Kaya Okuno playing Alice Douglas.^[8]

Reception

Goodbye, My Rose Garden generally received positive reviews with many praising the detailed illustration work throughout and its realistic portrayal of homosexuality in twentieth century England. In Anime News Network's Spring 2020 Manga Guide, Rebecca Silverman praised the level of research that is apparent in the manga's execution, noting clothes, literature and history events are all correct for the period and that this research aids in grounding the story.^[9] Otaku USA noted that the story beats would be familiar to those who read yuri manga, however they still recommended the titled, "Predictable as it is, Goodbye, My Rose Garden is still worth reading for its period setting and delicately written characters."^[10] While Comic Book Resources' Anthony Gramuglia felt that the first volume let the historical setting become too much of the focus, rather than the characters, he still believed that "Goodbye, My Rose Garden is a great case of historical fiction. It captures the tension and anxieties of the era beautifully, while relaying a story of forbidden love."^[11]