Astilbe: The Bride at the Bilge

"I sold myself that day—" A man and a woman kiss each other in a foreign land amidst turbulent times. This is the story of a couple who, buffeted by the stormy waves of history, loved each other through their dreams for freedom. The husband is a Portuguese merchant. The wife is a Japanese "slave." Tatsu, a timid young girl, chases after Shino, her childhood friend, and finds herself aboard a trading ship in the Nagasaki harbor, where she meets Leo, a fearless young man. She is forced to the bottom of the ship as a slave, and is threatened by the vile acts of the ship's crew…? (Source: Futabanet, translated)