Manga / Georgie!

The fire burns softly in the fireplace...the firewood crackles jovially as the voices of her beloved brothers chime in...Georgie! Georgie!

Georgie! (ジョージィ! Jōjī!) is a manga series, written by Mann Izawa and illustrated by Yumiko Igarashi. It was serialized from 1982 to 1984 in the Shōjo Comic manga magazine.

The series was adapted in 1983 into an anime television series, Lady Georgie (レディジョージィ Redi Jōjī), by Tokyo Movie Shinsha, which originally premiered across TV Asahi and spanned 45 episodes.

Georgie Buttman lives in Australia in the 1850s. She is very much loved by her father and adored by her two brothers, Abel and Arthur. Her mother, on the other hand, seems to harbor resentment over Georgie, especially after the death of her father, for which she is blamed. Growing up, Georgie noticed her hair color is different from those of her family. While everyone else had brunette hair, hers is blonde. Eventually, the mother broke the news to her that she was not part of the family and was actually adopted. A gold bracelet is her only clue to the past. After getting some information about her birth parents who are British, she decided to go to London to find out more about her past, with Abel and Arthur accompanying her. Both brothers were secretly in love with her but had been trying to keep it secret because she is their adoptive sister. Apart from wanting to learn about her parents, Georgie also has another goal, which is to find her lost love, Lowell, who had left Australia and moved to London some years ago. Along with her brothers, Georgie experiences both the kindness and cruelty of the real world in London, England.

The story progresses with her search for her real family along with the love triangle that develops between her adoptive brothers and Lowell.

---

Tropes include:

• Adaptation Expansion: The anime goes over Georgie's childhood, including the death of her adopted father, who dies after rescuing Georgie from drowning, as well as plot points not talked about in the manga, such as Georgie getting an opportunity to become a seamstress in England, while the manga starts right before Georgie meets Lowell.
• Alternative Foreign Theme Song: Compare the Japanese theme to the Italian theme. And yes, that is Cristina D'Avena singing.

• Artistic License – Animal Care: In episode 1, Kevin's dog Junior is shown to be eating bundles of wild grapes and is unaffected by them in any way. In real life, even the smallest amount of grapes are toxic to all dog breeds and cause vomiting, lethargy, diarrhea, and in some cases kidney failure.
• Assassination Attempt:
  • Duke Dangling is planning on assassinating Queen Victoria, but has Arthur framed for it.
  • Duke Dangling framed Georgie's birth father Count Fritz Gerald for the attempt, and had him sent to Australia, since it's still a penal colony at the time.
• Attempted Suicide:
  • Maybe. After Mary kicks Georgie out, she runs to the river, where she slips and nearly drowns before Abel saves her. When Abel and Arthur are talking, Arthur theorizes she tried to kill herself, but Abel refuses to think that it was nothing more than an accident.
  • Arthur has two of these. In the anime, he slits his wrists and attempts to bleed out in the bathtub, but is unsuccessful and found by Irwin before he is treated. In the manga, Arwin gives Arthur a drug similar to heroin, and as Georgie is trying to help him, he jumps off the boat they're on and is believed to have drowned. Fortunately, he is found by a fishing boat and returned to Adelaide, with Georgie believing him to be dead for years.
• Badass Adorable: Georgie is a sweet innocent girl, but it didn't stop her from saving Catherine from drowning and sharks.
• Blue Blood:
  • Lowell Grey III and Lady Elisa Dangling, both originally from England.
  • Georgie's birth family, the Geralds were nobles from England.
• Born During a Storm: Georgie was born during a thunderstorm.
• Brother–Sister Incest: One of the major plot points is Georgie's two adopted brothers, Abel and Arthur, are both in love with her, though she still sees them as brothers and Georgie herself is in love with Lowell Gray. In the manga, Georgie does fall for Abel near the end, and even has his child a few months after Abel's death. In the anime, this doesn't happen, with both brothers surviving and they go home to Australia as a family.
• Covert Pervert: Catherine's mother, who not only owns dozens of low-cut dresses, but gives one to Georgie, telling her that men like to see a little cleavage.
• Delicate and Sickly: Lowell when he runs away with Georgie, and becomes ill with tuberculosis. Even Georgie selling her beloved bracelet for medicine money can't help. She eventually returns him to his family. Not even that helps him fully recover, implying he'll be in frail health for the rest of his life. Hell, even when he returns to England, his family notices his cough and paleness.
• Disappeared Dad: Georgie's adopted father Eric died when she was 6 years old trying to save her from drowning, only to die from his injuries.
• Dub Name Change:
  • The Buttman surname (which was orignally written as Batman), is changed to Butman in Italy, Baker in French, and Putnam in Arabic. A test dub on the TMS Entertainment YouTube page calls them the Peters.
  • Georgie's adopted father. Various translators list his name as Alex, Eric or Adam
  • As part of the TMS test dub, Georgie's name is changed to Josie.
• Feminine Women Can Cook: Georgie is an excellent cook, Downplayed since she is a bit of a tomboy and it took quite a bit of practice for her.
• Frame-Up:
  • On the boat Georgie goes to London on, she is framed for poisoning a rich passenger. It fails when the framer knew specific details that Georgie couldn't have known.
  • Duke Dangling framed Georgie's birth father Count Fritz Gerald for his first assassination attempt of Queen Victoria, and got him banished to Australia. He later frames Arthur for another attempt.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Georgie, naturally.
  • Also, Lowell Gray
• Hellhole Prison: Where Arthur, and later Abel, are imprisoned, with Arthur being tortured by Arwin.
• The Ingenue:
  • Georgie, albeit a bit more of a tomboy by 1850s standards, which Mary scolds her about frequently.
  • Maria Dangling is more of a traditional example. She doesn't have a malicious bone in her body
• Lady in Red: Jessica, who is implied to be a prostitute.
• Love Epiphany: Elisa has this. At first, she didn't care for Lowell until nearly dying of tuberculosis, when she realized she does love him. She also becomes noticeably kinder after this.
• Love Makes You Evil: Jessica, who is in love with Abel. She convinces Georgie to go on a ship as a crew boy, and has payed someone to do her in so she can have Abel to herself.
• Madonna-Whore Complex: Georgie and Jessica
• Missing Mom: Georgie's birth mother Sophia Gerald. She died after Georgie was born during a storm, crushed by a tree. Georgie's bracelet was originally hers.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Mary has a big one when after kicking Georgie out, this alienates her sons since Georgie nearly drowns so they want to be by her side when she wakes up. Eventually, they do go back home, but there is a coldness that was never there before. The stress causes Mary to become very sick and begs Arthur on her deathbed to bring Georgie back home before she dies.
• Nice Guy: Both Georgie's birth and adopted father's were good kind people. Abel and Arthur too, dispute Abel's Hot-Blooded tendencies, as well as Lowell.

• Pair the Spares: When Georgie returns to Australia with Abel Jr., Arthur is waiting for her, with the strong implication they'll end up together
• Parents as People: Mary Buttman; She does care about her children, but is particularly strict with Georgie and blames her for her husband's death (though she never outright tells her that she should have died). She isn't outright abusive, but is bitter to her, punishes her more often for lesser offenses she lets Abel and Arthur get away with and, according to Georgie in the manga, has never even hugged her, Eventually snaps and reveals to Georgie that she is not her daughter and kicks her out. Arthur witnesses this and Mary begs him not to leave her, but he calls her a cruel woman and goes after Georgie. She ends up regretting this since it alienates her sons, as well as the fact she eventually realized she did indeed care for Georgie all this time, leaving her to die alone of a broken heart. She is notably made more sympathetic in the anime, and does have some moments of genuine affection towards Georgie.

• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Abel is impulsive with a temper, while Arthur is mostly calm and and self-sacrificing.

• Rich Suitor, Poor Suitor: Lowell, who is a governor's grandson, and Abel and Arthur, who are the sons of sheep breeders.
• Sexy Discretion Shot: When Georgie and Abel have sex in the manga, you just see them kiss as flowers surround them.
• Slut-Shaming: The brunt of Mary's I Have No Son! speech is slut-shaming Georgie when she catches her HUGGING Lowell, and even slut-shames Georgie's birth mother, who she accuses of being a prostitute .
• Someone to Remember Him By: At the end of the manga, Georgie and Abel consummate their love, and Abel is killed by Dangling to keep his Frame-Up going. Several months later, Georgie gives birth to their son, Abel Jr., and raises him alone for a few years until returning home to Australia.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Abel survives in the anime, unlike the manga.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: When Georgie and Lowell elope and move to Swan Hill, their newfound poverty causes problems to the point of straining their relationship. Having grown up in the lap of luxury, Lowell is unable to adjust to his new life and gets sicker and sicker. Meanwhile, upon learning just how serious Lowell's illness is, Georgie works herself to the bone, but is informed by the doctor that the money she has will never be enough to pay for the surgery he needs to survive. Realizing that Lowell won't survive another month without the surgery, Georgie has to make the hard decision to return Lowell back to his family, as she can't help him financially like they can.
• Sweet Polly Oliver: Georgie is not allowed to participate in a boomerang competition because she's a girl, so she dresses up in her brother's clothes and lies. She wins the competition and was originally going to get a kiss from Elizabeth as the prize, but reveals her sex before they actually kiss. This is also how she meets Lowell.
  • Happens again when she follows Lowell to London, cutting her hair short in the process unlike before when she just tucked her hair in her hat.
• Sweet on Polly Oliver: Catherine, a girl aboard the ship that Georgie left on. After Georgie saves her from drowning and being attacked by sharks, Catherine develops a crush on her. When she does discover the truth, her family is still grateful, and offers her a place to stay while in London.
• Textile Work Is Feminine: Georgie can sew, even making a dress out of Catherine and her mother's old dresses, which are too small and too low-cut respectively, and later gets a job as a seamstress to support herself and Lowell.
• Tragic Keepsake: Georgie's bracelet, the only thing tying her to her noble family. She later has to sell it to pay for medicine for Lowell, but ultimately she has to return him home.
• Twin Switch: Not twins, but Arthur is arrested in London and Abel switches places with him in the manga
• The Unfavorite: Georgie is this to her adopted mother Mary. Subverted with her adopted father, who loved her like she was his own, and her brothers do their best to make her happy
• You Can't Go Home Again: How Georgie views Mary kicking her out. And it's all the more tragic since Mary ends up regretting her cruelty and begs Arthur on her deathbed to bring Georgie back home.