My Bride is a Mermaid

 

 My Bride is a Mermaid is a manga by Tahiko Kimura. 

"A young boy gets saved from drowning by a mermaid but according to mermaid law, if a human sees a mermaid's true form, both are to executed. The only solution to the problem is for him to marry her and become part of the mermaid family."

General Thoughts: I enjoyed this as an anime. It was pretty good. I think the anime got better as it went on and the conclusion was engaging and thrilling. The manga... I didn't finish because there were so many cliches and it wasn't going anywhere. Once I got into the "I'm forced to work in a Maid Cafe" and it went on for an entire volume, I just put it down. 

<< Spoilers Beyond This Point>>

Plot: I think it has a promising storyline. Sun has to go live Nagasumi and be his bride and not get found out that she's a mermaid. Things get worse for Nagasumi when all of her yakuza family starts teaching at their school. What get could more entertaining than that? It had so much promise, but then got to the point where the writer probably didn't know what else to do and it floundered hard. I read on for a while after I wanted to quit, but it just kept going in this maid cafe and just wasn't funny anymore. The humor got lost and I just needed to stop. 

Setting: The setting wasn't a really important part of the story so it wasn't given much development. The  under-the-sea moments and development could have worked really well, but they let it slide. The other parts on land were a typical Shoujo or Shonen in Japan, sometimes visiting Tokyo or Kyoto, but nothing spectacular. 

Characters: I like the fact that Nagasumi tries hard not to be a perverted teenage boy, but I can understand why he fails at times. Sun is alright and I like the rivalry between her and Lunar. (The music in the anime is really good.) Chimp is obnoxious and Lunar is kind of annoying. Neither of them have super redeeming qualities in my opinion. The Seto Gang is kind of funny, but they lost a lot of their humor as the story went on. 

Spice: 3/5 Spicy Chilis. I'm putting this one here because panty shots, boob grabs, and "oh no I fell on you in an awkward position" happens often enough to be annoying. There are also moments that are rather inappropriate where he has to help the girls clean off their fins, but it looks like he's touching their butts or touching them inappropriately. The Fan Service is annoying. 

Writing/Illustration Style:  The illustrations weren't particularly amazing. It's an older style of illustration and it didn't particularly age well. And the narration was bland. 

Overall: If I felt inclined to have this story again, I'd go for the anime and leave the manga by the wayside. I didn't get far enough (though quite a few volumes in) for it to get good in the manga. The anime had a better overarching theme of "what would I really do for her?" whereas the manga lacked and floundered. It drowned with no mermaid to actually save it. 

Dengeki Daisy

A great series of amazing characters. 

Dengeki Daisy is about a high school girl named Teru who lives on her own since her brother passed away from cancer. However she is not alone. She has Daisy. Her brother gave her a phone before he died and said that when she needed someone to talk to, talk to Daisy. At first she didn't want to, but as the mental need arose she began emailing him. Daisy has been her biggest support through her hardest times and she's never seen him in person. 

Enter Kurosaki. The janitor and groundskeeper at Teru's high school. Through some forced persuasion, he gets Teru to help take care of the school grounds. They start becoming friends and their punky relationship is one of the funniest things. The way they act around each other is hysterical. 

This series has computer hackers, gun fights, kidnappings, cute and amazingly funny romances, and secrets from the dead. Each of the characters is unique and has their own stories, which is sometimes hard to get. Teru's brother is such a good guy and I wish he was around for all of them. 

I think my favorite part in the series was when Kurosaki was trying to leave and Teru, in her own mischievous way, gets him to come back. Teru is a much different character than most of the other typical "shoujo mangas" heroines. Instead of being clingy and having little stars or flowers every time something cute happens, she often does something to change the subject or bops him on the head or something obnoxious. And what's awesome is that Kurosaki does the same thing back to her. Their relationships if funny and different. And they still have very cute moments to make your inner-chick-flick watcher squee. 

The premous of the stories and their adventures are different too. They are more high stake and the fact that computer hacking is even a thing makes it engaging and, again, different. Throughout most of the series there was always something that kept me going. If life hadn't gotten crazy, I would have finished it a month ago. I will warn that, for me, volume 14 and bits of 15 were slow in my opinion. There was lots of meetings that didn't seem to really do anything. But if you push through you'll very much enjoy the end. 

I very much enjoyed the series. 

The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom

This was such a cute book.

None of the Prince Charmings are the same person. Didn't everyone know that? They have names. Liam, the dashing hero who saved Sleeping Beauty from the evil fairy/dragon. Gustav, the large, strong man who rescued Rapunzel from the evil witch and freed her from the tower. Duncan, who's kiss awake Snow White. And Frederic who searched the land looking for Cinderella. Also what you don't know is that Liam does not like Sleeping Beauty's attitude. Gustav gets made fun of for falling out of the tower and having to be saved by Rapunzel when he goes blind. Duncan is odd and has no friends. And Frederic has practically never set foot outside of the castle and is afraid of practically everything.

Cinderella decides to go off on an adventure to find the countries missing bard, because life is too tame in Frederic's castle. Frederic, not wanting her to be hurt, follows slowly and tries to track her down. Frederic ends up running into all of these other Princes Charming on his quest to find his fiance. But then only realize too late that she has been kidnapped by the witch who held Rapunzel captive for so long. This witch is sick of being made fun of by those lyrical bards and always singing her as the bad guy and giving her a bad reputation. She will put a stop to all of these heroes.

This is a very comical book full of archetypal tropes turned on their heads. The Princes Charming are so much more than they appear. It is funny and a really light hearted read, even though the witch was planning on killing a lot of people. *shrugs* It is very much the basic hero's journey in plot, very much a heroes journey in tale too, but that is to be expected. Look at the title. I enjoyed the characters and the twist that Christopher Healy gave them. I love the fact that Cinderella is the most adventurous, next to Liam, because she her archetype is one of submissiveness whereas here it is so not the case.

The reprise of this story was just fun!

This is a book I'd suggest for a boy who is wanting a fun book to read. Girls can enjoy it too, but I find that it is harder for parents to find engaging books for their sons. This is one that I think they would enjoy and have fun with.

I enjoyed it and am excited for the next two books.

Ouran High School Host Club

Ouran High School Host Club has been a favorite of mine for such a long time. This series is what got me into anime then to manga and actually led me to a bunch of my favorite music selections with Ouran as the AMV that I found on youtube-- with the help of my best friend, of course.

I loved the anime though it was far to short. Ouran is one of the most favored shoujo mangas out there and for good reason. It's fantastic. For those who love the anime or are in need of a cute romantic comedy, this is for you.

Haruhi Fujioka is a scholarship student at the renowned Ouran Academy. Ouran is a place where rich kids from rich families come to learn and socialize. The Host Club is where some of the richest and smartest kids come to entertain themselves because they "have too much time on their hands." The boys fawn over the girls and the girls love it. Haruhi stumbles into Music Room 3 where the Host Club meets and accidentally breaks a very expensive vase. In order to pay it back, Haruhi becomes the Hosts' "dog," running errands and whatnot, and quickly becomes a Host as well. What most don't know is that Haruhi is actually a girl. "How do you miss that?" Because she couldn't afford to buy the school uniform and got gum in her hair the night before--therefore cutting her hair herself and doing a horrendous job of it--she looked like a boy and everyone thought she was one. She didn't see the need to correct it, because a person is a person no matter their gender, and she rolled with it. The Host Club, of course, found out but let the girls who visit believe she was a boy so then Haruhi could pay back her debt.

The story goes on and, as any romantic comedy goes, some of the boys start falling in love with Haruhi. However because some of them are socially inept and others are idiots they don't realize it. Haruhi herself doesn't realize that she is falling in love with one of the boys. But they go on many adventures where they all grow, except for possibly two of them (maybe), and develop past themselves. I love the way they develop. They all grow in many ways, they all have their weaknesses, they all have their own personalities. It was a great feat, or so I think anyway, when I finally figured out which twin was which. I felt very happy with myself. They are so much fun.

I enjoyed the development with Tamaki's dad, as well as Kyoya's dad, and how they are portrayed here in the manga differently than in the anime. In the anime, Tamaki's dad is a doting father, who loves his son so much, whereas in the anime he seemed colder. Kyoya's dad isn't as lovey dovey as Tamaki's but he is very proud of Kyoya and all the work that Kyoya does do. He wouldn't actually slap Kyoya, because he's proud of him.

The artwork is really good and full of fun things. Beautiful artwork of places and cute moments. If you get iffy on the first few chapters, keep going. The artwork gets better and less rigid. It progresses  just like any writers, well, writing. They get better and by the second or third book, you won't be disappointed.

Ah, this story is amazing. Such fun and so lighthearted.

Part of the ending did remind me of Maid-Sama. Super rich boy who falls for a girl who is struggling to make ends meet. Parts of the stories were similar, maybe slightly cliched, but we're okay with it because the story is so much fun. I recommend both books, because they are great.

The anime is only about a forth of the manga series where you get the brief glimpse of the awesomeness that is Ouran High School Host Club. If you enjoy the anime, please read this one. If you cannot find a physical copy of the book there are manga reader apps, such as "My Shelf," to read it.

Read it. Enjoy it.