In The Name of the Mermaid Princess Manga Review (books 1 and 2 so far)

Book Type: Manga

Author: Yoshino Fumikawa

Pages:

Book 1- 184

Book 2- 200

Summary of Book 1 (goodreads.com):

In a society hostile to diversity, can Princess Mio be true to herself?

Princess Mio is betrothed to Prince Chika. However, they’ve never met, and he doesn’t know her secret—she’s a mermaid! When her tutor, Yuri, takes her out of the castle to meet her subjects, Mio sees the world through new eyes. But Yuri has a secret too… And when Mio tells her father, the king, she wants to live life openly as a mermaid, he punishes her. How can she stay true to herself?

Plus, a bonus story about a royal subject with... wings?!

My Review:

Over the last few years, I've been exploring more manga stories, especially those that focus on cozy fantasy, paranormal adventures and of course, mermaids! From the start, I was instantly taken into this world and the beautiful artwork.

The series begins with an interesting premise right away. Some people are born with magical abilities. Throughout history, people discriminated against these "unhumans" as they are called, and some are banned from different kingdoms. The main character was born as a mermaid. At first glance, she has a gorgeous character design!

But the main problem is she lives in a kingdom where unhumans are banned and discriminated against. We also learn she's sixteen, and in six months, her father (who is also king of this discriminatory kingdom) must figure out a way to make her totally human since she's going to be married off to a neighboring kingdom in order to create an alliance.

Within the first few pages there's an emotional pull. Even though Mio is kind and gentle, she's treated like a freak for having merfolk abilities. She even states later that she was born a monster, and there’s a little baby picture with her tail! Seeing her instantly rejected at birth was so heartbreaking.

As the story progresses in each book, we see that she wants to use her powers for good, especially to heal others, but she struggles with maintaining emotional control in dire situations. Her elemental power causes massive storms and waves, which further distances her from humans.

Other powers include:

Seawater strengthens her abilities

Store the power of the sea in their scales and use it to heal other people

Can control the waves

Cleanse the oceans they swim through 

Sailors use their scales as guides through the darkness since the moon reflects off them

In the first book, there's even a doctor who tries reducing her mermaid appearance with treatments. There's no way to truly hide Mio's nature; even out of water she has fin-like ears. Mio is also treated like a contagious monster despite her kind demeanor. For example, when Mio reaches for a butterfly, the doctor assumed she was reaching for him and backed away. We also learn these medicines are experimental and harmful. However, in the second novel, we meet Dr. Danshan, who works with unhumans and even helps them. This shows how these unhumans are treated in different countries.

I also really enjoyed reading about Yuri’s character. He is defiant and believes all beings should be treated with respect.

Negatives

At times, Yuri is a bit aggressive and impatient with Mio, especially in book one. By book two, he starts to show a more protective and friendly side when Mio and him run into criminals at night.

One of the stranger moments with him is in Book One. He grabs Mio and dives off a cliff into the ocean with her in his arms. I thought this was a bit impulsive and extremely dangerous. If he wanted to show Mio the beauty of her powers, why not do so gently?

Another strange moment in book one is Yuri also knows about a secret door that leads to a cove on the castle grounds. But how was he able to figure this out after being there for a day?

Overall, I just finished book two and love the story so far! I’ll continue to update my thoughts once I’ve completed the series!

Sirenita The Selkie