Manga Review: The Water Dragon's Bride, Volume 11, by Rei Toma

Rating (Out of 5): ~4.5

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: November 2019

Volumes: 11.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 10.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A modern-day girl gets whisked away to a strange land where she is sacrificed to a water dragon god!

In the blink of an eye, a modern-day girl named Asahi is whisked away from her warm and happy home and stranded in a strange and mysterious world where she meets a water dragon god!

Facing the gravity of his impending demise, the water dragon god vows that he will send Asahi back to her world before all his power disappears. As Asahi struggles to find a way to stay with him, she can’t deny that the day when they must part is coming. Is it truly the end for these two star-crossed lovers?

Review:

The Water Dragon God is dying, because of his relationship with Asahi, and he has the option of eating her to save himself. He's formed too many human emotions, too much of an attachment, though, to be willing to do that.

This series wraps up in a way that I definitely didn't expect. Most stories will discover a crazy solution at the last second, like he'd become human with her or something. That's not what happens here. Instead, we get to see the series all over again, only from the Water Dragon God's perspective, with new insight for how things happened and leading to this new ending.

I actually really appreciate how this worked out. And it definitely makes me want to re-read the series with these new realizations.

I feel a little bad for how Subaru fell so far in the background, given how much I loved him in the beginning. On the other side, I'm really happy with where Asahi is at the end of the series, and I'm glad we get to see her family again.

I'm really happy with how this series wraps up. It's a pleasant surprise that leaves me very pleased.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: The Water Dragon's Bride, Volume 10, by Rei Toma

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: July 2019

Volumes: 11.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 9. 11.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A modern-day girl gets whisked away to a strange land where she is sacrificed to a water dragon god!

In the blink of an eye, a modern-day girl named Asahi is whisked away from her warm and happy home and stranded in a strange and mysterious world where she meets a water dragon god!

Asahi continues to fight against the god of darkness and his minions, and the water dragon god lends her the totality of his power. Unfortunately, the battle greatly weakens the water dragon god to the point where his very existence is threatened! Can Asahi do anything to save him?

Review:

Asahi finally gets to show some power to the people floundering on the ground. And Kurose gets a reality check he very badly needed.

This relationship between Asahi and the Water Dragon God has taken a surprising affect on him, though. It leaves us with a bit of a cliffhanger.

I feel a bit bad that Subaru has fallen so far to the background at this point, and yet I do really like the Water Dragon God, particularly for Asahi, as well. I'm rooting for this relationship, so much so that I've forgotten about Subaru at points.

The next volume is the last, and I'm mostly hoping it doesn't feel rushed. I hope there's a nice ending to this series.

Manga Review: The Water Dragon's Bride, Volume 9, by Rei Toma

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: April 2019

Volumes: 11.

Spoilers?: Light.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 8. 10.

Goodreads Synopsis:

In the blink of an eye, a modern-day girl named Asahi is whisked away from her warm and happy home and stranded in a strange and mysterious world where she meets a water dragon god!

Kurose and the god of darkness conspire to take control of the emperor of Naga’s throne, and they have no qualms about using Asahi to do it! Worried for Asahi’s safety, the water dragon god decides it’s best to return her to her former world, but does Asahi want to go?

Review:

The god of darkness is still working against Asahi, but she's back in the village for the moment. It feels okay, up until a war breaks out.

Asahi wants to do everything she can to stop this, to talk sense into people, but it doesn't appear to be working. At the same time, she's become aware of the Water Dragon in a new way, and is having a hard time being too close to him. The Water Dragon doesn't understand it, and doesn't seem to know what his feelings represent, though he's not too bothered by it. He's fine going along with his whims, though Subaru has caught on.

There's only a few volume left, and I'm really curious to see how this series wraps up, and I really hope it's not rushed.

Manga Review: The Water Dragon's Bride, Volume 8, by Rei Toma

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: January 2019

Volumes: 11.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 7. 9.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A modern-day girl gets whisked away to a strange land where she is sacrificed to a water dragon god!

In the blink of an eye, a modern-day girl named Asahi is whisked away from her warm and happy home and stranded in a strange and mysterious world where she meets a water dragon god!

Asahi is captured by a human who’s using the god of darkness to take over the world! Trapped in the underworld, Asahi resolves to figure out the true intention of this ruthless boy while the water dragon god and Subaru form a tag team to try and save her!

Review:

In the first half of the volume, we get to see how Asahi deals with being locked in darkness, and what kind of connection she has with both Subaru and the Water Dragon God. She has come a long way since she was first transported here and taken by the Water Dragon God. At this point, when faced with a cruel god, she doesn't cower anymore. It's really nice to see how far she's come.

But then we're left with a cliffhanger, as the second half of the volume is taken up with backstory on these new characters. It's interesting to see the boy and the god of the underworld, to see how he got there and what a different life he's had when compared to Asahi. They're very similar, but with very different perspectives, I think.

I really need to know what happens next between Asahi and the Water Dragon God. I'm so hooked.

Manga Review: The Water Dragon's Bride, Volume 7, by Rei Toma

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: October 2018

Volumes: 11.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 6. 8.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A modern-day girl gets whisked away to a strange land where she is sacrificed to a water dragon god!

In the blink of an eye, a modern-day girl named Asahi is whisked away from her warm and happy home and stranded in a strange and mysterious world where she meets a water dragon god!

Asahi returns to the present day, and though her reunion with her family is joyful, she misses Subaru and the water dragon god in the other world. When Asahi comes to a decision about what to do, the water dragon god’s heart is greatly shaken!

Review:

I'm so conflicted by this series.

Asahi finally gets to be with her family, who she's missed and wondered about for so long. And it's bittersweet, because they love her and missed her, and she's just starting to get to really know them. But she misses the other world, and she keeps seeing things in the water. She feels like the Water Dragon God is talking to her, is trying to tell her something, and she just can't stay away forever like she's trying to.

The way things end there, must mean that we'll see more of them. I really like her family, too, especially her little brother.

But in the other world, there's chaos. The Water Dragon God and Subaru don't really get along, and yet they have Asahi between them.

Then there's that ending... Oh man, it's awful. I'm not sure how she's going to get out of this, but I also think she's gained some kind of power or something after all this time. I'm hoping something will come of that, but either way, I really need to see what happens next.

Asahi has been through a lot, and I think she's learning to do what she needs to at this point.

 A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: The Water Dragon's Bride, Volume 6, by Rei Toma

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: July 2018

Volumes: 9+

Spoilers?: Yes.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 5. 7.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A modern-day girl gets whisked away to a strange land where she is sacrificed to a water dragon god!

In the blink of an eye, a modern-day girl named Asahi is whisked away from her warm and happy home and stranded in a strange and mysterious world where she meets a water dragon god!

Asahi continues to be trapped between power-hungry humans and exposed to ill will. When she becomes gravely injured, will the water dragon god be able to save her? How will these two change during this time of distress?

Review:

Everyone's abuse toward Asahi finally hits the Water Dragon God, and he breaks. He goes to drastic measures, because he wants her to stop being in pain. He decides that he needs to protect her at all costs, and so he takes her away from them all. And when that doesn't work, he takes their memories of him. And still, when that doesn't work, he sends her home.

Seeing Asahi back in the modern world is what I've been waiting for this whole time. It's bittersweet, though. Because while she's with her family again—though they have no idea what happened to her, and she's started reading all these books, and now she has a little brother—now she doesn't have the Water Dragon God or Subaru or even Tsukihiko. Her parents want her there, and she's forming a relationship with her new little brother, but she also misses it there.

This series just gets to me. It's subtle and quiet in its intensity, but so heartbreaking at times, and it just hits me so deep. I need to find out what happens next.

Manga Review: The Water Dragon's Bride, Volume 5, by Rei Toma

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: April 2018

Volumes: 9+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 4. 6.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A modern-day girl gets whisked away to a strange land where she is sacrificed to a water dragon god!

In the blink of an eye, a modern-day girl named Asahi is whisked away from her warm and happy home and stranded in a strange and mysterious world where she meets a water dragon god!

Asahi is in danger because people want to use her to get the water dragon god’s power. She doesn’t want anyone to be hurt because of her, so she goes with the water dragon god and Subaru to pay a visit to the emperor. However, in exchange for his protection, the emperor makes an unexpected demand!

Review:

At the beginning of the volume, Asahi is introduced to the real idea of a romance. She has several men around her, but she's never really considered any of them romantically. But when she accidentally sees several of the villagers in compromising positions, her eyes are opened.

Not that that leads to much, of course. She's just starting to realize what the men around her could be.

Tsukihiko truly is a sweetheart. We see that as he attempts to sacrifice himself to free Asahi, only it doesn't work when Asahi realizes what he's done and won't let him go through with it. It's a really sweet moment, honestly, as Asahi interrupts and stands up to and for Tsukihiko. She has no qualms about interrupting his declaration and not feeling trapped into it, which I appreciated.

And then Asahi goes to the little emperor, who wants her to marry him in exchange for protecting her. This only makes Asahi think about the prospect in general even more. During all of this, Subaru is put on his own mission.

The interactions between Asahi and the Water Dragon God are very subtle and quiet, not usually much talking, only eye-contact and reactions. It's an interesting show of their connection. It's also a contrast to her and Subaru, which are familiar and warm and a little heartbreaking, cause you're not sure if they're leading to good or bad things.

I'm quite infatuated with this series. I want more of these relationships, and I want to know where they're going.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: The Water Dragon's Bride, Volume 4, by Rei Toma

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: January 2018

Volumes: 8+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 3. 5.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A modern-day girl gets whisked away to a strange land where she is sacrificed to a water dragon god!

In the blink of an eye, a modern-day girl named Asahi is whisked away from her warm and happy home and stranded in a strange and mysterious world where she meets a water dragon god!

Because the water dragon god wants to interact with Asahi more, he descends to the village in the guise of a human. Asahi’s friend Subaru has mixed feelings about this but joins them on a journey to the capital. What adventures are in store, and how will their fates change?

Review:

It's time to pray to the water god again, and so Asahi decides that the three of them should go away for the three days. So her, the Water Dragon God, and Subaru go away to visit other places. They see some sights, and then Asahi throws herself in to help a village when there's a fire. Afterward, when they get home, Asahi tries to help an outbreak of sickness.

Asahi continues to push the Water Dragon God. He's emotionless and uncaring, but at least somewhat curious about humans. She pushes him into doing things, and pushes their relationship as much as she can, at times to see how far it will go. Subaru is always there, at the same time. Their friendship is the sweetest, purest thing. It's honestly painful how sweet it is, because we all know bad things are going to happen there.

I'm still surprised that I don't know which direction this triangle is going. I feel like Asahi and the Water Dragon have something that isn't romantic, but a different connection. They're learning from each other, in a way. But if Asahi doesn't end of up with Subaru, then I will not be happy with Subaru ending up sad and alone. I just want to hug him, he's such a sweetheart.

We also got some hints of something from Asahi's care taker, that maybe he knows something or he has a connection with Asahi that they don't know. I'm intrigued about where that's going.

I'm really hooked on this series. I can't wait for each volume. It's sad and sweet, thoughtful and painful, innocent and psychological. I'm really starting to love it.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: The Water Dragon's Bride, Volume 3, by Rei Toma

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: October 2017

Volumes: 7+

Spoilers?: Yes.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 2. 4.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A modern-day girl gets whisked away to a strange land where she is sacrificed to a water dragon god!

In the blink of an eye, a modern-day girl named Asahi is whisked away from her warm and happy home and stranded in a strange and mysterious world where she meets a water dragon god!

Unable to return home, Asahi grows into a lovely young woman while living in this challenging world. As a priestess, she must spend time with the water dragon god for a ritual every year, but because of her connection to the water dragon god's power, someone kidnaps her! Will Asahi be able to escape unscathed?

Review:

We get some new insight into the relationship between Asahi and the Water Dragon. It's interesting to see how they spent their time during the years. Later in the volume, we get to see Asahi testing their relationship, as well. How she decides to push him into helping, relying on him and almost daring him to do something for her. They have an odd agreement between them, and I like it.

Which is confusing to me, since I also really like Subaru. He's sweet and would be my clear pick, if the Water Dragon weren't winning me over so easily. I'm very conflicted about it.

Aside from this turmoil of relationships, we get a new plot point, as—unsurprisingly--another village decides it could use Asahi's in with the Water Dragon. It should lead to some interesting action.

Another new point is that, since the beginning, this has felt like a very quiet series. Asahi lost her voice early on, and it has had an overtone of silence, with only her thoughts. In this volume that changes, and it adds a new voice, and gives her the opportunity to finally demand things and make her voice heard, instead of other people deciding things for her. It's also another moment of progress between her and the Water Dragon.

This series is surprisingly addicting, and I'm very interested for the next one.

 A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: The Water Dragon's Bride, Volume 2, by Rei Toma

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: July 4, 2017

Volumes: 6+

Spoilers?: Light.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 3.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A modern-day girl gets whisked away to a strange land where she is sacrificed to a water dragon god!
In the blink of an eye, a modern-day girl named Asahi is whisked away from her warm and happy home and stranded in a strange and mysterious world where she is sacrificed to a water dragon god! What plans are in store for her, and what will happen when she comes face to face with this god?
After a ritual in the village leaves her hovering on the brink of death, Asahi is rescued by the power of the water dragon god! Has he awakened to feelings of compassion, or does Asahi need to flee this treacherous world before something irreparable happens to her?

Review:

So far, this series seems beautiful and sad. Asahi and Subaru have a true friendship, a connection despite everything going against them. The Water God is making it hard on them, and Subaru's mother is awful, and even the village as a whole is awful. Then the Water God punishes the village, in a move that he thinks helps Asahi. In a strange twist, suddenly the village doesn't want Asahi dead, and they start treating her like royalty. She even gets a helper, an older boy who looks after her.

The Water God is still looming over her, though, waiting to take her away, and Asahi has to deal with that and the fact that she can never go back home.

At the end of the volume, it looks like we're going to be skipping forward in time, to a new arc. I'm surprised by how good this series is so far, and I'm really looking forward to reading the next one. 

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: The Water Dragon's Bride, Volume 1, by Rei Toma

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: April 2017

Volumes: 5+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository.

Volume: 2.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A modern-day girl gets whisked away to a strange land where she is sacrificed to a water dragon god!

In the blink of an eye, a modern-day girl named Asahi is whisked away from her warm and happy home and stranded in a strange and mysterious world where she is sacrificed to a water dragon god! What plans are in store for her, and what will happen when she comes face to face with this god?

A young boy named Subaru comes to Asahi’s aid, but despite his help, Asahi must endure a test of survival! Will she be able to make it out alive or will she end up being sacrificed?

Review:

I wasn't quite sure what to expect with this volume. I stopped reading Dawn of the Arcana early on, because I wasn't really enjoying it. But I was quite impressed with this volume, actually.

We meet Asahi, who has a happy family life. Her parents love her, she's a happy kid. Then she gets transported through water, and finds a small village. She meets a little boy her age, and he tries to help her, even though the village people don't like that she's different. From there, she meets the dragon god, who is heartless. He doesn't understand people, and he watches them for enjoyment, and does nothing to help them.

I won't spoil what happens to her here, but it's harsh and a very hard and fast reality check for her. It breaks her, in a way. It's very harsh to see, what happens to her and the little boy.

I'm not sure where this is going to go from here—if they're going to stay as kids or grow older, and how they're going to react to the horrible things and people around them. I definitely want to read more, though.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Dawn of the Arcana, Volume 2, by Rei Toma

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: VIZ Media (Shojo Beat)

Volumes: 9+

Goodreads Synopsis:

 Princess Nakaba of Senan is forced to marry Prince Caesar of the enemy country Belquat, tantamount to becoming a hostage. While Caesar is pleasing to the eye, he is also selfish and possessive, telling Nakaba outright: “You are my property.” With only her attendant Loki at her side, Nakaba must find a way to cope with her hostile surroundings, her fake marriage...and a mysterious power!
Princess Nakaba of Senan and Prince Caesar of Belquat only married each other for the sake of peace between their two warring countries, but things take a surprising turn when Caesar finds himself falling for his strange wife! Caesar tries to get Nakaba to return his feelings, but she maintains that he is her enemy and that she hates him. So when Nakaba has a vision of Caesar getting killed, will she say anything to save him?

Review:

The volume starts with Caesar trying to be nice to Nakaba by getting her something personal, but she's not much for material items. It's good for them to get closer, so in a way this was nice. And then we meet another of Nakaba's servants (like Loki), named Rito, who's an adorable little kid. Also, Nakaba has a couple dream where Caesar gets hurt, and so she gets worried, and then he almost gets poisoned, and Nakaba is suspected as the perpetrator. This opens up her feelings for Caesar, as well as her finding out about Loki's intentions for Caesar and the King.

Nakaba doesn't remember all that much from when she was young, but Loki remembers all of it. And he wants to take revenge on the King, so he doesn't trust, or like, Caesar. I feel that it wouldn't be too hard to get Caesar on their side, what with his bad relationship with his parents, but Loki doesn't want Nakaba to say anything to him. Nakaba, not wanting to betray Loki in anyway, doesn't, but she's struggling with her feelings for Caesar, as a person and as her husband.

At the end of the volume, Nakaba gets a vision and goes out to see Caesar, even though she wasn't sure she was going to and Loki wanted her to just so that Caesar would get a false feeling of trust. She finds him stuck in a well, and she falls in with him. While in there, they have a talk and there's some kissing, and it leaves her feeling guilty.

Nakaba is alright. She's a bit better than in the first volume, but she needs to get stronger, learn how to deal with things better. She's struggling between Loki, who I kind of like but is not helping her in anyway right now, and Caesar, who I'm starting to like but is still a bit too pushy. Her feelings for Caesar changed too fast, I think, because it feels like he did one nice thing (hugged her at the end of the first volume) and suddenly she's really liking him. But maybe that's just me?

Nakaba needs to grow a pair and decide what to do about it, work things out with the both of them. She's supposed to be strong, but just smacking them every once in a while doesn't really help anything. She's letting them push her around too much.

I'm still warming up the series, I think. Nakaba is getting a bit better, as is Caesar, and now I'm unsure of my feelings for Loki. I do like the artwork a bit better than before, and now I'm looking forward to where the story is going from here. It's going pretty steadily, showing us the characters and forming their relationships as it slowly shows us the more serious plot points.

It's getting better, so... that's good.

Manga Review: Dawn of the Arcana, Volume 1, by Rei Toma

Rating (Out of 5 Stars): 2.5 

Publisher: VIZ Media

Goodreads Synopsis:

Princess Nakaba of Senan is forced to marry Prince Caesar of the enemy country Belquat, tantamount to becoming a hostage. While Caesar is pleasing to the eye, he is also selfish and possessive, telling Nakaba outright: “You are my property.” With only her attendant Loki at her side, Nakaba must find a way to cope with her hostile surroundings, her fake marriage...and a mysterious power!

Review:

 

I'm a bit disappointed. When I first saw this, I thought that I would really like it. The art looked good, the summary sounded good, even though I only had a vague remembrance of what it was supposed to be, and it's from Shojo Beat. It looked exactly like the type of manga that I like. I even saved it for last. So I was disappointed in finding out that it wasn't very good.

It's about Nakaba, a princess, who has just been married to Prince Caesar. And she has a servant, or whatever, who has, I think, dog ears. She's also a red head, and that's a big deal to everyone, as most royals have dark hair, so no one wants much to do with her. She doesn't want to be married to Caesar, and he's all forceful about now he owns her. And her servant, Loki, tries to protect her and then gets in trouble for threatening Caesar and has to hide for a while. Caesar forces himself on Nakaba at one point, and she fights him. And then Caesar is in this tournament and Loki challenges him and he loses and so Loki gets pardoned.

There's also some back story to Loki and Nakaba. She's a princess of this town, or place, that was attacked, and we find out that the person who sent it out is Caesar's father. She's been with only Loki for a long time now, and she keeps having flashbacks to how the attack went down, as she was very little at the time.

Nakaba is okay. She tries fighting everyone, but she isn't very good at it. Not forceful enough, or something of the sort. And she cries a little easily and faints a couple of times. I don't particularly like her, but there's the possibility that she will get better. I hope she does.

I don't like Caesar. He's a jerk to her in the beginning, and then at the end he hugs her after she says something to him that he wasn't expecting. He's had a tough childhood, as his parents kind of suck, but I still don't like him very much. I do like Loki, though. He's a bit adorable. He's protective and very loyal to Nakaba. He's probably just about the best part of the book for me.

And the art, I mentioned earlier. The cover makes it seem like it will be very pretty. And it wasn't really bad. Just not very good. It was all a little lackluster to me. I will give it another try, for maybe a couple for volumes, and I hope that it gets better.