Morgan’s Monthly Manga Musing #5: “Prince Freya:”
Manga-ka: Keiko Ishihara
Translated by: Shojo Beat (through Viz Manga)
Rating: 16+ (war/violence)
Genre: Shojo (girl romance,) historical fiction, war, society, monarchy, inner strength.
Cover Price: $9.99
Blurb: “Freya thinks of herself as a simple village girl, but her idyllic life is shattered when she is caught up in the aftermath of a treacherous Sigurdian plot. She bears a striking resemblance to her country’s beloved Prince Edvard, who lays dying from poison. Without its ruler, all of Tyr will quickly be engulfed by Sigurdian violence. Now Freya must take Prince Edvard’s place and lead his valiant knights in defending the realm!”
Morgan’s Musings: A note I want to state first is it took me over a year to find the first volume of this book awhile back! This happens sometimes with manga; a volume will be impossible to find from a series that is still going on due to either the content that made fans gobble it up or the supply/demand wasn’t predicted right. It took me over a year to find it for its cover price of $10 and it was thankfully at Books-A-Million during their big Manga Sale! I was so excited and I cuddled it at my checkout, ha!
Was it worth it?
Absolutely!
The artwork was what I noticed first. The expressions of the characters and the backgrounds are breathtaking and feel alive. Manga often is stunning, but this one is pretty high. I enjoy that Freya, our lovely main maiden, is an oximoron from the first panel. She’s crying for missing her adopted brothers, who have been off to fight in a war for three years, but she also has no fear to jump off this giant mountain because she loves the view of the world from up there and she just felt like it. Even the townspeople comment how she is so gentle, but brave in a unique way, ha!
Her two brother return as heroes after the next town over was attacked…and coming towards their village. Freya is worried, but grateful she can be with her dearest friends and her sick mother one more time before they go back to be apart of Prince Edvard’s army. But, Freya is more involved in this war than she could ever imagine. While she is in the forest, she is snatched by the enemy army…who are heading towards her village! Her brother Aaron, the Black Knight, saves her and tells her to run. She goes into a building and finds a boy…who looks identical to her. And he is dying. He begs her to take his place and make sure his beloved kingdom of Tyr lives on.
Freya now must become Prince Edvard, with only three knowing the truth, and no one else can know…
Freya, having to go suddenly from a shy maiden who cries from her worry and tenderness often to a flamboyant and brave prince is a lot to ask of anyone while your nation is on the border, literally, of losing a war. And her momma is gravely ill at home
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Keep reading! Stay geeky! 🙂
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Educator of young minds by day, super nerdy savior of justice, and cute things by night, Morgan Straughan Comnick has a love for turning the normal into something special without losing its essence. Morgan draws from real-life experiences and her ongoing imagination to spark her writing. In her spare time, she enjoys doing goofy voices, traveling to new worlds by turning pages, humming child-like songs, and forcing people to smile with her “bubbliness.” It is Morgan’s mission in life to spread the amazement of otaku/Japanese culture to the world and to stop bullying; she knows everyone shines brightly.
For more information about Morgan and her works, check out her website, which also has links to all her social medias: http://morganscomnick.com
! My heart goes to her and I like right now how she can stand-up when need be, but it is not immediate and she is still her kind self at her core. I like how this series will slow a steady growth with her and I hope it continues that. All the characters are engaging and you feel for them and are curious about them alrady.
And the violence that makes this 16+…Oof! I had to study that short, but powerful section three times to make sure I understood.
I like that there is no magical in this world, but it could truly happen. It has a magical art style, but there is something that makes it more enchanting and raw that is could happen.
This volume does end in a nice cliffhanger and narration too.
Will I Continue the Series?: For sure! This is the first of my five so far this year that is a 100% yes. I had high expectations for this manga and it did not disappoint. It has 10 volumes so far and the manga-ka also wrote one of my favorite short manga series (two volumes,) ‘The Heiress and the Chauffeur.’ She also loves cats! =^o^=
