Mermaid Boys Vol 3
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher!
Love gets messy for Prince Naru when his bubbly fiancée Moana suddenly appears...with legs?! Mermaid or human, it's not the first time a girl's chased after the hot merprince, but there's a bigger problem-they must form a bond or she'll turn into foam! Naturally he's only got eyes for Nami, but he can't just leave Moana to her fate...not when he's the one who led her on in the past. Meanwhile, after learning of Naru's feelings, Moana realizes it'll take more than a confession to get his attention, and approaches a familiar figure for help...who is Arashi?!
Last volume saw us end with a little surprise....that being that Moana has popped up with the same conditions as Naru, but we all know that Naru can't return her feelings. Which leaves things for her looking a little bleak to be honest. But when it comes to Nami...the jealousy is real, even if she refuses to admit or acknowledge it, so at least things are looking hopeful for Naru.
Poor old Moana, however, has to move in with Arashi and I ship it already. I see a solution to everyone's problems, and I'm completely jumping on it.
One thing I particularly liked this volume, was getting to see a different side of Naru thanks to Moana and her memories. Turns out he can be quite sweet and kind. Plus we get a fun bonus story in this volume that lets us see a connection between our two main characters which was...interesting. I liked that it added more to the romance between the two of them.
As for the plot, it moves forward a little this volume. We meet Riko who's in the same situation as Naru and we get to see what happens when the bond is formed and what should happen to Naru if he ever gets there. But more importantly, things take a turn towards the end of the volume and rim appears to be about to join the party. Things are looking a little bit desperate for Naru's kingdom but Rim should fill him right?!
While we don't move that much further, and the thing with Moana is resolved quite quickly, there are some hints to Namis' feelings, but this volume seems to be filling in some background and showing us what'll happen to Naru if he's successful which hits home when we see more of Mellow and his plan as well as giving Naru some confidence to go for who he wants. I'm looking forward to getting to know Rim, although....just how many of them are going to end up turning in to sea foam?!
Mermaid Boys Vol 2
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher!
Prince Naru is doing the "mermaid in love" thing and has transformed into a human boy in order to be with Nami. But the devilishly handsome mermaid Roa appears! What could he want with Nami?
Have I mentioned how much I love this series recently? Honestly, I'm living for it and there's even more plot elements brought in with this volume.
I think we all knewMellow was going to be shady, and his little plan is revealed at the beginning of the volume. Honestly, I should have seen it coming but...praise the lord, there's one mermaid that knows somethings up! Unfortunately she's now completely and utterly screwed herself by the situation she's gotten in to.
Mellow sends Loa to keep an eye on our boy Naru, and Loa is there for one reason and one reason only. To make Naru's life reaaaaaally difficult. He succeeds at it pretty well too, with Naru's help actually. Naru really doesn't make things easy for himself this volume. Arashi...he still needs to not but it was nice to see Naru get one on over on him for once. It was interesting to see how much of a threat Naru thinks he is, compared to Loa.
Ryou has me super curious. He and Naru are finally....maybe not friends but at least Allies and I'm so here for it. He seems to be a lot more chilled and enjoying things more thanks to Naru...but at the same time he does seem pretty convinced that he's going to vanish in to sea foam, and Naru is trying to get him to keep a positive mental attitude about it all. I feel like these two really need each other, and I'm looking forward to a bromance between the two of them.
As for Naru and Nami, they have a nice little moment but Loa swiftly comes between the two of them. Naru really needs to watch what he says but he is freaking hilarious. He can be self centred and Loa's arrival, as well as some advice from Ryou, really has him examining himself and his motivations and actions. As well as his feelings for Nami.
Luckily things get sorted between them and you can see the feelings and the romance between the two develop a little more in this book. And then Moana shows up. She's a new character, and an acquaintance of the Prince who came looking for him....and she's here to completely turn everything around.
Volume 2 is fast paced and humorous as always, there's plenty of drama and development in the romance in this volume! Not to mention the cliffhanger ending as we find out just how tangled things have become thanks to Moana. Basically....we should just totally kill Mellow. Then all will be right int he world.
The volume provides us with two new plot threads. The problem of Mellow and his scheme, and then the problem of Moana. This volume makes it safe to say that Nami has some feelings for Naru at this point, and Moana's arrival should see things from this volume swapped around. Moana is going to instigate some serious drama and I'm actually ready for it. We've seen Naru chasing after Nami, but Moana could mean we see more of Nami and her feelings.
Either way, this series is getting better and better!
Mermaid Boys
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher!
The mermaid prince is super-popular with all the girls lining up to be his bride. But the one he falls in love with...has legs!
Okaaaay I'm calling it now, this is one of my favourite new manga of 2018, I completely freaking loved this, it was brilliant! Naru is totally Ariel in male form, but with more attitude and a bit of arrogance, he's completely and utterly hilarious. I actually really loved him and I'm totally rooting for him.
Nami is sweet...or at least that's what she seemed like at first, she's actually got a bit more attitude than it seemed at first which I loved, she's certainly not going to make things easy for poor old Naru. Speaking of Naru, it looks like he's going to have some competition in the form of Arashi who shamelessly took credit for Naru's heroic save...which annoys him to no end. It appears we'll be having a love triangle.
In the shady AF corner we have Mellow, who's basically Ursula but with some twists, I do love how Naru wasn't the least bit bothered about his shadiness. Ryou has some weird smell fetish thing and like...you can't just be pushing people in to the water like that dude! I was actually fairly sure he was Mellow in disguise but it turns out he's not, he's another merman with a sinister purpose which is going to be much more interesting!
Mermaid Boys has a nice, swift pace, and the art is gorgeous! I love how the characters and settings are drawn and the volume is so freaking funny and entertaining, largely thanks to Naru who's a brilliant main character! The volume ends on a sinister note as we meet Loa, Mellow's henchman who's no doubt going to cause all kinds of trouble! I genuinely fell completely in love with this and got so hooked on it, I raced through the volume and was thoroughly entertained....and I'm going to be needing the next volume ASAP to see what hilarity ensues next!
