Manga: MeruPuri vol. 1

 MeruPuri vol. 1

Warning: This document contains spoilers!

Story: 7
In this manga the fairy tale world comes together with our normal everyday life as a young prince from a kingdom comes through the mirror of a teenage girl to hide himself from his older stepbrother who did cast a spell on him. The prince takes shelter in the girl’s home for the time being and this causes all kind of weird events to happen.

I like the whole fairy tale meets modern world idea. It is funny to see the differences between the worlds and what situations come out of it when the worlds connect. However I’m not sure I like the lolicon aspect of this manga. The prince is only 10 years old or so but his body grows older in the dark because of the curse that is put upon him. This causes the lead girl to think of him as a guy from her age at times. But since these are exactly the questions she asks herself as well, it is bearable. Of course she can turn the prince to his original self by giving him a kiss. So I still have doubts about this aspect of the series.

Art: 8
About this aspect of the series I can be very short: The artwork is simply great. I like the adorable character designs. It sometimes feels a bit crowded but it is easy to follow along. The combination of the attractive art and the enjoyable, sometimes wacky story gets you drawn in easily.

Character development: 7
As stated before, the male lead is originally only 10 years old and on top of that being a prince, so he is very spoiled. On the other hand he can also be very cute. The funny thing is that when he grows older, his body does but his mind doesn’t. This causes some comical situations.

The female lead dislikes the little prince at first but soon warms up to him since he can also be very endearing. Sometimes I have the feeling the bond between them is a bit rushed since the two did grow all attached towards each other in only a matter of days. There are even some hints towards love between the two main characters. While from the little princes side this is mainly a childish love, our female lead is still affected by it. This complicates her everyday life where she is considering a relationship with a classmate of her. To make matters worse, the stepbrother also declares his love for the main character while kidnapping her.

Overall: 7
The artwork is great so that’s no reason to leave this manga on the shelf. However I wouldn’t recommend it if you can’t stand lolicon at all since the series does have elements of that. However if you are looking for a fun fairy tale meets modern world manga and doesn’t take the underlying hints to loli seriously this story provides an enjoyable read.

2 Comments »

  1. The uh..lolicon aspect you mentioned, didn’t really struck me as a negative thing, but I was so engrossed in the story and Aram is such a delicious bishie in his grown-up form! It’s pretty much shoujo fanservice to girls.

    But I would be lying if I didn’t ask myself “Am I wrong for liking this?” a couple of times.

    Goods thing it’s fiction ;)

    I have the series complete (4 manga’s) if you’d want to read the rest.

    Comment by Corona — March 28, 2008 @ 3:15 pm

  2. Thanks! Yeah I am somewhere in the middle myself with this one. I like the story and all, but I ask myself the same question as you do ;)

    Comment by Uniflame — April 11, 2008 @ 2:43 pm

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March 22, 2008 :: Fantasy, Manga, Shojo ::