The Water Dragon's Bride, Vol. 11 (11) (edición 2019)

Picked this up because I've been enjoying The King's Beast so far and wanted something to fill that gap in between releases. My review is for all 11 volumes. The art is rougher, especially in the early volumes, compared to The King's Beast. It does improve a lot about midway, and by the last few volumes, the art is very nice. Storytelling is also not quite as well done, but overall it was an enjoyable read. I saw the ending coming from a mile away early on, as I noticed the author leaning into some elements from The Little Mermaid (the original version, not the Disney one), but genderswapped. Given the plot and setting, I can't help but draw comparisons to Inuyasha as well, though Inuyasha is also a much better written manga. But Inuyasha is more of an "epic" story, while this is much lighter. Some may not be happy with who our lead ends up with. The story really dangles either option for most of the series till about the last 2 volumes, when it becomes pretty obvious who she'll pick. I found it believable enough. To be honest, the non-character development stuff--all the politics and the arc involving the god of darkness were kind of meh. I felt like the early volumes focus on just the village worked better. Everything else just seemed like a way to add "conflict" to move something along, but the best character development always came during the more quiet moments, which I really liked. It was a nice read, nothing too deep or interesting, not as engaging as The King's Beast, but if you like the mangaka's other works, I'd at least try the first few volumes to see if it's for you. I wish there had been at least one more chapter after the final one, but it ends on a good note. A little uneven, light, and satisfying enough. ( )

The Water Dragon's Bride started out with an interesting premise before it started torturing the main lead for fun. Now, it fizzled out and lost its way. I was just never sold on Asahi's love for the Water God. Yes, she came to understand he was like an emotionless child in the beginning, but why does she love him now? why does he love her? why can't Subaru be happy? Subaru has always been the MVP here and done dirty.

Still, I first starting reading this series when I was like 16, so I'm happy to have finished it. ( )