Thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha for the e-book copy!

I was not anticipating this to be a short story collection but that could be an error on my part. I wasn't mad at this because this author has put short stories at the end of their other series that were equally compelling. This collection had three stories and I would say the one I liked the most was the first one. I felt like it could have gone further but as is it was well rounded. I felt like the overall theme for this collection would be friendship as each story had some form of it and its complexities. If you haven't read Kaori Ozaki before, I would recommend starting with this collection as it will give you insight into their writing style and themes. If you are a fan already, this is a nice addition to the collection and worth the read.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!
2-stars

I won't be marking the actual rating I have on the book because I don't want to bring down the rating for something that is MY FAULT. I don't know if I didn't read the summary carefully enough or if I just misunderstood, but I didn't expect three entirely separate stories and was entirely focused on the Mermaid Prince storyline, so when it starts out with a strange young girl having a falling out with her friend and then later a very quick sex scene, I was just very ??? Where is the mermaid prince??? What is happening here??? Why does this cutesy looking shoujo manga have a random sex scene??

The first two stories didn't really do anything for me (with one of them being a single chapter long), but I did really like the last one. I'd have enjoyed that being the entirety of the manga, but alas xD It's my fault for not reading well enough.

There's definitely a bit of a "classic lit fiction" feel to the first tale, so if that's your type of thing, you'd likely enjoy it! That's just not my type of thing.

So I definitely say to decide more for yourself your feelings on this, because my opinion probably isn't the best to take on it xD

Just as The Gods Lie was a particular reading that at times left me bewildered and with a bitter taste, Mermaid Prince has achieved the same thing.

Here we find three different stories, the main and longest being, Mermaid Prince.

All stories have something to tell us, brief or longer, and many times the feelings that these stories transmit to us are... like a void, a pressure in the chest. Kaori Ozaki manages to convey very well what she wants to show us sometimes, and sometimes not. And one is left a little confused about what one is really reading and what the mangaka would like to tell us.

I don't understand why this manga has these little short stories, which I feel don't connect at all with the main story and what happens, I don't feel like they are linked or that they could happen at the same time or anything... I don't know what the reason is. line that they have wanted to follow, or if they simply wanted to compile some stories and that's it.

Thank you Kodansha Comics for the ARC I read through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Firstly, there isn't only the main story, but also some short stories at the beginning. The themes were really unexpected and mature, while the characters are really young which was unsettling.

The drawing style was pleasant, the stories were not that bad, but the themes really made me uncomfortable, especially at the beginning.

I absolutely loved The Golden Sheep so I was excited to see more manga by the same author. This one did not disappoint! Just as cute and I’m excited to read the rest of the series!

I don’t know the age range of this manga but I’m praying because they are high schoolers that it doesn’t get inappropriate but I’m happy that NetGalley sent me this 😭❤️
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Thanks to NetGalley for sending me the E-arc of this
Wth 😳 this is so confusing it’s like to deferent stories in the same book and it jumps from past to present and why are they banging in a YA book and what in gods name is this just no I’ll give it 2 just because I finished it in less than an hour but absolutely would not recommend .

This manga has 3 short stories in it, none of them are connected. Out of all story I liked the third story the most, I liked the plot and friendship between Mugi and Matori. I loved the artwork, it's beautiful.

Mermaid Prince is a collection of three stories. The first is about a boy named Mugi who recently moved to Okinawa to live with his sister. He has a fascination with mermaids, loving to paint them in school. However, he often gets bullied by the other boys at school and they ruin his paintings. Madori is his only friend, more emotional than Mugi - to the point of crying for him when his painting get ruined. Mugi desperately wants to swim and see mermaids but can't due to his health. However, Madori still views Mugi as her own mermaid prince.

This was my favorite of all of them and the longest of the three. Mugi is very emotional in his own way and has a lot of feelings about himself because of grief, often punishing himself when he doesn't do anything wrong. As someone who also has a fascination with mermaids/sirens and was in a similar place as Mugi as a teen, I really related to him. I also adored how the mermaids were drawn in this manga!

“One Snowy Day,” a tale of a librarian who encounters an unusual father and son seeking shelter from an unforgiving winter whiteout.

The shortest of the three stories. It was alright but nothing to really speak much about. If there was more chapters for the story, I think it would of been a great short story! But sadly, it was much too short for any development to even happen.

The last story is called Ametsukigahara . It follows a girl named Akari. Akari cares about nothing in this world other than her friend Fumika, who is afraid of boys. However, Fumika ends up getting a boyfriend and Akari gets more jaded about the world than before because she lost the only thing she cared about.

This was also not as strong as the first story but much stronger than the second. Akari does some things that are really messed up but you can tell its because of trauma. Doesn't excuse her actions but it does explain them. She is a very morally gray character which is interesting to read a short story about. And her ending of finally finding what she wants to do with her life is very nice. She finally learned to live for herself, and not for another person. She learned to care about the world she is in.

I'm not a keen manga reader, but I did try this one out. Sorry but didn't understand this at all ...

This was so cute I loved it. Having tiny stories as well as colored panels was amazing
Thank you for the opportunity to read. It’s been a while since I had read any manga or even short stories. It was brilliantly executed

I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of short stories/anthologies on the relationships & life. The first one is on the coming of age sort of story how friendship can be broken, love sparked at sudden moment. Its rebellious at times but equally charming. The second one felt more fairytale-esque(?) because I love the library became a solace for these father son duo whom homeless but maybe they are different than others (?), kinda magical realism too, its very short but I wished we get more. The last one is for the titular title Mermaid Prince and i think this is a fairly good story on exploration of loss of parents and how a boy struggled to fit in with his sister's husband despite him trying to welcome his as family member. Then, we have the legend of mermaid that helped to grant people's wishes if you ever see them. I love the fantasy elements in this story, it gave hope, and second chance in rediscovering life.

3 wonderful stories to tug at your heart and share or experience the pain and loniless of the world!
Mermaid Prince is a story following Mugi a boy new to Okinawa and Matori a shy girl who wants nothing more then to be Mugis friend. When Mugis sisters husband goes missing, the 2 runaway to find a magical mermaid who grants wishes.
Also featuring One Snowy Day and Ametsukigahara, i found these short stories beautifully heartbreaking and would love to read extended editions!
I definitely recommend for any vc andrews /gothic horror/supernatural genre fans

This manga contains two very short story and the slightly longer title-story.
They are not connected to each other, except by the general theme of feeling different and not fitting in.
The first two stories have female protagonists who are isolated but meet a person that brings them something new. I enjoyed these although I felt like I was missing some context to understand them fully.
The title-story, “the mermaid prince” is set on an island of Okinawa, with an outsider, a boy from the big city as its main character.
It reminded me a little of Satoshi Kon’s “Tropic of the Sea”. It is not about the mermaid herself, but more a symbol of mankind’s connection with nature and ancestral folklore.

Overall the stories explore interesting themes, but feel very short and disconnected.

unfortunately it was really bad and i did not enjoy it at all. i didn’t understand what the first story was about and even though second one was better, its still overall a bad book

I didn't realize going into this that this was three stories in one novel--the first was very strange and felt very disconnected from the other two. The others had some themes in common, but Mermaid Prince was by far the most fleshed-out and interesting story. Unfortunately, it was still very short due to the two other stories already taking up half the pages. I would have liked this more if the book had singular focus and the Mermaid story could have been a little more developed.

A manga collection of 3 short stories about feeling lost and connection with a touch of fantasy.
It strongly reminded me of the comic "Don't Go Without Me" for the bitter-sweet atmosphere.
This is about everyday life - what keeps you attached or adrift, what is important, and what is less.

The first story will make you wonder about norm conforming.
The second story asks about magic in the world.
The last story is the real meat of the volume, with fleshed-out characters, a fantastic grandma (love those) and asks the recurring question of what is important in life.

A great manga for people who like slice-of-life tales - think Ghibli's Ocean Wave.

A very particular story,
it deals with very important themes even if unfortunately it cannot examine them particularly well, being a single volume.

It's certainly nice to read.

The characters were amazing. The plotline was well paced and executed so well that I was hooked from the starting till the end of the book.
The illustrations were so beautiful that added more pleasure to my reading experience.

This was a short and sweet story about being there for friends with a little mermaid magic sprinkled in. I enjoyed getting a glimpse into these characters and their personalities and I liked the subtlety of one of the character’s internal struggle. As a reader I felt like I knew exactly what the author was telling me in between the lines even though the characters didn’t. It felt like I had a secret with them. I would recommend Mermaid Prince to anyone that likes short story manga.

Rating: 4.44 leaves out of 5
-Characters: 4.75/5
-Stories: 3/5
-Writing: 5/5
Genre: Fantasy
-Fantasy: 5/5
Type: Manga
Worth?: Yes

Want to thank Netgalley and publishers for giving me the chance to read this book.

I did not expect the first story to be the way it did but it was nice. I honestly wish there was more of it. Won't lie, gave me Wolf Children vibes. Didn't like that. Broke my heart a bit.

The second story wasn't too bad. I like the story and the concept of the mermaid.

The ending was touching though.

All in all I don't much care for multiple short stories in one book, but this was only two so I didn't feel like I was just jumping all over the place.