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.

**ARC provided by NetGalley for honest review**

Mermaid Prince by Kaori Ozaki is a manga collection of three short stories: a young girl's rocky coming-of-age story, a one-shot about a librarian's snowy day, and a pair of childhood friends' encounter with a mermaid myth. I was a little confused before I realized they were separate stories, but it was fine once I figured that out. I didn't care for the first story at all, but the next two were enjoyable, and the art was great. Most trigger warnings are only in the first story. Recommended if you're a fan of the mangaka, otherwise just read the last two stories.

Title: Mermaid Prince
Author: Kaori Ozaki
Publisher: Kodansha Comics
Published: June 25, 2024
Age: 16+
Themes: sex, grief, loss, loneliness
Short stories: Mermaid Prince, Ametsukigahara, One Snowy Day

This manga collection features three emotional short stories by Kaori Ozaki, author of The Gods Lie and Our Summer Holiday, exploring themes like loneliness, growing apart, depression, but also the beauty of silence, kindness and friendship.

Ametsukigahara is a moving story about a girl named Akari Umino whose life changes as she drifts apart from her best friend. It is a sad, captivating and ruminant tale which addresses the troubles and emotional turbulence of growing up. This one actually touched me the most and I was impressed by how slow, thoughtful and quiet the story felt. The panels convey powerful emotions and I was captivated by the beauty and blissfulness of the landscapes.

One Snowy Day is a tale about a librarian who shows kindness to two strangers while others dismiss them. As a homeless father and his young child sit in the library for hours while a white out covers the city in snow, she doesn’t shoo them away and instead picks up a children’s book and reads it to the kid. The story is about empathy and silence and that practising both can enrich our lives and fill us with joy. I loved the setting (who would have thought!), the character art and the stunning backdrops of a snowfall at night.

In Mermaid Prince we follow Mugi, a young boy who has to adjust to the island life of Okinawa after moving there from Tokyo. Living with his older sister and her husband, who is an avid apnea diver, Mugi, who suffers from asthma and has fair skin, feels like the fifth wheel and wonders if there is room for him in a place like this. To Matori however, he is a prince and together they risk their lives in search of a legendary mermaid who grants a wish to those who are brave enough to defy death in order to seek her aid.

I was very touched and entranced by all of the three stories. The stunning artwork is mesmerising and I can recommend this collection to anyone who likes emotional tales with a touch of magic. The tales definitely left me pondering and are beautifully melancholic and profound, giving you food for thought. I give this collection five out of five stars and will definitely pick up more works from the author.

Rating
Overall rating: 5/5
Story: 5/5
Art: 5/5

*Beware that this manga deals with heavy themes like death, depression. Sexual encounters between the characters are depicted, but the portrayal is mild and not explicit or disturbing.

The Mermaid Prince is a quick nice read. However, I did not expect it to have more than one story in it,, this was not clear from the description. The stories also did not feel like they kind of had the same topic - it was unknown to me why these stories got chosen to be in a volume together.

As for the first story: I think it had so much more potential. I was liking the struggles the MC was going through at first, but then it suddenly ended in sex? Which added basically nothing to the story. After this the story suddenly ended. We missed the rest of her character development and boom suddenly she was grown up and happy(?) again.
This second story was quite a cute story - but again an abrupt ending. The story felt incomplete and I was not sure what the message/storyline was.

The last story I liked quite a lot. It was cute, a bit romancey and had some adventure in it. I thought the mermaid art to be really cool too. It felt a bit short, but I liked reading it and I liked the MCs.

I "dived" (pun intended) into this book not knowing it included more than one story and I was very surprised when it started with another work about a quirky girl and her highschool friends. That one story was kinda weird just like its main character. It felt realistic and yet quite random at times and the open ending was too abrupt. On another hand, the second unexpected story was fantastical and so beautiful, it had an unusual and melancholic feel to it.

And third but not last, the 3 chapter-story Mermaid Prince wasn't what I wanted, it was more like a magical realism work but it was a slice of the characters' life that I enjoyed. Overall, it's a good book to read if you want to relax. I think mystery is the thing that ties all the three works. My favorite was the second.

This is a collection of three beautifully drawn stories that are just really really good and full of feeling. I love the writing of the stories, but I especially love the little, quiet visual moments and scenery. All three of them are sort of dream-like, and I think about finding yourself and your place in the world.

Ametsukigahara is about a teenage girl navigating life and identity, struggling with questions such as what she wants to be, what to do when you grow apart from your friends, when you're not sure who you are at the core, and also when creeps on the train want to keep grabbing you.

One Snowy Day is about a librarian, as well as a father and a son who take refuge in the library on a snowy day. It is adorable and very heartfelt and also kind of sad. I would have loved for it to be longer.

And finally, Mermaid Prince is about a teenage boy looking for his place in the world after being moved away to an island, being bullied, and living with his only sister and his new brother-in-law. Does he still have a place in his sister's new family? And if not, then where does that leave him? There's also mermaids, but they're more of a background for the emotions and way-searching.

Erratic and disorganized. I couldn't understand what was happening and what the stories had to do with each other. DNF at 50%.

I received this book from Netgalley/the publisher in exchange of an honest review.

Gorgeous art, I really enjoyed that and the characters designs. But I hadn't expected this to be more than one story. I had expected the Mermaid Prince, and instead got two weird/disjointed short stories that I wasn't too happy to read (one barely left an impression as I, 3 days after reading, have to really try hard to remember it, and the other was about a library, two people who are homeless and then suddenly boars??). The Mermaid Prince, when it came around, well, I just couldn't enjoy it that much. Not to mention it felt very disjointed at times and I wished it just focussed on either the guy or the girl, not both of them. I did like the mermaid bits and parts and the wishes.

I loved this book, especially the first part, which shows the characters' interactions with each other and how things change over the years.The characters are intense and have strong personalities, but this makes them strange and intriguing. I really loved the first chapters!!
The second story has a more linear narrative and is also intense in its way, dealing with two main characters about whom we discover things as the pages go by. But both are resilient and determined, which keeps the reader glued to the page.
The drawings are beautiful, perfectly fitting the story that mixes reality with a bit of magic.
I read the book in one sitting, and I'm ready to read it again. It really was a wonderful book. I loved it.

So this manga is technically split into two stories. The first one is a vague collection of semi-connected short stories with no concrete plot line called "Ametsukigahara". I was very baffled by chapters 1 and 2 of that short story. It's very vague and weirdly sexual. Sorry, but I really don't like to read about high schoolers having [a spice scene]. Chapter 3 was technically connected to the first two, but it did not feel like it. The third chapter was honestly really cute and has the potential to be expanded into something bigger. It had some hints of "Ôkami kodomo no Ame to Yuki" energy. The second half of the manga, which is "Mermaid Prince", was a short but sweet short story. This is another one that very easily could have been expanded on and made into something more. But it works as a short story and honestly is a great completed circle of a story. However, the way this manga is set up is baffling. Why is it marketed as if there's only the Mermaid Prince story when it's actually two different stories in one manga? Going into this manga and only expecting to be reading Mermaid Prince and then getting whammied by Ametsukigahara is very disconcerting as the two stories have very different tones. Maybe, switch it so Ametsukigahara is after Mermaid Prince. But yeah, this is marketed and formatted very strangely. If there had been a third short story, and this was marketed as an anthology, I think it would have flowed better.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

My gratitude to ever-generous Kodansha Comics for providing me copy in exchange for an honest review.

I fell in love with this entertaining compilation of short stories! Started off a little aggressive with a feisty character trying to find the meaning of her life, to a sprinkle of fantasy with a librarian who encountered a boar-turned-human father and child seeking shelter from the blizzard (lol, I was wanting a little more interaction with the father and the librarian l. I love that dynamics! It’s definitely giving Wolf Children parents—and we all know we needed a little more domesticity with that tragic love story as well!), ending the note with a cute friendship story albeit unrequited or so so. It’s perfect! But I need more.

*Mermaid Prince* by Kaori Ozaki is a beautifully illustrated manga that offers a mix of fantasy, friendship, and emotional depth. The main story follows Mugi, a boy struggling to find his place in Okinawa, as he explores local legends with his friend Matori. The narrative touches on themes of loneliness and belonging, though at times it feels rushed and lacks deeper development. The two additional short stories, “Ametsukigahara” and “One Snowy Day,” offer poignant moments but don't fully connect with the main tale. While the artwork is stunning and the themes are touching, the stories feel somewhat incomplete.

Absolutely stunning art. Five stars for that alone. But unfortunately, the story didn't have much of a connection or emotional impact for me. It also felt a bit confusing with the random couple short stories at the beginning that had nothing to do with the main story.