Spirit of the Ocean

Spirit of the Ocean is a interesting manhua for shoujo readers that want something different from the typical school manga. How about a female lead who is a pirate with a historical setting? This will appeal to readers who like a stronger, spunkier female lead. Haier is raised in a pirate community and is the daughter of the ruling pirate. She loves the ocean and has skills in fighting. Haier leads a pirate ship and attacks a Spanish ship and meets Michael an Englishman. Then, she falls in love with Shao, the man who is commissionedto destroy all the pirates, so there is a strong element of star crossed lovers to this manhua, or lovers being on two different sides in a war. Michael is involved with the pirates and makes deals with them but his motives are mysterious. As an action adventure story first, the romance takes a back stage to the plot. The art looks older and somehow it seems like it is an older style. There is period costuming as well since this is set during the time period of the Ming Dynasty. Haier acts for the Ning Citadel where the pirates live but she also has a lot more freedom than other girls of that period would have had, so it’s pretty exciting to see how she will get out of situations, without being too over the top the way some shounen action adventures can be. For readers who are unfamiliar with manhua, this is a manhua from Taiwan, it does have a different tone and look than either manga or manhwa, but often they do have historical themes which are very interesting. I’ve read others by this same writer, Yi, Huan, and have enjoyed them, which is why I started this one. She wrote Scarlet Palace and Devine Melody. I like the female lead and I’m waiting to see what happens with the plot and the star-crossed pair myself. I rate it an 8 overall. Reviewed by inzartha for reviews for the unreviewed.