The Captivity Princess of Blue Sea

The art is good (nothing amazing, just good). Everything else is... meh. It's a very short story so it's somewhat expected. 11 chapters and 1 side story doesn't really provide enough time to flesh out the characters and their development. Honestly, this story would be a lot better if it was longer or if the content was cut in half. As is, there's so much packed into the story that it destroys the pacing and the characters. For example, the female lead's character growth was very slow until the last 1-2 chapters where it went from zero to 60 real fast. As a reader, Ienjoyed seeing her grow but it happened too quickly (and largely off screen). It made the ending feel forced and unnatural. The male lead's character growth had a similar problem with the pacing. Again, its only 11 chapters, but it could have been better. The side characters (particularly the pirate crew) had a significant amount of screen time that could have been better used elsewhere. Don't misunderstand, they were great characters and would have been great additions in a longer manga, but in this tiny story, they're just extra baggage.

Do you like pirate stories? Then find yourself another manga, because this one hardly touches the subject. But give a chance to Aoki Umi no Toraware Hime. You could still appreciate it, as this manga is very pleasant to read. It tells the story of a princess, Matsurika, who's kidnapped by a pirate named Raju to be sacrificed on a divine altar. There are various misadventures and altercations with other characters, including the heroines suspicious fiance . Also, there's obviously a romance between the princess and the pirate. It's a shoujo, after all. There are also a good number of plot twists, some more obvious thanothers. The scenario may seem somewhat basic at first. However, it quickly becomes more exciting when you discover his unique universe, and that from the first pages. The chara-design is very pretty, whether it's about male or female characters. Each character has an appearance that is unique to them, so they are all different and easily discernible. Their clothes are also very aesthetic, especially Matsurika princess outfits. As for Raju, he has the typical chara-design of a pirate with his eye patch. But this is not a problem in this universe that purposely looks like a fairy tale. But if I must also quibble, I will say that there may be a little too much white backgrounds and not enough real decors. In addition to their chara-design, the characters may seem a little cliche: the princess who is constantly the damsel in distress, the rude but mysterious pirate, the rich fiancé who turns out to be a bastard ... Also, some websites include this manga in the harem genre: don't listen to them. Despite the fact that the protagonist is surrounded by several male characters, her interactions other than with the main guy are limited, and there is no trace of romance with the other boys. The secondary characters are also relatively undeveloped. They are only there to bring some lines of dialogue into the romance between Matsurika and Raju. For example, the tattooed boy has almost no importance throughout the story. It's only at the end that he does something rather important, but it's brought suddenly and without any preparation. What he does is quickly swept away and his past is only evoked for only one case. This is also the case for the other members of the crew: their past is almost unknown and their dialogues are limited. It's a shame, because they're endearing characters: they deserved to be more present. Another negative point is that the end seemed somewhat brutal. In addition, there are still outstanding issues, such as the images that Matsurika saw at the altar. It's easy to find the answer, but a real conclusion would have been more than welcome. The link between Raju and the knights is also vaguely evoked, while it should have been better developed. How? Why? There are too many unanswered questions. A few more chapters could have fixed that. If I had to rate Aoki Umi no Toraware Hime only according to the enjoyment I had while reading it, I will give it at least 8. Because I really appreciate it, whether for its interesting characters or its captivating universe. But all his little flaws force me to lower its note. This is nonetheless a very good manga with a very interesting setting. With its fairy-tale like Pirates of the Caribbean tunes, I'm sure that a movie adaptation, animated or with real actors, would suit it very well. 07/10 for this manga that deserves much more.

I gave this a 5 but the overall score here is a 4 (because thank you for having an extra differentiation between mediocre and decent, thought they could be switched maybe). The story I remember reading when it first came out. The art really drew me in then and I completely ignored the damsel in distress stuff. I only recently reread the entire series and I can say the story was ultimately pretty blah. The original mcguffin is largely tossed aside and forgotten entirely. The world-building was alright at first, but then it got tossed aside for a lame and undeveloped love story and useless maincharacter. This could be to the taste of other's, but for me this was utterly wasteful of what could have been a much better story with a more active female character. As I stated before, the art impressed me. After rereading it, it seems just average or good to me now. It still has a nice charm to it, save some moments when poses are utterly awkward. There are some action scenes that are poorly drawn, much like a majority of these scenes in shoujo... Like the story, character development was choppy and half-baked. Some enmity will be introduced and then either solved in a half-assed, unexplained way, or just forgotten entirely. The romantic feelings come from out of nowhere given the sad situation, and they are only stuffed down your throat further as the story goes on. Overall, I enjoyed it a lot less than I would have hoped. I'm not sure if there were constraints or something, but the story had a lot of potential to me and it was all squandered on a rushed love story.