To save her kingdom of Tyr, Freya, a simple village girl, must take Prince Edvard’s place and lead a royal lie in Prince Freya.
Disclaimer: Otome Obsessed was provided a copy of this manga by the publisher. Prince Freya will be released on April 7, 2020.
Freya thinks of herself as a simple village girl, but her idyllic life is shattered when she is caught up in the aftermath of a treacherous Sigurdian plot. She bears a striking resemblance to her country’s beloved Prince Edvard, who lays dying from poison. Without its ruler, all of Tyr will quickly be engulfed by Sigurdian violence. Now Freya must take Prince Edvard’s place and lead his valiant knights in defending the realm!
Prince Freya, first released in 2017, is a manga by Keiko Ishihara that currently has four volumes out in Japan. While it has all the tropes you expect, it also has some terrible surprises.
Freya is a crybaby and even she acknowledges it, which is a far from the wild, strong personality of Prince Edvard. It can be rather annoying at times, but you have to remind yourself of her circumstance. Freya has been taken from her quiet, village life and been placed in a dangerous situation that she is nowhere near being emotion or physically prepared for.
The story also give off strong vibes of I feel like I can trust no one while reading it. The only ones that I do trust are her childhood friends, Aaron, Prince Edvard’s Black Knight who is likable in every way, and Aleksi, who is tsundere is every way. Everyone else, I don’t feel I can trust them as far as I could throw them even Edvard’s White Knight, Julius, one of two people, outside of Freya’s childhood friends who knows who she really is.
The art is beautiful. Even scenes of fighting and light gore ear drawing wonderfully. Even though Freya and Edvard are splitting images of one another, the artist makes sure that, when Freya is playing the part, she holds herself differently. Freya is able to play the part so well, I wonder what more secrets are left to reveal.
While I look forward to seeing where the story goes, I do have a few issues with passage of time, scene transition and scale. The story has a few instances where fast travel happens because scene transition is done poorly. There is also a moment where Freya is high on the edge of a tower, see something happening below and then jumps from that tower to the ground. The scale makes it look like the tower is really high up, and, on top of that, Freya has been a village girl all her life, not training in any sense of the word. So, even thinking she could make even a short leap is unbelievable. But, I will acknowledge that I am reading a fantasy story, so the laws of physics may not apply.
If you are looking for something fluffy and fun, you won’t really find it here. Prince Freya is brutal at times with moments of calm. The story is very dramatic; there are twists you won’t see coming and characters willing to do whatever to keep their kingdoms from falling apart. I look forward to seeing Freya grow and what she must do in order to keep her head on her shoulders.
Breakdown
- Drama-filled story with twists one does not expect.
- A MC crushed by the terrible position she is in who can only grow.
- Beautiful artwork even in the most terrible scenes.
- Some issues with fast travelling, scene transitioning, and scale.
Rating: 3.75/5
Final Comments: It is difficult to talk about this manga because of major plot points that happen early on. If you are interested in this series, I suggest not looking up anything about it.
Publisher: VIZ
Publication date: April 7, 2020
Format: Paperback
Price: $9.99
Website: https://www.viz.com/prince-freya
Where to buy: https://www.viz.com/read/manga/prince-freya-volume-1/product/6221
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