MeruPuri, Vol. 3 (MeruPuri, #3)

by Matsuri Hino

Matsuri Hino (Illustrator)

All high school freshman Airi Hoshina ever wanted was to someday live in a cozy home with a loving husband, and find joy in the little things in life. As a result, she makes it her daily mission to get to school on time because school legend has it that the longer one's non-tardy streak is, the better boyfriend one will find. But just when her daily routine is working like clockwork, an occurrence of fairytale proportions threatens to disrupt her grand plan.

While on a seaside field trip, the little boy Aram and Airi find themselves in the middle of a blackout at a public bath. Frazzled to no end, Airi drags Aram inside a closet, but someone walks in on them. Will Aram’s secret be blown so soon? Meanwhile, Aram’s former fiancée Mariabel shows up at school. What evil schemes does she have in store for Aram and Airi?

• ISBN10: 1421502216
• ISBN13: 9781421502212
• Publish Date: 3 January 2006
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Viz Media, Subs. of Shogakukan Inc
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 192
• Language: English

Reviews

[inlibrisveritas]

I went into this series because I wanted something with a short run and to see if there was a chance that I could find another romance manga that I like. Well…it did turn out to be a short series at only 4 volumes, but I can’t say it really ever had any chance of being something I would enjoy.

Let’s start with the positive. The art is fantastic and everything is really pretty, and on that point I enjoyed it.

Now on to the rest of the review. This is kind of all over the place in the last two volumes and the writing really becomes somewhat poor and rushed. The last volume jumped through some time skips, though I don’t think they were marked as time skips (except one section) so I was slightly confused. But the main thing that I hated was the relationship between Aram and Airi, which is the whole point of the story. Aram at the start of this series is a young kid, who acts exactly like an 8 or 9-year-old. This is the character we are given to start this romance off with. Airi is in high school. See the problem? This is supposed to be okay because due to some magic curse he turns into a 17-year-old and doesn’t turn back until Airi kisses him. Now if he were a 17-year old that randomly de-aged this would be less problematic (though still weird to be honest), but it’s not. We have a 7-year-old in a 17-year-old body, the mental age isn’t there and somehow I’m supposed to be okay with the relationship. I’m not. It’s creepy. Sure they have some really cute moments together when he’s older looking, but it’s just odd knowing he’s not that old. We do get a band-aid moment where they explain at the end of the series that the royal family ages differently and that he grows up quicker…or at least I think that’s what they were trying to explain. I still don’t care.

So, in short, I kind of hated every moment of this but I finished it. It was only 4 volumes long and I didn’t pay for them so it didn’t take much out of me. I just don’t see how this is so highly rated and feel a little betrayed by everyone who said it was a cute romance. It’s visually cute sure, but the entirety of the romance is creepy and I’m so confused as to why no one else is creeped too.