Hoshifuru Oukoku no Nina
Nina the Starry Bride

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note: spoiler-free review

“Nina the Starry Bride” is a hidden gem that I stumbled upon almost by mistake; and what a fortunate mistake it was! It is one of the best josei/shoujo fantasy manga I have ever come across. It does seem criminally underrated, though; so here I am with a review, to make it justice!


STORY - 10

Nina is a girl that lives with her family, like any other girl her age. Well, except for the fact that her “family” consists only of two poor children, which she calls her “brothers”. Their sole chance to survive is to steal— be it jewelry ... or other valuables from rich people. Even so, their lives are quite enjoyable, and they are actually having fun, all because they are together. And when you are together with the people you love, you are happy, right?

Well, yes, that's true. However, one day, the little brother gets sick. Life may have been hard until this point, but now it was hard and painful. After all, they could do nothing to help the boy. At least, until the older brother found a solution to get the money he needed for the medicine: to sell Nina to the slave traders. Luckily for her, though, instead of being sold into slavery, she becomes the replacement of the recently-deceased princess of the kingdom, as to cover the mistake of those who failed to save her.

It is a great story, always managing to somehow keep you on your toes. As much as I want to tell you even more about it, this is supposed to be a spoiler-free review; so I'll hold back. What I can say, though, is that it won't disappoint; and be ready for some pure, strong, real romance.


ART - 9

The art is amazing, it is such a good fit for the style and atmosphere of the story. It is rather lovely and adds a lot to the charm of the manga. The covers, especially, looked very nice, they had starry, fantasy-like ornaments, and the beginning of the chapters had those as well.


CHARACTERS - 9


Great characters, they are surprisingly complex and feel real. I could probably meet some people with a number of their traits in real life. Also, the chemistry between the main characters is off the charts, really. I don't even know them personally (and it is not like I could ever do that), but I can see how strong their bond is, even if all I know is from some chapters of a book.

The protagonist, Nina, has a very strong, unpolished personality; at the beginning, she is a stubborn brat and remains that way. Make no mistake, though, it is quite the positive trait in her case; for she is unafraid and ready to do anything for the people she loves. Nina grows a lot as a person and as a princess, and we love to see it! She is honestly such a nice character, a very caring and strong girl; and I admire her devotion.

Also, she reminds me of Yona from Yona of the Dawn.


ENJOYMENT/OVERALL


Nina the Starry Bride was definitely one of my most fun, thrilling reads in the past few months. I was actually really surprised myself by how much fun I had while reading it. I strongly recommend it. 20/10 for enjoyment

Warning, this review contains spoilers for chapter 52 > I have to say that I liked it a lot, but I have a few reservations

I need to comment a little on the story first. I really liked the universe created by the writer, the idea of a world based on stars is very interesting.
About the development of the story - 8/10
The story has a nice flow to it, everything happens at the right time and generates a lot of suspense. I couldn't resist and read all the chapters in a single day :p

About the character Nina 5/10
Nina is an unpredictable girl. At times she's ... quite spoiled, at others she's very mature. This divergence is very strong, which means that she doesn't have a personality of her own, but is shaped by the setting, which makes her a little lost in her own thoughts. Indecision, conflict and irritability best define her, but there are moments of cuteness and compassion (but these don't have a great impact precisely because of the girl's lack of a clear personality).

About the romance -1/10
Yes, I'm giving this a very low score.
The reason is, the girl has no personality, and plays with other people's feelings for her own sake, justifying herself as if she were right about it. I understand the whole situation she's been through, but what she did to Sett was horrible.
Nevertheless, I honestly hoped for a Nina and Sett romance. But when Azule came back, she seemed to have forgotten everything she felt for Sett.
And now comes an interesting point, Azule seems to be the main one who will marry Nina in the next volumes (or at least everything is moving towards that) but what he did to her is inhuman. Abandoning her to follow Alisha's advice, leaving the one he loves (or thought he loved) was depressing. I remember that in the opening chapters, Azule notices the girl's blue eyes. Lacking confidence in Nina, he prefers to follow his own beliefs. A relationship without trust is enmity, I didn't like this couple at all.

I felt that, even though it was left out, the Nina and Sett story caused more emotion. The mark that Nina has because of the boy, all their conversations together and the fact that one NEVER shakes the other, no matter the context, is what I really see as LOVE. Sett had a great development, he shows affection in his own way, his personality hasn't been changed, only improved. I hope (without much hope) that the story turns around for both of them.

I found Nina the Starry Bride to be really hard to pin down. I made it through five chapters before I gave up. While that may seem too early to decide to drop a series, there were a few things that really fell short for me.

Story: 6

Concept wise, Nina the Starry Bride is right up my alley. It has all of the elements of a good fantasy story. I am a big fan of fake identity stories and strong female leads. The first chapter did a good job of setting all of these aspects up. However, halfway through the first chapter, the pacing loses its ... impact. The 'found family' set up is dismantled far too quickly. Saji and Colin, Nina's companions for the last however many years, are completely disregarded. When one of them dies, it becomes a turning point for the story. Or, it's supposed to. The death is steam rolled over, and never mentioned again. Instead, it is a catalyst for Nina meeting "gold-eyes" (don't even get me started on that nickname). The events of the first chapter feel pointless and lackluster. It stuck out to me as being lazy writing, and I was disappointed in the buildup. It really turned me off to the rest of the story and characters for the remainder of what I read.

Art: 8

Even though the opening of this story didn't do it for me, I can appreciate the art. The covers for this series are stunning. From what I read, colors are an important part of the story. Character design alone could make this manga stand out to anyone. All the more reason to be disappointed in the experience of the story. For the art alone, I would consider picking this up again sometime. Maybe.

Character: 5

I was deeply disappointed in Nina from chapter 1. In the chapters I read, the sense of time and her personal growth were difficult to pinpoint. That's more of a story/timeline issue than character, but it still impacted how I read her character. Some of the time, she was courageous and honest. Other times, I struggled to sympathize with her and her goofiness (that's the only word that comes to mind). There wasn't much set up for Azure, so I don't particularly feel much for him either. For the most part, I found the characters to be lacking in consistency and depth.

Enjoyment: 6

Because this manga aligns with so many genres and tropes that I typically enjoy, I do have to rank my enjoyment a 6. The art made this score a point or two higher.

Overall: 4

I had high hopes going into this series from hearing so many praises and recommendations on various platforms. I hoped that it would scratch the itch I've had for good fantasy series like Yona, but it did not meet my expectations. I can understand why so many are drawn into the art and the concept, but this was not what I had hoped it would be.