Hoshifuru Oukoku no Nina (Nina the Starry Bride)

Five years ago, a plague wiped out a great part of the land of Fortna's population. Nina, a girl with unique, deep-blue eyes, counts her parents among the casualties of the pandemic. In order to survive, she teams up with a pair of fellow orphans and begins to steal from the wealthy. Unfortunately, Nina's life is struck by tragedy again as she finds herself being abducted by a group of mysterious men.

Her main captor turns out to be none other than Azure Seth Fortna, the second-born prince of the royal family. His half-sister Alisha—a reclusive priestess-princess—perished in an accident before she was to be married off to the crown prince of the neighboring kingdom of Galgada. Although Nina does not resemble the late princess in the slightest, they do share one characteristic: their one-of-a-kind eye color. With the intention of preventing a war between the two kingdoms, Azure plans to use Nina under the false pretense that she is the real Alisha.

With nothing else to lose, Nina reluctantly accepts the prince's proposition to replace his late sister. Pretending to be royalty is not an easy feat, but Azure aids Nina until her departure. The fate of two nations rests on Nina's shoulders—and she will make sure the stars are on her side.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Hoshifuru Oukoku no Nina won the 46th Kodansha Manga Award in the shoujo category in 2022.

The series has been digitally published in English as Nina the Starry Bride by Kodansha USA since April 13, 2021, and in print since October 24, 2023. The series has also been simulpub through K Manga. It has also been published in French by Michel Lafon since January 20, 2022, and in German by Altraverse since April 16, 2021, and in Spanish by Arechi since November 24, 2022.

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Sett

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Nina

Main

Fortna, Azure Seth

Main

Daitus

Supporting

King of Fortna

Supporting

Queen of Fortna

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Lord Borg

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Saji

Supporting

Tout

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Yor

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Reviews

Apr 15, 2022

bufi_

Recommended

Preliminary (20/? eps)

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 ...

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Sep 21, 2024

anafantasia

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (52/? eps)

Spoiler

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 ...

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Jun 8, 2022

tayybo

Not Recommended

Preliminary (5/? eps)

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.

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