Review: Bride of the Barrier Master vol. 1 manga
Bride of the Barrier Master Vol. 1by Kureha, Odayaka, Bodax
Series: Bride of the Barrier Master (manga) #1
Publisher: Yen Press
Publication Date: January 23, 2024
Genres: Fantasy, Graphic Novel, Romance
Pages: 180
Source: Edelweiss
I received this book for free from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
My rating:
Eighteen-year-old Hana, born to a branch family of a clan of guardians, has always been stuck in the shadow of her more capable, beautiful, and popular twin sister. When a strong power awakens within Hana, she chooses to hide it so she can continue living a quiet life out of the spotlight. But that ideal lifestyle begins to slip out of reach when Saku Ichinomiya takes over as the new head of the Ichinomiya clan and sets out to find a bride strong enough to stand by his side!
As a huge fan of the Bride of the Barrier Master light novels, I had to check out this manga. Would my mental picture of the characters match with artists’? And how would Hana’s unique POV translate into images?
It’s been years since Hana gave up on getting treated the same as her twin sister Hazuki. They were born into a branch family of one of the five clans of practitioners, charged with protecting the unknowing rest of the nation from shades. Everything was fine until their tenth birthday when the children had to summon their shikigami, a form of protection spirit. But while Hazuki summoned a human-form shikigami (the highest type), Hana only summoned a butterfly (the lowest). After that, their parents devoted all of their time and attention to Hazuki, verbally denigrating Hana as nothing but her sister’s scraps. So when her powers suddenly grow a few years later, she doesn’t even consider telling her parents. Instead, she’s happy to coast along as near-powerless practitioner with little expected of her. That all changes when the new head of their clan, Saku, catches her – and her powerful shikigami – in action.
First off, while the manga is a faithful adaptation of the first half of the light novel, it’s still a completely different animal from it. One of the things I love is Hana’s, well, unique take on things. If you’re familiar with Maomao from Apothecary Diaries, you’ll know what I mean. All she wants is a quiet life in the country with her shikigami. While that’s communicated here, I think a lot of her quirkiness and general lackadaisical attitude are lost. But, overall, I do get a ridiculous amount of joy out of stories where the main character is secretly hiding their powers – but then gets to reveal in some grandiose and usually life-saving way to the people that have sneered at them.
There’s a tiny bit of romance. It’s a contract marriage, after all, but there’s definitely hints that Saku is interested in Hana. Hana, on the other hand, is just interested in getting her country house! The relationship that shines the most, however, is that between Hana and Hazuki. Like her parents, Hana’s mostly estranged from her, though it’s more because Hazuki is so busy trying to be the perfect daughter.
The black and white art is gorgeous and Hana especially looked exactly what I imagined her as. All of the characters are well defined and expressive. I was especially thrilled by her shikigami Miyabi and Aoi. The action scenes were well done and easy to understand, though there weren’t that many in this early part of the story.
Overall, while I like the light novel better, this is still a good manga in its own right. Recommended for fans of strong heroines!
Content notes: View Spoiler »
