Princess Jellyfish, Vol. 1

Princess Jellyfish, Vol. 1 by Akiko Higashimura
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For the first few chapters, I wasn't sure I was going to read past this first volume of manga, but eventually the characters grew on me. I'm a sucker for a transformation story, especially for girls who are somehow socially awkward. Add in the fact that the one doing the makeovers is a cross-dressing rich boy who is starting to have feelings for one of the girls, and I have to keep reading.

There's actually a lot of stuff going on here relationally. Tsukimi is still dealing with losing her mother as a child, and her obsession with jellyfish seems somehow to be rooted in the fact that she doesn't feel she grew up to be a beautiful princess, as her mom predicted.

Kuranosuke's family has a lot of issues, too. His mother is out of his life, and he's been trying to find her. His cross-dressing seems to be related both to her disappearance and his own love of fashion, which she perhaps inspired. Suke says he does it so he won't have to go into politics, but I think he also likes provoking his father, and perhaps punishing him in a way.

Suke's brother, Shu, also has some issues with women, but his seem to stem from the fact that he caught his father in the act of cheating on his mother with Suke's mother, and has been unable to touch a woman romantically. The most horrifying moment of this manga so far is Evil Inari drugging Shu's drink, staging things in her apartment so it looked like they'd had sex, and then forcibly kissing him multiple times without consent. He's clearly traumatized, and when Suke sees him after, he says he looks like a woman who has been attacked. I'm not sure what it means that he rushed off to hold Tsukimi's hand and gage his reaction, but I'm really hoping he gets fired up and takes down Inari and her development company for their assault.

Even with all the other stuff going on, I have to say my favorite part is this budding love triangle. Although in general I hate the whole makeover trope of "take off the girl's glasses and suddenly she's beautiful," this seems to be enough of a variant that I can kind of believe it. If you change someone's hair, makeup, and clothes, they really can project a different image to the world. Plus, add in the fact that when Tsukimi can't see people, she isn't afraid to talk to them, especially about her faborite jellyfish, and she would totally seem like a different person. I appreciated that later on, when she was wearing her glasses but still had on her fancy clothes and makeup, she still looked beautiful. Shu obviously fell for Tsukimi at first sight, and she has started to like him as well. Suke is shocked when he starts getting jealous and thinking how cute Tsukimi is, and I am here for it!

What started with me figuring I'd just finish this volume off so I could add it to my list has turned in to me planning how soon I can get the next volume from the library. Oh, makeover love triangle stories, how I love thee! 😅

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