Marsh's manga / #smut(121)

A lot of it felt kind of slapped together, especially the implementation of Tama, the worst offender is everything regarding Bram's abilities- everything came out of nowhere and he felt like a personified macguffin.

Phenomenal art, interesting and captivating characters, incredible flow to the plot, a bit silly at times but it's well-balanced by the more serious and heavy moments. Definitely one I'd read multiple times.

The world around them moves faster than the characters, I'm on chapter 31 and so far the characters have developed so little that it's not a very fun or interesting read. . It was a slug to push through, but by chapter 40 it started to get a bit more interesting and had me more willing to keep reading after finishing a chapter. Though it did start getting ridiculous again soon after, and by the time I got to chapter 62 the characters feel almost like they've gone backwards with any progress they might have had; being all melodramatic and shit. . The climax was a bold choice, though executed in a rushed and messy way, kind of like a tornado. And the final results of it just make it more confusing, with the merman having sacrificed himself (somehow saving the human) we see the pearls and everything, the human commits to a life of solitude near where the mermaid vanished, but then he shows up for a single panel as a full mermaid and credits roll. If the side stories aren't good, this is being dropped back to 2 stars because I'm conflicted on whether to keep it at 3 or put it back to 2.

This was incredible. Beautiful art, as per usual with this author, and a story with a wonderful constant, underlying bittersweet feel to it. We learn a lot about the characters, and their interactions feel natural and organic, the realistic feeling peek into the world of sex work was refreshing and entertaining. The ending was phenomenal however, with all but one member of the cast moving on with their lives, and then later they reunite and we can see how that final person's perspective had been changed due to their unwillingness to move on, allowing them to start a new life though it will never be quite the same. Bittersweet is a perfect word to describe this story; nothing is too gritty and nothing is ignored for the sake of positivity, we as the audience can see both the good and the ugly sides of these characters and their lives and behaviours they exhibit, how they affect the world around them and in turn are affected by the world. I can see myself coming back to read this one again.