The Priestess
Creative Staff
Story: Rei Toma
Art: Rei Toma
Translation: Abby Lehrke
What they say
In the blink of an eye, a modern-day girl named Asahi is whisked away from her warm and happy home and stranded in a strange and mysterious world where she meets a water dragon god!
Unable to return home, Asahi grows into a lovely young woman. As a priestess, she must spend time with the water dragon god for a ritual every year, but because of her connection to the water dragon god’s power, someone kidnaps her! Will Asahi be able to escape unscathed?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Now adults, Asahi and Subaru seem to have become much closer in The Water Dragon’s Bride Volume 3. The beginning of this volume begins with the two sitting together by a stream. Asahi seems to have taken up cooking. We learn when Tsukihiko, her caretaker, arrives that she has been creating different types of food, many of which apparently end in failure, though it seems what she made this time was actually good. Subaru loved it, if nothing else.
Time skips are always difficult to do. There is so much that changes between now and then. Properly showcasing these changes are always difficult. I think Rei Toma did a decent job, but there are some things, like Asahi’s desire to cook, that seem a bit out of place. She never had much inclination to cook when she was younger, though she did talk about her mom’s cooking once or twice.
The relationship between Asahi and Subaru is probably the shining light in this manga for me. It certainly isn’t the relationship between Asahi and the water dragon. We learn through flashbacks that ever year, Asahi performs a ritual to bless the village, and every year, Asahi is taken to the water dragon’s domain, where she spends three days. It seems the first times this happened, all they did was stare at each other, but something is definitely changing between them.
Just like I had thought, Rei Toma is trying to humanize the water dragon, make him seem more relatable. You can see in how he acts that he’s fairly ignorant about humans. I think this ignorance is similar to a child who doesn’t know anything. In doing this, she attempts to create a sympathetic character out of the water dragon, but unfortunately, my hatred for him is fairly cemented. Thanks to how he treated Asahi for the first two volumes, I don’t think I will ever like him.
Asahi is getting ready to perform the ritual again. However, while she is purifying herself in the lake, several armed men arrive, kill her guards, and kidnap her. This new plot twist reveals that there are several other villages. Many of these villages have heard about Asahi and how she has the water dragon’s favor, and they want her powers for themselves. Kogahiko is the one who has kidnapped her. I’m not sure if he’ll play the role of the antagonist in future volumes, but he definitely doesn’t strike me as a good person.
Fortunately for Asahi, Subaru has learned that she’s been kidnapped and is going to save her. His mom tries to stop him. However, Subaru, now a teenager, is no longer willing to put up with her. He leaves the village and rescues Asahi, not only showing how much he cares for her, but showing how much Asahi trusts and appreciates him. The hug she gave him nearly made my fanboy come out.
Subaru gets shot by an arrow during their escape, and then Asahi does something that reveals more of her hidden strength and a newly found cunning. She holds a sword to her own neck. Asahi has realized that she has value to these people. It doesn’t matter that the water dragon doesn’t actually grant blessings, that she doesn’t have any divine powers. Everyone believes that she does, which means that she has value, but only if she’s alive. I really appreciate how much stronger she has become. She would have never thought of something like this as a child, but now that she’s an adult, she has learned how to use her own invaluability to her advantage.
As the volume draws to a close, Kogahiki and his village bring war to Subaru’s, all for the sake of acquiring Asahi. While everyone tells Asahi to stay somewhere safe, she leaves the sanctity of her home and meets the water dragon. Perhaps on a whim, or maybe to find entertainment, the water dragon takes her above the battle so they can watch the proceedings, which ends with the water dragon giving Asahi her voice back.
In Summary
I really like how much depth this volume had. It reveals a lot more about the world, shows how strong Asahi and Subaru have grown, and brings about more plot threads to create tension and conflict, which is what makes stories like this go round. However, with the humanization of the water dragon, I’m worried about my ship not setting sail. That said, I am excited to see where this story goes.
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: B+
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Shojo Beat
Release Date: July 14, 2017
MSRP: $9.99
