- Mangaka : Ishihara, Keiko
- Publisher : VIZ
- Genre : Action, Drama, Fantasy, Gender Bender, Historical, Romance, Shoujo
- Published : April 2020 - Ongoing
Introduction (No Spoilers)
Freya is your ordinary village girl who lives by a mountain. One day, Freya is tasked to replace Prince Edvard, whom she remarkably resembles, who is at the Death’s door due to poison. With that, she is secretly stepping into the role of the prince to ensure that the countries “Prince of Hope” doesn’t die at the hand of an assassin. Can this village girl pretend to be a prince lead her valiant knights to defend their country against the neighboring kingdom of Sigurdian?
Contains Spoilers
Discussion Time
Raise your blades! For we shall defend our kingdom from those Siguardian scums until our very last breath! Prince Freya will help us to secure our victory! Onward hope!
1. Character Development
With Freya’s simple life as a common villager as the base for the plot, you could tell a lot of developments were on the way. She was immediately introduced to intense life-and-death situations on the fly. Not only that, but she must also consider the personalities and traits that Prince possessed to avoid suspicions from his knights and, along with the Edvard’s personal aides, she has to keep the prince’s death as a secret. Does this lead to a question as to what kind of prince will Freya become at the end of the manga?
It wasn’t just about leading knights, Freya must study politics, etiquette, and swordsmanship. This manga depicts how a commoner is trained to be part of the royal family.
2. Gender Bender
It was rare to read a manga where the main heroine took the role by disguising herself as a male and it was not part of a comedic trope. It wasn’t just about how she solves the problems in the same manner as the prince, but in a different but unique way with her physical prowess, except the swordsmanship, which she really needs to work on. Freya’s story reminds us of Jeanne D’Arc and Mulan, except the potential reverse harem because of look at those knights!
1. Doesn’t Always Make Sense
There are some developments that don’t make sense in the plot. We are not given a clear explanation as to why Freya is forced to act as the prince instead of finding someone in the line of succession to take over as monarch? Did the young prince didn’t have any relatives who wanted the throne? Do we also have more practical questions, like how did Freya survive from jumping off a cliff? A normal human would have broken their ankles and die.
2. Fast Pace
The story progression felt a bit too fast. We as if they transition from chapter to chapter without the crucial information or moments in between that could bridge the chapters properly. A bit of some well-needed exposition that would help the reader understand the story would go a long way in helping us enjoy this interesting story. Then again, the first English translated volume of this manga just came out and it is too soon to make a fair judgment.
Final Thoughts
Overall, we enjoy reading Prince Freya. The story development is logical, the art style drew us into their medieval world and some occasions that felt a little too early. You can feel the hidden ulterior motives from every character Freya had met in the story so far, which is an important lesson in the life of how we perceive others, hopefully in a good manner. However, the sense of duties from the personal knights are admirable, but we have to understand that there are some circumstances that require our decisions alone instead of following orders from your leaders. Remember, in order to protect your family, significant other and friends, take care of yourself first and prepare to help them.
Author: Nobodies17
