Rei Tōma

Published: November 26, 2015

Genres: Romance, Shojo, Fantasy, Historical

Pages: 192

Female Main Character - Adagio

It’s unexpected for a child to be chosen as the FMC of a romance book. If anything, it’s not a good sign, especially when the MMC has the appearance of an adult man. Even the MMC understands that FMC is incredibly young by referring to her as a child. While the Water Dragon is her supposedly love interest, I’m glad that she showed no interest for him. I think she’s a reasonably realistic child who is traumatised.

All the adults around her, including the MMC himself, have mistreated and neglected Adagio within the short period of time. She is forced to cling onto whatever hope she has, which is why I don’t believe her relationship with the MMC is love, but instead based on survival.

Secondary Male Main Character - Subaru

While it’s uncertain whether or not Subaru will be her main love interest, he proves to be a highly compatible love interest for Adagio from the very moment of her arrival to the new world. Despite their very short time together, Subaru was the one who truly cared for her with all his heart. Not even the MMC could compare to that. If anything, Subaru is perfect for the main love interest, which I hope he is.

I feel terrible for Subaru because, alike poor Adagio, he’s suffered so much from the village. If anything, he would feel even more hurt because it is his closest loved ones who betrayed him, rather than strangers. He was forced to endure the suffering of Adagio’s supposing death and even believed he was responsible for her death, but it was instead the adults around them who were responsible.

Primary Male Main Character - Water Dragon

The Water Dragon is a strange character since he acts nothing like a love interest. His overall situation is unusual since the village sacrifices young girls for him to be his bride. That begs the question, what happened to these girls? Since the MMC cares very little about humans, I doubt that any of them saw him in the God realm and instead remained dead. But it is weird to imagine that the MMC possibly had wives in the past.

The MMC doesn’t seem very fit for the role of the love interest. After all, he’s cold towards humans and sees them as entertainment. I know that there are tropes where the MMC becomes a better person, but it’s weird when the FMC is a child. There’s not much competition between Water Dragon and Subaru since it’s clear that Adagio would pick Subaru for his kindness, whereas the Water Dragon shows no affection at all.

I would be perfectly fine with the moral and immoral pairing if the moral love interest was at legal age. There are many other series with the moral and immoral pairing, but the moral love interest is typically in their late teens or early twenties. I don’t agree with pairing a teen with an immoral either, but it’s more reasonable than a child such as Adagio.

Although I understand that there is a cultural difference between how Water Dragon and current society see marriage. I wouldn’t exactly call him bad for choosing her as his wife since he perceives the term differently. But it is weird that he is waiting for the FMC to become mature since it is oddly familiar to grooming.

Overall

Despite all my fuss over the incredibly different age gap, The Water Dragon’s Bride is an interesting story. While I wouldn’t call it a spectacular romantic story, I enjoy the drama linked to the village and can only hope for more. I will mention that the artwork is amazing and Rei Toma captured the expressions perfectly, even in the moments of anger or dread.