Sea Princess Azuri is a fun manga book for tween girls!
Sea Princess Azuri by Erica Reis (TOKYOPOP, ISBN 1598164015) is an action/romance manga book for tween (10 to 13) girls. The story, set in an underwater wonderland, is sweet and gentle, yet full of action and play. It’s a book that girls will love to read over and over, and will get them wanting to read future volumes to find out what happens to the young princess and Thalo.
Azuri
Azuri is the princess and heir of the Orca kingdom. She is of the Orcan race that is part killer whale.
Azuri is a free spirit and is always getting into trouble. In the start of this story, Azuri has left her underwater kingdom to explore the waters beyond safety.
With her guard, Thalo, beside her, she climbs a glacier and slides down, landing in the midst of trouble. Two sealicorns, underwater unicorns, are being chased by a deadly jellysquid. Before either she or Thalo are able to save the sealicorns, the sealicorns are gripped by the jellysquid’s poisonous tentacles. It’s too late for the beautiful sea creatures.
Returning to the surface, Azuri finds a sealicorn pup. Now that it is an orphan, Azuri adopts it and she and Thalo take is back to Orca.
Thalo
Thalo and Azuri are childhood friends. As children, they were always getting in and out of trouble together. Now that Thalo is 16 years old, he’s beginning to look at Princess Azuri with new eyes. He loves her, but knows that they could never be married.
Prince Unagi
Prince Unagi is the leader of the Eel people. For many years, the Eel and Orca have been at war. To put a permanent end to the war between these two races, Prince Unagi and Princess Azuri must marry.
Love and Conflict
As the arranged marriage looms ahead, Azuri and Thalo realize that they are in love with each other. Thalo knows that it is his duty to step back and end his bond with Azuri so that the Eel and Orca kingdoms can unite. Azuri, knowing that it is her duty to marry Prince Unagi, feels that she can’t go through with the marriage without Thalo by her side.
In the midst of these feelings of youthful love, Prince Unagi sees Thalo as a threat. Thalo is in the way of finalizing the arranged marriage and Prince Unagi vows to dispose of Thalo immediately.
A Fun Read
Sea Princess Azuri is an amazingly fun read. The playful innocence of the merpeople is a delightful change from the ninja and martial art themes of other manga books, and it gets kids away from the television and drawn into a plot worth reading about.
