The Small-Animallike Lady Is Adored by the Ice Prince Volume 1
Original Story: Hisui
Original Character Design: Agu Ao
Artist: Mugi Sawai
Letterer: Olivia Osanz Gonzalez
Translator: Emma Shumacker
Publisher: Yen Press
Publication Date: Oct 15, 2024
Rating: Teen
Genre: Manga (JPN), Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
The Small-Animallike Lady is Adored by the Ice Prince is a brand new romance manga from Yen Press. Adapted from the light novel of the same name written by Hisui and characters designed by Agu Ao, the manga is drawn and retold by Mugi Sawai. This first volume takes us to a familiar setting where there’s a royal arranged marriage involved, and some frozen hearts are melted in the process!
©Yen Press, 2024Liliana is the precious daughter of an earl and now that she’s 16, she is expected to attend the royal family ball. Liliana is content with his laid-back life in the comfort of her home, and her family is equally reluctant to send her off to this covert matchmaking event. Why would she want to work herself to the bones to become the queen, anyway?
The first prince, William, nicknamed The Ice Prince, is to ascend to the throne and will soon need a crown princess to stand by his side. Liliana dresses as plainly as she can and makes no effort to converse with the prince except to greet him at the ball. So why on earth did William still choose her to be his fiancée? And what can she do to break off the engagement?
With its brightly-colored and warm cover, The Small-Animallike Lady is Adored by the Ice Prince looks to be an inviting first volume to a casual and heartwarming series. As readers who are familiar with light novels would know, these novels or their manga adaptations have long and explanatory titles. And often, what you read in the title is what you get.
Moreover, the first volume or couple of chapters of stories where the cheeky/cute/smart female lead melts the cold-hearted/distant male lead usually feels similar to each other. This familiarity is inevitable as the story is just being set and the bare skeleton of the plot will more or less be comparable. The story diversifies as it progresses.
In that sense, while I can say this is the case for the first volume of The Small-Animallike Lady is Adored by the Ice Prince, there were small details that I appreciated and that boosted my enjoyment.
©Yen Press, 2024One aspect that worked for me is how our female lead Liliana is written. She is brought up by loving parents and two doting brothers who support her decisions and it’s clear that Liliana’s desire to marry someone she loves comes from the healthy relationship her parents have. While I can’t predict how the rest will follow, this was a fresh breath of air from all the abusive families that do unthinkable stuff to their kids and run rampant in the romance and romantasy genre.
Liliana is a fun and easy-going young woman who enjoys eating and prefers to spend her life as hassle-free as possible. However, she isn’t stereotypically simple-minded either. I loved that she enjoys learning new things and has a playful side. This playful side, accompanied by her cute face that resembles a small animal, is what gets into the prince’s heart.
We discover bits about William’s character and find out the reason behind his slight distrust of women in this volume as well. The series doesn’t drag its feet when setting up the plot and introducing the motivations of central characters. The pace isn’t overly fast, although Liliana’s hectic demeanor and expressive face do give off that feeling. It’s nice for a change for the leads to start falling into a comfortable rhythm early on.
The character designs are gorgeous. The lines are clean and the characters are mostly easy to tell apart. While there are a lot of close-up panels with only facial reactions the volume doesn’t lack detailed backgrounds, food, or objects when the setting calls for it. Three full-colored pages greet the reader and in the print edition, glossy paper is used for those pages. Thanks to Olivia Osanz Gonzalez’s lettering and Emma Schumacker’s translation, the volume reads effortlessly.
©Yen Press, 2024Overall, I had a good time reading the first volume of The Small-Animallike Lady Is Adored by the Ice Prince. I do think a more definite verdict would require reading at least one or two more volumes, but this introduction has enough appeal to make me want to check out the next volume!
I can easily recommend this title to readers who are already fans of the romance genre. However, it would also work for people who are in search of a cozy, sweet, charming read to warm their hearts now that the fall is upon us! For the northern hemisphere folks, at least.
The Small-Animallike Lady is Adored by the Ice Prince will be available digitally and in print on October 15th, 2024, out from Yen Press.
English (US) · 