Wedding Peach, Vol. 01

ウェディングピーチ [Wedding Peach] #1

by Nao Yazawa, Sukehiro Tomita

The more Momoko and her friends discover about their new powers, the more Rain DeVilla and her evil henchmen vow to destroy them. In this episode, the girls are plunged into a world of darkness and illusion that tests the bonds of their friendship. How brightly will their love power shine against their new foe, Nocturne of the Night?

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Romance, Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Shojo

192 pages, Paperback

First published October 20, 1994

Reviews

[Briar's Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wedding Peach by Nao Yazawa is a unique, little manga that gave me major Sailor Moon vibes!

Growing up, I loved Sailor Moon, Winx Club, Magical Melodies and all of those other girl power stories. So, it was only natural I'd move towards this book.

If you cross bred Sailor Moon with weddings, I'm convinced you'd get this book! In this little, lovely manga, you'll find a story packed full of girl power, pretty dresses and love!

For me, this isn't the best manga I've ever read. It's pretty beat for beat what I've read in other girl power manga stories - girls with powers, romantic love interests, friendship, bad guy fighting, etc. Peach learns about her powers, suddenly is a super awesome fighter and starts taking care of the world of love! The boy she likes is a jerk, but man is he handsome! This is definitely a YA manga!

Despite these little tropes, I still think it's very fun and a nice read to get your mind away from the world. As long as you understand this is almost like a B-rated version of Sailor Moon, you'll enjoy it.

If you love manga and girl power, I'd highly recommend this book. I think it's just too cute to pass up. I love a great manga that is fun, fluffy and easy to enjoy. I could have easily binged it, but I decided to take my time. it's pretty rare for me to pick up a manga so I wanted to make it count!

Three out of five stars!

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

In terms of story and originality, this might not be the best take on the magic girl genre, but I still really love this series.

It is a highly nostalgic manga series for me. It is super ridicules, I'll admit. Momoko accepts that she is a magical girl too easily and automatically knows how to fight, and all her magic spell catch phrases, but we can argue that it is destiny and of course she would know all this.

Princess Peach has all the magical girl stereotypes. All the girls are swoon/crazy in love with the sports stars, trying to give them bento boxes, the main character Momoko has a love/hate relationship with a guy who is highly likely to be her love interest. It is super obvious.

Our lovely newly turned magical girl goes through the whole "I like him, no but I can't, he's rude and mean, but deep down he has a heart of gold" thing with this guy. It's so cheesy, and overdone, but I can't help but still like this and think overall it is very cute, makes me feel like a giggly teenager again.

I want to point out that in a lot of stories the love interest like this are usually just jerks/mean, maybe even abusive and that is seen as dark and brooding, romanticized, but the boy in this manga isn't really a bad person, and I don't believe their budding relationship is toxic or problematic. Some people take the "boys are mean because they like me" thing way over the top in real life and in stories as well; I don't feel like this one was over the top, just judging from the first volume, at least.

I've heard people say it is a rip off of Sailor Moon, but I have a feeling people think that of a lot of magical girl manga. Whether or not it is a rip off, I'm not bothered by it.

This volume had sweet moments, moments where I was like "oh, that's cute," but there were also a couple moments where my heart was touched. Maybe I am too sentimental?

It is cliche, of course. People are going to either love it or hate it.

P.S I really want my own Jama P pet. "Miss Peach! Much Happy!"

[kuristina- tabreez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Momoko and her two best friends are all in love with the dreamy sports player at school, Yanagiba. This makes them rivals, constantly squabbling over who will get his attention first, all the while other girls hoard him. But Momoko has a secret of sorts. She is Wedding Peach, defender of justice and love! Not only that, but her two best friends are angels as well! As they fight against the forces of evil to defend love and joy, they also fight each other when the world saving is at a halt. But even though they are rivals for the heart of their senpai, they still always stick together, and defend each other to the bitter end.
But they also have a mission! They must find the Sacred/Saint Four-Somethings before the forces of evil do and spoil them, turning all of the love and happiness in the world into hatred and unkindness!


It's been around six years since I was last really into Wedding Peach, also around six years since I first got into it. I watched the first ten episodes or so on YouTube and on rental discs from Netflix. Also, on some On Demand anime thing on Time Warner Cable when my family still had that (we switched to U-Verse a while back). It had InuYasha too! And all sorts of different episodes of different anime at times. Anyway, I remember the anime pretty well, I think. And it seemed like a lot of things in the manga were the same, a few things slightly differed, and other things were completely different. Such as how Yuri and Hinagiku became angels. I thought it was completely different in the anime? Didn't they each have their own little story the length of an episode each, and Goddess Aphrodite awoke them or guided them or whatever just like she did with Wedding Peach, but also with Momoko's assistance this time? Similar to how the Mew Mews in Tokyo Mew Mew awoke. Or even similar to how the Sailor Scouts awoke. It was very different in the Wedding Peach manga. Not that I'm complaining. It was just a surprise.
Additionally, I don't recall Yousuke and Momoko's relationship progressing so quickly in the anime. Perhaps it was more spread out in the anime to make it last longer. I hear that there are only six volumes of the manga, so it would make sense that things would go at a quicker pace.
Yousuke eventually turns into some.. warrior? Or something? I don't remember. But I've seen pictures of Yousuke looking like somebody from Saint Seiya. He obviously is at least somewhat magical then too. I wonder... Is there something or someone dormant inside of him? Or does somebody do something to him? Also! It was either not hinted at in the first ten or so episodes of the anime, or I didn't catch the cliche, but it seems like Yanagiba-senpai may very well be Angel Limone in disguise! Whenever some trouble is brewing, Yanagiba will stop whatever he is doing and his gaze will resemble that of a gaze Angel Limone has. Also, we never see Yanagiba when Angel Limone is around (we never see much of any of the humans when Angel Limone is around though), and it was said that Angel Limone had gone missing. Why did he go missing? And where had he gone? They're both blond too, and tend to have the same expression when evil is afoot. Yanagiba seems as if he is best friends or something of the sort with Yousuke. Was he put into a disguise to watch over Yousuke? To guard him or observe him? Was he doing that along with watching Momoko, or waiting to find one of the saint four somethings? Does a saint four something belong to Yousuke? If so, what could it be? His precious heart? Because he does have a kind and soft but also strong heart. Also, if Yanagiba is Angel Limone, that explains why everyone is so drawn to him and why he excels at everything he does. But why would he draw attention to himself..?
And oh! I remember Pluie and Jama-P. Jama-P eventually turns to the angels' side and stays there, does he not? But isn't there others or another like him? Perhaps not...
All in all, I loved reading this, almost as much, if not just as much as I loved watching the anime all those years ago. It's so original, well done, cute, action-y, kind of deep, and many things. I really like it. It reminds me of a lot of magical girl anime such as Pretear, Tokyo Mew Mew (those two the most), and others like Sailor Moon or Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne or something. But it is still very original. I love it. I recommend it to people of all ages.

[Sesana · Rating 2 out of 5]

So the main character turns into a super-powered bridesmaid. That about sums it up. Hardcore fans of the magical girl genre would at least find it interesting, but it's just so silly. So much so that that I was at one point more than half convinced that it was meant to be a parody of the genre. If so, it's either a poor attempt at a parody or the writer lost nerve, because at the end of the volume, it was just an exceptionally silly magical girl series.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was much better than I expected it to be.
Don't listen to the negative reviews that call this a Sailor Moon rip off. I am under the impression that the majority of those people just looked at the cover and then gave it that review without even reading it. The plot to both books are good, but they are very different. Wedding Peach deserves more credit than it is given and I recommend it.

[Ashley Lopez · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is really funny an fun to read if you like pitures with fighten sesensof drama

[Yoyomaus Die Büchereule · Rating 4 out of 5]

Momoko ist ein ganz normales vierzehnjähriges Mädchen. Sie besucht die Schule und hilft ihrem alleinerziehenden Vater bei der Fotografie von Hochzeiten, wenn sie kann. Am liebsten sieht sie sich in ihrer Freizeit das Hochzeitsvideo ihrer Eltern an und arbeitet mit ihren Freundinnen Hinagiku und Yuri in der Schülerzeitung. Als Momoko wieder einmal das Hochzeitsvideo ihrer Eltern schaut und sich in das Hochzeitskleid ihrer Mutter einkleidet, hat sie das Gefühl beobachtet zu werden. Doch viel Zeit zum Nachgrübeln bleibt dem jungen Mädchen nicht, denn ihre Freundinnen holen sie zum Fußballspiel der Schule ab, um für die Schülerzeitung darüber zu berichten. Ganz uneigennützig sehen sich die Mädchen das Spiel außerdem auch nicht an, denn der Schwarm der drei Mädchen Kazuya Yanagiba ist der Kapitän der Schulmannschaft. Zwischen den Mädchen entbrennt ein freundschaftlicher Konkurrenzkampf, wer wohl das Herz von Yanagiba erobern wird.
Als Momoko sich auf den Heimweg macht, wird sie dort von dem Dämon Ame angegriffen, der es auf den Ring von ihrer Mutter abgesehen hat. Hilfe bekommt Momoko von dem Engel Limone. Als die Situation brenzlig wird erscheint Momoko die Göttin Aphrodite, die ihr eröffnet, dass sie Wedding Peach, der Engel der Liebe ist und fortan als dieser für die Engel und Menschheit kämpfen soll, denn die Dämonen wollen die Welt der Menschen und Engel auf ewig unterjochen und in die Dunkelheit stürzen. Fortan muss Momoko sich den Dämonen stellen. Hilfe bekommt sie dabei bald von ihren Freundinnen Hinagiku - dem Engel Daisy, Engel des aufrichtigen Herzens - und Yuri - dem Engel Lily, Engel der Reinheit. Die Freundinnen haben fortan alle Hände voll zu tun.
Und dann ist da auch noch Yosuke Fuma, der Torhüter der Schulmannschaft, der es einfach nicht lassen kann Momoko immer und immer wieder zu piesacken.

Mit der siebenteiligen Mangareihe "Wedding Peach" präsentiert das Autorenduo Nao Yazawa und Sukehiro Tomita einen absolut süßen Magical-Girl-Manga. Die Zeichnungen sind sehr niedlich gehalten, tendieren immer wieder in Richtung des Chibi-Stil. Dadurch wirkt das ganze süß und kindlich und eignet sich auch für eine jüngere Leserschaft. Im Vordergrund der Story steht vor allem der Kampf von Gut gegen Böse und natürlich die Liebe. Was für so manchen Leser sicher ein wenig abschreckend ist, ist die Tatsache, dass die Engel, bevor sie ihre wahre Kampfform annehmen erst einmal in einem tuffigen Hochzeitskleid erscheinen. Das ist erst einmal ein bisschen befremdlich, aber auch irgendwie niedlich. Wer denkt, dass Wedding Peach sich ganz stark nach Sailor Moon anhört, der hat recht. Die Geschichten gleichen sich vom Hergang, wie so viele. Wir haben hier ein junges Mädchen, das ganz unschuldig ist und von jetzt auf gleich zur Superheldin, wenn auch schusselig avanciert. Natürlich verliebt sie sich in den Volldeppen, den sie erst gar nicht leiden kann und sie bekommt ihre Freundinnen als Mitstreiter. Der Klassiker Gut gegen Böse bietet aber fast schon keinen anderen Storyverlauf. Einziger Unterschied zwischen Wedding Peach und Sailor Moon ist, dass wir es hier nicht mit Kriegern unter dem Schutz von Platen zu tun haben, sondern eben mit Engeln. Während Sailor Moon immer cool wirkt, durch ihre tollen Outfits muss man sich bei Wedding Peach erst einmal an viel Tüll gewöhnen. Unpraktisch für einen Kampf, trotzdem was anderes.

Empfehlen möchte ich die niedliche Geschichte allen Fans von Magical-Girl-Mangas. Wer darüber hinweg sehen kann, dass es dem Konzept von Sailor Moon stark ähnelt, der bekommt hier wirklich einen ganz interessanten Lesespaß geboten.

4 von 5 Sternen

[Ace · Rating 2 out of 5]

Main character Momoko is a middle school student obsessed with weddings and love, even though she's never had a boyfriend. One day, a demon attacks her and her friends, demanding a ring that Momoko wears as a memento from her deceased mother - a visit from the goddess Aphrodite allows Momoko (and eventually her friends) to turn into a super-powered wedding heroine.

Though rated T for Teens, this manga is very innocent and child-like (though perhaps later volumes will feature material geared for older audiences). Wedding Peach takes the magical girl genre to a goofy extreme that's both unnecessarily childish and, on occasion, off-putting to readers. Momoko's character is so giddy and wedding-obsessed that she's inaccessible to readers who haven't watched their own parents' wedding tape at least 100 times. Though the demons want to ruin love for everyone, the stakes never feel all that high; the conflicts are solved too easily and deeper material is patted down. In short, the story isn't compelling enough and could use some deeper fleshing out for a T-rated manga; the option is to change the rating to A for All Ages - as it is now, it's well-suited for a manga aimed at children.

Basically, to sum up Wedding Peach in a phrase: wedding-themed Sailor Moon.

[Мεģαnn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, this series is so cheesy it isn't even funny. It's a lot like Sailor Moon but with more drama, more immaturity, and more lace. As one of my guy friends said, "And I thought Sailor Moon couldn't get anymore gay--"

The main character is Momoko Hanasaki, who's totally obsessed with love and weddings. Just like any other normal Jr. High School student, right? Her angelic superpower is the ability to transform into a major, butt-kicking bridezilla. And her two best friends can transform into butt-kicking bridesmaids.

I've only gotten as far as book 2, but it seems like Momo's main goal is to keep the Four Somethings (something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue) out of the possession of the big, bad demons, who want to make everyone in the world DIVORCE. I know. I'm totally shaking in my Sketchers. These demons, man, they wrote the book on bad.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wedding Peach is a cute but silly manga series about a girl who fights demons with the aid of angels and their leader, the goddess Aphrodite.

She and her two friends transform into wedding dresses that soon become battle uniforms whenever a demon minion threatens love and friendship on Earth.

Typical magical girl fare from Japan, but fun to read.

[R Z · Rating 3 out of 5]

My sister loved this series when she was little, and I promised her that one day I would give it a try. It's silly, for sure, but it's adorable. The MC, when reading the manga, however, comes across as having black hair, so despite the covers, she has black hair and I talked to my sister and she agreed, so... canon, bitches.

[Jessica Lower · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars
It's cute and really cheesy! Another interesting take on the girl superhero in Japanese culture, an ode to Sailor Moon if you will. It leaves on cliffhanger :P so I'm anxious to know what happens

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I tried reading this years ago, and couldn't past the silliness of the first few chapters.... now I am a shameless "magical girl" fan and a lover of (almost) all things manga/anime silly trash, so this will be a fun ride, to say the least!

[Autumnn · Rating 5 out of 5]

i like this book because its anime and im a big fan of anime. i think its a good book. its about a girl who had powers from her moms wedding ring.

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute for children.

[Felis Linanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE WEDDING PEACH!!!

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sudden flash of nostalgia gave me the urge to re-read this series after many years - so much cheesy silly cutesiness!

[Mady · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the first manga I've ever read. 4☆ for nostalgia!

[TT · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the third manga series I ever read, and just an absolute favorite just for nostalgia alone. Great magic girl series!

[Miriam · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wedding Peach is a manga that has a great concept and cute character designs, but it was executed poorly with a clunky story and somewhat mediocre art. I read this back 10-11 years ago in a neighboring library that had a huge manga collection.

The story focuses on Momoko Hanasaki who is a 14 year old girl who transforms into the legendary love angel, Wedding Peach to protect the world of love from demon world with the help of the Saint Mirror. She also attends a church school along with her two friends Yuri Tanima (Angel Lily) and Hinagiku Tamano (Angel Daisy), who are also members of the newspaper club. They often take pictures of the school soccer team members, especially Kazuya Yanagiba, who they are in love with.This changes for Momoko however, when she eventually falls in love with Yosuke Fuuma, an annoying immature boy who ends up in the middle of their battles.

I can't recommend this manga because it's so sloppy. The story is a yawn, the art isn't that great. Apparently, Nao Yazawa has plans to originally become a shonen manga artist and it shows in her artwork, which doesn't suit Wedding Peach. I wish Midori Fuji or Mami Tachibana were in charge of the series main composition instead of getting stuck doing the shorter Wedding Peach comics in the Shogakukan Learning Magazines (These comics aren't in English, You can't even find scanlations of them). I have Volume 7 (Young Love) of the series and Ai Tenshi Tanjou Hen by Mami Tachibana and I can safely say that Mami's version is the superior one since the story is more engaging and the artwork is higher quality. This isn't to bash on Nao Yazawa's art, since she does have a great sense of color for her art of this series, but I think someone else with actual experience in Shojo manga should have done it instead.

Overall Rating: 1/5-I can't recommend not because it's a Sailor Moon ripoff but the story and art are weak and it prevents me from enjoying it. Watch the anime instead (even though I don't watch anime anymore).

[Mystic DreamClouds · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a guilty pleasure read. I pick it up whenever I’m feeling sad and it instantly cheers me up. It’s cliche and nostalgic for me so it will always be a favorite.

The theme of this series revolves around weddings. The types of flowers, vibrance, and emotions are smartly integrated into this story. That said, the premise of this story is love and I enjoy how this manga combines the two. I think it was a unique concept because I haven’t seen many magical girl shoujo series that use wedding attire or items as a means to fight against evil.

Now this isn’t a perfect story. Momoko is a fun yet innocent character, who dreams of a romantic wedding. She’s very expressive and sometimes embarrassing but that makes her all the more lovable. Her friends, Hinagiku and Yuri on the other hand, have different personalities – a tomboy and a proper young lady respectively. I liked how their friendship was depicted because they cared and freely spoke their thoughts around each other.

I liked how the manga depicted Momoko’s first encounter transforming into Wedding Peach. I think it did better than some series because she was clueless on what to do with the mirror, how to fight and transform. Although she did somehow manage a reprimand, unfortunately Yuri and Hinajiku had a much quicker understanding and transition to their angel forms.

The artwork is old school which I love. It’s filled with iconography and some chaotic panels with too much background or over the top expressions. It really gives a fun and playful vibes throughout. I also liked the character designs because each was different and easily recognizable. One of the good things about older series is that they don’t shy away from using darker tones. The fighting scenes were underwhelming and I honestly would have loved to see Limone and Ame fighting. Also Jama-P is a very cute character!

In the first volume, we see many angels but less demons. I’m guessing it’s because this is a fairly short series. That said, we are no closer to any answers except that the friends need to protect their Saint Something Four items.

Overall, this is a guilty pleasure for me so I did enjoy it. I have read this series multiple times but this is the first time I’m reviewing it until completion.

Read more reviews @ Mystic's Review Shelf

[Bobby Stringini · Rating 3 out of 5]

To sum up Wedding Peach...
Three child brides fight against demons to keep love from being destroyed. Also, a pretty angel dude and Aphrodite show up.

Honestly, the series is a cute Sailor Moon knock off. The writing is cheesy, but quick and the art is generally pretty good. I wasn't bored by it. I was worried the obsession with weddings/getting married would come off as gross, but honestly it just feels like window dressing to help the series find an identity of its own outside of the more standard magical girl tropes. It is far from the most original magical girl series, but there is something about how sweet it is that makes it work. There is nothing in here that is dark or edgy, and it doesn't need it. It is just aiming to be a cute adventure (with a lot of cute product placement).

I'm getting the second volume. The only problem with sticking with this series that the last few books get a little pricey...

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review for Full Series

Read as part of the 2022 book-swap, heaven knows.

Wedding Peach is a harmless little magical girl manga. It's predictable, oddly translated, and a little hokey -- it's the 90s in Japan, which is the equivalent of the 80s minus the synth flute -- but there's some good bones underneath that made me wish the characters had been aged up and that the story was allowed to go its full length and depth (it was repeatedly cut and softened, according to the author's notes).

Wedding Peach, rated ages 10+, rated 2.7/5 stars.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun and short read. It was entertaining and had some serious Sailor Moon vibes, which was nice. Parts of the translation, particularly the effects of the action, was a little redundant, but I look forward to continuing the short series.

[Ericka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fans of Sailor Moon will enjoy this series.

[Cassidy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A VERY cute magical girl manga. All of the characters are very cute as well as the premise :]

[Muhammad Rajab Al-mukarrom · Rating 4 out of 5]

legendary

[Rose Minako · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pur non essendo una trama particolarmente originale, questo manga mi è piaciuto molto sia per le varie trasformazioni delle protagoniste, sia per le dolci storie d'amore che nascono.

***ALLERTA SPOILER***
L'amore tra Momoko/Peach e Yosuke/Viento è abbastanza tipico: un'iniziale antipatia reciproca che poi sboccia in un profondo amore che si esprime con imbarazzo e soprattutto attraverso il senso di protezione e la gelosia. Sono molto carini insieme ed è piacevole veder crescere il loro amore e vederli affrontare numerosi ostacoli. L'amore tra Yuri/Lily e Yanagiba/Limone è invece un amore più maturo e consapevole, un amore già vissuto ma poi perduto e infine ritrovato, un amore che trascende il tempo e lo spazio e che riaffiora pian piano. L'amore tra Hinagiku/Daisy e Takuro è invece un'amicizia d'infanzia che pian piano si trasforma in qualcosa di più sorprendendo la ragazza stessa che ovviamente fa fatica ad accettarlo e ad ammetterlo anche con se stessa. Anche l'amore tra Scarlet/Salvia e Dean nasce durante l'infanzia e nonostante la distanza (Dean vive in America) sembra aver la forza di resistere, anche all'iniziale rifiuto di Scarlet che ha un'evidente paura di esser presa in giro e di soffrire. Infine ci sono anche varie rappresentazioni di amori adulti: l'amore tra i genitori di Momoko, Sakura/Sereso e Shoichiro, è basato sulla profonda fiducia, così come quello tra la madre di Yosuke e Uragano e anche l'amore tra i genitori di Hinagiku è molto rappresentativo, in quanto, nonostante i numerosi litigi, i due risultano molto uniti.
***FINE SPOILER***

Nel complesso è un manga molto carino, con qualche colpo di scena che non guasta mai e con un bel lieto fine per tutti, insomma una piacevole lettura senza troppe pretese.

[Starbubbles · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was so weird. It was like a wedding themed Sailor Moon. Can't believe I waited years to read this. So glad I didn't waste extra inter-library loans on additional volumes

[Autumn Maisy Raquet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like watching this old anime dubbed