Prince Freya, Vol. 5

偽りのフレイヤ [Itsuwari no Freja] #5

by Keiko Ishihara

Freya has been granted Tyr’s royal jewel and the chance to seek allies in the fight against Sigurd. But the journey to hope is fraught with danger, and Freya and her knights will have to survive a voyage across a pirate-infested sea before they can even begin to secure the help her kingdom needs!

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Romance, Shojo, Young Adult, Graphic Novels, Adventure

160 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 5, 2020

Reviews

[Victoria ✮⋆˙ · Rating 5 out of 5]

The art is stunning as always, I wish this got published faster I love the direction the story’s going in!

[Sarah Ryder · Rating 1 out of 5]

***DNF***

That’s it, I’m done with this series. I hoped it would get better but it has crossed one too many lines for me. If you want a clean manga series, this isn’t it.

Sooo…why did I hate it so much? Well, prepare yourselves for spoilers, and if you liked this volume please leave now because I’m about to shred it and I don’t want to hurt your feelings. ☺️ Also, there won’t be a content section at the bottom because this whole review is going to BE about the content.

To start off we see this grown guy in his late 20s early 30s flirting with and thinking about bedding Freya (who is “disguised” as a girl) who is drawn to look around 13 in these frames. Um, ew? Why is this even a thing? And we’re not talking thinking about this once or twice but CONSTANT. And Freya kinda likes him? Like what even?!?! Not to mention every guy who meets her falls in love with her which is a trope I find HIGHLY annoying, but whatever, this isn’t the volume’s worst sin.

There’s more you say? I’m not so glad you asked! Then we continue on past the usual hard PG-13 to R rated violence and blood to meet this queen who’s practically falling out of her dress (like seriously, I don’t know how she’s staying in) so add another discomfort to my list. But it gets worse! She then wants to, er, be “comforted” with Julius (no taste there queeny) and Freya says SHE WANTS TO GO WITH THEM.

Me: 😱🤦🏼‍♀️🤢🙈 WHAT THE HECK?!?!?!?!? WHYYYYY???????

So she does! And they have this weird threesome, sensual, suggestive comment heavy hangout and by now I’m skimming and getting out of there FAST feeling sick the whole time. Just what the heck?!?! And before you ask, this volume had no plot aside from all this stuff aside from some pirates on the beginning. And I don’t even care if these characters get out alive and well or not.

And there’s a bonus chapter with even MORE disturbing stuff in it! Yay! (please note the sarcasm—the only reason I kept looking/reading was just to write this warning review for others)

In this Julius (I REALLY hate this guy!) has sex with a girl (nothing detailed is shown but they’re in bed without shirts so you get the gist 🤢) and THEN he keeps doing suggestive type advances on the original prince who is a CHILD and it’s obvious now that they want to be “in item” and now I’m done and never going to pick up this series again. If this much content is being pushed in a Teen+ rated manga I NEVER want to see what Mature is!

This is all so gross and horrible and just disgusting! I DO NOT recommend this series, nor is it what I would call clean in the slightest.

Please read Yona of the Dawn instead of you want a manga series similar to this one but WAAAY cleaner and better written.

I hope you enjoyed my rant review! I’m going to go clean out my eyes with bleach now…

[Shae · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the direction of this volume! I feel like it gives a better understanding of who Freya is becoming, and how much she still has to learn about her duties. She is still being careless and reckless. I cannot wait to see how all of our characters learn and grow in the arc that began in this volume.

[jasmine ʕ⁠´⁠•⁠ᴥ⁠•⁠`⁠ʔ · Rating 3 out of 5]

this ain't shoujo💀

[Yub Yub Commander · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't read this. It is so yucky and crosses so many lines. Nope. Not OK.
Stop sexualizing minors and minor-coded characters. This is not OK, has never been OK, and will never be OK.

Major spoilers for volume 5 incoming.
I'll be honest, to begin with I had no idea what was going on. Volume 4 was so unmemorable, and even reading other reviews for volume 4 didn't jog any memories. That being said, the story opened with Freya using herself as bait to a man easily twice her age to keep him preoccupied while they sailed across the ocean. He frequently made sexual comments toward her and while this wasn't entirely shown as OK in the story, nothing any of the hero characters did made any of this seem wrong and Freya herself behaved like it was normal.

Freya is young. She looks like a child half the time. This story obsessively puts her in positions of other characters having control over her with a ton of super sexually tense scenes with characters way older than her.

Later in the story, she volunteers for something and is forced into a threesome with an older woman and Julian. Julian makes a ton of sexual comments to her regarding how pretty she looks in the dress and how she can command him and stuff. Gross.

To top all that off, Julian has a huge flashback chapter where we see him frequently ogling the former prince and the prince back at him. While nothing explicit is said regarding their relationship and what each want from the other, the body language and dialogue is highly suggestive. A grown ass man is basically panting over this young, MINOR boy and then the boy encourages him.

No. I finished this book feeling so grossed out and dirty. I already was growing uncomfortable with this weird growing fascination Julian had toward Freya, and his mentions toward the prince, but this is it. I can't read anymore of this story, and I never want to.

What happened to this series? I just reread volume one and it was so good, but the story degraded so quickly into this icky mess.

[TheGeekishBrunette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for an earc to review.

Maybe it’s just me, but the series has went down for me since like vol. 3.

The development of the characters really lacked for me in this volume. More focus was put on sensual aspects that didn’t really bring anything to the table. It was just there and gone. I also am not liking how literally everyone falls over Freya. It was interesting in the beginning but now it has just come to be a repeatable thing that gets old.

I can’t really say much about the plot because I don’t feel like there was one. There has been new plot points added but I just don’t think they are enough to keep me continuing on with this series.

Overall, this was a disappointment. It was okay and just not what I was expecting.

[Rebekah · Rating 2 out of 5]

So much time passes between these volumes being translated into English that I literally had no idea what the hell was happening at the beginning of this volume (and honestly, still don't). This volume is weirdly sexual and I don't know why that's necessary. I enjoyed volumes 2 and 3 from this series, but it's been pretty uneven and if this volume is signaling a decline in quality I don't know how much longer I'll be reading the series.

[Skye (Skye's Scribblings) · Rating 2 out of 5]

For some reason the storytelling shifted into an oddly detached and rushed way that doesn't give us much of the deeper character interaction I enjoy about this series. This volume also saw all the strength and intelligence Freya gained in the first four volumes vanish, rendering her pretty bland and ignorant, while the story took an unnecessarily weird and sexually creepy turn that I did not appreciate. Seriously disappointing - will read the next volume, but reluctantly.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

This volume felt a bit rushed and disjointed in some areas, but still quite enjoyable. Reallly not fond of Dimitri but I'm looking forward to seeing how his character is handled when he returns.

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nie wiem, co mogę o nim zbytnio napisać, bo tak jak wcześniejsze tomy (3 i 4) mi się podobał, ale na początku nie wiedziałam co się dzieje zbytnio i czasami są lekko dziwne sceny, ale nie przeszkadza mi to jakoś bardzo w czytaniu

[DesertSkyCacti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely an improvement from the previous volumes. We are finally seem some relationship development, and the story is starting to be less messy. Overall a good volume!

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edda is super sketch. She's acts like a vampire.

[BreAnna (Bre'sBooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, this volume took an awkward turn! And it was so short and kind of all over the place. What is happening??

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hot mess of a book. I felt like some elements got skipped and then some weird stuff happened that doesn’t make sense at all in the context of previous books.

[Hisgirl85 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars. This story is all over the place and felt like two distinct stories rather than one fluid tale. It reminded me of the first volume, but this has been my issue with the series from the beginning. Beautiful art, though.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

In continuing the theme that every powerful person who meets Freya’s falls in love with her, we somehow run into the Sigurdian prince on a ship where Freya is bound for the kingdom of Nacht to secure the first of many alliances against Sigurd. Prince Dimitri decides to entertain himself by trying to get Freya to go to bed with him, but she skillfully avoids his advances. Once they land in Nacht, Freya and her hand-picked band of retainers learn that the Queen, who was a Sigurdian princess, sends her servants to the town to select young, beautiful men to be her evening’s entertainment. Of course, Julius stands out among the rest, and they all get an invitation to the castle. They discover that there’s more to her request than companionship and a dinner guest. The queen has actually been seeking a brave soul to save her kingdom from a vengeful person, and she begs Julius to be that soul.

Read the full review, and find more graphic novel reviews, at The Graphic Library.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

UM

idk what to think honestly,,, I liked some parts but others were a little uncomfortable?? plus the whole thing felt super rushed,, I'll still read the next volume because I'm invested enough but I hope its a bit more polished than this volume lol

[eve.lyn._.reads · Rating 2 out of 5]

♔█♕▓ꝒⱤƖƝƇƸ☩ƑⱤƸƳ𐤠░♚▒ ♛
2.5 Stars
Freya and her guards must cross a dangerous sea controlled by pirates, accompanied by a bunch of strangers with their own motives on the boat. Dimitri is the heir to the Sigurdian Empire and is intoxicated by Freya. After their parting, Freya goes to the country of Nacht hoping to get some allies among the enemy. There she meets a princess named Sophie who has taken in interest in Julius and Freya. Meanwhile, Alek has his own secrets that he had to have in order to live. Will they be able to find allies among the enemy who wishes to destroy them?

Over-sexualization of characters and unnecessary scenes were bountiful in this book. In all honesty . . . Dimitri lusting out of Freya for the whole time he was on in the manga? NO. It was disgusting and unneeded, and the fact that Freya didn't actually seem turned-off by his flirting and suggestive comments? Then there was this random threesome scene between three characters where two of them wanted pleasure and forced and touched one character in uncomfortable ways. This is considered sexual harassment. But the fact that our protagonist didn't actually fight back nor seem offended and uncomfortable shocked me.

A male love interest shouldn't go along with this touch either. . . just to keep under cover and play along. I'm disappointed that Freya doesn't seem to care about how people should touch her or not. Julius is a character I really don't like. He has these scenes that make his character better only to take action/do things that I think are just shallow and stupid. Alek is a character I really like who I feel is being pushed backward into the story and slowly dwindling out.

Freya has several love interests-some that don't even need to be in love with her. I feel like she seemingly flirts with all of them and, in the course of four manga, has kissed almost every one. This is the sort of "love-triangle" where our protagonist doesn't seem to harbor feelings for any one of them but every single one of them.

This was honestly not what I was looking for. 😥
⛔PLOT
🆗CHARACTERS
☑️PLOT TWISTS

[MAG Scrittrice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ci sono diverse cose che non mi quadrano... La prima parte sembra ambientata nel passato, poi si capisce che non è così; inoltre, pare un capitolo slegato, tipo un extra per raccontare l'incontro con Dimitri (che razza di nome è Dimitri in un fantasy a carattere medievale? E vabbè che c'è anche Alex... altro nome azzeccatissimo al contesto).
Ma questo principe ragazzino conosciuto da tutti che se ne va in giro come nulla fosse? E se lui è nel regno X a fare da paciere, chi governa il "suo" reame, che pare venerarlo come fosse già sovrano? Per quanto ne sa, potrebbe essere sotto attacco e al suo ritorno trovarne solo le ceneri (a quanto ho capito, il re è solo una bambola. Si è mostrato una mezza volta e ciao). Lodevole che un principe viaggi per cercare di risolvere la situazione da vicino, poco realistico che lo faccia con quattro guardie (una che se ne va pure per fatti suoi per alimentare il suo mistero) e abbandoni il regno sprovvisto di una guida sana di mente.
Comunque, il finale mi ha incuriosita. Shippo abbastanza Freya e Julius, che però non ho capito se è solo infatuato di lei perché è simile al principe defunto. Freya, invece, pare più interessata ad Alex, che le ricorda il fratello di cui era o è ancora innamorata, morto anche lui. Ammazza, oh, che groviglio! Non è un triangolo, è un pentagono che supera anche il velo per l'Aldilà.

[Briana Saucedo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I believe we could've just skipped this whole volume because its unnecessary ... plot wise. The fanservice in this one was INSANE for a rating of Teen. The bonus chapter and the suggested threesome in chapter 15 was too much for me. As an adult I'm quite uncomfortable about that knowing that Freyna is 16 (she looks 13) while Julius is 23 and the queen in her mid/late 20s. If I was a parent, my child would not be reading this. Yona of the Dawn is better and cleaner than this.

Despite that, I will continue reading. If the next volume isn't driving the plot forward then I will DNF this series only because of this strong lolita complex that's happening here. I understand that this is not weird in Japan, but I personally don't like it.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series started out pretty average and uninspired but this volume was bad. Events happened and changed with such speed and randomness; the new chapter in this volume was like tonal whiplash compared to where the previous volume left off. The story is also doing down the route of having everyone loving the MC, stuff happening out of the blue or for convenience sakes and not through actual development which are both feels I really dislike.
I don't know if it is me being more judgemental or the quality of recent manga (the ones officially released in English) being of a much lower quality than before as I'm finding a lot of current releases to either be boring or plain bad.

[Reading Through the Lists · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series has gone completely off the rails.

I would have described the first 4 volumes of the series as “childish” in terms of the way the characters approach their relationships with one another (“Freya is girl so boy must like her because boy like girl!”).

But Vol. 5 features nothing but adult (read: sexual) situations between characters who are, if they are not literally children, still childish in terms of their emotional maturity and capacity for relationships. Oh right, and some of them are still actually children.

Yeah….I’m out.

2 stars.

[Ambur · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating between 2.5-3 stars. This volume just felt super out of place and random to me. It didn't feel connected to the previous volume at all, and the tone felt like quite a shift, too...in a way that I definitely didn't like. I plan to continue just because I want to know what happens for the story in general, but I'm not enjoying this series as much as I was before. I really enjoyed the last two volumes, so this one was quite the disappointment.

[Kye · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series continues to be entertaining though a bit slow. The fifth volume seems smaller than the others. We meet the prince of Sigurd who becomes taken with Freya not knowing she is the prince. So that should be fun sometime later in the series. We also get to Nacht to try and revive the alliance between them and Tyr, but something is going on in Nacht. Interested to see how this arc plays out in the next volume. I have an idea of what's going on but I could be completely wrong.

[Niina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pääjuoni ei tällä kertaa paljoa edennyt, kun jäätiin leikkimään liikaa mekkojen kanssa. Freya pitää edelleen pystyssä kulissia, että prinssi Edward olisi elossa, mutta päätyy kahdesti sarjiksen aikana pukeutumaan mekkoon. Hän siis toisin sanoen on tyttö, joka esittää poikaa, joka pukeutuu naisten vaatteisiin. Tilanne kuumenee pari kertaa, mutta edes yhtään pusua ei sivuilla vaihdettu.

[Rachel Feeck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great volume. Freya and her knights embark on their quest to find allies and immediately run into adventure and mystery. While this is a bit of an in-between volume, the travel is filled with hilarity, romance, and surprise. As always, can't wait for the next one.

[Kaitlynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excuuuuuuse me. I don't appreciate all these books leaving me with a cliff hanger and no solid release date for the next book.

But also, I love this story and am obsessed with it. It's a little gritty but also swoony, and it better not freaking break my heart at the end like some books like to do.

[Sobbin’ Scenes · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of fanservice and some questionable moments. A few things happened to setup future plot points, but overall not too much happened in this one.

Also a bit confused how it latches onto the last book. Maybe that’s just my bad memory lol.

[mel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Reading this just makes me want to read Yona of the Dawn or Requiem of the Rose King instead.

This volume has no plot. I guess its goal is to assert Julius, the knight who's definitely in his 30s and was very very creepy at first, as the main love interest. With a child, yeah. Sexually

[Aleece · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute stunning series that I just can’t get enough of.