MeruPuri, Vol. 3

めるぷり メルヘン☆プリンス [MeruPuri: Märchen Prince] #3

by Matsuri Hino

While on a seaside field trip, the little boy Aram and Airi find themselves in the middle of a blackout at the public bath. Frazzled to no end, Airi drags Aram inside a closet but fails to prevent someone from walking in on them. Will Aram's secret be blown so soon? Meanwhile, Aram's cousin Razu confronts Airi and that made Razu hate Airi enough to want to make her heart stop beating ? As if Razu wasn't trouble enough, Aram's former fiancee Mariabel shows up at school. What evil schemes does she have in store for Aram and Airi? It wouldn't have anything to do with playing with Aram's memory, would it...?

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

192 pages, Paperback

First published April 5, 2004

About the author

Name in Japanese: 樋野 まつり

Matsuri Hino was born on January 24 in Hokkaido. She was a bookshop keeper who one day decided to become a manga artist, and all of nine months later, in 1995, she published her first manga title, Kono Yume ga Sametara (When This Dream Is Over), in Japan's LaLa DX magazine.

Reviews

[Victoria ✮⋆˙ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just kinda turning mediocre story wise, i know it’s only 4 volumes so that’s kinda to be expected wrapping up so short but...idk i’m kinda bored.

there’s a lot going on and it’s sometimes hard to follow and it just isn’t holding me

3* for the art though, love Hino!

[Jena · Rating 3 out of 5]

8/2020 Update: When I see reviews like this sitting on my shelf, it forces me to come to terms with the fact that I've been on GoodReads since 2010. When I read this series in 2010 I was 17/18, and saw 0 issue with this (and if we're being honest, at that age I was HEAVILY subjected to age gap relationships/grooming myself so I didn't even think twice about it). I still have the physical copies on my bookshelves. However now as a 28 year old woman, the way I would approach a story like this is completely different. The premise of a young boy transforming into an older version of himself so he's "old enough" to date an older girl is something that I would not be ok with now. However, in acknowledgment of my original 5 star rating, I've changed the ratings on this series to 3 stars (halfway between 1 and 5) to preserve my original rating somewhat while acknowledging that I've changed.

[Luna's Little Library · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall Series Rating 2 Stars

There is a wrongness to MeruPeri – Aram might “grow” due to his brother’s messed up spell but he’s still a little kid (he’s 7!) so after the first volume when Airi starts falling in like/love this starts getting uncomfortable.

Airi is 15 and Aram’s grown-up body is 17 and if he actually was 17 this would all be cheesy and cute. The fairy-tale aspect of a prince, a magical world and nice artwork but ARAM IS A KID! And I can’t get past that.

I’m awarding points for the artwork and the fact that the beginning of the story acknowledged the weirdness of this but then it just went wrong…

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I might buy actual copies because the scanlations are slightly confusing. There's a lot going on and it's sometimes hard to process. The insta-love still isn't helping. I can't get over the fact that Aram is still a kid. UGH.

[Home Bee · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.8*

[Ayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a difficult read, I always find it best to refresh with a cute manga series.
This time. I went for a rom-com. It was cute, quirky, and quick.

The premise is simple - a normal high school girl has a magical prince from a different world land pop out of a family heirloom, and she has to take care of him while he’s stuck in this world. Unfortunately, said boy has had a spell put on him where he gets older when he is left in the dark! Thankfully, the spell wasn’t perfect, so he only ages to 17, but to be honest, it’s SO WEIRD. Ultimately she falls for this boy, but it’s a little uncomfortable that he keeps bouncing ages, and even when he is in the 17 year old body, his mind is still much younger. This leads to a slew of hilarious events, and we get to travel to different worlds while trying to help this mysterious boy break the spell.

Oddness aside, it’s a silly manga that will make you smile. I devoured it, and was a little disappointed when it ended because I wanted more!

[Sundee Perkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like this is the volume that really gets into the depth of the relationship. Aram's love stops being cutesy and quirky and innocent, and matures into a real love. Airi also realizes her feelings, and this story is so well done, because it could be really creepy (since Aram is a child half the time), but it's not. It's heartfelt, which makes the ending that much harder to deal with.

[Aurora · Rating 4 out of 5]

okay more,kay?

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

love

[Katie (Katie's Corner Blog) · Rating 3 out of 5]

see full review @ Katie's Corner

[moi, k.y.a. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aram’a daha ne kadar bayılabilirim, Razu’ya ne kadar gıcık olabilirim temalı chapter’ın sonuna geldim. hemen sonuncusunu okuyup mutlu sona kavuşmak istiyorum.

[Hannah Haake · Rating 2 out of 5]

Once again, the artwork is amazing, the story line was better, but the concept is still questionable.

[Roberta · Rating 1 out of 5]

RECENSIONE INTERA SAGA

Ho visto delle tavole su TikTok e vedendo uno stile molto famigliare, mi son fiondata a leggere, ma forse una ricerchina in più e avrei volentieri evitato di leggerlo (e non solo perchè è il cugino di Vampire Knight senza vampiri).

Seguiamo una protagonista liceale con uno specchio magico appartenuto ad una sua antenata scappata da un regno lontano. Lei ovviamente non sa nulla di tutto questo, quindi quando un bambino di tipo 8 anni le si para davanti con la magia, lei se la ride. Scopre pian piano che è tutto vero e dovrà risolvere la maledizione che affligge il bimbo, che altro non è che il principe dello stesso regno da cui era scappata la sua ava.

Ora attenzione agli spoiler e soprattutto TW PEDOFILIA

La trama super banale e troppo veloce, poi l'arco da maid ce lo potevamo risparmiare così come il fratello maggiore del tipo che va dietro la protagonista o la regina che ha fatto grooming all'assistente del principino. Inoltre, ho capito che in VK c'è il mezzo incesto, ma qui non mi aspettavo la mezza pedofilia della protagonista che si innamora della versione adolescente del principino ma LUI HA OTTO ANNI BROOO. Che schifo raga, davvero un senso di inquietudine per tutto il tempo che lui è in forma bambina e gli dice che lo ama, ma anche tutto il resto del tempo. Big nono

[Wallflower · Rating 1 out of 5]

Eu fiz a péssima escolha de ano passado comprar os 4 volumes de Merupuri por pura e simples nostálgia. E das minhas compras por impulso, essa foi a pior delas. Então estou na saga de relê-lo e colocar 1 estrela, porque não consigo colocar nenhuma.

Nesse lindo volume 3, temos alguns beijos entre o Alam e a Aili. Devo dizer uma garota de 15 anos beijando uma criança de 7! 😧

E descobri recentemente que Merupuri foi indicado no Instagram e por isso tem uma nota tão alta, alguém famoso indicou essa bomba! Hahahaha assim, eu sou contra a queima de livros, mas eu seria a primeira pessoa a jogar esse mangá na fogueira.

Eu estou me questionando porque eu continuo lendo kkkk mas falta só um volume.

E os traços da Hino são tão lindos...

[Jnyama · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series--I think the art is adorable--but the story in this one seemed a little more muddled than some of the others, possibly because of the addition of a bunch of new characters, whose roles/goals weren't totally clear.

[haven ⋄ f (hiatus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I dunno about this one. There was a lot of plot twists that were kind of silly and hastily done. It makes sense, seeing that this is a 4 volume series, but WHY THO.....

Love triangles are everywhere in here. Ugh.

[Carla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Completely rereading the series and it's still good. I would have liked the whole series better if it had gotten quicker to the fantasy land and not had all the high school wanna be drama. But, it's still such a cute read, that I don't mind it too much.

[Seobin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story now takes onto more depth with the arrival of Aram's fiancee. Also, the author deepens the romance between Aram and Airi. The characters are very sweet in this particular volume :)

[Em Mirra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pending.

[Marguerite · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars.

Awwwwww, poor Ari! Hoping that this works out between Ari and Aram before the end (I really think it will!!!) Now to volume 4 :)

[Tanny · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[DonutKnow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aram and Jeile <3
Eeeee, also Jeile and Lei <3 <3

[Malorie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good book

[Jerri Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it

[V.B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely and unexpected!

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has a nice twist to it! This volume is pretty exciting.

[MontseMH · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este tomo es mi favorito de toda la serie, por una escena a doble página que es amor absoluto.

[R · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this story!! Beautiful illustrations and awesome storyline. I love Matsuri Hino! Love the background story and the comics at the end are so funny!!

[ej_bookcorner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this volume more, there's more drama compare to the last two books where its more fun and cute.

[Isabella · Rating 3 out of 5]

ah ye olde amnesia spell

this manga is full of cliché but tbh i'm still enjoying it, it's pretty fun!