Ishihara. Volume 1 Cover Cropped, Prince Freya, Viz Media.
Prince Freya – Information
Author of Story: Keiko Ishihara
Chapter Count: 13 volumes, around 39 chapters
Status: Ongoing
Content Warnings
These content warnings do not reflect the contents of the review below; only the literary work itself.
- Violence, war
- Blood, illness, death
- Sexual themes / mature topics
- SH, SI
- Partial nudity
Spoiler Disclaimer
This recommendation post may contain small plot spoilers for review purposes. Any major spoilers are hidden by default and are able to be revealed via click or tap.
Prince Freya – Plot Summary
Readers looking to scratch their historical fantasy itch should consider reading Prince Freya (also called Itsuwari no Freya in Japanese). This series brings a vibe similar to Yona of the Dawn, with its fantasy lands and imaginative kingdoms finding themselves at war—and having to rely on a young girl to save them all.
The female lead of this series is known as Freya: A young, timid, yet surprisingly athletic girl who lives in a small village within the kingdom of Tyr. The story begins when she receives a visit from her two adoptive brothers, who were saved by Freya and her mother when they were children.
Now adults, these two boys are fighting in their kingdom’s army under the crown prince Edvard. They visit their home village once more, before leaving to fight an important battle against Sigurd, a rival kingdom looking to overtake other lands.
While out and about, Freya overhears information that not only is their prince ill and dying, but the opposing kingdom is looking to take the life of her older brother—who happens to be a very high ranking knight.
She rushes to the kingdom castle to warn him, but runs into an individual who looks like he could be her twin…the prince himself! He begs her to take his place as Prince Edvard for the sake of their kingdom, and Freya agrees.
Thus, the story of Freya’s sudden adventure begins, thrusting her into difficult tasks as she quickly learns to become a brave leader.
Ishihara. Volume 3 Cover, Prince Freya, Viz Media.
Why I Enjoyed Prince Freya
Plot:
I almost always enjoy historical fantasy stories, as something about the way they are written is always fun. The genre often brings an intriguing story alongside a recognizable, intricate art style that has its own flair and characteristics that varies from author to author.
Although the plot of Prince Freya is not entirely unique, I still enjoyed the story regardless and had a hard time putting it down!
I was also a bit surprised by the level of blood or “gore” in this shoujo. Not that I would consider this story a gore or anything, but it does throw in a random handful of darker scenes that stand out among the other fluffy shoujo-esque scenes.
I think these help add a deeper level of seriousness to the story and character developments, rather than just glazing past the truth of war and conflict; however, they are rather infrequent in this series. Additionally, there is a lot of cute fluffy shoujo moments that sort of overshadow these more serious moments.
One major aspect I wanted to talk about was the fact that this manga is actually a reverse harem, meaning the female lead Freya has many suitors throughout the story that fall for her. I typically do not enjoy harems in general as they often feel a bit gimmicky or don’t have a plot outside of the romance.
However, the way the harem is portrayed in Prince Freya felt a bit different—giving each suitor their own spotlight with an appropriate pacing and almost no rivalry between them.
For the most part, I surprisingly enjoyed the variety of male lead characters and how different each one was from the other. This manga doesn’t have a major focus on romance, but does throw it in often enough to keep you a bit interested in that aspect.
I think I would have liked a bit more romance and to learn more about each suitor individually, but so far there has been an uneven amount of focus between them. Hopefully we’ll get to see more in future volumes!
Characters:
I really enjoyed the characters of the Prince Freya manga series, as they all have unique personalities and character designs that stand out from the rest. Freya, although a bit weak and under-qualified for her new position, is a caring person at heart who goes against the idea of “sacrifices must be made for the sake of the kingdom.”
Instead, she values each and every person she meets and their life, even while struggling with her own anger against those who have wronged her. I liked her character a lot, and admired that she became strong in her own way by offering others strength through courage.
Even outside of the romantic suitors, I enjoyed seeing the beautiful relationships Freya builds with others, or the relationships that she witnesses between others. This manga does a nice job of putting importance in relationships that aren’t romantic or even related to the main protagonist.
As for the other main characters, the cast is mostly made up of the suitors. So far, we have somewhere around 2 to 4 main suitors that the story has introduced and indicated some sort of romantic attraction to the FL.
I don’t want to dive into these too much as that’s part of the fun of the story and I don’t want to ruin too much, but I have enjoyed how different each of these suitors and their personalities are. So if you’re interested, thus far we have seen (spoilers ahead):
- A kindhearted, trustworthy suitor
- A shy (almost tsundere) suitor
- A reliable, protective, and sassy suitor
- A confident, arrogant, and wild suitor
Art:
The art style of this series is fantastic. I’ve really enjoyed the variety in terms of character design and how different environments are portrayed throughout the manga. The artist is skilled in creating beautiful outfits and capturing that lovely shoujo style, while bringing in action and adventure scenes that keep things interesting.
I never once felt that the art style was lacking, as the style and level of detail in this series absolutely never disappoints. The cover art for each volume of this manga series is stunning, too.
Ishihara. Volume 8 Cover, Prince Freya, Viz Media.
Any Cons?
I have a few cons for Prince Freya. Although the plot is interesting, the romance is exciting, and the art is lovely…the execution of it all could have been a little more pre-planned.
Not only does this story have a fast pace in terms of events, it sort of introduces new characters and major plot points with a swiftness that leaves you a tad bit confused.
Or perhaps rather than confused, it makes certain events feel a bit less serious or less important than they should have been. It makes some of the supporting relationships feel less “real.” As if Freya is befriending strangers too quickly, haha.
Similarly to the first con, readers may think that the female lead gets character development much too quickly considering how she is portrayed at the very start. I definitely agree; however, I still find the rest of the story worth reading!
Additionally, although I did enjoy this story, it isn’t anything completely new or unique. It has a very similar premise to Yona of the Dawn (which could be a bonus, if you really like that series and want another one very similar to it) and I personally felt the story and events were very predictable.
Conflicts are resolved in almost a fairytale-like manner, combined with the occasional darker backstory or character death.
Lastly, there is some romance suggested between characters who refer to each other as brother and sister, although they are not of blood relation and the story doesn’t really show them acting like siblings in any way. Regardless, this aspect could have easily been left out. You can choose to ignore that part of the story if you’d like, haha. (・_・;)
More In-Depth Review (Warning: Spoilers!)
Prince Freya has been an interesting read so far. I definitely think it is a bit too similar to Yona of the Dawn in terms of its very core plot: A weak “royal” growing as an individual while exploring different kingdoms and uniting them for the sake of the better good, and even finding artifacts of sorts that connects them.
Luckily, the rest of the story seems to deviate from that other work in a variety of ways, such as:
- Containing a harem
- Occasionally portraying a much more dark event or death
- Featuring a gender-bender trope
Because of the cons I’ve listed in this post, I can’t really praise this manga as much as others on my website. It could have been really really great, but unfortunately was lacking in some aspects.
It’s still a good read if you’re looking for a historical fantasy with romance, and there are many readers out there who really like this series—so you may think differently than me, and that’s totally okay!
I find myself looking forward to the romantic content the most, as I think it is the best part of this series. So far, Freya has proven to be not only interested in romantic interaction, but also not completely oblivious to these interactions, which unfortunately was a gripe I had for Yona of the Dawn.
Besides the FL, I have enjoyed seeing the unique character designs of the male leads, and have been pleasantly surprised at the portrayal of the harem.
Although I’m not too keen on the fact that two of the suitors are Freya’s “brothers,” at least they are not blood relatives, and the author has spared us from any weird portrayal of sibling love, lol.
I find it intriguing that the author quickly kills off the first and most likely suitor (Aaron) very, very early in the series. To be honest, I think this was a great choice, as the “kindhearted ML” is too basic for this sort of story, in my opinion.
I think keeping Freya’s options open as she starts a difficult journey and begins to rely on others is a unique and more interesting option in terms of romance.
However, I am a bit surprised that the author hasn’t shown any struggle for Freya in terms of romance, considering she definitely had feelings for Aaron, and watched him die brutally. But that doesn’t seem to have stopped her from enjoying other romantic endeavors. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Then we have Aaron’s younger and slightly insecure brother Aleksi. Readers are able to quickly see Aleksi’s feelings for Freya, although he seems to struggle in making moves in a way that suits Freya’s personality, in my opinion. I think for multiple reasons I’m more inclined to root for Julius, although I typically like tsundere character types like Aleksi more.
I didn’t really like Julius at the start to be honest, but his sassy demeanor and reliability has sort of grown on me.
At first I thought he was much older than Freya (who appears to be 16), but I don’t think that is necessarily the case. He is likely close to Aaron’s age—which, although I don’t remember this being explicitly stated, I don’t think is too much older than Freya.
His design and personality are kind of unique to shoujo, which often takes a softer appearance even for male leads. Although I was sort of suspicious of his character at the beginning, I have really liked seeing him fall for Freya and even befriend Aleksi.
Lastly, we have the young emperor of the Sigurdian empire, Dimitri. He seems like a womanizer, as he quickly became determined to capture Freya and her affection.
Although I don’t think I would root for him unless the author pulled some crazy enemies to lovers situation, I am still very excited to see how his previous meetings with “Freya” will affect his first meeting with “Prince Edvard.”
I think his character will actually be very interesting in terms of the conflict between the different kingdoms, as he seems to have differing opinions than the previous ruler and other important nobles.
Even though he seems irresponsible and reckless, he also seems to value change for the empire and may turn out to be a valuable individual for Freya’s journey. It is hard to tell if he is power hungry, or just determined to improve the state of the empire for good. I guess we’ll find out later as more volumes of Prince Freya are released!
I’m especially excited for future meetings with this character as it may allow Freya’s crossdressing to actually serve a role in the story. So far, it simply has allowed her to take the role of an important individual—but has not served any significance outside of that.
So…that wraps up my thoughts of the romance in this manga so far! (´｡• ᵕ •｡`) ♡
Final Thoughts
Prince Freya is a manga series that offers an interesting plot, great art style, and unique characters that can keep you hooked and may satisfy your craving for another fun historical fantasy.
With 10 volumes so far there is plenty of content you can jump into! I am looking forward to seeing how this manga series continues, and hope to see more romance and content involving the harem!
Disclaimer: Any images used for this blog are for illustrative purposes only, are not owned by me, and are under ownership of the artist or publisher.
Images Credit: Ishihara, Keiko. Prince Freya, Viz Media, 2020.
