Bride Of The Water God

Bride of the Water God is a manga that focuses around the legend of a water god and a village sacrificing a young woman to become his bride.

Soah's village is suffering from a severe drought.  In order to appease the water god, the village needs to sacrifice the most beautiful woman; Soah.  Soah expects to die by his hand, but instead Habaek takes her to his Kingdom.  Now she must learn to live in a strange new world, but she gets caught up in the mystery that surrounds Habaek.  In the meantime she meets and falls in love with Mui, who is unknown to her, the true form of Habaek.

This series tells it's story through 23 volumes.  The artwork throughout the series is beautiful.  Each scene is detailed and intricate.  Readers can see the time and effort that went into these drawings.  They are breathtaking, I would want to use one as pictures throughout my home.  I was initially drawn to the artwork of this manga, and then drawn into the story.

It seems to be a simple story, but it is compelling at the same time.  We watch as Soah learns to adapt to her new surrounding and learns a new way of life.  Everyone else in the castle seem to do everything for her, so one wonders what is left for her to do.  I enjoyed the sense that this manga was steeped in folklore surround the water god and the possible curse upon him where he is weakened during the day.  I made me want to learn more about the Japanese legends and folklore.

I recommend this manga to anyone who enjoys reading this type of book.  It is a good story with beautiful artwork.  I give the manga a 4 out of 5 because at times it felt like the same picture was used multiple times and the story could have had a little more to it.