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A Sinner of the Deep Sea #1
A Sinner of the Deep Sea, Vol. 1
The ocean covers about 70 percent of the earth’s surface―a whole world, yet unknown to humanity…and in its depths a nation, thousands of meters beneath the waves. There, the mermaid Jo has been whiling away her days in peace. But that tranquility is shattered when her friend Ryuu is imprisoned for breaking the gravest of undersea laws: Their existence must be kept hidden from the people above. But why would Ryuu let the secret slip? And who did she tell? The curtain rises on Jo’s adventure to save her friend―and on a story of love…?!
178 pages, Paperback
First published June 18, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 31, 2024
I really enjoyed this. Love Jo as a character and excited to see where volume 2 goes.
June 28, 2024
Jo is a free-spirited mermaid who does her own thing, which would probably cause more trouble except her friend Ryuu is there to save her. Until Ryuu does something truly heinous, revealing herself to a human, and Jo is forced to pick up the pieces.
It might have seemed a bit much having two mermaid books come out in a week, but this one and This Monster Wants to Eat Me achieve a happy coexistence by virtue of being nothing alike.
The other title is firmly occupying the horror mermaid space, while this one is a more adult fairy tale sort of thing that makes a heck of an impression right out of the gate.
First off, Jo is great. Beyond the clear love the mangaka has for depicting the female form (this is a book that loooooves hips), she has such a stubborn and steadfast attitude, especially towards Ryuu, that she’s a winning character.
By the time the book ends, you can see that this is going to be a real test of friendship (Jo already wins for sticking by Ryuu), that may become even more of a test than either of them realizes. Hopefully.
Really it’s a lot of scene setting to start, but it’s very engaging scene setting. As somebody who is firmly neutral on the subject of merfolk, both these new manga use that legend to excellent effect.
A lot of the stuff in the merfolk world here could seem incredibly hokey, but it’s well realized and it’s obvious that some genuine thought has been put into it. You could probably write an entire review breaking down how the standard of fashion works in this realm. It’s fascinating stuff.
There’s an elegance here to how it introduces these characters through their actions and we learn about them before they rapidly change. Ryuu is a famous dancer who is self-admittedly sleeping her way to the top, but her encounter with the human world turns her entire life on its head.
And what we see of the human world is really neatly imparted. Just enough to set the time and place and move on, while also allowing for the requisite bikinis such a setting requires.
Yuki, the human Ryuu falls for, isn’t precisely what you’d think of when you imagine a guy who’d capture a mermaids heart, but he’s a lot more interesting because of that fact. He’s a dork for undersea creatures who hates being on the ocean, plus he has a sister and brother-in-law to bounce off. It’s a good establishment of his character.
This pretty much works the whole way through, from Jo’s elegant opening sequence to the rapid escalation of stakes towards the end that promises more trouble for all concerned as the tide (cough) of public opinion shows how fickle people are and who’s actually your true friend.
4 stars - a very strong start that promises good things ahead. The rare case where two very similar books went head to head and I think both of them have a lot to recommend them.
It might have seemed a bit much having two mermaid books come out in a week, but this one and This Monster Wants to Eat Me achieve a happy coexistence by virtue of being nothing alike.
The other title is firmly occupying the horror mermaid space, while this one is a more adult fairy tale sort of thing that makes a heck of an impression right out of the gate.
First off, Jo is great. Beyond the clear love the mangaka has for depicting the female form (this is a book that loooooves hips), she has such a stubborn and steadfast attitude, especially towards Ryuu, that she’s a winning character.
By the time the book ends, you can see that this is going to be a real test of friendship (Jo already wins for sticking by Ryuu), that may become even more of a test than either of them realizes. Hopefully.
Really it’s a lot of scene setting to start, but it’s very engaging scene setting. As somebody who is firmly neutral on the subject of merfolk, both these new manga use that legend to excellent effect.
A lot of the stuff in the merfolk world here could seem incredibly hokey, but it’s well realized and it’s obvious that some genuine thought has been put into it. You could probably write an entire review breaking down how the standard of fashion works in this realm. It’s fascinating stuff.
There’s an elegance here to how it introduces these characters through their actions and we learn about them before they rapidly change. Ryuu is a famous dancer who is self-admittedly sleeping her way to the top, but her encounter with the human world turns her entire life on its head.
And what we see of the human world is really neatly imparted. Just enough to set the time and place and move on, while also allowing for the requisite bikinis such a setting requires.
Yuki, the human Ryuu falls for, isn’t precisely what you’d think of when you imagine a guy who’d capture a mermaids heart, but he’s a lot more interesting because of that fact. He’s a dork for undersea creatures who hates being on the ocean, plus he has a sister and brother-in-law to bounce off. It’s a good establishment of his character.
This pretty much works the whole way through, from Jo’s elegant opening sequence to the rapid escalation of stakes towards the end that promises more trouble for all concerned as the tide (cough) of public opinion shows how fickle people are and who’s actually your true friend.
4 stars - a very strong start that promises good things ahead. The rare case where two very similar books went head to head and I think both of them have a lot to recommend them.
June 10, 2024
Thanks Edelweiss for the ARC. This was a great! I can't wait to purchase it for my library and recommend to my patrons. I loved it and I think they will too! I enjoyed the plot and can't wait to see where the next volume takes me!
You never know what is going to be found in the depths of the ocean and when a mermaid falls for a human, her friend Jo, must find a way to help her escape. The number one rule in the sea is to keep humans from discovering that mermaids exist and Ryuu just broke it.
You never know what is going to be found in the depths of the ocean and when a mermaid falls for a human, her friend Jo, must find a way to help her escape. The number one rule in the sea is to keep humans from discovering that mermaids exist and Ryuu just broke it.
July 31, 2024
Surprisingly there's still not that many mermaid themed mangas out there - Recently we've had In the name of the Mermaid Princess, but otherwise we're reaching back to Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi or Moonchild (I'm exlcuding all the one-shots and yaoi titles) but for actual, fish tailed mermaids, the pickings are quite scarce, so I was delighted when I saw this in Forbidden Planet.
The story follows sarcastic mermaid Jo who discovers that her flighty best friend has fallen in love with a human and risks exposing the mermaid community.
What I really liked about this were the mermaids - Jo and Ryuu are mermaids with attitude - hard drinking, sarcastic and they seem like real women, as opposed to fairytale constructs. Supporting cast are solid too - Yuki the love interest isn't your usual pretty boy, he's geeky with floppy hair and glasses. We get a decent amount of background on him, with his sister and adventurous brother-in law. Loved the snooty waiter in the mermaid restarant too.
I like the story so far too. Its refreshing that it's not the protagonist who has fallen for a human but her best friend. So we get an extra friendship theme dynamic.
Artwork isn't bad, its not beautiful, but it reminded me a lot of manga in days gone by. The opening with the whale for example reminded me of Tezuka's Triton and there's a nice nostalgic feel about this, which contrasts with the unusually realistic characters, and level of detail.
From a massive mermaid fan POV, there's also plenty of mermaid action. Its nearly all set underwater so there's lots of tails, swimming and underwater city worldbuilding.
Have to say I was pretty impressed with this one.
The story follows sarcastic mermaid Jo who discovers that her flighty best friend has fallen in love with a human and risks exposing the mermaid community.
What I really liked about this were the mermaids - Jo and Ryuu are mermaids with attitude - hard drinking, sarcastic and they seem like real women, as opposed to fairytale constructs. Supporting cast are solid too - Yuki the love interest isn't your usual pretty boy, he's geeky with floppy hair and glasses. We get a decent amount of background on him, with his sister and adventurous brother-in law. Loved the snooty waiter in the mermaid restarant too.
I like the story so far too. Its refreshing that it's not the protagonist who has fallen for a human but her best friend. So we get an extra friendship theme dynamic.
Artwork isn't bad, its not beautiful, but it reminded me a lot of manga in days gone by. The opening with the whale for example reminded me of Tezuka's Triton and there's a nice nostalgic feel about this, which contrasts with the unusually realistic characters, and level of detail.
From a massive mermaid fan POV, there's also plenty of mermaid action. Its nearly all set underwater so there's lots of tails, swimming and underwater city worldbuilding.
Have to say I was pretty impressed with this one.
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July 1, 2024The fan service I could have done without - we don’t need multiple close up frames of her chest and hips as character setup.
However, I frothed (like sea foam) the scenes of Jo as a tiny character in the vastness of the space. They were big moments of quiet, like Miyazaki’s ‘ma,’ that gave you an idea of who Jo is in her environment, her joy and sense of play, without necessarily moving the plot forward. I felt this especially in her swim with the whales and the enormity of the ocean that echoed across the page in large frames, juxtaposed by the restaurant scene, that bulged out in a clamour of crowd and clanking plates where her smallness wasn’t freedom and she didn’t quite fit.
One volume wasn’t enough to have me fully invested in their motivations, but definitely intrigued in their future character choices.
However, I frothed (like sea foam) the scenes of Jo as a tiny character in the vastness of the space. They were big moments of quiet, like Miyazaki’s ‘ma,’ that gave you an idea of who Jo is in her environment, her joy and sense of play, without necessarily moving the plot forward. I felt this especially in her swim with the whales and the enormity of the ocean that echoed across the page in large frames, juxtaposed by the restaurant scene, that bulged out in a clamour of crowd and clanking plates where her smallness wasn’t freedom and she didn’t quite fit.
One volume wasn’t enough to have me fully invested in their motivations, but definitely intrigued in their future character choices.
June 16, 2024
What if the Little Mermaid was a serial dater and had a close friend who had to deal with the fallout of her ill-advised love affair with a human? Add in art that's reminiscent of Kaoru Mori's and this is looking like a winner. (I also love the worldbuilding which extends even to the clothing - for a merperson to be dressed, their chest and the place where fins meet human torso must be covered, regardless of gender.)
June 30, 2024
The artwork was beautiful, even with some scenes drawn more gratuitously than necessary. I wish the plot had kept up, but who knows, we’ll see what happens in the next volume!
July 14, 2024
off to a good start! excited to see where this manga goes from here with the next volume. hoping for more content between ryuu and jo!
July 23, 2024
I wanted to like this more than I did, to be honest. The art was nice, until it decided with each female character to do a boob shot, and often a 'thigh' shot as well, as if that was needed at all. I just didn't find the story compelling. Jo's friend Ryuu is a serial dater, and described to be a gold digger. She falls in love with a human despite being implied to have only met him once. Jo clearly disapproves, but promises that she'll get Ryuu out of prison to see this man? I wanted to know more about the mermaid society, as there were glimmers of interesting background and characters. It just felt kind of empty, with no particular depth to it.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews