Review:’Mermaid Saga’ Collector’s Edition, Vol. 1 is A Supernatural Thrill

Once again, I remind you all that this is a golden time for manga lovers. The reprinting of the legendary Rumiko Takahashi classics is only one reason to celebrate! As I mentioned in my review of Maison Ikkoku, I’d read some of her work earlier. Like, way back in the day, Ranma One-Half and Mermaid Saga. Before Inuyasha even came on the scene. I actually still have some of those issues: randomly found issues in the comic book style floppies of those manga series that were pubbed in the ’90s. I loved those stories. I mean, I couldn’t make much sense of them since I was reading the issues out of order, but I loved the fantasy elements in them. The way magic was woven through the pages. In Mermaid Saga, there was definitely a supernatural aspect in the storytelling along with an element of darkness that I remember vividly.

The manga follows Yuta, who became immortal when he unwittingly ate mermaid flesh, and now he seeks a way to become human again. He longs to have a normal life once again where he can one day, die. The world keeps changing and everything and everyone he once knew is mostly gone. His will keeps him sane while he follows rumors and truth to achieving his goal. Hundreds of years later, he encounters a determined and quite volatile young lady named Mana. Her mysterious origins lead him deeper down a rabbit hole that the mermaid myth has roots in several places in Japan and he’s nowhere closer to saving his humanity. Balancing the horror and romance genres ne…