The Water Dragon's Bride, Vol. 11

水神の生贄 [Suijin no Hanayome] #11

by Rei Tōma

A modern-day girl gets whisked away to a strange land where she is sacrificed to a water dragon god!

In the blink of an eye, a modern-day girl named Asahi is whisked away from her warm and happy home and stranded in a strange and mysterious world where she meets a water dragon god!

Facing the gravity of his impending demise, the water dragon god vows that he will send Asahi back to her world before all his power disappears. As Asahi struggles to find a way to stay with him, she can’t deny that the day when they must part is coming. Is it truly the end for these two star-crossed lovers?

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

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 25, 2019

About the author

Rei Tōma (Japanese: 藤間 麗,Tōma Rei) has been drawing since childhood, but she only began drawing manga because of her graduation project in design school. When she drew a short-story manga, "Help me dentist" (ヘルプ me デンティスト), it attracted a publisher's attention and she made her debut right away. Her magnificent art style became popular, and after she debuted as a manga artist, she became known as an illustrator for novels and video game character designs.

Dawn of the Arcana is her first long-running manga series, and it has been a hit in Japan, selling over a million copies.

Reviews

[Dani ❤️ Perspective of a Writer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Asahi was a little girl happily living with her parents in modern times until she's pulled through a pond and wakes up in feudal Japan. It's now been some years and Asahi has grown into a lovely young woman under the protection of the local water dragon god, the young man she befriended whose village she lives in, Subaru and Tsukihiko, the priest teaching her the duties of a priestess.

Asahi was a joy to follow as she befriended different men in the past. It was obvious to us who she had feelings for but they had to feel their way along and realize for themselves where their feelings lay. I loved how she would teach the water dragon god how to be human. The series has been a joy to read.

This volume counts down the time our heroine and god have together. There are a couple ways their parting can happen. Subaru doesn’t like the way Asahi plans on leaving, so he joins up with an unexpected person to stop her. He also finally does something about his long held feelings for a certain someone. I also loved the role the other gods play in Asahi and water dragon god’s love story!

The only pause I have was the final chapter where certain things weren’t resolved. I really wanted to know the water dragon god’s name! I also wanted to see how he would look in the modern world. This was laziness on the mangaka’s part. As it is it’s a little creepy the way the chapter ends. We needed a touch more resolution.

The Water Dragon’s Bride vol 11 is the final volume of this adorable historical fantasy manga series. The art has been fantastic! We fell in love with Asahi when she was a little girl, and delighted when feelings formed with the water dragon god. If you missed this series you need to pick it up ASAP!

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5
This was a nice little series: great art, touching story, cute characters.

I have to laugh that even when I pick out a random shoujo I still end up with an isekai though. 😅 I seriously can't escape them.

[Selena Pigoni · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume answers a few questions, but I wish it was just a little longer. Not because the ending felt rushed or anything. More because I don't want to say goodbye to the characters yet. I want an epilogue.

[Victoria ✮⋆˙ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goodreads deleted the last 2 of this from my shelves and idk whY!! so adding now for 2019!

[Alice4170 🌙 · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 ⭐️
Amazing conclusion to the series!!!

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️

Made me cry...

Also, I can’t stop thinking about Subaru. I think he was my favorite character.

[Erica Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say about this series? It was just an all around amazing series. I loved the whole concept of the story. I loved Asahi and the water god. They had such amazing chemistry, even though they fought their feelings for a very long time. It was the perfect slow burn romance. I hate that's it over and I'm dying to own this series. I highly recommend this one.

[🌟Star🌟 · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last volume! I read it in a blink it seemed so short! The conclusion was satisfying and it actually explained a lot. I’m gonna miss this series.

[Lex · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's sad that it's finally completed. :( I want to see more of Suijin-sama being cute <3

[Michal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sad this series is over 😭

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely end to the series - I'm a sucker for a cyclical story in the exact way this one was.

[Jillian -always aspiring- · Rating 3 out of 5]

AHHH that was wonderful! Now I need to reread all the volumes! Maybe that will be a project I will tackle in January 2020...

[DonutKnow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aww I thought Kogahiko would feature more as a love interest. It’s a happy-sad ending 🥺 I wish Subaru has a alternate ending ❤️

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series was enjoyable enough to read and didn't do anything to piss me off which was a pleasant surprise but it wasn't anything super memorable and this was a disappointing ending. Before this volume I would have given the series 3.5 stars but now it would be more like 3 stars as the ending landed very flat and abruptly with a lot of things left unanswered and there were no consequences Why bother spending volumes going on about the water dragon dying when he just goes to Asahi's world, waits for her to arrive back, and seems to be doing perfectly fine? Also I didn't like the whole time travel bit at the ending with the water dragon god as it seemed unnecessary and just caused more questions which weren't explained or answered

[StrawberryShojo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall, I give this story 2 stars. It hardly compares to Rei Toma's previous work, Dawn of the Arcana, but I did enjoy reading about Asahi. I do highly recommend you read Rei Toma's other work though as it has far more interesting characters and world-building. This last volume of The Water Dragon's Bride concludes the story and wraps up all of the character's storylines. Unfortunately, it mostly focuses on the water dragon god and Asahi finding a way to stay connected to one another, and it seems to completely forget about Subaru and Tsukihiko. It's too bad really since I found both of them to be far more interesting than the water dragon god.

[Lauren Schnoebelen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75⭐️

The water dragon god is losing his powers which means there’s limited time to get Asahi back to her world. This last volume wraps up the story really nicely where she goes around doing the last few things she can to really appreciate the other world she spent so long in. It was very sweet and the ending was cute but there were many pages without text. I think there could have been some more moments between characters that could have happened then but the author did what they thought best. I enjoyed this but t probably would have been a higher rating for me if I read it closer to the time of the rest of the series (the author even suggests to do a reread before finishing). Either way, I’m happy with the ending and I’m happy I read the series.

[JaysBookiverse · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great way to wrap up this series! I absolutely loved the world and the beautiful characters that Toma created! I am super excited to read more of her work!! I would highly recommend this series!!!

[Dorcas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally, the end. It's a pretty satisfying ending. Not going to lie, it made me shed a couple tears. Reminds me of a drama. The chill zones were also cute takes in between all the drama.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of confused by the ending, but I'm still sad about it. I might have to reread this series some day.

[Khari · Rating 5 out of 5]

良かった！！！ハッピーエンディングでよかった！

薄悲劇ではなくて、ちゃんとよいエンディング！

スバルはちょっぴりかわいそうが水神様もアサヒも黒瀬も素敵な未来があると思う。やった！私のいやな予感は外れだった。

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

everything I wanted and more <3

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, I enjoyed this series. I definitely enjoyed the second half of the series more than the beginning. The ending felt a little rushed and I think it would've been fun to see the water dragon god in Asahi's world, but I still enjoyed it a lot.

[Patty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this series!! I wanted a little more from the ending though :(

[Hisgirl85 · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars. Nice ending to the series

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review will contain spoilers for the final volume.

I've read and completed all of The Water Dragon's Bride volumes aside from volume nine, which did not arrive at the library in time before the tenth volume, but the series is completed nonetheless.

The Water God's powers are weakening, so he decides to send Asahi home to the human world after they spend what time they have together left. Subaru tells Asahi he loves her, and Asahi leaves Subaru standing there in the rain, smiling. I did not like this. Asahi could have given him an answer. His declaration was very sincere and heartfelt.

Asahi goes to the Water Dragon God and tells him she loves him. Why did it take Asahi having someone else tell her they love her for her to realize her feelings? When did she come to this conclusion? It just seemed really forced and tacked on at the last second.

It is time to send Asahi home. She wants to willingly sacrifice herself and be devoured by the Water Dragon God, dying together in the process. This is a choice she makes, but Subaru intervenes and pushes Asahi into the lake, sending Asahi back home. I would have preferred an ending where they dissolved together or she makes her own choice, instead of someone else making that decision for her.

The Water Dragon God dissolves in the lake as he and Asahi embrace one last time, and Asahi resumes her normal life in the human world. Asahi is kneeling by the pond in the backyard that led to the start of her journey, and she and the Water Dragon God link hands after Asahi dips her hand into the water.

The ending felt like a cop-out to me. It felt like the ending of Inuyasha. I wish for once when an occurrence happens like this that the person would learn to live without their significant other. How did that even happen? Because the author wanted it to? How would Asahi even become his bride?

I did not enjoy this volume at all. I did not like some of the characters' actions or choices, and I thought the ending was too rushed and done in an attempt to wrap things up with a decorative bow. I read it to see the ending, but did not approve of it.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The twist at the end is not what I'm expecting. There are some typical troupes for gods and goddesses manga, this series did those things on point, but the ending is kinda bittersweet and totally worth it. 3.75 stars for the whole series! and this series just made me wanna re-read kamisama kiss.

[Doc · Rating 5 out of 5]

All good things come to an end

With the reality of his powers continuing to weaken the water dragon god knows his time with Asahi is ever limited and reminds her of this allowing her to say her goodbyes this time and make some memories before she has to return to her world. However will she choose to return or will she take drastic measures to make a last ditch effort for the person she has learned to love? It all ends here folks as decisions are made and destiny is set in stone for two lovers from different worlds.

All in all I really enjoyed this series. It was a wee bit creepy with Asahi being a child when she was pulled into her pool and sacrificed to the water dragon god in the beginning considering the name of the story but under his restless gaze and interactions with others she grew into a fine woman long before the water dragon god even began realizing he had feelings for her as well. The ending is a bit sudden but I was still happy to see things work out without to many sorrows (stay out of this god of darkness.) :)

[Ruthsic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Knowing that this was going to be the final volume, I was most interested in how it would end - with the Water Dragon's existence relying on Asahi's life, it was obvious what the choice would be, so I was preparing for a bittersweet ending. The volume focuses on goodbyes - Asahi is leaving to go back to her world, and she is making her time with the people in this past world count. There are also some love confessions, as expected when one is to part. The conclusions for some secondary characters was also done. As for the actual ending to the Water Dragon's story, it took an interesting route, I must say! And it kinda ends on an open note with possibilities of more stories, but as a conclusion to the series it works quite well. So overall, yeah, it was a good ending, very heartfelt and the Chill Zone at the end was also quite hilarious!

Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review from Viz Media LLC, via Edelweiss.

[haven ⋄ f (hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Subaru will always be my favorite. I’m going to miss him a ton. He made a ton of hard decisions. I’m so proud of him.

Seeing from the water dragon’s side is really cool. It explains everything.

I feel like everything was slow but it went by so fast because of the excellent paneling and pacing. I thought I wouldn’t root for her and the water dragon but I really did in the last few volumes. I did want Subaru/Asashi. It works out though. Solid ending.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

For the series overall: this is quality work. I love Rei Toma's artwork and her stories are well plotted and paced. I'm not sure that I loved the ending of this series, but I loved the series as a whole.