ストレンジドラゴン

STRANGE DRAGON

Fantasy

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
3
RELEASE
February 24, 2015
CHAPTERS
14

DESCRIPTION

Many years ago, a dragon descended from the sky to protect the country's king. Hihana, a princess, embarks on an adventure to search for the dragon. She saves a boy with a rare but real dragon scale. Does he know something...?

Included one-shots: Ryuuguu Fantasitca (Dragon Castle Fantastica), Hyouketsu Kismet

CAST

Isara

CHAPTERS

REVIEWS

RoseFaerie
73/100
Strange Dragon may have pretty art, but there isn't much breathing room or characterization.
I spontaneously read this manga, so I'm going to just try and churn out a review! I think at this rate I will be a major source of shoujo manga reviews. I'm realizing I review almost everything I read. It's just fun to write out my feelings on various series, especially those without reviews. I feel so responsible when I do that.

Strange Dragon begins with Princess Hibana, who was supposed to take the throne when she came of age. However, her uncle, who was serving as regent, is attempting to depose her. It's fairly easy work, since her mother was a foreigner, and she doesn't look as similar to the royal family as hoped. Hibana takes it upon herself to find the dragons of legend, who are supposed to protect the king. (As I'm writing this I'm realizing just how suspiciously similar this is to Yona of the Dawn... Anyways, all she finds is a young boy with a dragon scale, and he takes her to his "master", Isara.

I am familiar with the mangaka Keiko Ishihara. It's surprising that it took me a bit to realize she wrote it, especially since I own her current series, Prince Freya (incidentally I am apparently the only person at Barnes & Nobel who buys it, according to my cashier). Her series have this weird vibe, where there's a lot of action and plot stuff going on, without much room for the characters to breathe and develop different dynamics. I am Prince Freya to be better in this regard than Strange Dragon.

It's just so fast paced. The whole "find a dragon and get back the kingdom" plot gets resolved within the first volume (technically within the first three chapters, since there are two oneshots in this volume. Each volume is its' own plot and arc, like the author was anticipating her series being axed any volume now. I think it would have been better were it spread out a bit.

Hibana is an interesting character. She's empathetic and determined with a strong sense of justice. However, she's inexperienced and needs to be rescued. She talks about getting stronger, but I don't remember her really doing anything to back up her claims. I did like her, though. Isara was cool, but he wasn't particularly interesting. I liked their bond as two people who don't fit in and are rejected from their positions, but they didn't have much chemistry. It was a bit difficult for me to understand why the two of them fell for each other. The side characters were ultimately unmemorable. I only remember Mami having a personality.

The art was gorgeous. The reason I was able to connect the series to Keiko Ishihara was the way Hibana was drawn. She reminded me of Freya, and of course I went to Anilist to see if they were by the same mangaka. The character designs are beautiful, and I think I gave the series extra points for the art.

Anyways, Yona of the Dawn did the whole first and second arcs already and it did them better. I almost turned this review in a compare and contrast thing, and now I'm viewing Strange Dragon in a harsher light than I did initially. Fortunately, I was able to restrain myself, and I was able to review Strange Dragon in a more objective light. I think if you want a short fantasy manga with pretty art, give this a shot, but there are far better fantasy adventure shoujo out there.
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