Review: Selfish Mr. Mermaid volume 2 (of 2) by Nabaka Kamo
[Aka: Wagamana na
Ningyosama]
This is a series of short vignettes following characters and set up from the first volume.
First of we have the continuing love story of the clam who became human because he fell in love with merman Haru. This is definitely the main reason to read this series, the clam story arc and artwork are both so damn cute!!! Pito (uke), the clam boy has no voice and just like the little mermaid faces a cold lover (seme) who cannot understand him. Haru tells him of this mystical aquamarine and Pito goes in search of it in the hopes to make his beloved happy.
We meet a couple of new characters in the next story: Lord Amur and his beautiful servant Meiki. Lord Amur is arrogant, over-sexed and bored. We meet him in the previous story where he's seen Pito in his crystal ball and wants to add him to his harem. Pito refuses. No Amur has realised that he's in love with his servant, the only man to refuse him. He gives up drinking and smoking and even ditches his harem to prove his sincerity and eventually Meiki succumbs. Amur is probably my favourite character in the whole series, he's just such a charming bastard! The artwork on him is quite nice as well, with his flowing black hair and gypsy like earrings and headscarf. Total hedonist. Meiki knows just how to handle Amur however and will only sleep with him out of hours - ie: when he's not working, keeping his 2 personas (servant and lover) separate, much to Amur's annoyance.
In the third story we see the results of Amur's dissatisfaction.Totally bored, what with Meiki working, and having given up all of his vices, Amur remembers Pito and decides to stir up a little trouble. Pito is with Kanan, the two uke's now firm friends, whilst Kaioh and Haru give each other death stares in the background. Amur creates a whirlpool and transports Kaioh, Haru and Kanan into the middle of the desert, leaving the poor clam boy all alone. He tells Amur he hates him and runs off to try and find his friends, leaving Amur annoyed that he's not getting enough fun.
The two mermen do not fair well in the desert. Kaioh collapses and Kanan saves him by soaking his shirt in an oasis and bringing back water. Revived they head home. Meanwhile Amur causes more mischief by burying Pito under a rockfall. He demands Haru beg for his lover's life. Haru is just about to humble himself when Kaioh smashes the rocks and rescues Pito, to Haru's eternal gratitude. Everybody returns home to jump into bed with their respective lovers and live happily ever after.
There's a tiny bonus story about a merman called Izumi who hasn't been able to reveal the fact that he's a merman to his human lover. The twist is that Sota already suspected and was just waiting for Izumi to tell him.
I much preferred this volume to the first. There's far more going on - lots of different stories and characters, and I must say that I also thought that the artwork was better too, more detailed. We get some larger than life characters, especially Lord Amur and the canny Meiki. I was pleased that the action moved away from Kanan and Kaioh, although there are still many scenes with them in - the scene where Kanan saves his lover by bringing him water is particularly nice. Also loved the comic interaction between rivals Haru and Kaioh.
This still lacks mer content however. No tails and no particular reason that this could be set on dry land. I can find any scans of this one online, but hard copies are available from Jun Manga.
verdict: 4/10
I love it when I find mermaids in unexpected places and that's certainly true here. I was reading this series because I'm a fan of the artist Sanami Matoh (yaoi series Fake) and I had no idea that it featured a mermaid at all... and a kappa (Japanese water sprite) in volume 1 as well, so that was a nice bonus.
Sango packs the item water tight and then swims the channel
to the destination, getting it there safely. He returns and passes out at the
president’s feet. He wakes naked, in the president’s bed. Minami asks him how
he achieved the impossible. If a mer-person tells a lie they turn into bubbles
and die. Sango has no choice but to reveal that he is a merman – and shows his
fishtail. [We don’t see how he suddenly manifests his tail, but I’ll give this
the benefit of the doubt and say he pours a glass of water by the bedside onto
his legs]. Minami is both stunned and aroused, never having seen anything so
beautiful. 
He dries out and is hugely embarrassed to be completely naked... and human, before Minami! Minami wastes no time in seducing the super cute merman. Afterwards, his girlfriend turns up. Minami breaks up with her, but Sango knows that if Minami stays with him, he will never have a normal life and family. He lies and tells Minami he doesn't love him and then goes to the seashore to await the sunrise and his metamorphosis into bubbles. Minami finds him and says that he will never let him go. Sango remains as he is, true lover conquering all... and they live happily ever after.
Back to our merman story...
Timid crybaby Kanan (Uke) comes home from work to find his bathroom flooded by the flat upstairs. Going upstairs to investigate he finds a male mermaid asleep in the bathtub. Kaioh (Seme) is the son of the king of the sea and is currently living on land to better interact with humans. As soon as he meets Kanan he decides to move in with him since the downstairs flat has a bigger bathtub! The pair become lovers and after an idyllic honeymoon period mostly spent in bed, Kaioh has to return home for his father's birthday and takes Kanan with him.
Haru, the boy Kaioh bullied as a child sees how attached the prince is to his cute human lover. He kidnaps Kanan and forces Kaioh to fight him a a duel. He fights dirty and tricks Kaioh into leaping into the water to rescue Kanan, and has a giant clam ready to ensnare his tormentor. Kaioh has true love on his side and escapes the clam. He's about to kill Haru, but Kanan pleads for mercy and Kaioh indulges him. Kaioh rescues Kanan and drags him off to bed to be ravished happily ever after....
Things/innovations that I did like: Mermaids tears turn into pearls which they sell in order to make money. A bathtub can be used as portal between the underwater world and our own - they jump into the bathtub to get to the undersea kingdom and we imagine that's how Kaioh arrived as well. There's also a nice nod to "Mermaid Forest" when Kaioh teases Kanan that a human can obtain eternal youth an immortality by consuming mermaid flesh.
