Nina the Starry Bride Volume 2 Review

Back in January, I reviewed the first volume of the josei series Nina the Starry Bride. With its anime debut in the Autumn 2024 season fast approaching, what better time to return and check out another instalment?

As we reunite with our heroine Nina, we find her dedicating herself to etiquette training in preparation for her marriage to the crown prince of Galgada. At the end of Volume 1, she finally finds her resolve to be a lifelong stand-in for Princess Alisha after Azure promises not to let “Nina” be forgotten and to call her by that name when they’re alone together. But now that Azure is no longer someone Nina hates, she’s beginning to wonder what he truly thinks of her and being alone with him causes her heart to mysteriously skip a beat…

However, while Nina is happily learning how to fill her role, Azure is dealing with daily assassination attempts. While his guards urge him to do something, Azure simply waves it off as being prepared to meet his end if that’s the “will of the people”. Nina happens to overhear one of these conversations and gets mad at Azure before running off to the former king’s villa, hoping that she may be able to step in and protect Azure from harm.

Of course, Nina is in such a rush that she hasn’t thought this plan through and upon arrival she ends up being taken prisoner when it’s discovered she’s not Alisha. But there’s still hope for her when the former king takes a liking to her and informs Nina that if she wishes to protect Azure, the role of Alisha gives her the ability to do so. However, she’ll have to figure out what his words mean by that on her own as he refuses to give her more clues.

On the whole, this volume is packed with interesting twists and turns that build on the strong set-up of Volume 1. Not only do we get to meet the former king, but we also learn that Azure, just like Alisha, is a body double for a dead member of royalty. This explains his stoic nature as well as why he was so eager to use Nina as a double for Alisha as he’s familiar with the idea himself. This in turn gives the two an incredibly strong bond, as they’re in very similar circumstances and he understands her desire not to lose her former identity.

I also appreciate that while neither of these characters can put a name to the emotions they feel toward one another yet, mangaka Rikachi has been very clear in showing the audience that they’re in love. Despite the awkward circumstances they find themselves in, they’ll stop at nothing to protect each other. Even if that means they can’t be in a romantic relationship of any kind.

Wishing to protect each other leads to some difficult decisions being made at the end of this book, which drives the story forward in ways that will be interesting to watch play out. That’s another thing I appreciate about Nina the Starry Bride: the fact it doesn’t rest for long and continues to move the plot along at a steady pace. It appeals to a fairly wide audience too, as the romance is deep enough to get invested in on its own but there’s also a great deal of political intrigue here if that’s more your thing. You can certainly see why this one has become so popular in Japan.

Nina the Starry Bride Volume 2 comes to the West thanks to Kodansha and continues to be translated by Steven LeCroy with lettering by Nicole Roderick (the digital edition is lettered by Andrew Copeland). Like Volume 1, this instalment reads well with no issues although there are no translation notes or other extras to speak of.

Volume 3 of the series is already available in print with #4 following later this month. If you’re looking to pick this up digitally then Kodansha has just released Volume 12, which is only a single book behind Japan’s releases at this point.

Overall, Nina the Starry Bride Volume 2 successfully offers us more development for Azure while laying the groundwork for some interesting events to come soon. In many ways, this is an improvement on the first book and proves a compelling read.

Our review copy from Kodansha was supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.