(SPOILER WARNING! START)
We start off with Asahi getting spirited away into her pond, soon being released into a lake in the middle of a forest. She wanders around for a bit to try and make her way home but becomes lost and are found by two kids, Subaru and Shina. With Asahi's strange hair and eye colour, Shina automatically dislikes her but Subaru is willing to help her and brings her home. His parents say they will treat her like a daughter and soon enough Subaru's mother is sacrificing Asahi to the Water God as a bride despite her age of being around five. Subaru wasn't aware this was her plan and was horrified to find out what was happening but it was too late, she was thrown into the lake. Subaru ends up distrusting and resenting his mother from then on. Truthfully, she reminds me of Nadia from Red River by Shinohara Chie but less evil.
We are then introduced to the Water Dragon God, a very pretty man, bishounen, who looks down on humans because he doesn't understand why they do the foolish things that they do. Asahi ends up annoying him and takes away her voice and returns her to the village because he is bored. Due to her return, Subaru's mother "tests" her in the name of the gods and burns her hand in boiling water to show that the god was "displeased" with her. Subaru tries to take care of Asahi with her burnt hand, but without proper medicine, she gets worse and the Water Dragon God comes and heals her so that he still had his entertainment. Eventually, Asahi becomes the priestess of the water god, he giving her the power to make it rain every time she cries, and does the ritual every year to help the village prosper. She ends up in the lake and stays with the Water Dragon God for three days every year, just staring at each other.
As time moves forward, everyone grows and we are at the point were Asahi and Subaru are around sixteen. A small war happens where the Water Dragon God appears and gives Asahi her voice back because he was curious on what she would say. Her words entertained him and then the war was over and people were okay.
After more time passes, Asahi is sent back home to her world by the Water Dragon God because he knew of her secret wish and wanted her to be safe because her life had been threatened. They had been getting really close to each other. Asahi finds out she has a brother named Haruki and her parents really missed her. She reads a lot of books that would help her should she go back to the other world. Eventually, her longing to go back helped her to return. At this point in time, an antagonist appears to put a wrench in things, but wasn't really much, they were defeated and befriended. Except for the god of darkness, he wasn't befriended, just defeated and sealed away.
Then, we find out the Water Dragon God is fading because Asahi gained some of his powers due to an event that happened previously and he is getting weaker. Asahi is very upset by this because she's realizing that she loves him. They spend the last of their time together and confessions are being made: Subaru loves Asahi, but anyone could see that from a mile away; Asahi loves the Water Dragon God and vice versa. They kiss and then he is sending her home to her world right before he fades.
It is then revealed the just became water droplets and the other gods send him to her world to try and meet with her again. We watch as time passes through his eyes, realizing that he was actually in the pond this whole time! He was the one who sent Asahi to the other world to him, and then everything makes sense. Haruki had revealed to Asahi that he once heard the pond call out for her years ago, prompting her to go to the pond to try and reach out to the Water Dragon God. She get through and is able to pull him put of the water in his god form, he is no longer just water. He then asks properly for her to be his bride because she already was due to the ritual all those years ago, but now they actually have genuine feeling for one another.
(SPOILER WARNING! END)
Personally, I think that while it is a good story it's not really something to write home about. I like it for what it is, girl gets sent back in time, tries to go back home but can't so she tries to make the most of it. Red River by Shinohara Chie was the same concept but that was expanded. This story is a simple point A to point B plot line with no real surprises or side plots to keep it interesting.
Personally, I think that while it is a good story it's not really something to write home about. I like it for what it is, girl gets sent back in time, tries to go back home but can't so she tries to make the most of it. Red River by Shinohara Chie was the same concept but that was expanded. This story is a simple point A to point B plot line with no real surprises or side plots to keep it interesting.
Asahi makes it back home halfway through the series, only to return! And there was no real conflict throughout the series that Asahi had to battle or anything! An antagonist showed up more than halfway through the series and was short lived. Truthfully, the story is cute, it is a short cute read, but it's not memorable. It is just a plain and simple story.
I recommend this to those who like short stories with little to no conflict with a sprinkle of romance on top. But otherwise, this isn't one I would be compelled to reread unless I was really bored and it was accessible to me.
Thank you all for reading! Sorry that this one isn't all that remarkable, I picked this up because it looked interesting at first, but as the story kept going, I wasn't all that enamoured with it like I wanted to be. If you really want a historical fiction "modern girl is thrown into the past" type of deal, I'd recommend Red River by Shinohara Chie over this one. I hope you enjoyed reading this and I can't wait for you to come back and read my next post! See you later!
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