Princess Jellyfish, a Kodansha Manga series created by Akiko Higashimura, follows a girl named Tsukimi, a crossdressing boy named Kuranosuke, and their awkward romance. Tsukimi identifies as an Otaku, a nerd who loves jellyfish and spends the majority of her time stuck at home. Kuranosuke, a wealthy socialite and son of a politician and playboy, comes into her life. One day, on her way home from the aquarium, Tsukimi stumbles upon a pet store where she sees a jellyfish in peril, but the employee working at the pet store doesn’t let her in the store.
Along comes Kuranosuke, dressed in drag. He saves the imperiled jellyfish, and they go back to Tsukimi’s boarding house, called Amamizukan, and put the jellyfish, now named Clara, into the bathtub. Rather than developing a friendship from this experience, Tsukimi rushes to chase Kuranosuke out of Amamizukan, as the house has other Otaku who find social butterflies strange. Kuranosuke stays overnight as a guest, hidden in Tsukimi’s room. In the morning, Tsukimi realized that Kuranosuke happened to actually be a boy.
From then on, Kuranosuke forces himself into the lives of Tsukimi and her Otaku friends at Amamizukan. He tries to become friends with Tsukimi, but instead starts slowly developing feelings for her. At the same time, Amamizukan faces the looming threat of gentrification. A property development project led by a femme fatale stuck in the 1980s seeks to build a high-rise hotel on the site of the boarding house. Kuranosuke and Tsukimi set off on a mission to save their beloved Amamizukan.
Princess Jellyfish belongs on the top of the list of the best Shojo manga I’ve ever read. The characters prove unique and funny, and the story becomes more than just about the main pair’s romance and involves mature themes while still keeping up a lighter tone. A beautiful art style complements the story; although, the fashion choices can stay in the early-2000s setting of the book. The book also doesn’t make fun of gender nonconformity and defends dressing as a gender other than the one assigned at birth. I recommend this book to those who enjoy Shojo manga, needs a book that breaks the mold, has interest in seeing a gender-nonconforming character represented in a book, or anyone that just wants to read a fun rom-com.
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