The Small-Animallike Lady Is Adored by the Ice Prince Is a Funny Shojo Manga

There are so many shojo manga series where the premise is “this woman is forced to marry this man.” It gets to be a lot, especially in cases where it is played straight and super dramatic. It almost feels like Mugi Sawai and Hisui are aware of this with The Small-Animallike Lady is Adored by the Ice Prince, as its a manga that takes that approach, but also decides to be as funny and cute as possible about the whole situation.

Editor’s Note: There will be spoilers for the first volume of The Small-Animallike Lady is Adored by the Ice Prince shojo manga in the article below.

The Small-Animallike Lady is Adored by the Ice Prince begins with Liliana, daughter of the earl Oliver Villiers, being selected by the titular Prince William as his fiance at a party. It then flashes back to before the event. Liliana’s parents state she needs to attend, because the royal family demanded all suitable, young women of a certain age show up to a ball for the prince to pick a wife. 

Image via Yen Press

This leads to a number of immediate twists on this genre of shojo manga. Liliana’s not crazy about the idea! She wants a relationship like her parents have! But it turns out, they don’t like the idea either! Her father doesn’t want to lose his little girl. So they agree they’ll dress her in a drab and unfashionable way so she’ll be overlooked. Her brothers Aidan and Ian adore and dote on her, to the point that Ian purposely makes himself look terrifying and intimidating to scare possible suitors away from her. So they’re against it too. It’s all very good as we see the family fawn over this charming, adorable, headstrong girl. 

The setup in the manga continues to remain good and funny, because Liliana isn’t just perfect. She’s an endearing heroine, for sure. However, she also has faults. She’s headstrong. Her stomach is a bottomless pit for good food. To the point that when she heads to the party, her concern is to fill up on as much of the assuredly exceptional, royal cuisine. She’s unobservant, because she sat next to vase that highlighted her when she was pigging out on the palace food. Her reactions can be a bit exaggerated, which makes her a delight to watch.

But this shojo manga gets even more funny once we get to the point at which Liliana can interact with William and his family in The Small-Animallike Lady is Adored by the Ice Prince. The king and queen are genuinely nice people! Or they seem to be. The serious, stubborn, and quiet William is actually kind-hearted and caring, and seeing his means of interacting alongside the more expressive Liliana in their first proper meeting is so cute and silly. It’s just such a good read, and the events throughout the course of the volume suggest it will continue to be that way.

The result is that The Small-Animallike Lady is Adored by the Ice Prince comes across as a manga that could be about a healthy, happy, relationship between a young woman and her royal fiance. Like maybe Liliana will get a wish and have a marriage like her parents! It’s encouraging and makes the prospect of continuing to read this shojo manga more appealing.

Volume 1 of The Small-Animallike Lady is Adored by the Ice Prince is available now, and Yen Press will release volume 2 of the manga on March 25, 2024.

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