Danmei about a disabled tyrant and his fish, and my mixed feelings.
A transmigration danmei worth picking up.
◊
The premise (from Goodreads):
“After Li Yu stays up all night to read an engrossing web novel, he finally falls asleep–only to wake up in the world of the novel itself. And not as himself, but as a helpless fish! Shocked and dismayed, Li Yu quickly realizes that he must live in a tank owned by Mu Tianchi, the tyrant of the novel who never speaks. Whatever force brought Li Yu into this world warns him that there’s only one way to become human again: to win over the cold Mu Tianchi and change his harsh ways. But Li Yu has no idea how to do that, especially as a powerless, palm-sized carp. Can a little fish really swim its way into a tyrant’s heart?“
◊
“The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish” is an MM fantasy romance (danmei), transmigration, with a comic thread running through it. What makes it stand out immediately is the disabled protagonist: a mute prince, politically sidelined, observed through the eyes of a modern person who has landed, involuntarily, in a fish tank.
Our narrator is the fish. Li Yu, whose name is no coincidence (Yu = fish) is young, reactive, maneuvered through events by a gaming system. Mu Tianchi is his opposite: contained, intelligent, already carrying the shape of who he’ll become. The gap between them is the engine of the story, and it works. The events unspool the original novel’s plot against the small, slow changes Li Yu introduces. Mu Tianchi shows clear signs of his future cruelty, and the fish, incrementally, redirects him. It’s fun to read.
◊
The mixed feelings come from two places.
The first is the romantic arc. Mu Tianchi is a smart, politically experienced prince. The emotional logic of his attachment to Li Yu, who spends most of the story as a palm-sized carp, is thin. The human-form appearances don’t fully bridge it. The premise is inherently absurd and commits to that, but the romance asks to be taken seriously, and the foundation isn’t there.
The second is the disability thread. The mute prince observed through modern eyes is the most interesting premise the book has, and it starts well: specific, attentive, asking real questions about power and visibility. Then it recedes. What could have been the spine of the story becomes background.
◊
I read two volumes. The story is slight for the price it commands on Amazon, and the narrative issues above didn’t resolve, so I moved to other danmei. I may return to it eventually.
◊
The covers are pleasant. One note: Li Yu is depicted as a young boy, which I found uncomfortable.
Read about my other review of Chinese MM romantasy books (danmei) here. For more, check my blog, and to receive notifications of new reads, follow me on Goodreads. My review on Goodreads: here.