Manga Mayhem: Wedding Peach vol. 1 - Child Brides Attack!

 As gross as the base idea of Wedding Peach initial felt to me, I was surprised at how much I appreciated the simple quest for cuteness that Wedding Peach turned out to be. Yes, the series feels very dated, with a group of boy crazy heroines who have to fight demons looking to remove love from the world. There is no dark twist. Nothing here is aiming to subvert the genre. Wedding Peach is here to give the reader exactly what is says on the tin. This is pure magical girl cuteness. The sacred items that they are sworn to protect are called "The Four Sacred Somethings" for crying out loud. (Something old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue). 

And I didn't hate it!

This is a solid three (out of 5) star read for me. There is nothing ground breaking here. The art is nice, the story telling well paced, and the characters aren't annoying. In fact, there is something about reading something so wholesome that is kind of refreshing, especially after some of the other books I've exposed myself to recently. 

Now, I don't want to overhype Wedding Peach up. This is still very much a middle of the road series. Nothing here is mind blowing, or genre defining. It has all the trappings of a very commercial series, including a series of "weapons" that can easily be turned into cheap plastic toys. There is also level of cuteness that you need to just be prepared for. If that isn't your thing, I'd say give it a pass. 

Wedding Peach is out of print as far as I can tell, and I don't see US audiences clamoring for a special edition re-release. The first couple volumes aren't super expensive, but the later ones are hitting the $50 to $60 range. Considering the price that some older manga goes for, that isn't all that shocking, but still.. If I make it that far into the series I will really have to consider if it is worth that much money to keep reading. 

As it is, Wedding Peach is not bad. It isn't great, but there is for sure worse things out there for sure! This is just a solid middle of the road magical girl entry that turned out to be more fun than I expected.