The Fall 2024 Manga Guide

Always a Catch! How I Punched My Way into Marrying a Prince

What's It About? 

Maria, the daughter of a duke, grew up believing she would one day inherit her father's dukedom. Accordingly, she focused her attentions on honing her martial arts prowess, while thoughts of marriage fell by the wayside. But the arrival of a baby brother in her family means she's losing her role as heir! Now that she's decided it's time to marry after all, she's arrived a little late to the game! Are there even any eligible bachelors left?

Upon going to study abroad in a neighboring country where she might still stand a chance at getting hitched, she's bewildered when the crown prince there declares before all that his engagement to her is null and void! Wait...what engagement?!

Apparently, he's mistaken her for the wrong girl! But once that's all cleared up and he catches sight of her knocking out a whole pack of bandits, it turns out that this prince may have a thing for ass-kicking young ladies after all...

Always a Catch! How I Punched My Way into Marrying a Prince is manga by Kaki Nagato based on a light novel series by Mayo Momoyo and Itsuki Mito with English translation by Nova Skipper. This volume was lettered by Dietrich Premier. Published by Square Enix Manga & Books (November 26, 2024).

Is It Worth Reading?

Are you tired of wilting heroines, too good to be believed? Or how about villainesses who are just heroines in disguise? Do you yearn for a protagonist who wears brass knuckles in her hair and says every thought out loud without realizing it? Then meet Maria, the heroine of Always a Catch, because she's somehow all of those – but especially the girl with brass knuckles in her hair. She's lucky her hair is straight because mine would be curling through those things like nobody's business.

Brass knuckle hairpins aside, this is a very fun book. Maria was raised to take over the family martial arts legacy in the absence of a brother, but when Teo is born, she's abruptly forced to shift gears into being a marital prize rather than a martial one. Fortunately, she's always up for throwing herself into something new, even if she has to leave the country to do so because no nobleman wants to marry a girl who could beat him to a pulp. Once comfortably ensconced with her cousin Aida, Maria discovers that boys in this kingdom aren't keen on her either. That all goes out the window when she accidentally walks into Aida's villainess denunciation and is mistaken for her cousin. When the dust settles, Aida is engaged to Prince Placido and Maria has taken over her fiancé and is now engaged to Prince Renato.

If that's a lot to wrap your head around, Maria thinks so too. She's desperately out of her element, but since her “element” doesn't exist, that turns out fine. She's like an adorable elephant in the proverbial china shop, blundering around defying expectations in the messiest way possible, winning hearts more accidentally than Katarina Claes on her best day. She's a force of nature, and it feels fair to say that Maria makes this book. Sure, Renato's fine, as is his weirdly stealthy friend Raimondo, but it's Maria's world that the rest of the cast is just living in. With art that goes between elegant and goofy at the change of a panel and a fast pace, this is a lot of fun to read. I could see it being annoying if you don't buy Maria as a character, and some irritating anachronisms are in the costume, like the girls' school uniforms. But this is overall a quick, delightful read. I can't wait to see what Maria gets up to next.

What if a princess-to-be resolved all her problems the same way as Saitama from One-Punch Man? This light-hearted joyride of a manga is made stronger for the fact that it embraces its own absurdity and doesn't take itself too seriously. Protagonist Maria's load-bearing charm carries this fun, silly romp through Anachronistic Fantasy Land with the verve and satisfaction of a well-thrown punch. Fans of Fed Up With Being the Spoiled Queen's Genius Butler, I Ran Away and Built the World's Strongest Army and similar competence fantasies will enjoy the story of a noble lady for whom tea party etiquette is a mystery but whose physical strength knows no limit.

Maria, affectionately known as Mimi, is what standard parlance would refer to as a cinnamon roll. Even with everything going badly for her, she looks on the bright side and rolls with the punches. Hailing from a martial arts family, she is ridiculously strong, but her talents clash with her new mission: to catch a husband. Mimi had been raised as her family's heir right up until her little brother was born and she was just an extra girl to marry off. What's an eligible maiden with super strength to do? Attending a school for nobles in the fantasy land of Definitely Not Italy, Mimi's new objective is to try and fail not to let everyone know how strong she is. Her bad habit of saying everything on her mind out loud isn't doing her any favors! Mimi carries the whole story on her powerful shoulders, but it doesn't feel unbalanced. Nor do the many incongruent details of the setting, like the way noble ladies wear semi-historical ball gowns to parties, but above the knee skirts at noble school (or the way Mimi wears brass knuckles as a hairpin!).

As Mimi stumbles through her new life, she ends up engaged to the crown prince of Not Italy, Prince Renato. He's the chill other half to Mimi's fire, and their chemistry is apparent in an opposites attract sort of way. With her fiance's full support, Mimi must face kidnappers, school rivals, and an icy mother in law to be with brute strength and unexpected results. Perhaps the funniest part of this story is how unexpected it is. Mimi is unbelievably strong, but she doesn't necessarily punch her way out of every problem—sometimes she fails her way upwards. A great protagonist and a hilarious story put this romcom at the top of the pile.