Life of Melody Review

Life of Melody, by Mari Costa, is a LGBT romance/fantasy comic that was published physically as a part of Seven Seas Entertainment’s partnership with Hiveworks.

I’ve been looking forward to checking out these Hiveworks comics, and Life of Melody proved to be a great book to start with.

Synopsis:

Razzmatazz is a fairy on a mission! He’s thus far failed to help a human successfully complete a fairytale, but that’s all about to change. He’s absconded with a fairytale record and tracked down the abandoned baby girl that’s the subject of the prophecy. His plan is simple: he’ll raise the girl from infancy so that he can guide her down the right path from the very beginning. But then a complication arises. A beast-like troll by the name of Bon finds the abandoned baby at the same time as Razzmatazz and, not trusting the fairy’s intentions with the infant, refuses to surrender her to him. The two end up in a stalemate where neither is willing to back down – so they decide to move to a human town and pretend to be married while they raise the baby together!

Review:

The world that Razzmatazz and Bon live in is a fantastical place where magic is commonplace and fairy godparents have a whole bureaucracy governing their exploits. No one seems to question the fairytale destinies, though Bon openly views all of the fairies as arrogant manipulators. He’s not the only one who has some issues with prejudice, though. Razzmatazz is convinced that trolls are dangerous and is pretty freaked out when Bon first shows up. Of course, it doesn’t helps that he constantly jokes about eating the baby.

The two start out completely at odds, but through living together and caring for their child, whom they name Melody, they start to become closer and to appreciate each other’s good points. Razzmatazz might be fussy and a bit of a spaz, but he’s hardworking and pours himself into raising Melody. Bon, meanwhile, seems gruff and like he isn’t taking anything seriously, but he’s actually pretty nurturing and even manages to get a job at a daycare in the town where they settle (thanks to a glamour spell that Razzmatazz casts to make him appear human). It isn’t long before they’re acting like a family and romantic feelings begin to blossom between Razzmatazz and Bon.

Razzmatazz and Bon’s romance is sweet, and it was so precious to see them gushing over how adorable their adopted daughter is. The three of them make an absolutely darling little family and I had a lot of fun watching Bon and Razzmatazz tease each other and get all emotional over Melody’s growth. The cast of human characters they meet while masquerading as a regular human couple were also all pretty funny. The grumpy librarian Razzmatazz gets a job with and Bon’s kind daycare co-workers all had hilarious reactions to Bon and Razzmatazz’s relationship drama, not to mention their not-so-convincing attempts to act like normal humans.

My only real complaint with the book is that it isn’t longer. I would have loved to see more of their happy family life, and maybe a bit more time devoted to the pair falling in love after they got over their initial animosity. It also would have been great to have seen more of this fantasy world. We only get a few glimpses of fairy society and I would have liked to have seen their history and relationship with humans explored in more depth. Bon seems to have very strong feelings about fairies and what they do and, while the fairies we meet do seem pretty haughty and judgmental, I’d have liked to learn more about them and why Bon initially distrusted Razzmatazz so much. This is me being a little nitpicky, however, as we’re given enough information to easily follow the story. Ultimately, I think my keen desire to see more just demonstrates how charming the world that Life of Melody presents really is.

All in all, Life of Melody is a delightful fantasy romance and, while I would’ve appreciated more details about the world, I found it to be very cute and a lot of fun. I’d recommend this comic to fans of boys love manga and I hope we’ll see more from Mari Costa in the future.

Final Score: 8 out of 10.

For more information on this comic, visit Seven Seas Entertainment’s website.

What do you think of this book? Anyone else hoping we get a slice-of-life style sequel about Bon, Razzmatazz and Melody’s family life? Let me know in the comments!

---

If you enjoy reading my reviews, please consider supporting me through Kofi.