History Manga / TheMermaidPrincesssGuiltyMeal

** When she assumes that Gill-chan ate his CO during the war, Ela believes she's found a kindred spirit and conspiratorially asks how Gunnery Sergeant Hamoman tasted. Fortunately for her, Gill-chan and everyone else present assume she's joking.

* FatalFamilyPhoto: {{Parodied}}. Once during the Great Sea War, the King showed a picture of Era to Sergeant Herring and gushed over her before getting shot in the chest immediately after. For extra hilarity, he was shot in the same panel where the sergeant [[GenreSavvy warned]] him rrom raising so many [[DeathFlag Death Flags]].

* MegaTwintails: Sango wears her hair in two huge twintails that reach her feet/fins.

* AbdicateTheThrone: In the final chapters, [[spoiler: the Sea King crowns Era as the new sovereign and retreats from public life to devote himself to mobile phone games.]]

* BaitAndSwitch: PlayedForLaughs in chapter 26, where after attending a mixer, Alisa is approahced by a rich, American oil-king, foisting her into a LoveTriangle between herself, Ryo and this new suitor. [[spoiler:It turns out that Aburoil is actually a ''fujoshi'', and he's just requesting her to get him some BL manga from the upcoming comiket.]]

** Resurfaces in the final pages of chapter 40, and turns into the focus of chapter 41, the finale. [[spoiler:While Nakajima has managed a miracle to get Ela to reform, Leviathan instead awakens. It's a mighty unstoppable beast with an insatiable appetite that had to be sealed away by the combined might of two kingdoms... and Era eats it from the inside-out, seemingly reawakening her seafood addiction in the process.]]

* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Ela gets crowned Queen in chapter 39, and enacts a very strict policy that keeps the fish from getting fished up. Her tyrannical rule is also her means of keeping herself from succumbing to the temptations of seafood, though her janitorial staff note that even after her coronation she would sneak up to the surface and she still has a room full of seafood snacks. [[spoiler:She sports a PsychoticSmirk upon finding out someone was fished and sets out to devour the poor unfortunate soul on the surface. At first the unlucky fish is implied to be Mackerel, but when Ela arrives at the restaurant she's served seared bonito instead. This turns out to be Nakajima, who is able to remind Ela of the friendships she once had -- fulfilling his destiny in the process.]]

* GuiltyPleasure: It's right there in the title, folks: the mermaid princess Ela is addicted to seafood. Later chapters imply that she's slowly but surely getting used to it, to the point she asks for seconds at one point.

** [[spoiler:Benito takes the line for Nakajima to save him from getting fished, kicking the whole plot into motion. Nakajima, after months of wandering as a blank slate, gets inspired by memories of this friendship to take the line for Mackerel and lead Ela to reform.]].

* PokeThePoodle: The merfolk have a ''very'' low standard for crimes. One of the inmate of a prison got in there for yelling at his mom for buying the wrong manga, which even the others found hardcore. A Gillman who participated in a war was traumatized for 15 years, because he drew something on his superior's head and hasn't apologized.

* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Ela gets crowned Queen in chapter 39, but she enacts a very strict policy that keeps the fish from getting fished up. Her tyrannical rule is also her means of keeping herself from succumbing to the temptations of seafood, though her janitorial staff note that even after her coronation she would sneak up to the surface and she still has a room full of seafood snacks. [[spoiler:She sports a PsychoticSmirk upon finding out someone was fished and sets out to devour the poor unfortunate soul on the surface. At first the unlucky fish is implied to be Mackerel, but when Ela arrives at the restaurant she's served seared bonito instead. This turns out to be Nakajima, who is able to remind Ela of the friendships she once had -- fulfilling his destiny in the process.]]

* DarkSkinnedBlond: Alisa Alisaka is a GyaruGirl of the ''ganguro'' subtype, and thus has tanned skin and dyed blonde hair.

* TyrantTakesTheHelm: Towards the end of the manga, [[spoiler:The former princess Ela is crowned the queen of the undersea kingdom and turns it into a police state with a certain resemblance to North Korea. Even her own father isn't safe from her iron fist, as she has him arrested for stealing from the royal treasury to fuel his gatcha game addiction]].

* FaceOfAThug: Himada looks like an intimidating {{Yakuza}} tough, but he's a friendly, lovable goofball who strikes up a friendship with Sango.

* MegaTwintails: Sango wears her hair in two huge twintails that [[RapunzelHair reach her feet/fins.]]

If only that was the end of the story. Remember how in ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'' fish were sentient and friends with merfolk, and humans were seen as evil because they ate fish? This manga by Noda Hiroshi takes place in a world quite like that... but as Ela finds out to her horror and dismay, the humans might just be on to something with the whole 'eating fish' thing...

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mermaid_8.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''[[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 Les poissons, les poissons, how I love les poissons...]]'']]

* CarnivoreConfusion: Played with: Ela and the fish she ends up eating are different races, but they're still '''[[InterspeciesFriendship friends]]'''.

** Out of all the thousands of fish being served around Japan, Ela invariably manages to be served the remains of the VictimOfTheWeek, who she personally knew, every single time in the same restaurant no less. Although chapter 12 shows she explicidly follows her fished friend to see where it goes, but still end up at the same restaurant.
** And even this has ''absolutely nothing'' on [[spoiler:TheReveal regarding Ela's parentage. To make it short the Mer-king dated Marin who happened to look similar to Ela, but they broke up and found love somewhere else. With the king meeting Ela's stepmother who introduced him to her twin sister whom he married, but she died after giving birth to Ela. This in turn caused her grieving sister and husband to get closer and eventually marry each other.]]
* CorruptTheCutie: Ela is ''very slowly'' becoming more casual with eating fish. In Chapter 34, [[spoiler:it almost seems like she was ''trying'' to get her VictimOfTheWeek caught.]]

* EarlyInstalmentWeirdness: Tuna is introduced trying to eat Squid, and Ela berates him for eating those he should consider friends. Later chapters zig-zag this, with the rockfish sumo wrestler being implied to have eaten his dieticians, but for the most part it's established that fish eating each other is such a horrifying taboo that a shark who'd eaten only ten other fish was treated as a serial killer and locked up in solitary confinement.

* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Ela gets crowned Queen in chapter 39, but she enacts a very strict policy that keeps the fish from getting fished up. Her tyrannical rule is also her means of keeping herself from succumbing to the temptations of seafood, though her janitorial staff note that even after her coronation she would sneak up to the surface and she still has a room full of seafood snacks. [[spoiler:She sports a PsychoticSmirk upon finding out someone was fished and sets out to devour the poor unfortunate soul on the surface. At first the unlucky fish is implied to be Mackerel, but when Ela arrives at the restaurant she's served seared bonito instead. This turns out to be Nakajima, who is able to remind Ela the friendship she once had -- fulfilling his destiny in the process.]]

** Chapter 38 reveals that Madame Bonita's son, Nakajima, actually possessed psychic powers and had forseen he was destined to sacrifice himself to save the ocean world from a terrible monster's insatiable hunger for sealife. [[spoiler:However, when Nakajima befriended Benito this derailed his destiny and led to Benito being hooked instead. Nakajima tried to use his psychic powers to [[GroundhogDayLoop jump back countless times]] in order to save Benito, only to be told by the spirit of the sage Troutadamus -- who had prophesied the destruction of the ocean world -- that it was too late and that Benito's death had guaranteed the rise of the monster destined to destroy the oceans (that bing either the Leviathan or Princess Ela).]]
** The finale reveals that [[spoiler:the Leviathan was the monster prophesied by Troutadamus to devour all life in the seas... but Ela usurped its place by becoming addicted to sea-food. The moment Nakajima fulfills his destiny, th Leviathan breaks free to fulfill its... only for Ela to ultimately eat it from the inside out]].

* KillItThroughItsStomach: [[spoiler:In the final chapter, Ela offers herself to be eaten by Leviathan to pacify it for good. Cut to its final pages, and Ela ''bursts'' out of its head, ending the series with her long-running catchphrase.]]

** In Chapter 40, [[spoiler:Nakajima triggers a very strong one in Ela that's reminded her that everyone she's eaten, and all the fish she rules over, are her friends. Still, she's so mortified over what she's done and has kept herself cooped in the central tower to figure out how to atone.]]

* PokeThePoodle: The merfolk have a ''very'' low standard for crimes. One of the inmate of a prison got in there for yelling against his mom for buying the wrong manga which even the others found hardcore. A Gillman who participated in a war was traumatized for 15 years, because he drew something on his superior's head and hasn't apologized.
* PokemonSpeak: Ela's mom. ''"Gub gub."''

** Several characters based on the [[Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon Gill-man]] shows up, starting in Chapter 3.

* SlowlySlippingIntoEvil: It becomes apparent how low Ela has fallen when she sports a chilling smile while eating Fluke in Chapter 21, and in in Chapter 34 it's revealed that she owns a collection of seafood cookbooks to read and a large box of fish sausages to snack on. Even as early as Chapter 18, she happily nods in agreement when recalling Cody's last words assessing her as being the worst among them.

** Chapters 24, 27, and 28 reveal that the Sea King, Ela's father, was in love with [[spoiler:Marin, Ryo's former art teacher, but they ultimately broke up due to his laziness and her violent temper. They'd even discussed having children together, and despite breaking up wound up naming their respective kids after each others' suggestions]].

* HotGuyUglyWife: The mer-king is a {{Bishounen}}. His wife the queen is a ''ningyo'', or Japanese mermaid: a koi with a {{Gonk}}-y human face. Going by Yellowtail's tabloid, however, she's considered a supermodel-level beauty by merfolk standards.

* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Ela gets crowned Queen in chapter 39, but she enacts a very strict policy that keeps the fish from getting fished up. Her tyrannical rule is also her means of keeping herself from succumbing to the temptations of seafood, though her janitorial staff note that even after her coronation she would sneak up to the surface and she still has a room full of seafood snacks. [[spoiler:She sports a PsychoticSmirk upon finding out someone was fished and is served seared bonito on the surface. At first the meal is implied to be Mackerel, but turned out to be Nakajima instead, who is able to remind Ela the frienship she once had -- fulfilling his destiny in the process.]]

** [[spoiler:Ela, having known an insatiable hunger like that of the Leviathan, offers herself to be eaten in order to finally pacify it.]]
* HijackedDestiny: Chapter 38 reveals that Madame Bonita's son, Nakajima, actually possessed psychic powers and had forseen he was destined to sacrifice himself to save the ocean world from a terrible monster's insatiable hunger for sealife. [[spoiler:However, when Nakajima befriended Benito this derailed his destiny and led to Benito being hooked instead. Nakajima tried to use his psychic powers to [[GroundhogDayLoop jump back countless times]] in order to save Benito, only to be told by the spirit of the sage Troutadamus -- who had prophesied the destruction of the ocean world -- that it was too late and that Benito's death had guaranteed the rise of the monster destined to destroy the oceans (Princess Ela).]]

** In contrast to Tuna [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness eating other fish with little-to-no consequences]] beyond Ela scolding him, Shark the Ripper is locked up in solitary confinement with a straight jacket and Hannibal Lector-style mask, the other characters treating him as a monstrous serial killer due to having eaten just ten fish.

** Alisa has a blatant crush on Ryo, who is completely ObliviousToLove, and sees Ela as a romantic rival for his affections.

* TogetherInDeath: Chapter 16 involves a StarCrossedLovers plot involving a noble heiress seabass named Fukko and her servant Seigo. Fukko is placed into an arranged marriage by her impoverished father, but Princess Ela advises Seigo to pursue his feelings for her... which results in Seigo getting fished. Fukko subsequently [[DrivenToSuicide allows herself to be caught]], and Ela eats them both, with them being reunited and getting married in the afterlife (or rather, Ela's stomach).