Tales of Wedding Rings

Tales of Wedding Rings (結婚指輪物語) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Maybe. It started serialization in Monthly Big Gangan in March 2014 and has been published in fourteen volumes thus far. The series tells a story of a high school boy, Haruto Satou who falls in love with a young woman named Hime from another realm who moves back to her home world to get married and he crashes the wedding.

An anime television series adaptation by Staple Entertainment aired from January to March 2024 with the second season has been announced. Tales of Wedding Rings is distributed outside of Japan by Sony's Crunchyroll in the English-speaking world for streaming on its namesake brand and home video.

Plot
Satou pines for his childhood friend Hime. One day, she says she is moving away, so he follows her into a portal where she is about to be married to a prince. When a demon attacks, Hime gives Satou her ring, granting him light-based powers he uses to defeat the demon. She explains she is a princess from another world who lived on Earth for her own safety. Her world is under attack by demons and she was destined to marry a hero and pass her ring to grant him power.

The prince was supposed to be the hero, but Satou usurped his position. The ring is one out of a set of five. To become powerful enough to save the world, he must marry four other princesses and gain their rings to get power over four of the elements: earth, fire, air, and water.

Characters

 * Satou (サトウ)


 * Hime (ヒメ)


 * Nefritis Romca (ネフリティス)


 * Granart Needakitta (グラナート)


 * Saphir Maasa (サフィール)


 * Amber Idanokan (アンバル)


 * Marse (マルス)


 * Alabaster (アラバスタ)


 * Morion (モーリオン)

Manga
The series is written and illustrated by Maybe, and started serialization in Monthly Big Gangan on March 25, 2014. In the tenth tankōbon volume, it was revealed the series would continue "for just a little longer". In July 2021, it was revealed that it would reach its climax in the next issue of the magazine, which was released on August 25, 2021. The series is set to end serialization on July 25, 2024. As of December 2023, the series' individual chapters have been collected into fourteen tankōbon volumes.

In May 2015, Crunchyroll announced they would add the series to their digital manga service Crunchyroll Manga. At Anime Expo 2017, Yen Press announced they licensed the series for English publication.

Virtual reality
In November 2017, it was announced that a virtual reality version of the manga was in development. The adaptation was first released in March 2018 at Square Enix's AnimeJapan booth. It was made available on the HTC Vive on September 25, 2018.

Anime
In January 2023, an anime television series adaptation was announced. It is produced by Staple Entertainment and directed by Takashi Naoya, with scripts written by Deko Akao, character designs handled by Saori Nakashiki, and music composed by Satoshi Hōno. The series aired from January 6 to March 23, 2024, on AT-X and other networks. The opening theme song is "Lover's Eye", performed by Sizuk, while the ending theme song is "Kokoro no Naka" (ココロノナカ), performed by AliA. Crunchyroll licensed the series. Medialink licensed the series in South, Southeast Asia and Oceania (except Australia and New Zealand) and is streaming it on the Ani-One Asia YouTube channel.

A second season was announced after the airing of the twelfth and final episode on March 23, 2024.

Reception
Rebecca Silverman from Anime News Network praised the characters, fan service, and use of body language, while criticizing characters' facial expressions and the story's direction. Brandon Varnell from The Fandom Post also praised the series, especially the plot due to it not sticking to trends established by other works. Takato from Manga News also offered praise for the story, calling it a promising start. Aurélien Pigeat from Actua BD was more critical, fearing the series would abuse other plot elements common in this type of work.