Tides of Mana

And now for something completely different...

Thematically, Tides of Mana is probably as far from my Germanic Black-Forest-Dweller roots as you can get. And, having read the Norse-centric series Gods of the Ragnarok Era and Runeblade Saga before, it was quite a culture shock - but not necessarily in a bad way.

Although it took me a bit to get the unfamiliar-to-me (and sometimes quite similar sounding) names straight, I enjoyed getting a first glimpse into the myths and legends of Hawai'i and Polynesia.
But despite all the differences to the Norse stories, there were many common concepts and elements between the two series, to make me feel quite at home in this different world.

As for the characters: Namaka may not be the most likeable protagonist, but I found her journey, especially her developing relationship with Nyi Rara, intriguing, and I'm curious to see how her quest for vengeance on her sister Pele will play out in the long run (my prediction, based on my experience with Matt Larkin's Norse series: everybody dies :-p).

My absolute favorite character so far is Kamapua‘a (or Kama), whose Boar-God possessed “Royal Egregiously Incorrigibleness” is apparently a far cry from his usual, quite dark, depiction in the legends, but provides a welcome comic relief.