Always a Catch!

is a Japanese light novel series written by Mayo Momoyo and illustrated by Itsuki Mito. It began publication as a short story on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō in October 2020. A sequel series began serialization in December 2020. It was later acquired by Square Enix who began publishing it under their SQEX Novel imprint in August 2021. A manga adaptation illustrated by Kaki Nagato began serialization on Square Enix's Manga Up! manga service in April 2022. An anime television series adaptation produced by TMS Entertainment and animated by Troyca premiered in April 2026.

Plot

Maria, the fifth daughter of the Duke Annovazzi, was raised to be the heir to her family's dukedom and mastered the family's martial arts. However, she loses her title as heir and travels to the neighboring kingdom of Rubini to find a marriage partner. There, the crown prince ends up taking Maria as his fiancée.

Characters

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The protagonist of the story. Nicknamed Mimi. She is the fifth daughter of the Duke Annovazzi of the Kingdom of Muro. Before her younger brother was born, she was expected to be the heir to the dukedom, and thus mastered the family's traditional martial arts style, consisting of 80 forms. While studying abroad in the Kingdom of Rubini with the aim of finding a marriage partner, she ends up becoming engaged to Renato. The king and queen come to like her, and she receives formal training to become crown princess, including etiquette lessons. However, her free-spirited personality and tendency to resolve problems through force (i.e., martial arts) remain unchanged.

First prince of the Kingdom of Rubini. He was tormented by the political engagement arranged between him and Aida, whom his younger brother had feelings for. Later, using a certain incident as a pretext, he attempts to annul the engagement with Aida, but mistakenly informs his cousin Maria of the annulment instead. Eventually, he falls in love with Maria, proposes to her, and is accepted—shortly thereafter, he is officially named crown prince. Despite numerous challenges, he and Maria overcome them together and finally manage to get married.

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A noble lady from the Ametis ducal family of the Kingdom of Rubini. Maria stayed with her as a relative. Unlike Maria, Aida is the picture of a perfect lady. Her father arranged the engagement with Renato in hopes of making her queen one day, but Renato ultimately breaks off the engagement. Although Aida and Maria are on good terms, when Maria impulsively ran into a burning building to rescue people—an act that led the king to issue a disciplinary suspension and caused many, including Renato, to be reprimanded—Aida sternly scolded her for her actions.

Second prince of the Kingdom of Rubini. Through his brother Renato's efforts, he becomes engaged to Aida and holds his wedding before Renato does.

One of Renato's close aides. Son of a marquis. A talented bureaucrat, though he often gets dragged into chaos by Maria.

Renato's foster brother and trusted companion. Formerly part of the royal guard. He is outraged when he learns during an overseas assignment that Renato's fiancée has changed, but eventually becomes a sparring buddy and friend to Maria.

Media

Light novel

Written by Mayo Momoyo, Always a Catch! was initially published as a short story on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō on October 21, 2020. A sequel series began serialization on December 4, 2020. It was later acquired by Square Enix who began publishing the series with illustrations by Itsuki Mito under their SQEX Novel light novel imprint on August 6, 2021. Six volumes have been released as of November 7, 2025.

Manga

A manga adaptation illustrated by Kaki Nagato began serialization on Square Enix's Manga Up! manga service on April 24, 2022. The manga's chapters have been compiled into nine volumes as of November 2025.

The series is published in English on Square Enix's Manga Up! Global website and app. In February 2025, Square Enix Manga & Books announced that they had licensed the series for English publication, with the first volume being released in November 2024.

Anime

An anime television series adaptation was announced on November 3, 2025. Produced and planned by TMS Entertainment, the series is animated by Troyca and directed by Akira Oguro, with Michiko Yokote handling series composition, Isamu Suzuki designing the characters, and Kana Hashiguchi and Natsuki Hamada composing the music. It premiered on April 2, 2026, on Tokyo MX and other networks. The opening theme song, "Chikai wa Kyun to", is performed by HoneyWorks and Airi Suzuki, and the ending theme song, "Dead or Love", is performed by Yoshino. Crunchyroll is streaming the series. Muse Communication licensed the series in South and Southeast Asia.

Episodes

Reception

By November 2025, the series had over 1 million copies in circulation.

Notes

References

External links

• at Shōsetsuka ni Narō