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Always a Catch!

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Always a Catch!: How I Punched My Way into Marrying a Prince
First light novel volume cover, featuring Renato Di Rubini (left) and Maria Annovazzi (right)
逃がした魚は大きかったが釣りあげた魚が大きすぎた件
(Nigashita Sakana wa Ōkikatta ga Tsuriageta Sakana ga Ōkisugita Ken)
Genre
Novel series
Short story
Written byMayo Momoyo
Published byShōsetsuka ni Narō
PublishedOctober 21, 2020
Novel series
Sequel
Written byMayo Momoyo
Published byShōsetsuka ni Narō
Original runDecember 4, 2020 – present
Light novel
Written byMayo Momoyo
Illustrated byItsuki Mito
Published bySquare Enix
ImprintSQEX Novel
DemographicFemale
Original runAugust 6, 2021 – present
Volumes5
Manga
Written byMayo Momoyo
Illustrated byKaki Nagato
Published bySquare Enix
English publisher
  • NA: Square Enix
ImprintGangan Comics UP!
MagazineManga Up!
DemographicShōjo
Original runApril 24, 2022 – present
Volumes8

Always a Catch!: How I Punched My Way into Marrying a Prince (逃がした魚は大きかったが釣りあげた魚が大きすぎた件, Nigashita Sakana wa Ōkikatta ga Tsuriageta Sakana ga Ōkisugita Ken) 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.

Premise

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Maria was the fifth daughter of the Annavozzi dukedom, but showed the most aptitude of her siblings; thus she was trained her entire childhood to be the next duchess. However, once her brother was born in her late teens, her parents immediately labeled the infant the successor; making her effort pointless. They ordered her to find a fiancee, which lead to her attending a school in the neighboring country with a relative.

Due to their similar hair color, Maria was mistaken by prince Renato for his fiancee and publicly made a fool of himself when trying to end his engagement. After the misunderstanding, he offered to help Maria find a partner as an apology; he accidentally damaged her reputation due to the mistaken identity. Upon her request to find a partner, circumstances lead to them becoming engaged.

Characters

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Maria Annavozzi
Fifth daughter and former heiress of her duchy in the kingdom of Eron; having been displaced by her newborn brother. Having been trained in combat and not etiquette, Maria is largely lacking in the lady-like department. Though this what Renato finds attractive in her.
Maria has a bad habit of unconsciously speaking her thoughts aloud without knowing it.
Renato
First and former crown prince of Rubini. Knowing that his brother Placido and Aida had been in love since childhood, Renato planned to make a fool out of himself publicly; getting removed from succession and taking out a corrupt baron. However, he screwed up due to not knowing what Aida looked like beyond her hair color; getting Maria involved because he guessed wrong.
While his plan did get Placido and Aida together, he still needed to make it up to Maria; resulting in her asking for help finding a partner. After being astounded by her combat prowess, Renato set up their engagement. He comedically keeps Maria quiet during important conversations by forcing her to eat cookies; knowing she would prefer pummeling her way through issues.
Raimondo
Renato's right hand man. He is often shocked and exasperated when Maria runs off on her own; which is quite a lot as she isn't a typical noble woman.
He comedically always ruins a kiss moment between the two, stating sex before marriage isn't allowed; which is a major exaggeration.
Aida Ametis
Maria's distant relative who also has flaxen hair; which is the only identifier Renato remembered due to never spending time with her. Her father forced the engagement due to being an opportunist wanting to tie his house to the throne; while that still comes true, Aida is now finally engaged to her true love Placido.
It later turns out that she was being used by the king to deter Ancelline Sandelz from marrying Renato.
Placido
Second and crown prince of Rubini. He and Aida wished to marry from childhood, but her father wished to have her engaged to the successor to the throne. For their happiness, Renato planned to get removed and get them together.
Gabrielle Morando
Renato'a foster brother and official knight; both Renato and Raimondo agree hes very rude. He incorrectly thought Maria was a gold digger, but is flatly by that his opinion doesn't matter.
Macchio and Goffredo
Maria's servants from house Annavozzi. They are well built and are full of energy; Maria gets along with them for it.
Duke Annavozzi
Simply put, he's a muscle head who can't think through the consequences of his actions. He raised Maria to be his heir and trained her in martial arts for it. However, the moment his son was born the moron shouted that he finally had an heir; resulting in his four older daughters pummeling him for forgetting Maria has been groomed for that already.
A more comical side to his dimwittedness is that when expecting his children to come home, he doesn't bother to check if it's them before lifting the person up.
Teo Annavozzi
Sixth child and only boy of the children. He was declared the heir right after his birth, displacing Maria; though she took it in her stride as she wished to be a good sister to him.
Ancelline
Princess of the Sandelz Empire, with a massive one-sided crush on with Renato. Due to how incredibly misogynistic her country is, she fears for her future and wants to marry outside of it for freedom. She could have had the chance to succeed, if only Renato's blundering hadn't resulted in his engagement to Maria.
Antonius backs up her stubborn wish, even if it's pointless; resulting in Ancelline wasting her life trying in vain to win Renato over.
Antonius
Prince of the Sandelz Empire and Ancelline's older brother. He looks out for his sister, wanting Renato to end his engagement with Maria and take Ancelline instead; recognizing his sister will never appreciated in his chauvinistic kingdom. Despite the fact he's been told to his face it won't ever happen, keeps trying to force it to happen by trying and failing to intimidate Maria.
Renato sums him up as "domineering, irresponsible, hard-headed and completely entitled."
Lord Ireno
A man in his 30s with no sense of personal space who adores Maria and bothers her whenever they meet. He is Renato's cousin and considered the "enemy of all women" because of his nonstop flirting. This ends up coming back to bite him when a lady becomes mentally ill levels of obsessed with him.
He is actually married, but his wife has largely given up on their relationship and only stays together for politics.
Zaila
A woman obsessed with Ireno, thinking that she is his soulmate; she is one of his many lovers. Zaila tried to attack Maria herself once she saw the two of them together at the ball. Unfortunately, Maria used the literal drunken fist to fight back and scare her.
Her maid hired an assassin without Zaila's knowledge to target Maria, whom was mistaken for another of Ireno 's lovers.
Hugo Nardi
Son of a count and fiancee of Veronica. When Count Versenti stayed overstepping his authority and tried to force him to be engaged to his daughter, Hugo relies on Maria to help resolve the issues; due to the villagers unintentionally dragging her into the problem. Finally allowing him to marry Veronica in peace.
Veronica
Daughter of the village chief. She and Hugo are engaged, but because a neighboring lord tried to force his daughter on Hugo, Veronica was kept secured at the Nardi estate until the issue could be resolved.
Count Versenti
A selfish and greedy man who wanted to monopolize the herb trade by forcing Hugo to marry his daughter and Ven hiring thugs to steal the goods. Maria exposed his crimes

Media

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Light novel

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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.[3] 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. Five volumes have been released as of December 6, 2024.[4]

No. Release date ISBN
1 August 6, 2021[5]978-4-7575-7412-0
2 July 7, 2022[6]978-4-7575-8024-4
3 October 6, 2023[7]978-4-7575-8516-4
4 February 7, 2024[8]978-4-7575-9043-4
5 December 6, 2024[4]978-4-7575-9560-6

Manga

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A manga adaptation illustrated by Kaki Nagato began serialization on Square Enix's Manga Up! manga service on April 24, 2022.[9] The manga's chapters have been compiled into eight tankōbon volumes as of May 2025.[10]

The series is published in English on Square Enix's Manga Up! Global website and app.[11] 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.[12]

No. Original release date Original ISBN North American release date North American ISBN
1 July 7, 2022[13]978-4-7575-8019-0November 26, 2024[14]978-1-6460-9308-3
2 December 7, 2022[15]978-4-7575-8297-2March 18, 2025[16]978-1-6460-9320-5
3 April 7, 2023[17]978-4-7575-8513-3June 17, 2025[18]978-1-6460-9321-2
4 September 7, 2023[19]978-4-7575-8773-1September 16, 2025[20]978-1-6460-9322-9
5 February 7, 2024[21]978-4-7575-9039-7December 9, 2025[22]978-1-6460-9346-5
6 July 5, 2024[23]978-4-7575-9290-2——
7 December 7, 2024[24]978-4-7575-9555-2——
8 May 7, 2025[10]978-4-7575-9840-9——

References

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  1. ^ "Always a Catch!". Square Enix Manga & Books. Square Enix. Retrieved March 31, 2025.
  2. ^ 武闘派令嬢と隣国の王子による幸せラブコメ、マンガ版新刊発売記念したPVが公開. Comic Natalie. Natasha, Inc. April 7, 2023. Retrieved March 31, 2025.
  3. ^ 【逃した魚は大きかったが～】シリーズ. Shōsetsuka ni Narō. Retrieved March 30, 2025.
  4. ^ a b 逃がした魚は大きかったが釣りあげた魚が大きすぎた件 5 (in Japanese). Square Enix. Retrieved March 30, 2025.
  5. ^ 逃がした魚は大きかったが釣りあげた魚が大きすぎた件 (in Japanese). Square Enix. Retrieved March 30, 2025.
  6. ^ 逃がした魚は大きかったが釣りあげた魚が大きすぎた件 2 (in Japanese). Square Enix. Retrieved March 30, 2025.
  7. ^ 逃がした魚は大きかったが釣りあげた魚が大きすぎた件 3 (in Japanese). Square Enix. Retrieved March 30, 2025.
  8. ^ 逃がした魚は大きかったが釣りあげた魚が大きすぎた件 4 (in Japanese). Square Enix. Retrieved March 30, 2025.
  9. ^ 『逃がした魚は大きかったが釣りあげた魚が大きすぎた件』のコミカライズ連載が開始. LN-news.com (in Japanese). April 25, 2022. Retrieved March 30, 2025.
  10. ^ a b 逃がした魚は大きかったが釣りあげた魚が大きすぎた件（コミック） 8 (in Japanese). Square Enix. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  11. ^ "Always a Catch". Manga Up! Global. Square Enix. Retrieved March 31, 2025.
  12. ^ Cayanan, Joanna (February 25, 2024). "Square Enix Manga & Books Announces New Releases for November, December". Anime News Network. Retrieved March 31, 2025.
  13. ^ 逃がした魚は大きかったが釣りあげた魚が大きすぎた件（コミック） 1 (in Japanese). Square Enix. Retrieved March 30, 2025.
  14. ^ "Always a Catch!, Volume 1". Square Enix. Retrieved March 30, 2025.
  15. ^ 逃がした魚は大きかったが釣りあげた魚が大きすぎた件（コミック） 2 (in Japanese). Square Enix. Retrieved March 30, 2025.
  16. ^ "Always a Catch!, Volume 2". Square Enix. Retrieved March 30, 2025.
  17. ^ 逃がした魚は大きかったが釣りあげた魚が大きすぎた件（コミック） 3 (in Japanese). Square Enix. Retrieved March 30, 2025.
  18. ^ "Always a Catch!, Volume 3". Square Enix. Retrieved March 30, 2025.
  19. ^ 逃がした魚は大きかったが釣りあげた魚が大きすぎた件（コミック） 4 (in Japanese). Square Enix. Retrieved March 30, 2025.
  20. ^ "Always a Catch!, Volume 4". Square Enix. Retrieved March 30, 2025.
  21. ^ 逃がした魚は大きかったが釣りあげた魚が大きすぎた件（コミック） 5 (in Japanese). Square Enix. Retrieved March 30, 2025.
  22. ^ "Always a Catch!, Volume 5". Square Enix. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  23. ^ 逃がした魚は大きかったが釣りあげた魚が大きすぎた件（コミック） 6 (in Japanese). Square Enix. Retrieved March 30, 2025.
  24. ^ 逃がした魚は大きかったが釣りあげた魚が大きすぎた件（コミック） 7 (in Japanese). Square Enix. Retrieved March 30, 2025.
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