Customer Reviews

Princess Ai Vol. 1

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I wanted to check it out since Courtney Love is a good musician in my eyes, despite the fact that a lot of people dislike her. I purchased this yesterday (July 15th, 2004), and I'll be returning it within the next few days. I could not finish this title, that's something I've never done with a manga title before.

Mostly, I kind of chuckled in the beginning, since the dialogue was kind of choppy, but it kept getting worse. I could deal with the almost constant 'heart-shaped box' whenever she mentioned her locket-box. It was annoying, because it made it flow strangely. But then you meet Kent, Ai's love interest, who suspiciously looks, acts, and has a name similiar to Kurt Cobain.

I realize Princess Ai is supposed to be Love's self-insertion manga, she's mentioned it before. But the more I read, a few things became very, very apparent to me. It reads like a second grade storybook, because the dialogue phrases things in awkward ways, and not only once either; they keep repeating themselves. Secondly, Ai's supposed inability to recall memories seems to be defeated very easily, but she has to mention that's she's receiving a memory each time she does. And lastly, I feel, although personally this is my opinion, she's trying to make money off her deceased husband. Because Kent is similar to Cobain, and the number of times 'heart-shaped box' awkwardly is mentioned is uncountable. I don't know if this is due to a bad translation. Was it published in Japan before now or was it an English release first?

Another thing that bothered me was that the manga's bad guys seem very see-through. Their logic makes little sense to me, and I'm pretty intelligent, and I read parts of this manga to different people I know and none of them could get it, either. Maybe it's because I didn't finish it, I don't know if there's more. I'll admit that.

About 2/3rds into the manga, I just gave up. I couldn't read after her 'heart-shaped box' turned into a 'heart-shaped necklace' that 'beared the same crest as the book' she had found at Kent's library job on campus. The dialogue and everything completely overtook me and I couldn't read it anymore. The plot is very shallow and I'm surprised this was released, it seems more for children than adults.

On the plus side, the art is absolutely gorgeous. It's the best thing about Princess Ai, and it's a shame that it had to go to waste as it was. This however, is a good example of how pretty art does not always mean there's a good story, but rather covers or a lack of thereof.

My review is probably a frustration to people who enjoyed the story. But to me, Princess Ai is all glamour with no calories of intelligence. I had my choice between the second volume of Eerie Queerie and this title, and I took a chance because I was feeling bold. I regret my decision and will be returning this title for the other instead.

I can't say I was impressed with this manga. That is my sugar-coated statement to sum up my point of view. My actual feelings are that I have never felt such hatred for a manga. The only redeeming quality of this piece of tripe is the gorgeous artwork of Misaho Kujiradou, and fashion designs by renowned artist Ai Yazawa, creator of Paradise Kiss.

The book starts off with a mysterious girl in ripped clothing landing in a pile of garbage (an honest start, since the whole manga never rises from the proverbial rubbage heap). She wanders aimlessly about, attracting attention without even realizing it, since she is pondering over the mystery of the heart shaped box. From there, the plot plunges downhill, as what seems like a likeable heroine turns sour, offset by undeveloped cardboard characters and unrealistic rivalries with everyone, stemming from `jealousy' of Ai's good looks and `talent'. In fact, all of the characters in the book get no back histories, they are merely stepping stones to reveal more of Ai's `greatness'.

Before we go any further into my scathing review, I'd like to say that I'm not a fan of Love either, hence my title. But this is not a review of the co-author, so I digress. This is only relevant because Ai is Love's `alter-ego', and she is VERY clearly a Mary-Sue, probably stemming from Love's own inflated ego.

Despite the main character being unlikeable at best, and all of the other characters outshone in Ai's slutty glory, the plot fails to entice. I have sat through anime and manga with horrible characters and found myself loving them in the end. NOT so in Ai.

My summary, spend your money elsewhere. This book is gorgeous to look at, and the costume designs are beautiful, but there's something rotten on the inside.

This manga is about a girl named Ai who is from the planet Ailand. She suddenly finds herself in Tokyo, Japan and all she remembers is her name is Ai and that she is the princess of Ailand.

She meets Kent, a rocker, and he helps her discover her great singing talent. Ai gets a job where she puts her great body and vocal talent to good use! She gets into some scrapes where she's able to fight her way out and even grows wings at one point.

This book has very good drawings by manga-ka Misaho Kujiradou. The drawings in this book are better than the plot itself, but that just makes the manga even more enjoyable. All-in-all, I'd recomend this to anyone who is looking to see some great drawings or someone who likes fashion/romance mangas with a bit of sci-fi thrown in.

Two things make a manga something you would buy-
1. story
2. artwork

Princess Ai seems to be well provided with both.

I guess why this book caught my eye is that it was co-written by Courtney Love. Whether or not you are a fan of hers doesn't seem to matter, if you like the story.

Although the story was fitting, I found it very predictable, but sometimes it did surprise me. I think it sounds like a modern version of an old fable...

I found this website very helpful, when trying to decide whether or not to buy it-
http://www2.fanscape.com/tokyopop/princessai

It has the first chapter or so and a trailer.

As an avid fan of both Courtney Love and manga, I was excited when I heard about Princess Ai. Sadly, this is the one and only manga out of the MANY I have read to hold the distinction of "Unfinishable." I valiantly struggled through the first two chapters, but could not make myself read the last one. Instead, I skimmed through to see if anything interesting would happen. (That's a "no.") As I closed the book, I realized something -- I was *literally* falling asleep! I could not stop yawning and was about to pass out cold right there on my couch!
The illustrations are absolutely gorgeous, but the writing is just awful - repetitive (how many times can Ai ask herself why she's in Tokyo?) and almost useless. The vast majority of the characters lose whatever appeal they initially had as the "plot" plods painfully along.
I am really disappointed. I feel like this book could have been so much more. Try reading the real story of Courtney Love -- I guarantee it's much more fascinating.

Princess Ai was created by Courtney Love (yes THAT Courtney Love) and D.J. Milky. I'm not sure what the genesis of the character is and how exactly Love was involved in the project. It's somewhat obvious the character of Princess Ai is based on herself or maybe an alternate view of herself. I'm honestly not all the knowledgeable about Love or her late husband, Curt Cobain so I will review the book strictly on its merits alone without any backstory which may not be necessary anyway.

The beautiful Princess Ai finds herself in Tokyo, Japan. She doesn't know who she is or how she got there. When she's accosted by a thief, she is aided by a young man named Kent who retrieves her heart-shaped box necklace. Kent works in the library at Shinjuku University and takes Ai there where a strange book seems to jog her memory just a fraction. Kent also invites Ai to stay at his home but Ai knows she'll have to earn some money if she's going to find her way in the big city. Ai learns that Kent is a musician and he soon inspires Ai's own musical talents. She visits a strip club called club Cupid where she agrees to sing but refuses to strip. The owner is so intrigued by the girl he hires her, much to the chagrin of the clubs star attraction, Mika.

Ai continues to visit the library for more clues to her background and finally discovers her name is Ai and she was a princess in a land called Ai-Land. She can even picture her father and senses some sadness about her mother. But how did Ai get to Earth? What does the mysterious street musician have to do with her? Ai soon finds herself recruited by the HTA talent agency that won't take no for an answer. Meanwhile, something else is looking for Ai. A furie named Tess, a fanged creature with dragon wings and dragon heads that breathe fire.

The first Volume of Princess Ai does not offer many answers about Ai's life and background. We are given only small doses of revelations about the mysteries that surround her, Ai-land, and the evil furie who is hunting her. Princess Ai is filled with a grand helping of humor as Ai is truly a stranger in a strange land with all of the pratfalls that go along with it. There's a hilarious scene where a man tries to take advantage of her by wanting to be her "sugar daddy". Ai is gorgeously illustrated by Misaho Kujiradou and also written by Kujiradou and D.J. Milky. Don't read the book or not read the book because of Courtney Love's involvement. There seems to be some rather divergent opinions on this book because of Love, but this is really Kujiradou's book, anyway. There's a rapid pace to this Manga that keeps you wanting more. I'll be interested to see where the story goes in the next volume.

Reviewed by Tim Janson

When the book was first announced, I was immediately a little apprehensive. First I was concerned Courtney would take advantage of her publication and use it to glorify her appearance- it's easy to see that "Princess Ai", the main character, and her love interest "Kent" are based on herself and her deceased husband, Kurt Cobain. Secondly, I was worried that the book would be slandered unfairly by the crowd of anti-courtney fanatics, whom in my experience have no qualms about using horrible names against her and all her works. Having read about Courtney's controversial involvement in MANY matters thorughout the years, one of the biggest over the mysterious death of Kurt, I have established a wary mistrust of her work overall. But I wanted to give Princess Ai a chance because it looked very pretty and had a tasteful summary.

I concluded that the manga stands as a safe buy. However, I was somewhat uncomfortable with the presentation of Princess Ai and Kent because of their real-life connections. Ai was portrayed as a fiesty, beautiful, and talented young woman who was clear about maintaining her dignity; this was a little jarring when I thought about Courtney's recent troubles. Kent was made out as sweet and cool while being well appreciated by Ai, which completely goes against anti-Courtney claims that she had no respect or love for Kurt. The best thing to do seems to be to try to disregard previous feelings over the two if you want to enjoy the book, but personal interpretation is a must it comes to if Princess Ai will appeal to you. At least if you are aware of the story behind the creator, anyways.

For people who are just looking for a good manga to buy, I somewhat reccommend Princess Ai. The story kept sputtering into pointlessness and cliches, which got annoying. But there were some exceptional moments. The best thing is the art, the fashion being the best of any manga I've ever seen. (Yes,that includes Clamp)The dialogue is natural sometiems funny, but still, be careful about this one. This screams love-or-hate.

Edit: I just want people to be informed so that they won't be as crazy confused as I was. The blurb has absolutly NOTHING to do with the plot. There is no love triangle, no scandal, no nothing really in relation to the romance of Ai with Kent and his roommate. It's more about Ai working her butt off for HBA, even though they block her from knowing more about herself, and her appreciating what her music can do. And exactly what went down in her homeworld, and what she's gonna do about it. Makes more sense than the summary they put out, really.

Ah, Courtney Love. Wiether she wants to be an actress, rockstar, or even a manga-ka (Japanese comic book creator), she never fails to grab people's attention. With all the legal trouble she has under her belt lately, it seems that one would think with all those court dates and rehab appointments, that Love wouldn't be able to release her much-hyped manga, Princess Ai. But, low and behold, volume 1 is out now.

Taking many elements from her colorful past, we are introduced to Love's alter-ego, a young girl named Ai. She is a princess from a place called Ai-Land. Having somehow traveled to Tokyo, Japan from Ai-Land, our tough, but naive, princess secures a job singing at a local club and begins her path on discovering who she is and why she ran way from Ai-Land.

While the plot is a miss, the story itself is on a scale of 50/50. While this isn't Great Expectations, the dialoge is weak and sometimes makes no sense. For example, if Ai is always comaplaining about having no memories, then why does she "suddenly" remember certain events? Some are given explainations, but most of the time, they fly in like a blinded bat: They have no guidence, but are put in to keep the story going.

Whiel reading, the entire volume made me uncomfertable. It reminded me too much of Courtney Love. Granted authors, comic book artists, ect. will base some of their personality traits into their characters, but Princess Ai was like reading something by or even listening to Courtney. Thus, this made the characters and even the romance between Ai and Kent VERY perdictible. You knew how each charcter was going to act, especially Ai and Kent (whom Love based it on her late husband, Kurt Cobain of Nirvana). Even the constant refernce to Ai's heart-shaped box chain is a direct referance to Cobain's song of the same title...come on, Courtney, leave those petty, cheesy referances to fan-fic writers!

The only thing I loved about this manga was the art. Misaho Kujiradou's drawings are stunning and make you want to turn the page to see more. But, the only flaw to them are that her charcters designs of Ai and Kent are a little too similar to that of Love and Cobain. Other than that, Princess Ai is not a so-called "Shojo-Goth Romance" manga. It's more of a poor example of auto-biographical comics gone horrible wrong.

The first time I heard about Princess Ai the name "Courtney Love" made me do a double take as I read that she was the manga's co-creator. I didn't know how this would work out because manga and Courtney Love were two things I liked but wasn't sure how well they'd go together. Like....videogames and peanut butter: I like both of them, but it would take a very skilled developer to get me to play a game based on one of my favorite sandwich ingrediants. I had faith though because it was being published by TOKYOPOP and I have yet to be disappointed by their dedication to their work.

Princess Ai features breathtaking artwork by young artist Misaho Kujiradou (who also co-writes the manga), and I found myself initially reading the book just to see the artwork on each new page. It's just that good. The story itself is as generic as the music industry's pop machine, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. You won't find anything that will shock you as far as the plot's concerned, but I did find something better than a good story.

It may sound strange to those that know nothing of America's Sweetheart, Courtney, but I found myself really feeling for her. I didn't feel connected to Ai so much as I felt I was getting to see an actual living person's struggle with love, loss, fame, and identity. The clunky manuscript in the beginning of the novel is forgiven by this alone. The writing does flow more smoothly in the final two chapters of this first installment of the Princess Ai trilogy (Volume 2 comes out February 2005) involving the reader that much more what with beautiful art and emotional characters. The journey through Princess Ai Volume 1: Destitution may seem like a wasted investment, but readers who stay faithful to the last page will find it to be a labor of love.

The new manga created by Courtney Love is a must for Shojo fans! The story of the lost Princess Ai searching for her past while following her passion to be a singer fits perfectly in with other fantasy/romance Shojo titles. Most of all, the artwork is beautiful! The artwork has the same feel as my favorite American manga series: "Shutterbox" by Rikki Simmons & Tavisha; so, if you are also a fan of "Shutterbox" you should definitely check out "Princess Ai."