Sugar Princess: Skating To Win, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

~ Hisaya Nakajo (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Nakajo (Hana-Kimi) creates another soft sports manga, this time about figure skating. Maya Kurinoki takes up skating at her local rink and is scouted by an ice-skating coach. When the rink owner plans to shut it down, Maya agrees to pair with professional figure skater Shun Kano in a contest to keep the rink open. Rated all ages, Sugar Princess is true 'tween reading. Young readers will appreciate 14-year-old Maya (who looks and acts more like a naïve 10 or 12 year old) and her altruistic determination. The story itself is cute, peppered with gorgeous young men, and Nakajo does her figure-skating research. But fans of the sport may find that the illustration focuses too lightly on the skating and too heavily on the character dramatization. One of the strengths of all-star sports manga like Slam Dunk or of dance manga like Swan are the action sequences. Nakajo tries, but so far, her series shows little of the balletic movement that lovers of figure skating adore. The pacing may pick up in the next volumes, the skating as well, but given Nakajo's record with Hana-Kimi and her concentration on boy-girl dynamics, this manga may develop as a sugar-sweet story of romance off the ice. (Aug.)
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Product Description

Maya Kurinoki is an 8th-grader who has no experience in ice-skating but seems to have natural talent. She performs a double axel and impresses a scout named Eiji Todo, who tells her that he can make her a skating "princess." Todo tells Maya that she'll have to convince famous skater Shun Kano to coach her and become her skating partner. Unfortunately for Maya, Shun only wants to skate singles.

 

When Maya Kurinoki takes her little brother to the local ice-skating rink for the first time, she's got her hands full just trying to get him to let go of the bar. To inspire a bit of bravery in him, she attempts a double axel--and lands it! Maya never imagined that this jump would change her life...or that a coach named Eiji Todo would vow to make her a figure skating "princess"! Now all Maya has to do is convince famous skater Shun Kano to become her partner. Too bad Shun doesn't want to have anything to do with her!

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Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: VIZ Media LLC (August 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1421519305
• ISBN-13: 978-1421519302
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,153,636 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Good Despite the Cheesy Title, August 5, 2008

By	Hakajin "Ecclectic Student" (GA) - See all my reviews

Most people above age 12 will probably be put off to "Sugar Princess" because of its title, but I decided to give it a look after reading the preview in "Shojo Beat" magazine. And it's really not sickeningly sweet like you might think.

I liked the characters well enough. I thought Maya was cute and spunky, and she plays well off the disgruntled Shun. It's not the best romance ever, but it was sweet enough to keep me interested. Better than a lot I've read, actually. The art was pretty standard, but it gets the job done. I liked the plot. Figure skating is a pretty unusual background in manga (at least, it is in the US), and the story is well paced. It's pretty original, despite a few predictable moments.

"Sugar Princess" is a pretty fun little manga. It's enjoyable for all ages, and it's a good length. Good if you're looking for a shorter shojo series.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sugar Princess, Vol. 1: Finding a Coach and Partner, August 2, 2008

By	Leslie C. Hull - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Sugar Princess is a new manga by Nakajo Hisaya who created the Hana Kimi series. The basic premise is that Maya Kurinoki is a third year Junior High School girl who is spotted doing a double axel by pairs skating coach Eishi Todo while she is trying to teach her younger brother to skate at the local ice skating rink. The coach gives her his business card because he sees her potential for becoming a pairs skater with one of his skaters Shun Kano who had previously won competitions with his sister/partner before she died. Shun now only wants to skate in men's singles. Because Maya is a novice, Eishi wants Shun to coach her so that she can reach his level of skating. His ulterior motive is to get Shun to come back to pairs skating as Maya's partner. Shun resists and it is Maya's job to convince him to help her.

Most of this first volume starts out a little slowly as it inroduces the characters and sets up the plotline. Because I liked Hana Kimi so well, I am reserving judgment on whether I like the series until I have read Volume 2. Many manga series start out slowly in the first volume. So far I do not like this series as well as Hana Kimi. In a sidebar the author says she has always been fascinated with ice skating and has wanted to do a skating manga so perhaps as Maya and Shun begin to compete the story will get better.

4.0 out of 5 stars 4 stars on author's potential, October 2, 2008

By	Yhelia Tomasri "Yhelia" (New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This is a cute manga. The main character's sweet, in a hard-working way, and the leading guy manages to be both cool and beautiful, if a bit standoffish to start.

I find it hard to judge this series based solely on the first volume. There's potential here, once the storyline gets moving a bit more.

The main reason I'm giving it 4 stars, however, is because I'm such a huge fan of the author's Hana-Kimi series. I'm waiting to see if the plot/romance turns out to be interesting enough to keep me hooked. Hana-Kimi had a natural advantage from the humour of a girl in a guys' school. Hopefully the skating will have the same appeal.