Suuuuu-IEEE!
Seeing as I got a "preview" of this in my manga run this week, I'm doing another OEL title from Tokyopop. Of course, I'm completely baffled as to why this manga has two spin-off series.
Princess Ai is a co-creation between Courtney Love (concept), DJ Milky (story), and Ai Yazawa (character design) and began with a three-volume series published by Tokyopop in 2004. The story centers on a girl named Ai, who wakes up in Tokyo with no memory, except for her name and where she came from, Ai-land. (By the way, did you know that "Ai" means "love" in Japanese? It does!) As she's stumbling along the streets of Tokyo, she meets a young man named Kur-I mean, Kent, who takes her in. Ai is determined to find out the mystery of why she's ended up in Tokyo, the meaning behind her heart-shaped box (I kid you not), and the wings that keep appearing on her back. At the same time, she's embarking on the beginnings on a singing career that may change her life.
OW. Speaking as someone who's read a lot of fanfiction, this is just a blatant, blatant Mary Sue here. If you know anything about the Kurt Cobain/Courtney Love relationship, the subtlety of this storyline is akin to a cement block dropping on your head. The whole thing reads like an badly-written alternate universe real-person-fanfic, with nothing really solid to support the storyline. Even the second-string characters are completely flat; Kent's roommate, Hikaru, hates Ai on sight (he's in love with Kent), but is eventually swayed by her determination. (It also helps that Ai can change people's emotions with her singing.)
The only decent thing to do with this entire manga is the character designs, which, even then, it looks like Ai Yazawa just used some scrapped ideas from Nana and reapplied them here. (Coincidentally, Nana has a music-based storyline as well. But not as obvious and much better.) Ai's music consists of her just shouting into the microphone, and somehow this is supposed to be life-changing music. Why Tokyopop insists on Princess Ai being a flagship OEL title is beyond me; the fact that there's a fanbook and a sequel baffles me even further. I can see newer anime fans picking this up, but after exposure to better series, realizing just how bad it is.
This...I really cannot recommend this one for anyone. If you'd like to experience this manga, Tokyopop offers a first chapter preview on their website. To everyone else, go read something good.
Tokyopop's Princess Ai site
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