Princess Ai: The Prism of Midnight Dawn: #1 & #2

Once upon a time, there was a princess named Courtney Love. Made famous by her marriage to a front man of a grunge band and her own controversial antics, she was known by many across the land. One day she met a CEO of a manga company named Stu Levey, who was also known by his pen name of DJ Milky. The pair journeyed far and wide to Japan to meet the manga artists Ai Yazawa and Misaho Kujiradou in order to create a 3 part manga series loosely based on Ms Love’s romance life in a fantasy setting; Princess Ai. Upon its release it enjoyed moderate success with posters, calendars, figurines and soundtracks available for the fans. In 2008, volume 1 of its sequel manga was released, however with Tokyopop closing in 2011, the final part of Princess Ai’s story was left unfinished. Leaving behind an incomplete story and popularity waning…

Ok, leaving behind the fairytale style opening I created, Princess Ai was never a favourite manga amongst long term fans; the names attached to the project often resulted in groans from readers and them never giving it a time of day, but was is really a terrible series? Yes it was clichéd, silly, not particularly original and the mary-sue heroine may annoy some but considering everything involved Princess Ai is not exactly bottom of the barrel material. It has nice art, cool character designs, likeable cast, original rock music created for the series, references to the Love/Cobain relationship (if you’re into that story of thing) and despite the fast pacing of the story, the script had its moment of creativity. If you walk into it expecting nothing you get in return a fun, easy breezy read. Now several years on and the sequel trilogy has now come to a halt, with only 2 parts available to grab before they’re all sold out and then resold on e-bay for ridiculous prices. But is it worth investing in?

It’s 1 year after the Second Evolution; Princess Ai is seemingly now co-ruling a new era of humans and Dougen living together on Ai-Land with her half brother, Nora. Everything is peaceful, but Ai is not happy; she misses Kent, is cooped up in her room ‘for her own protection’ and has been unable to write music like she used to. When she’s offered a chance to perform a concert that’ll be simulcast on Earth using the power of the Prism of the Midnight Dawn, she’s delighted to do so. However when her friend is kidnapped and the Prism is stolen; Ai sets off with her furies to Earth to find out who did it. But it seems all is not well on Earth either; the music is becoming corrupted and a new drug by the name of ‘tank’ is taking hold of the citizens of Tokyo, including Kent. What is tank? Is it connected to the problems in Ai-Land? What does it all have to do with Ai? Can her voice somehow save the day?

Tokyopop could have taken the easy route in the storytelling by having a duplicate of the original and it all completely centred on the music once again, but they do go out of their way here to create a new tale with the now older and wiser characters. Although the first volume mostly takes place on Earth and seems focused on the ‘wrong’ music, they move it back to Ai-Land shortly after where it allows the series to go beyond the simple premise of Ai’s powerful voice and more into the fantasy territory. We do have the occasional crappily written pop-rock song but we also welcome grand castles, mystical creatures and magical spells; all of which aren’t particularly original by themselves but it’s nice for the series to really try to branch off from its own cheesy premise. The plot takes a step further by bringing back villains from the previous trilogy we thought we out of the picture, mystical beings thought to be a myth being reality and political battles between the dougan to make the adventure seem all the more epic. It doesn’t hide the swift pace or fluffy story, but you do find yourself interested in what’s happening and wanting to know how each mystery will unravel, which is what any story should be aiming for.

When reading the synopsis on the back cover for the first book I was half expecting the series to take a dark turn, especially with the mention of drug use and Kent addicted to the stuff from the get-go, but it’s handled very lightly. Sure the dark eyes under Kent’s eyes give the impression of a sinister thrall with tank but it takes one conversation with our heroine to realise that he’s wasting his life away. It’s not a complete throwaway plot device though; his withdrawal plays a small part in volume 2 as part of redeeming himself to others and it might of played a bigger part in volume 3 but we may never know.

To cater to all fans, pretty much most of the characters from the previous books return; the mysterious Fa’an gets some character development in his small cameo, Takeshi is still as much of a git as ever, but Hikaru comes out on top for a great line in book 2 for pointing out the obviously ridiculous plot but his fan girl moments also crack a smile from me now and then. The furies serve as Ai’s bodyguards and sport more of a personality compared to the previous trilogy but still fail to come across as intimidating to their opponents like before, they look nice but they barely do anything. Also the ‘friend’ that Ai is trying to save, you don’t even get to see it’s full face, Tokyopop is really not attempting to build any emotional connection there.  

Art style is still as simple yet stylish as before; Ai’s outfits are detailed and gorgeous in a typical gothic lolita style way, changing from chapter to chapter so there’s plenty for cosplayers to attempt to mimic. The characters have aged a year so you’ll notice that Kent and Ai have changed in the facial area slightly and in body shapes (with Ai sporting impossibly thin legs and small waist) but they’ve aged gracefully. Where it shines most however is in the 2nd book as it mostly takes place within Ai-Land; Misaho Kujiradou goes wild with the angelic wings, creepy skeleton beings, ridiculous outfits that match Final Fantasy’s wardrobe and striking castle scenery. I can’t say the same for the actual covers themselves but the inner pages are nicely done throughout.

Whatever the reason was that you like the original trilogy in the first place; the gothic lolita clothing, the Ai/Kent love story, the rock music or the art – all of them return here in full glory with a brand new story. It maybe currently unfinished, and the future of the series is uncertain as I type this, but there’s enough meat here to keep the fans happy whilst elevating the series to slightly higher status than just a simple Courtney Love self-insert story.