Manga Reviews: Happy Cafe, Princess AI

Happy Café Volume 1

Story and Art: Kou Matsuzuki

Rating: Teen

Uru is a girl of short stature and freakish strength. After her mother remarries, Uru decides to set out on her own, moving into a new apartment and applying for a job at Café Bonheur. She lands herself a job as a waitress despite her knack for breaking dishes without trying. Her new coworkers are eccentric but kind. Shindo is a tall dark-haired individual whose stern exterior sometimes gives way to reveal a caring person whose true passion lies in making cakes. Ichiru is an aloof grey haired teen who is prone to falling asleep in random places when he becomes hungry. Eventually they form a strong bond with hints of something more between Shindo and Uru.

Happy Café is light-hearted romantic fun meant to serve up entertainment to its audience without the angst and dramatic tension. The series’ true lies in the interplay between the characters that all appear as polar opposites of one another. Uru’s spunky attitude makes her adorable and allows her to endear herself to Shindo who often times feels awkward around her.

The comedic aspect of the volume stems from Uru’s unnatural strength that is made even more surprising thanks to her diminutive frame. Several dishes and even a door are destroyed at her hands, much to the chagrin of Shindo.

Happy Café isn’t going to break any conventions nor does it try to. It sets out to provide its readers with a fun story with characters whose clashing personality archetypes make for an enjoyable read. The characters are a bit underdeveloped but that will expectantly change in latter chapters. Hopefully the series can capitalize on the potential shown in this first volume rather than fall into the same bland formula that exists in most

romantic fiction.

Happy Cafe Volume 1 - B

Princess Ai: Prism of Midnight Dawn Volume 2

Story and Art: Stuart “D.J. Milky” Levy, Christine Boylan, Misaho Kujiradou

Rating: Older Teen

Tokyopop’s best selling title returns with a sequel to the original series starring outspoken angel, Princess Ai. Based on the fictionalized life of Courtney Love, Princess Ai depicts the story of the valiant Ai as she continues to struggle to free her kingdom from the ruthless dominion of her ruthless step father while at the same time going platinum on the record charts.

Set after the events depicted in the first series, Prism of Midnight Dawn follows the further adventures of Ai as she becomes entrenched once more in a scheme by her family to seize control of her kingdom. Meanwhile, a new designer drug known as “Tank” is making the rounds back on Earth, hooking many including Ai’s love interest Kent.

At the start of this volume Ai has been captured by her extremist step father, Lord Kemo, with the intention of trading her to the race known as the “Fallen”. Back on Earth, Kent has kicked his addiction just in time to discover Ai’s situation and resolves to save her.

Since this is the second in a trilogy of books the plot moves at a brisk pace, packing as much story as possible in its two hundred page shell. There is a lot that takes place here that would ordinarily take up multiple volumes worth in other series. With so much going on, some of the plot does come off as rushed. One example of this being Kent’s instant willingness to kick the drug “Tank” cold turkey without having any withdrawals.

The art in the first series was phenomenal and thankfully that carries over into this volume. Misaho Kujiradou’s talent is once again on display here as she continues to provide beautiful composition with images of stylized characters that makes this a slow page turner if only to take in the art.

Princess Ai isn’t just about the romance. It features action as well as an involving story. The characters can come across as shallow from time to time but for the most part they are fully fleshed out and interesting enough to follow. All in all, Prism of Midnight Dawn continues to uphold the standard set in the first series making this a recommended buy for both casual and Ai fans alike.

Princess AI: the Prism of Midnight Dawn Volume 2 - A-