Comics / Manga

Princess Resurrection Volume One

By Julie Gray
May 8, 2007 - 23:31

Princess Resurrection Volume One Cover Art

“Have a nice afterlife”…

Princess Resurrection is all about death and monsters of every description. In this manga you’ll encounter demons, werewolves and vampires – no undead stone is left unturned. Especially with the likes of Princess Resurrection on the scene. Hime is 'Princess Resurrection' who has the power to revive the dead. As interesting as that may seem, being revived by Princess Hime isn't exactly all it's cut out to be.

My first impressions of this manga were definitely positive – I love the supernatural storyline and the characters always seem to lead positively wretched lives which can make for compelling reading. The main protagonist in this manga is Princess Hime who fights the forces of evil even though she has the power to raise the dead. That’s a tad paradoxical but I’m putting this down to a quirky characteristic.

So we have our dark and macabre heroine who is seen as a ‘saviour’ of sorts by raising people from the dead to fight against evil and the unsuspecting ‘boy-next-door’ type Hiro, who is a newcomer in town. Enter Flandre who is Hime’s overactive sidekick and you’ve got a recipe for disaster – and death, loads and loads of it.

At this stage in the story we’re not quite sure if Hime is indeed the heroine. Sure, she fights evildoers like werewolves but she’s also depicted as the type of character who might be easily tempted to abuse her power over the dead to amuse her own cravings for excitement. It’s absolutely delectable.

Preview page from Del Rey's website

Hiro has now become the servant of Princess Hime and expected to do her bidding all the while falling head-over-heels in love with her. On top of that, there’s the issue of death he has to contend with; not fully realising that he’s indeed a walking, talking corpse! This seems like a little bit too much for a young, unassuming newcomer to deal with but it’s all part of Hiro’s unfortunate situation.

As the odd relationship between Hime and Hiro progresses, we see Hiro ultimately descend further and further into a state of complete hopelessness as he realises that he is caught up in something way beyond anything he could have imagined in his worst nightmare! We also begin to see his feelings towards Hime change as he becomes more aware of himself and the life that has now been thrust upon him.

Whether or not this feeling of hopelessness pushes Hiro over the edge remains to be seen. With the introduction of Riza Wildman, Hime has her hands full trying to keep the daughter of her slain master at bay whilst dealing Princess Resurrection-like damage to various undead creatures of the night - chainsaw style.

Hime is my favourite character with Flandre proving to be more like a ‘background’ character than anything else. My interest definitely lies with Hiro who is destined to live out his pitiful life as the servant and ‘blood warrior’ of Hime. It would be great to see Hiro’s character develop further and to see more of the history behind the ‘Blood Warriors’ as the story continues.

Preview page from Del Rey's website

The scene in the hospital with the invisible demon is both spine-chilling and violent but Yasunori Mitsunaga manages to pull it off with finesse combining a sense of humour with blood and edge-of-your-seat thrills to produce a masterful manga.

Yasunori Mitsunaga is also a talented artist as well as storyteller and I really appreciate how Hime is drawn with enough subtlety and femininity for readers to still find something likeable about her despite her hardened and rather snobby demeanour. The artwork is spot on.

Princess Resurrection has an interesting, developing storyline and a couple of strong characters to support it. I’m pretty sure this manga is going to do well and for fans of the genre (like myself), anyone with the slightest interest in all things gory and macabre should definitely check out this manga.

Princess Resurrection Volume One comes complete with translation notes, a special bonus Princess Resurrection ‘spin off’ and a sneak peek at volume two in original Japanese. You can check out Del Rey’s preview website here.

Art Work: 8/10
Story: 8/10
Overall Rating: 8/10

Contact the author of this review: Julie@comicbookbin.com

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12