Comics / Manga

Princess Ai: The Prism of Midnight Dawn Volume 2

By Leroy Douresseaux
January 11, 2010 - 13:50

Princess Ai: The Prism of Midnight Dawn Volume 2 cover image is courtesy of barnesandnoble.com.

Rating: “OT” for “Older Teen: Age 16+”

Princess Ai: -The Prism of Midnight Dawn- reunited readers with Princess Ai, the half human/half angel who sings with a mesmerizing voice.  This beguiling young woman left her homeland, Ai-Land, and returned to the Other Side (our world).  Things have changed.  Current, popular music sounds bizarre and jarring, and there’s a popular new drug, called “tAnk,” and Ai’s human boyfriend, Kent Kawa Scott, is hooked on it.

As Princess Ai: -The Prism of Midnight Dawn-, Vol. 2 opens, Ai-Land stirs with unrest.  Tensions continue to grow between humans and their former slaves, the Dougen (angels).  Princess Ai’s return to our world ended in disaster when she was kidnapped and returned to Ai-Land,  There, the sinister Dougen, Lord Kemo, drains her body of blood.  Determined to rescue Ai, Kent convinces Ai’s bodyguards, the Three Furies, to transport him to Ai-Land (with Hikaru in tow).  Ai, however, has fallen into the clutches of the outcasts known as The Fallen, and, as many dark secrets are revealed, Ai begins a descent that may make her also a pariah.

THE LOWDOWN:  In the first volume of Princess Ai: -The Prism of Midnight Dawn-, even the return of Misaho Kujiradou, the artist who drew the original Princess Ai trilogy, failed to help The Prism of Midnight Dawn match the entertainment value of the first Princess Ai series.  Princess Ai, the creation of  D.J. Milky (the pen/performing name of TOKYOPOP CEO, Stuart Levy) and rock musician, Courtney Love, is both a comic book character and a merchandising brand.  The core of the character is manga, however, and readers will judge the character upon the manga.

The first volume of The Prism of Midnight Dawn wasn’t bad – just nothing spectacular, but it is with this second volume that scripter Christine Boylan, who also shares the story credit for this series with Levy, does a much better job at basic storytelling.  The plot, characters, and motivations are much clearer, and while Boylan alternates the narrative between several subplots, she clearly defines what is going on in each one – who’s who, the goals, their personalities, etc.  In fact, I have a lot better idea of what is going on in Midnight Dawn now that I did after reading Volume One.

The art by Misaho Kujiradou, which was so stylish and focused on being pretty in the first Princess Ai series, is still beautiful in this second series.  The emphasis, now, is more on storytelling, conveying action, establishing characters and personalities, defining the setting and mood, etc.  It is in this second volume that Boylan and Kujiradou finally seem in tune, and it is just in time for readers who want to really enjoy The Prism of Midnight Dawn.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Fans of Princess Ai will want Princess Ai: -The Prism of Midnight Dawn-.

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Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12