Apr 9, 2013
About a few months ago, I stumbled upon a recently scanlated manga named Princess Mimia, authored by a man named Tanaka Yutaka, who is unanimously well known for his stories, which contain heartwarming and heartbreaking stories about love and life...but those stories are mostly hentai (the good kind, not pornographic. NO tentacles, incest, or rape of any kind!). However, one work of his is solely G-rated: Princess Mimia. It just recently got a full on series, but before that, there was this one-shot, which only briefly explored the story of Mimia and the people with the wings of light. Now, the actual manga series of
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Princess Mimia literally shook me emotionally, almost drove me to tears even, and skyrocketed its way to the top of my favorite manga list, just behind +Anima and With The Light, with its simple but effective story, great and well-developed and unstereotyped characters, wonderfully drawn artwork, a simple but effective and well explored setting, a great narrative, and wonderful, tender moments.
What's the story? Well, the so-called angels of heaven are actually people with wings of light, who evolved because humanity has declined considerably, and people who are wingless are a rarity as a result of an apocalypse (or something). The people with wings are light don't consider themselves to be angels, and their home, Heaven, is what they call the City of Clouds. There's a legend that if a child is born without the wings of light or the powers that come with them, they are a child of God destined to go on a journey to the stars by way of a very old tree. Mimia is one such child. Thanks to the love she receives from her parents, friends, and other kind souls, she grows into a kind, loving girl, though is unsure about whether she wants to be a God or not.
Now, one thing I think might turn people off about the actual manga series is that Mimia might come off as a bit of a Mary Sue. She's nice, she's kind, she has pink hair, she's a God child, everyone loves her, etc. But less than two volumes are scanlated so this might change later on. Here in this one-shot, however, she's a bit more flawed, occasionally attempting to pull of feats that are not possible for a normal human but are for the winged people, much to the chagrin of her sister and servants. However, since this is a one-shot, the author does try a bit too hard to get its story out, which does come out as a BIT convoluted, but not so convoluted that people can't understand what's going on. They say that it's not the destination that matters, but the journey. But in this one-shot, Mimia doesn't go on her journey until the end, and she isn't ready for it in the series, so we don't know the full extent of what happens. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as some things are better off left to the imagination. But it does become a little jarring if we don't see her develop or go through occasional hardships that go along with said journey. Plus, the setting isn't nearly as developed as it is in the series, so it may come off as another typical fantasy world to others.
Despite my opinion of this one shot, however, I still LOVE the heck out of Mimia Hime, and as of now, despite it being so underrated, I consider the series to be an absolute masterpiece simply because of how sweet it is and how far and away it strays from the norm. The manga has a mission, and it wants to fulfill it at any cost, while taking great pains to show us beauty in the little things and oversee the life of a young girl who has to fulfill her own mission with the support of the people behind her. I wish the manga would get scanlated faster. I want to read more of the series. But this review is JUST for the oneshot. A review of the actual manga series will come later, once it gets scanlated to its entirety. For now, I'm going to re-read the series and bask in its cuteness, fluffiness, and sweetness. You should, too!
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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