Ranked #417

Ai Hime ~ Ai to Himegoto (Manga)

I was tempted by the plot of forbidden love, as those always seem to be decent reads. But despite its alluring prelude of the two main characters kissing under a cherry blossom tree when they have never met before, attracted to each other "at first sight", the romance gets rather weak as it started too early and focuses mostly on whether they will "do" it or not for two of the three volumes.
The art, despite the annoying ubiquity of the big eyes, is rather decent and does not intrude in the already staggering plot in a large amount. It is clear and focused and author Kako Mitzuki does a good job. The harsh art critic, me, has limited complaints.
Regarding the plot again, the ending (no spoilers here since the plot is already too predictable) is resolved too quickly and Mao's (the female lead) parents accept Jinya into their lives too quickly for it to be considered a good ending.
The largest turnoff was the lack of obstacles the couple had to go through. No relationship, especially one this "forbidden" (which the readers will soon find out, if they decide to read it at all is actually not that taboo of a relationship at all) is possible without a few obstacles. At least not those that are good stories.
The plot is weak and unsatisfying despite the promising premise. Find another story about forbidden love to soothe your fix, i.e. the wonderful yet long Boys Over Flowers or fair but better than Ai Hime ~ Ai to Himgoto series The Devil Does Exist. read more

Ai Hime ~ Ai to Himegoto is one of the first shoujo manga that I have read. At first, I thought it was groundbreaking and taboo--not something you found in all the other mangas. But of course then I couldn't differentiate between shoujo, shounen, josei, or seinen mangas. Then now I gag as I realize how much cheese I swallowed and how warped up I'd been.

Not that it's a dumb story, I just have a soft spot for this particularly cheesy title. I do remember that I thought Jin-E's bishounen status was questionable--because he's sort of ugly. Mai's very cute though, and her sweet nature and adoration for Jin-E sweep out all the corn and cheese trapped in the pages.

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