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Princess Prince
Story and Art by Tomoko Taniguchi (Call Me Princess, Aquarium) "From a place where the stars sleep, shall come the prosperity of your kingdom...but also its misfortune. The children of the sun will be protectors of that prosperity, however, one shall be raised as a child of the moon to deceive the enemy and ease the misfortune" - An Angel's Prophecy Mourning the death of his beloved wife, acting on a prophecy handed to him by an angel; the King of Gemstone decides to raise one of his twin sons as a girl. Will Princess Lori ever get to be Prince Laurence? Will he ever find true love?
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First published February 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 18, 2016
The most important thing to realize about Princess Prince is that the questions on the back of the CPM version of it, "Will Princess Lori ever get to be Prince Lawrence?" and "Will he ever find true love?" are completely rhetorical. It's not about that at all, rather it's a collection of short stories that tackle the topic of love. Sure, several of the chapters involve poor Lori and his/her crush on Jenny, but it never goes beyond that point.
Some of the stories are exceptionally well written, especially those that do not include the main protagonists. The random stories of love are rather sweet. However, Taniguchi always returned to Lori and Matthew, but never resolves anything with their story. The treasure is discovered and apparently some evil people want it, but nothing really happens. The attempts by thieves are thwarted, but the rest of the story, like the prophecy that forces Lawrence to be Lori, is never actually explained.
Essentially, it's a story with a non-ending. This is a real shame, because if Taniguchi just hadn't placed so much emphasis on these little pieces of the puzzles, it would have been a great little book of short love stories. Instead, it feels unfinished and a little unsatisfying. Don't get me wrong, it's still a fun little read, and the art is delightful, but it just isn't quite as good as it could have been.
Some of the stories are exceptionally well written, especially those that do not include the main protagonists. The random stories of love are rather sweet. However, Taniguchi always returned to Lori and Matthew, but never resolves anything with their story. The treasure is discovered and apparently some evil people want it, but nothing really happens. The attempts by thieves are thwarted, but the rest of the story, like the prophecy that forces Lawrence to be Lori, is never actually explained.
Essentially, it's a story with a non-ending. This is a real shame, because if Taniguchi just hadn't placed so much emphasis on these little pieces of the puzzles, it would have been a great little book of short love stories. Instead, it feels unfinished and a little unsatisfying. Don't get me wrong, it's still a fun little read, and the art is delightful, but it just isn't quite as good as it could have been.
March 15, 2016
I love Taniguchi's other series which usually involve a sweet/doe-eyed girl falling in-love with a relatively cute "metal-head". The stories are sweet to a fault -- and I love that!
This story too is beyond sweet and has the same style of pacing and art. But has the fantasy element of magical kingdoms, angel-birds, and prophecies.
I bought this without reading the synopsis and I probably should have. All I was thinking is that I own all her other works, and I found this volume for a decent price online. It completes my collection of Taniguchi in-English.
I gave it a fairly low rating, which I wasn't expecting to have to do. This story was ordered in a peculiar way (was this taniguchi, or the English editor?). The side stories and other short stories were splayed intermittent between the main "Princess Prince" chapters. Usually this stuff is collected and put at the end of a volume, which works much better. Also, I frankly just miss the metal heads...
This story too is beyond sweet and has the same style of pacing and art. But has the fantasy element of magical kingdoms, angel-birds, and prophecies.
I bought this without reading the synopsis and I probably should have. All I was thinking is that I own all her other works, and I found this volume for a decent price online. It completes my collection of Taniguchi in-English.
I gave it a fairly low rating, which I wasn't expecting to have to do. This story was ordered in a peculiar way (was this taniguchi, or the English editor?). The side stories and other short stories were splayed intermittent between the main "Princess Prince" chapters. Usually this stuff is collected and put at the end of a volume, which works much better. Also, I frankly just miss the metal heads...
July 15, 2017
I think I learned a few things about myself after reading this, actually. The most important being that I guess I hate sappy romances.
Princess Prince is mostly about twin princes, one of the pair being raised as a girl. I was kind of hoping while reading this that he didn't know he was a girl, but he totally knew. Also, for such a premise, there was too much heteronormativity, save for one character who thought one of the twins was a girl, but immediately backtracked when presented with a girl who actually had a crush on him. And is it really love when he always thought of her as a sister until she confesses? It's just... odd.
There was also quite a racist bit in the book. One of the princes finds a dark-skinned woman swimming in a lake and invites her to the palace thinking she is the most beautiful person he has ever seen - also, what's with everyone being beautiful? That's such a shallow reason to like someone - and his servants treat her like shit, using extremely outdated beliefs such as how someone like her is a criminal or doesn't even bleed red. Even though the princes were kind to her, it made me wonder if they ever saw someone else with dark skin and, because they weren't pretty, accused them of being a criminal.
The main story was left very open-ended. I actually had to do some Googling to find that the author is actually known for doing this with her books, but it left something to be desired. There were side stories interspersed between the main plot that were more finished, but I feel had all the tropes of a fantasy/romance, so were quite predictable.
Overall, the artwork was gorgeous, but the story itself lacked quite a bit.
Princess Prince is mostly about twin princes, one of the pair being raised as a girl. I was kind of hoping while reading this that he didn't know he was a girl, but he totally knew. Also, for such a premise, there was too much heteronormativity, save for one character who thought one of the twins was a girl, but immediately backtracked when presented with a girl who actually had a crush on him. And is it really love when he always thought of her as a sister until she confesses? It's just... odd.
There was also quite a racist bit in the book. One of the princes finds a dark-skinned woman swimming in a lake and invites her to the palace thinking she is the most beautiful person he has ever seen - also, what's with everyone being beautiful? That's such a shallow reason to like someone - and his servants treat her like shit, using extremely outdated beliefs such as how someone like her is a criminal or doesn't even bleed red. Even though the princes were kind to her, it made me wonder if they ever saw someone else with dark skin and, because they weren't pretty, accused them of being a criminal.
The main story was left very open-ended. I actually had to do some Googling to find that the author is actually known for doing this with her books, but it left something to be desired. There were side stories interspersed between the main plot that were more finished, but I feel had all the tropes of a fantasy/romance, so were quite predictable.
Overall, the artwork was gorgeous, but the story itself lacked quite a bit.
October 29, 2010
Before you think about buying this or tracking down a copy, let me give you a little info about Taniguchi's work. This author loves to leave stories open ended & somewhat unfinished. I like to classify her work as the "inbetween" stage- these are the actions that happen inbetween the bigger events. You can guess at what will eventually happen, but in the meantime this is how everyone acts. While some of her stories have a bit more action, the work will always feel unfinished.
Princess Prince is one of her fantasy series, focusing around two princes. Both are highly attractive but only Prince Lawrence has been forced to dress as a woman for somewhat uncertain reasons. (The king does so out of grief & I believe that it is mentioned that it will help keep the kingdom safe at some point in time.) It doesn't help that "Lori" (his princess name) is head over heels in love with a beautiful young woman who seems to be slowly becoming as equally smitten with him. There's magic crystals, thieves, & dark forces attempting to steal the crystals, but overall the manga's storyline is that of peaceful days in the kingdom.
Once you get past the unfinished feeling of the book (always a jarring experience) the series is a joy to read. I always end up coming back to this book & to other works by Taniguchi because the artwork is just that wonderful & she has a definite knack for storytelling. I loved that even though Taniguchi didn't end the series on a definite note, you can predict your own endings & make up your own stories. If any one manga artist is capable of sparking creativity, it is Taniguchi.
This manga is very much worth tracking down even for one read. Not everyone will like this series or her works in general so if possible, try to find it in the library if you can.
Princess Prince is one of her fantasy series, focusing around two princes. Both are highly attractive but only Prince Lawrence has been forced to dress as a woman for somewhat uncertain reasons. (The king does so out of grief & I believe that it is mentioned that it will help keep the kingdom safe at some point in time.) It doesn't help that "Lori" (his princess name) is head over heels in love with a beautiful young woman who seems to be slowly becoming as equally smitten with him. There's magic crystals, thieves, & dark forces attempting to steal the crystals, but overall the manga's storyline is that of peaceful days in the kingdom.
Once you get past the unfinished feeling of the book (always a jarring experience) the series is a joy to read. I always end up coming back to this book & to other works by Taniguchi because the artwork is just that wonderful & she has a definite knack for storytelling. I loved that even though Taniguchi didn't end the series on a definite note, you can predict your own endings & make up your own stories. If any one manga artist is capable of sparking creativity, it is Taniguchi.
This manga is very much worth tracking down even for one read. Not everyone will like this series or her works in general so if possible, try to find it in the library if you can.
March 9, 2009
the premise of Tomoko Taniguchi's Princess Prince was something I couldn't resist. In this one kingdom, one of a set of male twins is forced to pretend to be a girl to keep the kindgom at peace. It's prophecy-related. But it's even more messed up than that. The twin who gets to openly be male is also so pretty that one thief figures that the twins' secret is that they're both women and one must pretend to be a man. The thief, Brandon Walsh--I know--falls deeply in love with Matthew, thinking he's a girl pretending to be a man. Matthew accepts the wooing because... well, who knows his real reason. He accepts Brandon's fealty and mother's ring anyway. Lori/Lawrence is deeply in love with Jenny, who's confused that the princess she admires seems to almost be coming on to her sometimes. He wants to openly declare himself and win Jenny's heart, but he's not allowed. Lori/Lawrence is the twin who looks most like his mom, so his dad, who's forgotten that his "daughter" is actually his son, can get kind of...weird.
Most of the men in Princess Prince are really pretty, but I don't mind.... Hey, it's romance manga. I found it to be insane fun. It kills me that the angel bird attacks with the background music of what we're informed is the G-Force theme song. There's more chibi art in it than I like, though.
Most of the men in Princess Prince are really pretty, but I don't mind.... Hey, it's romance manga. I found it to be insane fun. It kills me that the angel bird attacks with the background music of what we're informed is the G-Force theme song. There's more chibi art in it than I like, though.
November 16, 2017
I would probably have loved this when I was 12, but adult me found it a bit too saccharine and superficial to really enjoy it. It also feels a bit disjointed. There are different little stories in it that are connected by the characters, but they don't read coherently.
The art is some very solid shojo style in that everyone has huge eyes and even the sad/bad things are pretty. Taniguchi definitely has a very defined style and it works for her type of storytelling.
If you're interested in some straight up, old-school shojo by Taniguchi, I would recommend Call Me Princess Volume 1. It has a more developed storyline that feels a lot more organized than this one.
The art is some very solid shojo style in that everyone has huge eyes and even the sad/bad things are pretty. Taniguchi definitely has a very defined style and it works for her type of storytelling.
If you're interested in some straight up, old-school shojo by Taniguchi, I would recommend Call Me Princess Volume 1. It has a more developed storyline that feels a lot more organized than this one.
August 29, 2020
Basically this book is about two twin brothers. their mother dies when they are young. their dad wants a female child and he has two boys. he picks the girlier and more convincing of the two laurence and makes him act like a girl. In this stage in his life he is starting to like girls and he is really resenting the fact that he cant be with them and he cant date them. meanwhile his brother gets caught being stalked by a boy who thinks he is secretly a female and wants the prince to reveal his true identity. It is quite an interesting story told in many different points of view.
February 4, 2016
The short story/One Shot, "Durga" was included in this volume of manga. It was probably only reason that I've read the volume twice.
Honestly I can't stand the artsyle, and didn't enjoy many of the stories.
Honestly I can't stand the artsyle, and didn't enjoy many of the stories.
February 25, 2009
Princess Prince by Tomoko Taniguchi (2003)
December 15, 2012
Loved the stories of the two Prince's and the others in the kingdom.
December 8, 2013
I liked it but I don't know how I feel about the whole gender thing. I feel like this is not sympathetic to the idea of gender being socially constructed.
March 3, 2013
I thought this was really sweet. It was really interesting.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews