Bird Kiss 1
Posted: September 30, 2006 Filed under: Bird Kiss 2 Comments »I got pulled in on this one by a promise that it was a modern-day telling of the Frog Prince fairytale. I love retellings of fairy tales. This, unfortunately, is not. It is a high school romance.
It certainly TRIES to be a retelling of the Frog Prince. It brings up the Frog Prince all the time. But it parallels the story with elements in every single high school romance on the face of the goddamn earth. The princess? A junior high school girl with the hots for a very pretty high school guy, her prince. Her frog, the one that waits on her hand and foot, is the geeky guy who’s been friends with her his entire life. Of course, he isn’t the geeky guy anymore at the end of the story, and she begins to get her comeuppance at the end of the volume for being the bratty, shallow princess… but it’s like the mangaka read Ai Morinaga’s Duck Prince and wondered how she could do her own version. They’re not very close story-wise, and they take different approaches, but they have a lot in common.
I did like it a lot, though. As a high school romance, it’s pretty mediocre, but it’s got really pretty art. The main character is a bratty bitch that I can’t stand, but I love seeing these situations she gets herself into and how her own bad actions circling around after her. She’s Sae from Peach Girl, basically. Actually, I like a lot of the characters so far. Despite the fact it’s not quite the fairy tale I hoped for, and it’s not quite the shoujo crack I should really be limiting myself to after reading so many high school romances, I’m actually quite looking forward to the next volume.
I find this series to be hilarious! Miyoul is such a jerk and she treats Heerack like crap, and I think it is so funny. The drawing is a little unconventional, but I still like this series. I can’t wait to read the third volume.
I like the art a lot, actually. The artist loads so many girly design elements into the art that it works really well when Heerack is hanging around Miyoul. I’ve got the second volume but haven’t read it yet. I do like it, but I think I’ll like it a lot better when the story gets past the initial setup and I start reading volume 2.
You should try Duck Prince if you like this one. They are very similar, and Duck Prince is a really funny series.