Anime Boredom - Kilala Princess manga reviews

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Kilala Princess Volume 1

Let’s get something clear right off the bat : I am NOT Disney’s biggest fan… but I’m not their worst enemy either. Unless you got me going on about their latest Miyazaki related travesty (“They buried what movie where in a limited box office release again? The sacrilege!!”) you aren’t going to hear tons of complaints out of me about Disney… you won’t hear a ton of compliments from me about them either.
Let’s just say I’ve had mixed results.
So when it comes to the Disney Princess franchise what are my thoughts about it?
Hmm… actually, I don’t have any thoughts about it. Mostly because the franchise is aimed at young girls and the last I checked I am not a young girl… though I guess that’s mostly because there hasn’t been a comic or manga version of the franchise to sink my reviewing teeth into… no, not that way… until now.

First off let’s get one thing abundantly clear, for those wonder, Kilala Princess is so NOT a Kingdom Hearts spinoff! This isn’t some attempt to market on Kingdom Hearts by aiming a alsoran title towards female readers who might not have jumped on the Kingdom Hearts bandwagon with Sora (a male hero) in the lead. However… the jury is still out as to whether or not this is a sales pitch for the Disney’s Princess franchise though.

Let’s see if I can get through this review without saying “DISNEY’S PRINCESS” too many times (though I will probably say it as many times as it is in this first volume).
Here we go. Meet Kilala, she’s a spunky young girl who dreams of being swept off her feet by Prince Charming just like her idols the “DISNEY PRINCESSES” (Bing! One.)
She is a normal girl, however, going to school with her best friend Erica (who is this perfect person that everyone compares Kilala to) who just so happens to be the prime candidate to be voted as “Princess” (which gives Kilala concerns that she may be losing her best friend to this whole princess thing).

After Erica bails Kilala out of another problem she has gotten herself into, by no means having to do with her spacing out while reading her favorite “DISNEY PRINCESS” books (Bing! Two.) she and her friend go to their favorite hangout near the ocean and talk about the future, and Kilala’s absent parents who have went away to a place called Paradiso in an attempt to save Kilala’s mom’s life.
After a total Sakura/Tomoyo moment… don’t ask… the two run into a Kingdom Hearts gimmick in the form of a giant locked gate hidden in the woods (marked with the sign of an apple, which I take is the sign of the poison apple from Snow White), marked with the cryptic words “Beyond the gate the world of dreams…. Dreams… will… come… true…”… well I told you there was a Kingdom Hearts gimmick!

When Kilala gets home she finds a piece of beefcake guy who seems to buy his clothes from the Final Fantasy Store (the bargain bin) lying out cold in her yard. After attemping to kiss him he wakes up briefly, only to fall asleep immediately. She brings him in her house (which isn’t nearly as awkward as it might be if her parents weren’t on the other side of the galaxy) and finds he’s packing a small tiara… yes, I mean a real tiara… stop it… which she puts on which makes her feel so much like a Disney Princess (Ding! Three.)… oh, then the guy wakes up and freaks out, which leads to the two of them being found with him on top of her and… who’s the guy dressed like he mugged a Neo Nazi on the way to Kilala’s place and took his clothes?!? Damn.

Anyway these two are from another country (isn’t that often an excuse used in many Star Trek TOS and TNG episodes?) and they’re looking for a Princess that can save their country, which Kilala thinks must be Erica… which may indeed be as Erica is kidnapped by confused evil people who seem to want to dress like Vincent from FFVII only to end up looking like an evil Inspector Gadget. This leads the trio of Kilala and the two guys (the bothersome guy being named Rei) back to the locked gate, which opens when she puts on the tiara and makes a wish to save her friend Erica. This leads them to the world of Snow White… which leads to her first meeting with the Disney Princess she admires so, and thanks to her intimate knowledge of the Princesses (she memorized her viewings of Snow White on DVD) (Ding! Four… yes, I didn’t say “Disney Princess” but I did mention a piece of the merchandise, mainly Snow White’s classic movie from way back when) she knows all about the magic mirror, and it’s power which can give them a leg up on what they can do to save Erica… oh, which leads to a bit of a technical flaw in the story but more in a sec.

The thing about Disney’ Kilala Princess is not to think about the feel that this is a product placement for Disney’s Princess line, there is enough here to forgive the occasional dropping of mention of the books, and the DVD of the classic movie Snow White (or future mentions of the books, DVDs, and maybe even games). No, that can be forgiven. What I am about to say next is not forgivable.
I like Kilala Princess, it has a familiar feel to it and I like the whole Magical Girl style spiel of the title and everything just synches fine… which is the title’s problem, the title is too familiar.
If I was to narrow this down to one word the title is “Safe”, it is filled with familiar character types, story development, plot progression, everything has this sense of familiarity to me since I am abit of a fan of the genre and I think that is it’s failing. While I am a fan, yes, I was looking forward to having abit of innovation and different but instead… well, if you don’t believe me let’s check off the list of familiar people and situations this title offers us.

- A kinda tomboyish independent young girl who idolizes certain older people (I.e. the Disney Princesses) and wants to be like them one day? Check.
- Her sensible down to Earth friend who is the logical sensible Spock to the lead’s Kirk (only cuter), who is also destined for greater things than her friend (the lead) but only wants to ber her friend’s friend? Check.
- A hot looking young guy who falls into our heroine’s life and ends up being a pain in the rear for most of the run until somehow he becomes the heartthrob of our young female hero? Not yet, but I see it coming.
- A magical item in the form of some convienent tool or fanciful item (like a small tiara) which falls into the hands of our female heroine? Check.
- A situation wherein the heroine is forced to wield the item in order to discover her “destiny” while saving friends or family (in this case Erica)? Check.
- A situation also where our heroine gets to meet the people she’s idolized who end up being helpful in her quest by giving her either encouragement or advice? Check and check.

Basically the title runs the course of familiar characters, concepts and so forth. And while this is tried and true concepts and so forth that is a sure winner from being as familiar and welcomed as a warm towel out of the dryer it’s also… well… not very innovative. Nice is nice, but nice that takes me in directions I’ve never seen before is even better. I like the title, yes, and while I do recommend it I can’t give it a 4 out of 5.
It’s a good read, but it’s that way because it follows the standard rhythm and roll of such titles which I do approve of, but doesn’t do much to expand the genre in anyway at all.
Also, well, you’ll probably love this title a lot better if your either a Magical Girl fan or a fan of the Disney Princess’ line. But if you’re open minded, and liked Kingdom Hearts, then you might experiment here.
Kilala Princess Volume 1 gets 3 comforting spots on your favorite reading chair out of 5 (and a wee bit more in the form of an ½ point bump because… well… I like comfortable things).

Oh, almost forgot. The one error in this volume. Stop reading if you don’t like spoiler info. Stop reading.

In this volume Kilala says that (when she meets Snow White) that they arrived in her world AFTER her “happy ending”. However, as I remember the DVD that Kilala watched didn’t Snow White leave the Dwarves with Prince Charming at the end of the movie (which would be her “happy ending“)? Or did she leave him and come back to the dwarves? That means Kilala is wrong (or the original writer… or the translator…someone) to say that this is “after” Snow White’s “happy ending”.
Oh, and just because you know who (Maleficent) is alive and well it doesn’t mean that it’s before the end of the movie… well, mostly since we’ve seen her alive in the Kingdom Hearts reality which may mean all these Disney Princess world trips may link in a sense to, yes, Kingdom Hearts.
But I doubt it. There, I said it though, I doubted whether or not there was a Kingdom Hearts connection.
Oh, but for those who fondly remember Maleficent from the games you might want to check Volume 2 of Kilala Princess in May because she’s the evil of that volume.

Kilala Princess

Kilala Princess Reviews

Kilala Princess Volume 1