Murder Princess, vol. 1
By Sekihiko Inui
Rated 13+
Broccoli, $9.99
Shooting someone with a gun is efficient but boring. Trying to kill someone with robot androids that look like little girls is inefficient but entertaining. When faced with the choice of plausible vs. entertaining, Murder Princess goes with the androids every time, which makes for an amusing, if not particularly enlightening, read.
If you’re looking for literary merit, shop elsewhere. The plot is simple, the characters are cartoon characters, and the plausibility meter drops into the red zone on page one and stays there for the entire volume.
On the other hand, if cartoons are what you’re after, this is the book for you. Murder Princess is a book about kicking ass, but even better, it’s a book about kicking ass in an entertaining variety of ways.
The plot is simple, sort of a hyper-violent version of The Prince and the Pauper. In the far-off kingdom of Forland, the evil scientist Akamashi has killed the king and is trying to take the throne, with the help of his murderous kiddie androids. Princess Alita is sent off to find her brother, the heir to the throne, but she trips and falls over a cliff. Instead of dying ignominiously, she lands square on the head of a female bounty hunter named Falis and they exchange personalities. Almost immediately, everyone realizes that it would be advantageous to stay that way, because Falis is a tough, accomplished fighter and Alita is a well-intentioned wimp. Let the ass-kicking begin!
If that summary has you asking questions like “Why did they send the princess to find her brother and not a dispensable minion?” and “How come this kingdom has robots but no cars?” (or even “How can bumping heads cause them to exchange souls?”) then move along. There’s nothing for you to see here. But you’re going to miss a good time.
Murder Princess is untroubled by shades of gray. The villain, Akamashi, is very, very bad. How bad? He’s a pharmaceutical manufacturer! Or, at least, he sought government funding for a drug called “deathpuke madness,” which suggests his marketing plan was a bit, um, lacking. And then he used government funding to build his evil-girl androids, who are also very, very bad; they have swords in their kneecaps and they hurl grenades and killer bees out of their bodies. So basically, reading this book boils down to enjoying the action scenes and wondering what bizarre weapon Inui is going to dream up next. It’s good, violent fun, although I’m glad it wraps up in two volumes, as I can see how the story would get old pretty fast.
This is one book where I really noticed the art and enjoyed it. It’s imaginative and very expressive. Every character is distinct, although most fall into standard archetypes—dwarfish old wizard, shinigami, big guy in leather and spikes, wide-eyed little girl. Inui also does a nice job of varying the point of view. The scene where Alita falls off the cliff is a good example; Inui puts small details in a diminishing series of insets to really bring the scene to life.
This is a Broccoli book, so the production is superb. The white paper holds lines and tones beautifully, so the art appears sharp and detailed. The cover is heavy and nicely printed, with good use of spot varnish on a black background to emphasize the characters and the splatters of blood. Extras include character profiles, an afterword from the manga-ka, fanart by other manga artists, translator’s note, and a preview of volume 2.
Murder Princess is violent but not gory. The good guys are easy to like, the bad guys are abominable. And there is no take-home message, other than the obvious one: Sometimes a comic is just a comic.
Thank heaven for that!
(This review is based on a complimentary copy supplied by the publisher.)
[...] Brigid Alverson reviews the first volume of Sekihiko Inui’s Murder Princess, a series about… a princess who murders people. [...]
I have a confession to make: I enjoyed your review of Murder Princess much more than I enjoyed the book! It just goes to show that reviews are a kind of performance themselves…
Thanks, CH! I think I liked it better because I had already had my expectations lowered by your review. I agreed with your point that the whole story is in the title, but knowing that going in, I was able to turn my brain off and enjoy the fun.
Turning the brain off is critical when reading MediaWorks titles. Knowing Inui’s work and what he is referencing in regard to his long history of parodying/doujinshi-fying CAPCOM works is also important. But then again the average reader in the West would not know of Inui’s background, who this was marketed to or what his last doujin was.
…Long story short, its been cool reading all the reviews. Even Erica’s gave me a different perspective that I didn’t see at all (but should have been obvious because this is a MediaWorks title…). I got to remember to turn off the brain when reading reviews and then turn it on once I am done ^_^
You know, there is a sort of derivative feel to this book. It’s something about the character designs—I kept checking the back of the book to see if maybe it was based on a game or something. But I’m the perfect blank slate for this sort of thing, because I don’t do games and I don’t read Japanese. If I don’t get a single reference, but like it anyway, then it’s a good bet that other non-otaku readers will too.
It sounds neat thanks to your review! I really do want to read it now.