Crown of Love Volume 1 cover image

Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”

During a train ride, Hisayoshi “Kumi” Tajima bumps into teen idol, Rima Fujio.  Kumi can’t stop thinking about her.  Then, Rima’s former manager, Keigo Ikeshiba, offers to transform Kumi into a teen idol.  Kumi thinks that this will create the perfect situation for him to get to know Rima, but Rima only sees him as competition for Ikeshiba’s attention.

In Crown of Love, Vol. 1, Kumi meets Rima and falls in love, but when they meet again, Rima is standoffish with him.  Meanwhile, Kumi contemplates Ikeshiba’s offer to enter the music business, but not everyone is happy with that idea.  Kumi’s father, Hisakuni Tajima, an acclaimed violinist, is adamantly against the idea of Ikeshiba grooming his son to be a teen idol.  Classmate Yurie Takezawa is madly in love with Kumi and sees this new career opportunity as an obstacle to her winning him.  Then, Rima makes a decision that may change everything.

THE LOWDOWN:  Usually it would be too early to deliver a solid judgment on Crown of Love, but so far, it is a delightful read.  The best thing about it this early in the narrative is that creator Yun Kouga has chosen to mire his teen characters in the less attractive aspects of young love:  confusion, professional jealousy, personal envy, rivalries, desperation, depression, etc.  It is not that these young characters are mean; in fact, their troubles make them quite endearing.  Plus, Kouga’s drawing style, with its elastic anatomy and jewel-like, expressive eyes, is a joy.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Readers of Shojo Beat high school romance and drama will like Crown of Love.

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