Thanks to barnesandnoble.com for the image.

PRINCESS AI: RUMORS FROM THE OTHER SIDE, VOL. 1

TOKYOPOP
CREATORS: Courtney Love & D.J. Milky
CARTOONISTS: Various
TRANSLATION: Christine Schilling and Hyun-Joo Kim
ISBN: 978-1-4278-0822-6; paperback; Fantasy; Rated “T” for “Teen-Age 13+”
192 pp., B&W, $9.99

Princess Ai is beguiling young woman who sings with a mesmerizing voice.  Lost and alone in the cold streets of the Shinjuku section of Tokyo, she has no memories of her past, and her clothes are as tattered as her memory, though she knows her name is Ai.  Ai is actually a half-breed from another dimension, Ai-Land, where humans rule over their servants, the Dougen (angels).  With the help of Kent, young man who falls deeply in love with her, Ai regains her memory and returns to her Ai-Land, after various adventures and misadventures.  Her story was told in the three-volume manga series, Princess Ai, which was also collected in Princess Ai Ultimate Edition.

Princess Ai: Rumors from the Other Side, Vol. 1 is a collection of short stories written and drawn by several of TOKYOPOP’s “Global Manga” creators.  The stories are set in Japan after Princess Ai returns to her home.  In a kind of flipbook section, Ai and Kent also make appearances.  However, the bulk of the stories are told by Princess Ai supporting cast that were somehow acquainted with or connected to Ai.  Told from their point of view, the stories present skewered and even insane views of the other-dimensional heroine, Ai, and they are often rumors, gossip, or even outright lies.

The opening tale, “The Last Song of Paradise,” written and drawn by Erica Reis (Sea Princess Azuri) has one of Ai’s former employers claiming that Ai disappeared because she contracted a rare avian virus that transformed her into a bird.  T Campbell and Amy Mebberson (Divalicious!) take a riff on the classic Oscar-winning flick, All About Eve, and transform Ai into a manipulative brat in “All About Ai.”  Steve Buccellato (Battle of the Bands) tells the story of Ai as an alien superhero in “The Legend of Hawk-Ai.”

The stories are funny, but the loose, indie comics style cartooning for these tales is not close to the beautiful, solid drawing of original series artist, Misaho Kujiradou.  Luckily Misaho returns to write and draw a story that tells us about Ai’s current affairs.  Korean Kim Mi-Kyung, in “A Little L-Ai,” also offers some beautiful, textured art to go with a funny story, so it’s stories like these that make Princess Ai: Rumors from the Other Side worthy of taking its place next to the original Princess Ai.

B+