Princess Ai - the Prism of Midnight Dawn 2

Tokyopop's title returns with a sequel to the original series starring outspoken angel, Princess Ai. Based on the fictionalized life of Courtney Love, Princess Ai depicts the story of the valiant Ai as she continues to struggle to free her kingdom from the ruthless dominion of her ruthless step father while at the same time going platinum on the record charts.

Set after the events depicted in show more the first series, Prism of Midnight Dawn follows the further adventures of Ai as she becomes entrenched once more in a scheme by her family to seize control of her kingdom. Meanwhile, a new designer drug known as "Tank" is making the rounds back on Earth, hooking many including Ai's love interest Kent.

At the start of this volume, Ai has been captured by her extremist stepfather, Lord Kemo, with the intention of trading her to the race known as the "Fallen". Back on Earth, Kent has kicked his addiction just in time to discover Ai's situation and resolves to save her.

Since this is the second in a trilogy, the plot packs as much story as possible in its two hundred pages. There is a lot that takes place that would take up multiple volumes worth in other series. With so much going on, some of the plot does come off as rushed. One example of this being Kent's instant willingness to kick the drug "Tank" cold turkey without having any withdrawals.

The art in the first series was phenomenal and that carries over into this volume. Misaho Kujiradou's talent is once again on display as she provides beautiful composition with images of stylized characters; it makes this a slow page-turner if only to take in the art.

Princess Ai isn't just about the romance. It features action as well as an involving story. The characters can come across as shallow from time to time but for the most part are fully fleshed out and interesting enough to follow.

Overall, Prism of Midnight Dawn continues to uphold the standard set in the first series. show less