Princess Ben by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Princess Benevolence, aka “Ben” of Montagne is the niece and sole heir of the king. She’s been sheltered from the expectations and responsibilities of a princess by her mother, Prudence, much to the consternation of her aunt, Queen Sophia, who is unable to have children herself. This changes, however when her mother and uncle are killed in an attack, and her father goes missing. With the king dead, his heir missing, and the other heir underage and completely untrained, Sophia is declared regent, and Ben is placed completely under her thumb to be trained for her duties.

In her new quarters, Ben discovers a passage a to room that Surprise! contains spellbooks, and Ben is able to learn magic. This, however, eventually leads to her being mistaken as an attacker on herself (complicated explanation) and being forced to flee the castle, ending up in the clutches of Florian, the arrogant prince of Drachensbett, the neighboring kingdom believed to be responsible for the deaths of Ben’s uncle and mother. Drachensbett, however, blames the deaths on a dragon. And the people of Montagne don’t believe in dragons.

The problem with the book isn’t so much that there is a problem as it is that there isn’t a lot that sets Princess Ben apart from other “princess who needs to grow up (and does)” stories. It’s well written. Ben is a likable and engaging heroine, but not one who really grabs you and drags you in. The narrative structure begins showing the world through immature eyes and shows the same world through matured eyes. A narrative structure that I like, but it’s hard to not compare it to Stardust or Howl’s Moving Castle. I was initially worried it would take the “expecting her to live up to her responsibilities is unkind and expects too much, and she should get to live like she wants” stance, which is one that irritates me, as it promotes “irresponsibility is good,” but it eventually shows that Ben was wrong for ignoring her responsibilities. I wish, though, that it had acknowledged that Prudence, while a good mother, was wrong to keep Ben from learning what she needed to for her future role because of her (mutual) dislike for Sophia. Florian…well, to be honest, I thought he was an arrogant jerk, and we never saw enough of his good qualities for him to grow on me.

In the end, I like it, and will likely read any other YA fantasy novels Murdock puts out, but I don’t really feel any pull to read her earlier, modern YA books.

Magic Knight Rayearth II Vol 3

Umi and Fuu! Stop making me think of you as proto!Kurogane and proto!Fai. With less gay.

( Did you really just say that, Clamp? )

So, I like this, but think it was a bit too sparse. I could have done with at least another volume in each part to flesh out some characters and relationships. I’m happy that the main relationship focus is the relationship between Hikaru and her two mommies Umi, and Fuu, but there are a few other importatn things that I think could have used development. And now I feel compelled to track down all the Magic Knight Rayearth nods and appearances in Tsubasa. Perhaps I should just do a reread when I finish catching up on all the Clamp stuff I have/need to get.

Unleash all MKR thoughts you have been holding back on me!

manga: Gintama Vol 1

In the mid-19th century, aliens, called Amanto, came to Earth. Twenty years later, they pretty much rule the world (or at least Edo) and the samurai have been outlawed and forced to turn in the swords and take whatever menial job they can find. Shinpachi, the son of a samurai, is working hard as a cashier to pay off his father’s debts to the Amanto when a former samurai named Gintoki who works as an odd jobs man causes him to lose his job. (An Amanto made him spill his treat. He got upset and bashed the Amanto with his wooden sword, then left Shinpachi holding it. It didn’t go well.) As a result, his sister, Otae, is forced to work in a floating nightclub. After she beats Gintoki up for making Shinpachi lose his job.

They rescue her, of course, and Shinpachi becomes Gintoki’s assistant. Later, they’re joined by Kagura, an alien girl (who looks like a petite human teen) who is super strong, almost invincible, and a bottomless pit. She’s also part of the race of the galaxy’s most ruthless killers. Thanks to Katsura, a friend of Gintoki’s from when both were part of a rebellion to overthrow the Amanto, they also cross paths with the Shinsengumi. This is because Katsura is now a terrorist.

Otae is a vicious badass. Kagura is a greedy badass who scares men twice her size while managingt o be teeny and cute. The two named members of the Shinsengumi-Okita and Hijikata-are clearly psychotic. Gintoki wants to be one of the “I angst over my tragic past and failed cause” characters, but knows this isn’t that kind of manga, so he just wants his sugar and his Shounen Jump. And possibly for teenagers to stop moving in with him. Shinpachi is kinda there.

Thanks to Cali and the youtube videos we’ve been watching, I think I’m kind of brainwashed into liking it. But you know, I remember reading scanslations of the first volume a few months ago (to see if I wanted to get it) and thinking it was great, and then being surprised when a few people I was pretty sure would love it said they read the first volume and didn’t like it. Having read the US release, I realize: the Viz translation isn’t nearly as funny, and a few bits don’t really make sense. I also don’t remember Kagura’s sounding almost like a Yakuza in the scans. Phooey on you, Viz. Still, it was fun, and I’m told the Viz translation does get better. I’m also half convinced that Gintoki is the great-great-great-great-great-grandson of Samurai Deeper Kyo’s Hotaru.

ETA: Curse you, LJ, and your stupid updates making rich text not work on this computer, so that I can't make sure I got coding right, or use the other way if I don't remember the code!