Boy Princess (Kiss Me Princess)
Title: Boy Princess (Kiss Me Princess)
Type: Manhwa
Artist(s): KIM Sae Young
Status in Home Country: Complete - 9 Volumes
Licensed By: Net Comics
Scanslation Status: Complete
Scan Groups: TrapNest
Genre(s): Fantasy, Gender Bender, Shounen Ai, Romance
Summary: When a prince's soon-to-be-bride (Elena) elopes two days before their wedding, her desperate family dresses up their young son (Nicole) and send him to get married in her place (with prince Jed). With his deep blue eyes and flowing blond hair (and strategically placed apples), nobody suspects the pretty pubescent standing before them. But how long can he keep up the charade? Despite the odds stacked against them, the two princes share adventures and intimacies in a story filled with imagination and visual delight.
Review: Manhwa fantasy stories are always an intriguing read because sometimes it appears very different compared to many stereotypical manga stories. This story had a combination of types of relationships from yaoi to the standard straight ones.
Afraid of the ramifications of a unification treaty between 2 kingdoms when the princess in the marriage contract elopes w/ a stable hand, the crown prince replaces the princess w/ his youngest brother. After all, rumor has it that the bride groom prince isn't sexually inclined to anyone. Of course, the secret is instantly found out by the newly married husband (after all, he's bound to be found out when he's using apples to stuff his dress LOL). Unfortunately, Nicole finds out that marriage may come at the cost of his life when he gets caught in the political intrigues by everyone vying for the throne.
There's not as much action, but there's quite a deal of drama and mystery. Overall, I liked the story, but I didn't like the ending as much. It all ended happily ever after for all the couples, but the most evil villain didn't get his just deserts so it made me feel a little put out. He ended up just going on as if nothing had happened after getting rid of all the competition for throne.
After completing the story, it's kind of tragic that the root of all the past turmoil in the kingdom was unrequited and betrayed love.
The storyline was very cute, and I loved the romance between Nicole and the prince. Even the romantic pairings of all the other princes and princesses were interesting. It didn't feel like the typical BL. Prince Jed is really pragmatic and doesn't care about gender, while Nicole does have his moments when he's utterly confused about the gender issue in a naive way.
As for the artwork, I liked it only partially. The only real character I didn't like the look of was Prince Jed; I'm not a fan of that type of art style which I've see in a lot of older manhwa fantasies, where characters look like gothic drug junkies. Other than that, the artwork was at time really pretty and cute for most of the characters.
Rate: 7/10