Circumstances brings two completely opposite girls together, where they find they have some surprising qualities in common, in Ajiichi’s Failed Princesses, Volume 1,
In Spring 2019, I took a look at Ajiichi’s Dekisokonai Hime-tachi, Volume 1 and found it to be a reliable school Yuri formula of opposites attracting. Kurokawa Kaede and Fujishiro Nanaki do not run in the same circles. Otaku Kurokawa doesn’t care about popular, fashionable Nanaki, nor does she want to. But circumstances bring them into contact and each is surprised to find that the other is not a bad person at all. However, their budding friendship comes at cost, as former friends pull away from them. And then there’s the other problem, when Nanaki discovers that Kaede is actually very cute!
With art and story is reminiscent of Morinaga Milk’s GIRL FRIENDS (Volume 1 and Volume 2), initially, it seems like it is headed in a similar direction, but neither Kaede nor Nanaki turn out to be cut-out characters. I particularly liked Kaede’s impassioned plea for Nanaki to not become her friend, as she could guess at the likely consequences. I did not like that she continues to hide that she is an otaku from Nanaki. Nanaki starts off insensitive…and, indeed, her assumption that Kaede wants to be more fashionable is tiring, but she’ll turn out to be less superficial than she seems. As the end of the volume draws close, there’s one more problem…Nanaki’s reaction to her creation of a new, “improved” Kaede, is a mix of pride, jealousy and something else that will take some time for Nanaki to figure out. Not us, though. This is a Yuri series, after all. ^_^
Ratings:
Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 7
Service – 2 A teen little bit
Yuri – 6
Overall – 7
This series has a pretty standard beginning, but it definitely picks up steam as it moves along. Give it a try and unless you are completely uninterested in school stories, I think Volume 2 will surprise you pleasantly. I’ve got Volume 3 in Japanese on order now and Volume 4 just hit Japanese bookshelves recently (and I love how the cover tone shifts slightly with each volume.).
Fans of school drama Yuri and Morinaga Milk will be rewarded by these characters who exceed their stereotypical origins.
