This is one of the few books I had picked up at Gamers while in Japan, because 1) I had not seen it before and 2) it came with an acrylic standee and I am a such a sucker for extras. ^_^

Natsuki is the school Prince. Excelling in grades and sports, Natsuki literally takes direction from the Student Council President every day on which club needs her help. In part, this is because Natsuki likes to be of help, and in part, because the Student Council President is the only person in school who will just talk with Natsuki. Being a Prince is a lonely job. Everyone admires her, but no one is her friend. Natsuki is very bored…and lonely. When transfer student Jun comes in to the school and just is…friendly and chatty to Natsuki, she can hardly credit it. How? Why? What does Jun want from her?

Just the other day, I had the chance to revisit the ideal of the girl prince of the school. It’s a pretty old trope and has been addressed in many ways. I started to wonder, as I read Yukidoke to Agapanthus, Volume 1 (雪解けとアガパンサス) by Nauchi, if we had finally gotten to the end of the line with this idea of the school prince. The answer is no – we haven’t.  Natsuki is just going through the motions, until Jun changes her life completely. Jun hates her name, so Natsuki calls her Haru-chan (the words share the same character) and Natsuki doesn’t love her name, so Haru calls her by her family name, Hinata-chan..as will I, since using names that make people uncomfortable is yuck.

Until two things get in the way of this new friendship. One, Hinata-chan’s feelings rapidly become more than just friends and, swept up in a moment, she kisses her new friend. Haru-chan seems to become distant after that and Hinata-chan is stressed that she may have broken what they had. Unbeknowst to her, Haru is being harassed by an unknown stalker and tries to protect the Prince by pulling away from her.

When Haru is almost injured by the stalker, the stalker’s identity is uncovered. As the book ends, Haru returns to her usual ebullient self, and Hinata is still left wondering if what she feels is…okay. Tune into Volume 2 to watch Hinata-chan struggle with her feelings in a vacuum caused by her isolated status.

Of course being the object of admiration must be a very exhausting role to play! I’ve thought about it on behalf of idols and performers…and even online personalities…but how miserable must it be for everyone in school to love you, but have almost no one who likes you? It would be very isolating. And so, in this series, we have a school prince who is simultaneously the most and least popular person in the school.

I found it a bit off-putting at first, the aloof character sad about their own aloofness, but as the story developed it wasn’t as artificial as I had feared. As a result of her popularity, Hinata’s going to have a lot of emotional growth to catch up on if anything will become of her and Haru. I hope she gets there, but I don’t know if I’ll be reading it. Yes, this gave me a fresh perspective on the Girl Prince, but I’m not sure it’s one I want to continue with. We’ll see. 
Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 7
Service – 1 (Hinata-chan being princely is service)
Yuri – 6

Overall – 7

Agapanthus, also known as Lily of the Nile, or African Lily, was understood as the “flower of love” in Victorian language of flowers. It  came to mean “love letter,” which is why this series is subtitled in English “Snow Melt and Love Letter.”