Genre: romance, shoujo, drama
Volumes/Chapters: 3 oneshot stories
Story 1: Miss Prince
Hisahara Koto started dating Kagawa Tatsumi for two weeks after meeting him at her workplace as a babysitter for his younger siblings. Her main concern about dating Tatsumi is that he is extremely too perfect, and compared to him, she feels like she can't keep up with him. Although she really likes him, she can't help but to wonder if he's okay with having an ordinary and plain girlfriend. Tatsumi-kun is a good guy, representative of the class, and simply great at everything he does. All of the girls admire him and unanimously decide that Koto doesn't deserve to be with Tatsumi.
Complications arise because of Koto's insecurities and interference between the "fan girls" at school. The relationship between Koto and Tatsumi seems to be hanging very loosely, not mattering that Tatsumi has never seen a problem in dating Koto in the first place. When Koto loses the ring that Tatsumi gives her, she decides that she isn't good enough for Tatsumi after all and tells him that she wants to break up.
Story 2: Strawberry Kiss
Izumi Makino spends her days looking pretty and dating a variety of boys. Because of an incident last summer involving Minato Shiraishi who kissed her while she was asleep in class, rumors spread about the two of them and Makino seems unable to ever forgive Shiraishi for this. But in the present, Minato approaches her and tells her that he was in love with her then and is still in love with her now. Though he is the last person she ever wants to see, she knows that she'll never be able to forget who stole her first kiss.
Due to a school committie event involving a tour for dating spots, Makino learns that she has been paired up with Shiraishi. She ends up having a pretty good time with him and accepts that he likes her. Deciding to give him a chance, she agrees to go on a date with him and eventually ends up falling for him slowly before their first official date when he helps her out of a tough situation. But her various boyfriends keep coming to bother her and realizing that Shiraishi must think she plays around, she promises herself that she will go on the date and confess that she has fallen for him. Unfortunately, the two are already getting off on the wrong foot and there is no telling what Shiraishi feels for her anymore because of her dating so many guys.
On the day of their date, Makino trips and falls and makes her late for her date with Shiraishi. Afraid that Shiraishi may have stopped liking her, she forces herself to hurry to the meeting place, even on her bad ankle.
Story 3: White Calendar
Yukimi Kataoka and Junya Fukino met back in elementary school only to learn that Yukimi is a whole year ahead of Junya in school. The fact, however, is that Yukimi is really only ten days older than Junya, but because of the date that he was born, he couldn't attend the same grade as Yukimi. Since their meeting, they've been inseparable and as they live next door to each other, they go to school together every morning and head home together every evening. Everyone comments that Junya and Yukimi are like brother and sister, but the two like to stress that they are the same age, even though they treat each other like kids.
At school, Yukimi is dragged into the cooking club by her friend where all the girls go to in order to find a boyfriend. After all, the cooking club classroom looks right out into the sports field and the aroma of food attracts all the boys to the window to meet the girls. Yukimi is immediately asked out by one of the boys, even though her goal in the cooking club was to show up Junya in cooking skills. On Junya's side, he has a girl attached to him claiming to be his girlfriend and badmouthing Yukimi because she is a rival as well as in the cooking club.
Jealousy unfolds when Yukimi realizes she likes Junya romantically and Junya sees Yukimi being confessed to. Of course, the two can no longer see each other as just kids again.
***
The stories in Kurahashi Erika's manga are usually sweet and cute and this collection of oneshots is no exception. Miss Prince, like any other shoujo romances is a fun read up to the end because of the simplicity of the stories and the adorable factor in the characters and their designs.
I enjoyed these stories a lot, and of the three, my favorite was White Calendar, though it is quite hard to imagine love blossoming at such a young age. It's still cute and sweet and that's what makes these oneshots such good doses of "Chicken Soup for the Hopeless Romantic's Soul."
For short stories with a good cuteness factor, I highly recommend Miss Prince to anyone.
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