By Akiko Higashimura. Released in Japan in two separate volumes as “Kuragehime” by Kodansha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Kiss. Released in North America by Kodansha Comics.

Princess Jellyfish is turning out to be a difficult but worthy read for me. I spent much of this omnibus being irritated by the majority of the characters, either for making stupid decisions, being horrible people, or having the self-awareness of a gnat. And of course, that’s what the whole point is. It’s where the majority of the comedy comes from, and also the character development. Without Tsukimi’s introvertedness and low self-esteem, without Inari’s blackmail and vampishness, and without Kuranosuke’s amazing unself-awareness (though he’s above the majority of Amars, to be sure), we wouldn’t have anything to read about. And all of these aspects are in this volume in abundance.

Tsukimi is our heroine, of course, and so she gains the most depth here, even as she takes a few steps back as well. I’m still not particularly happy with Kuranosuke’s constant attempts to get her to do things and be more outgoing, but it does lead to a few nice moments, particularly when they’re designing dresses based on types of jellyfish and Tsukimi unleashes her inner fashion designer. (I also appreciates the fact that, while she does have untapped talent, things weren’t perfect right off the bat and the first attempt was totally wrong.) Sadly, she alsp sees the guy she has a crush on with another woman, and has no idea how to deal with it, even as she’s unsure what her feelings are. She equates love as something that makes her a ‘normal girl’, something to be truly feared.

And while the residents of Amars may not be normal girls (though they show surprisingly more aptitude at attempting it than Tsukimi does), Kuranosuke and his family prove to be just as screwed up. Inari is trying to tempt Shu using sex as a weapon, but he’s repressed (as we discover here, he seems to have been traumatized by walking in on his father as a young boy) to a point where she’s actually thrown off her game. Inari is at her most interesting when she’s like this – the idea of Shu being a genuine innocent virgin almost horrifies her a bit – but I’m unsure how long the manga can keep this plot going. She certainly has staying power, I’ll grant you. As for Kuranosuke, he may be the most interesting character so far, even if I keep waffling between liking and disliking him. He’s amazingly selfish most of the time, and, just like Tsukimi, seems horrified at the idea of falling in love like a normal guy.

It’s the tension that keeps me going as a reader, seeing how far the author can take all these plot points – Kuranosuke’s secret that he’s actually a man, Inari being terrible, etc. – and actually have them collapse. And, of coruse, there’s the fashion design, which I suspect is going to take up more and more of this manga’s time. It’s not perfect, but it’s the flaws that make Princess Jellyfish so fascinating.

By Akiko Higashimura. Released in Japan in two separate volumes as “Kuragehime” by Kodansha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Kiss. Released in North America by Kodansha Comics.

This is another one of those titles where I haven’t seen the anime that was based on it, but sheer word of mouth has made me incredibly excited for its release. First of all, it’s very rare to see Kodansha Comics taking a chance n josei over here at all – lately they’ve been licensing some Dessert, but that’s still shoujo for older teens. Kiss is for young women, and it shows – this title features adults, even if much of the cast are jobless and living off their parents. Its humor and energy are absolutely worth a read, though I found more flaws in it than I was expecting.

Our heroine is, as you may have guessed, the girl in the braids in the foreground, not the pink-haired pretty thing behind her. Tsukimi is a shy introvert with an obsession for jellyfish, who has to force herself to go outside her apartment – an apartment she shares with similar-minded women, all of whom are obsessed with something (kimonos, trains, older men, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms). Then one day, while trying to work up the nerve to tell a fish store employee that the ways he’s put the jellyfish into the tank will kill one of them, she runs into Kuranosuke, who she assumes is a gorgeous, extroverted young woman who helps her out and ends up back at her apartment. Then it turns out that Kuranosuke is a man.

The main reason to read this title, and it’s absolutely worth it, is the humor. Tsukimi may be a massive introvert, but her reactions are nicely over the top and horrified much of the time, especially trying to deal with this new free spirit in her life. Of the rest of the female cast, Mayaya is the one that stands out the most, something she brings on herself with all of her posing and dramatic declarations. Kuranosuke’s own frustrations at his family, his new friends, and his growing realization that he actually likes Tsukihi is also highly amusing. The art is also excellent, helping to show off the humor and being distinct but not overly busy.

That said, I do have a few issues. This is a little progressive, but not overly so – Kuranosuke emphasizes he’s not gay a couple of times, and there’s some slangy ‘homo’ refs sprinkled throughout, which the endnotes helpfully tell us isn’t as caustic as it sounds here, but is still very defensive. The main villain of the piece, meanwhile, is almost a cliche, and it doesn’t help that she uses sex as a weapon to get what she wants – this is likely meant to contrast with the ‘pure’ Tsukimi, and I was happy to see one or two times when she didn’t act like a cartoon character, but it was only once or twice. Lastly, Kuranosuke’s attempts to drag these women out of their shells and have them ‘don armor’ to deal with the real world is both inspiring and frustrating – I sense he’s of the school that feels that introverts just aren’t trying hard enough to be extroverted.

All that said, this is still a definite title for your collection. Tsukimi is sweet and a bit over the top, and I look forward to seeing her Cinderella-type story, while hoping that she still retains the parts of her that are why we fell for her in the first place. Want to see more of this.