The art is really something in this one. Both people and backgrounds are rendered very nicely, so for that alone, this book of oneshots is worth a look (and the final page of chapter 4 is worth framing). But beyond that, there's nothing particularly notable about this one. I rated it above average for the art, but the stories and characters suffer badly from oneshot-itis. That is, everything happens so quickly in each of the stories that not only do you never really get to know or care much about the characters, but the stories can get a bit confusing because it's all happening so fast.
Take the story with the two princes, for instance. There's a LOT that gets left out, plot-wise: The king's background with the magician is never delved in to, nor why the two kings are so close, nor is the mystery surrounding the hot servant who likes the king (which in a side-note was promised to be explained at another time) ever touched upon. But setting aside the fact that there are loose ends to the plot, the writing of the stories itself is confusing. For example, in the final chapter starring the two princes, they appear to be much older on the first page, then seem to be 14-15 again for the rest of the story, then seem to be older again on the last page. From the dialogue on the last page it seems that the events that happen in the chapter were a flashback, but why couldn't we have been told that from the begining? It's confusing seeing them appearing to be engaged in sex and then all of a sudden become uncomfortable with it. And how much time has passed from the time of the flashback to the present? It's little things like this, having to periodically stop and ask yourself why this or that thing is happening, that make these onsehots, on the whole, not always as successful as they could be. Don't get me wrong, the oneshots aren't terrible; there are plenty of cute moments throughout all the stories that I appreciated, but overall, the stories ren't substantial enough (cute enough, funny enough, or thought-provoking enough) to make you want to reread them when you're done. All in all, I can't recommend this one, but I can't not recommend it either--it's mostly sort of OK. So give it a shot, the art alone makes it worth it. You may like it more than I did.
(-30)
