Synopsis
Tsunagi was a simple but indecisive high school girl who held a great admiration for the royal prince Takahito. One day, Tsunagi’s life suddenly takes a turn as a new student enters into her school anks almost exactly like the prince…
The Good
The most interesting factor about the story is on the exploration of the characters’ struggles in the roles for the royal family. Many aspects about it is very human and the way that it helps develop the relationship between the three is a great buildup. Even when things were settled, it was nice to see that the story ensured that all the loose ends of the story was tied up neatly. While in the beginning the female protagonist came off as the timid type that most shoujo girls are, the way that she developed in her endeavor to help the princes was rather nicely done and surprisingly was based on her own self for majority rather than the guy telling her what she is missing.
The Bad
Ironically enough for this shoujo work, it was the romance that didn’t turn out as great as the plot or the characters. In fact, if the story took focus on only one aspect of the romance rather than complicating things with a type of love triangle, the story would have worked out better. Sure, there was development between Takahito and Tsunagi, but the way that things developed between her and Haruhi could have been much better and less drawn out, given that it turned him into a side character for half the story. In addition to all this, it was quite obvious on who she would have ended up with in the end.
Conclusion
As a story that takes on the struggles of being a royal and carrying a certain image of one’s self and having to change one’s self in order to help those they care about, it does great. But as a romance story? Not so much. While the character development was well established and the friendship that formed between the three was swee; the dragged on romance of the story didn’t exactly help the plot along, though the handling of the character’s emotions was great. So for the most part, it does well as a story on royal and friendship, but could have worked its romance better in the second half.
Rating: 7.5/10