An Unconventional Heroine and Romance: Shinigamihime no Saikon

Synopsis

The daughter of an impoverished aristocratic family, Alicia Faitlin, is forced into an arranged marriage by her uncle. On the day of her ceremony, however, the groom is suddenly killed and Alicia is thus marked with the label “The Princess of Death”. Even with this label, there is someone who seeks to wed her. This someone is the upstart noble whose family was recently promoted to the ranks of the aristocracy, Kashburn Licen. Rumors say that his an unrelenting tyrant, but there may be more than the stories tell of this noble.

The Good

Out of the many, many shoujo characters that this writer has encountered, Alicia ranks rather high on the unconventional scale. She’s basically this endearing oddball of a girl and brings an interesting aspect to the story with how she reacts to things. The dynamic that has with Kashburn is one highlight of the series given how it’s subtlety in development. Just the way the series builds up everything is a solid point to the manga.

The other characters also hold some interesting qualities to them. At first, they seem like the typical types that their characters portray them to be. As the series progressed there is more to some of the characters were given some solid layers to them.

The Bad
The thing with the series is that it dishes out some rather solid characters and the story is good, the problem, is the pacing. At the start of the series, there was a lot of potential and interest build up given with the characters’ stories. When the series entered into its second half it feels as if it was rushing things to reach the ending. Like, in the revelations chapter, it feels like the story could have expanded more on some scenes but instead decided to reach the end faster and move onto the sequel. There were just a lot of rushed moments that could have been explored more.

Conclusion

This is a series with some interesting characters, a solid build up in plot but a rushed execution. Alicia is a truly interesting shoujo character to follow, especially with how differently she handles things. That and her dynamic with her “husband” is also plus. The flow of the story is rather solid and the ending got most of the loose ends but the steps leading towards it make it seem like there was something missing. Overall, the series brought something different to the shoujo genre with interesting characters but a somewhat rushed ending.

Rating: 7/10