Published by TokyoPop in the US in album format
Slugline: Who is this story about?
Prince Ael is the stereotypical isolated prince, forced to watch the world from behind his castle walls, listening to the endless fairy-like tales that his tutor tells him every night before casting a spell to ensure that his sleep is 'restful.' Pixie is a wandering con man and thief that takes a job to rob the young Prince of a bracelet, unfortunately one that Pixie learns too late that does not come off. Rather than solve the problem in a direct fashion with a knife, Pixie kidnaps the suspiciously unguarded prince, much to Ael's excitement. After all, Ael is finally going to have an adventure like the ones he has heard every night. Unfortunately, that literally begins to happen whenever Ael goes to sleep, and Ael, Pixie and Elvynn (a forest hunter from another world they pick up along the way) begin to travel through the different worlds of Ael's tales, trying to find a way to stop the traveling between worlds.
Reading this, sometimes it felt like that I missed a panel, because the storyline or how the characters read seem to stutter and advance unexpectedly. There are also a couple of subplots that are just hanging out there, that don't seem to connect to the main plot in any way. Character wise, I am not sure who we are supposed to be focused on. The book is called Pixie, but it seems to be more about Ael and for the moment Ael is the one that is advancing the plot. Pixie is a bit too world weary at times to be an active protagonist and Elvynn seems to know what is going on, but was introduced late into the story and seems to have fewer character moments. Because of all that, the story seems a little unfocused with the structure of the story suggesting that they will be changing worlds every 48 pages or so (the length of the original albums) putting another constraint onto it. The art is nice, but they really need to start pulling the story threads together into something that feels whole, even if that is just an illusion.
Pixie, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga
-Ferdinand
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