- #1
Mia gets by through the power of lucky misunderstanding and those around her are all too willing to be deceived about her supposed Machiavellian schemes to save the nation. I think that's great and leads to a lot of funny situations and internal dialogue.However, while vol 1 (1-67) is excellent, vol 2 is a major step down. Most of it involves the crew going to another country to solve some political stuff. What Mia does as a princess makes sense in vol 1 because she's in her own country and has power; however, it's hard to swallow the fact she can get the crew together and still have princess privilege abroad while solving problems she has nothing to do with. The conflict, characters, misunderstandings, everything that made vol 1 great are all missing because the premise and execution are very weak in vol 2. The misunderstandings and solutions are localized and make sense, but then become way too generalized, as if the author has decided something is going to happen and then tries to paint an elaborate but nonsensical path to get there. For instance, there is a fight between two main characters in vol 2 that makes literally no sense at all to happen. However, it feels like the author wants the results/effects of the fight and so forces it to happen when two sentences should be enough to stop it. The conflict is "fate" in vol 1 but becomes goofy man in a monopoly mustache level ridiculous (and not in a fun way) in vol 2. The worldbuilding is pretty bland and so the other country doesn't seem very fleshed out, which only amplifies how empty and poorly constructed the whole arc feels. I'll read on into the next volume, but the quality seems to dip as it goes on.