After getting abruptly turned down by the boy she has a crush on, Sachiko thinks that nothing else bad can happen to her that day. Imagine her surprise when she finds out that her crush, Akihiko, is now going to be her new stepbrother! And that’s not the only surprise: Akihiko is hiding a different personality behind those glasses. Will Sachiko’s feelings for him cool now that she knows what he’s really like or is she doomed to fall for her new brother?
Shojo fans are always looking for the next cute romance, but unfortunately this one isn’t it. Mizukami’s manga relies too heavily on Sachiko being a clueless idiot and even forgiving readers will have trouble believing that anyone can be that unaware. After Sachiko’s grandmother gets too old to care for her, she moves in with the mother who abandoned her years ago and finds out that Akihiko is also living there. He is her mother’s ex-husband’s son (which eliminates any creepy incest overtones the story might otherwise have). That night she sees Akihiko sneaking out of the house and follows him, ending up in a part of town she doesn’t know. She’s rescued by a cute young bartender named Akira, who is obviously Akihiko. Well, obvious to everyone except Sachiko. I guess it’s the Clark Kent syndrome–people look completely different with glasses. Except…they don’t, so the story is hard to swallow, which makes the romance hard to believe….
This review was originally posted at Good Comics for Kids. Please visit the original post to see the rest of the review.
Four-Eyed Prince, vol. 1
Wataru Mizukami
ISBN: 978-0-345-51624-4
Del Rey Manga, August 2009
