Ai is the Princess of Ai-Land, by something sent her fleeing the planet or dimension of her birth and landed her on Earth with a case of Amnesia. She wakes in a trash heap, her clothes torn and ragged, and wanders Earth, remembering very little of why she came to Tokyo. All she has is a heart-shaped case with a jewel on the top, and even that is nearly stolen from her shortly after she begins to wander.
But she is helped by a guy named Kent, who tackles the thief and gets her box back for her. He also takes her with him to the college library where he works, shows her where the campus kitty is giving birth in a box, and helps her get into the library, where she spends her time looking at picture books on art and music.
When she gets out, she's hungry, so a salaryman buys her food (sushi) and something to drink. He has intentions of being her Sugar Daddy, but Ai isn't about to trade her body for *anything*. She stops and sings a song with a street musician, Fa'an, who tells her he made more money with her singing with him than he ever did on his own. But Ai is approached by a well-dressed man who offers her a job singing at his club, Club Cupid. She goes inside to meet the boss, but realizes that the place is a hostess club, She's about to refuse, because she won't be a whore, but when the boss hears her sing, he agrees that she won't have to sell herself or her time to work in the club.
With no money and no place to go, Ai prepares to sleep in the woods next to the box with the Campus Cat and her new kittens, but Kent finds her and takes her back to his apartment to sleep. The next day, Ai is upset, thinking she gave her body to Kent, but he reassures her that nothing happened; he slept on the couch and all she did was sleep.
Kent doesn't live alone, but with a gay roommate, Hikaru. Kent allows her to borrow some of his clothes, but she takes Hikaru's by mistake, thinking that she looks better in them than he does. She also eats with them, but Hikaru is very jealous of her... he wants Kent for himself and thinks that Ai is a threat to his ambitions and affections.
Ai again meets Fa'an and he gives her a key that exactly fits in the box she wears. She opens the box and finds a heart-shaped pendant inside the box that looks exactly like the box itself. She goes back to her job at Club Cupid, but her looks and singing abilities have made her an enemy at the club: the woman who was formerly the top singer. But Ai's abilities have kicked her out of the top spot.
But the other singer isn't Ai's only enemy, and they are waiting in the shadows to get her. As Ai slowly recovers her memories from Ai-Land, and connects with the hearts of the people she sings to, will she be able to defeat those who want to kill her and erase her songs and memory? Will Ai ever remember what happened in Ai-Land and why she came to Earth, or will those gunning for her catch up to her first?
For a manga, Princess Ai isn't bad. It has more of an American vibe than a Japanese one, probably due to the influence of Courtney Love and DJ Milky. The artwork is quintesentially manga, but the book has a more American-ish flavor. Although I wonder how much Courtney Love invested in this book, since she's only listed as a creator, not a writer.
The story follows Ai as she wanders the streets of Tokyo, leaving the readers as much in the dark as Ai is about who could be wanting to kill her and who her foes are. We do get to see who is tracking her down to attack her, but we don't much, if any, information about why, only that they want to finish wiping out the royal family.
It's not a bad start to the series, and yes, I would like to see more. But the story wasn't all that gripping or unusual for manga. I had the feeling more than once of "Been there, seen that". It reads very much like a "magical girl"-type manga. It may be able to grow and branch out, but I'm not quite sure it's worth the price of buying it.
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