When a Girl Becomes a Prince – review of the comic book “Freyja the False Prince” vol.1

Times are hard

Sixteen-year-old Freyja lives with her sick mother in one of the villages of Tire. The girl is not particularly brave, actually far from being a strong character. It is rather a person who must be saved forever. However, she is kind, helpful and has a good heart, and all the local residents like her very much. However, the residents are worried by the fact that the neighboring country (Sigurd) is still taking more lands belonging to Tire, enslaving its population. Her childhood friends return to the girl’s village. Aaron and Alexis are brothers Freyja saved many years ago. Later the girl’s mother took them in. Now they both serve Prince Edvard, the hope of Tire. The young ruler is poisoned and Aaron, who is his guardsman, is killed by the enemy. It seems that the fate of the state is sealed. But a crazy plan is put into practice – after all, you can find a double. By a twist of fate, the title character is incredibly similar to the prince. Alexis and the other knights will join her side. However, the country is in internal conflict, the young ruler does not have many supporters. Will Freya manage to survive, find strength, become Prince Edvard, defend her country and those she cares about?

The theme is quite known

It is not difficult to notice that a similar theme (changing roles) appeared very often in novels, films, etc. The main reference is primarily the Prince and the Beggar – Tomek Canty and Edward Tudor. Additionally, both in the book and in the manga, the princes have the same name – Edvard. But in the case of the manga it is more like Prince and Peasant – it sounds like some kind of romance with a mesalliance theme. In addition, with Mark Twain, the young ruler had a chance to live a little longer. Meanwhile, the defender of Tire dies practically at the beginning of the series, although he is sometimes recalled in the memories of the heroes.

Action and appearance of the world

The world is modeled on Western Europe. If I were to give a specific epoch, it would probably be a renaissance – as in the case of Mark Twain’s novels. Although late medieval times are possible too. It is worth mentioning some points related to the Convention. Of course, it’s a fantasy, an adventure manga with a probable romantic plot – there are many indications of that. Fortunately, the author does not focus specifically on the love aspect – there are more important matters that require attention. Honestly, I think the action is so well structured – including intrigue, combat and antagonists – that anyone can enjoy it. In my opinion, it combines typical features, themes from shojo – feelings, beautiful characters, polished faces, hairstyles, clothes and shonens – action, transformation of heroes, theme from zero to hero.

More attention has been paid to the appearance, especially of the protagonists, and less to the locations, to the background. It is practically non-existent on a large number of panels, we just see white space, even no louvres were used. Actually, in most cases we have a close-up of the characters, we see them up close, carefully observing the emotions depicted on their faces – eyesight, blushes, hair style, gestures. Additionally, the author places great emphasis on details – armor, swords, elements of costumes, shoes. The dynamics of the characters’ movements were captured correctly – no even strangely bent limbs in the fight scenes. Sometimes I had the impression that the characters were forcefully slender – a specific perspective. The lower characters felt incredibly tall, and it was only in combination with other more prominent champions that we could read the proportions more easily.

Subjectively speaking

I like the main characters’ dilemmas and the character development preview. I thought Freyja would be annoying, but she surprised me rather positively on further reading. I may be terrible, but somehow I was relieved that Aaron was quickly “liquidated”. He wouldn’t fit me in with the rest of the team.

The plot is simple at first glance, but …

The series Freyja False Prince is a story about war, politics, friendship and how much we can sacrifice for people close to us – not only to give our lives literally, but to change, give up our own desires.

The manga is read quickly, there are no downtimes and no moments that are hard for the reader to get through. The action is quite smooth. After the first volume is finished, I want to know what will happen next.