“Fed up with her friends' constant bragging about their boyfriends, high school student Erika Shinohara decides to make up one of her own. When her lie starts unraveling at the seams, her charming schoolmate Kyoya Sata agrees to be her pretend boyfriend, seemingly saving her reputation. She won't get off that easy, however, as she soon discovers her white knight is actually a blackhearted prince! Now Erika must be at his beck and call or risk her lie being exposed. But is Kyoya really as blackhearted as he seems?” (Viz Media)
Looking at the success of “Wolf Girl and Black Prince” up to the English publication of the manga, from sales to anime and live-action adaptation, there is just reason to be excited about the shojo series finally making its way to print. Yet, the inaugural release Ayuko Hatta's “Wolf Girl and Black Prince” leaves a lot to be desired, its success slightly baffling when considering how uninspiring the inaugural release is.
The ‘slave under contract' set-up in romance is not a new concept in the genre and requires value beyond the initial shock to push the series forward. Unfortunately, “Wolf Girl and Black Prince” embraces a lot of undesirable attitudes in this ‘contractual' situation including manipulation, gaslighting, and bullying. Again, these elements are not new but are often countered by strong or admirable personas on either side that help push through the questionable behavior with a tease of ‘what could be' if the two figured out their differences. However, the lead character Erika is dull and uninspired and Kyoya is a narcissist with few redeeming qualities at this junction. The supporting cast equally lacks depth and there is not even a ‘best friend' that compliments the main characters.
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The comedy, what little there is, seldom lands and the dramatic elements become awash in the monotony of the story focused around unlikable characters. For an inaugural release, especially in the shojo genre, it is a rarity to not feel an attachment to any character, main or side. Near the volume's conclusion, readers will get a hint at the potential romance between Erika and Kyoya. Still, by that point, the utter indifference built towards the couple's courting challenges the appeal of this instance.
The art of Ayuko Hatta is serviceable to the genre, and the mangaka has a knack for interjecting a lot of personality into her characters through expression. At the same time, there is no one instance that really cements the visual prowess of Hatta as a storyteller and no sequences or single panels that will give readers a reason to pause. Unfortunately, this further sours the experience given that, in shojo stories, often takes precedence over the visual presentation, and faults in the latter can be overlooked if the narrative is engaging.
The inaugural release of “Wolf Girl and Black Prince” will challenge the reader's patience, only leaving them with the hope that the series improve in subsequent volumes–one has to trust the popularity of the series garnered in Japan. However, with the plethora of competent and engaging shojo readily available, it is hard to see a reason to push through based on such an underwhelming intro.
