Saturday, February 8, 2025

Review: I WANT TO ESCAPE FROM PRINCESS LESSONS

 It's time for another Bad Romance Month, where we cover a selection of some of the worst and weirdest romances to grace manga.  We're starting with a fairly recent title that's in the same vein as all those villainess stories, but no sausage-curled ojou-sama could devise a torment as bad as the one this story's heroine receives.

I WANT TO ESCAPE FROM PRINCESS LESSONS (Kisaki Kyoiku kara Nigetai Watashi), based on the light novels by Izumi Sawano and illustrations by Miru Yamasaki, with art by Uri Sugata.  First published in 2020 and first published in North America in 2023.



PLOT:

When Leticia was seven years old, she was engaged to the crown prince Clarke.  This meant she was torn from her family home and forced to undergo a decade's worth of lessons in deportment, etiquette, history, dancing, and more, all for the sake of a boy she barely knew and a role she never asked for.

One day she finds another woman on his arm and presumes she is free at last from her unwanted engagement.  She immediately runs off the countryside to play, roam, and do all the un-ladylike things she's been forbidden from doing for years.  Unfortunately, Clarke does not want their engagement will end and he will do anything to keep Leticia by his side, including stopping her many attempted escapes.

STORY:

I Want To Escape From Princess Lessons looks so innocuous at first glance.  Between the title and the cover art it would seem like a quaint little battle of the sexes.  Do not let those appearances fool you, though.  This might be one of the most reprehensible romances I've read in a long time.

The story would have you believe the problem is Leticia herself.  Sure, she's not the deepest character ever, and she's not great at planning and way too forgiving for her own good but that's not what people object to.  Over and over, she is guilted by everyone around her, be it her maids, her family members, even the so-called "other woman" for one reason: her desire for personal freedom is selfish and childish.  After all, it's such a great honor to be picked to be the future queen entirely because she fell from a tree onto the prince when they were seven and to have her entire life dictated from there entirely without her input!

She should consider herself blessed to have been torn from her family, confined inside a castle, and trained and beaten like a dog until she met somebody else's standards of what makes a fine lady,  all for the benefit of a young man she barely knows despite living under his roof for a decade, a young man who seemingly prefers the untrained version of her anyway! 

Why can't she consider how much her attempts to throw other women into Clarke's path, her rejections of his empty, shallow compliments declarations of love and bribes tokens of affection hurts his feelings?  When he locks her up in his castle, constantly intrudes upon her personal space, uses propaganda to steer public opinion about their marriage, obsessively plots out every little detail of the wedding she does not want, sets up a secret bedroom next to hers in an attempt to cuddle with her against her will, and conceal himself as one of the armored guards he uses near the end to keep her from fleeing, he's just showing how much he loves her!

In case all the sarcasm didn't make it clear, I DESPISE how this story treats Leticia.  She hasn't had full control of her own life since she was a literal child and it is not wrong nor selfish of her to ask for some personal freedom and self-determination after what she has endured.  It's not selfish or childish for her to reject the romantic feelings of a man she does not love, especially when he expresses that love by denying his so-called love her freedom of movement, privacy, or personal security.  That this series treats her and her feelings this way is abominable.  The whole time I was reading this book I was infuriated.  Somebody had to be, because Leticia is seemingly too nice and forgiving to be properly angry about her situation! 

The worst part is that by the end it's working.  All that badgering is wearing her down to the point that she gets blushy-crushy, and it ends with a cliffhanger where she gets kidnapped. No doubt this is meant to be the final domino, where Clarke will swoop like a romantic hero, rescue her, and she will finally submit to his will, all while the story pretends that this is some sort of happily ever after.  Leticia claims she's seeing new sides of Clarke, but I can't see what she sees.  There's seemingly no depth beyond his handsome face and blithe smile beyond the depths he'll descend to in order to keep Leticia by his side.  This manga would have you believe this is merely the taming of an immature shrew, but there's nothing shrewish about Leticia.  She's not angry, annoying, or spiteful - she simply wants control over her own life.  Who wants to read a romantic fantasy about a woman's agency getting taken away?

ART:

Ura Sugata is a shojo mangaka by trade, which explains why the artwork here is both radically different from that of the light novel and notably cuter.  Yamasaki's original character designs were far too fussy and overly detailed, so I appreciate that Sugata made them a lot more streamlined and expressive without sacrificing the fancy costumes and settings that make these sorts of stories visually appealing. She uses screentones well, adding some needed patterns to the fashion and texture to the world around the characters. She brings a light touch to the material and it's appreciated, even if I can't help but think that effort is wasted on such a terrible tale.

RATING:

The cute art isn't enough to save I Want To Escape From Princess Lessons from becoming one of the worst manga I've reviewed for this site.  This story was an infuriating trial to read.  The only thing that kept me from throwing this accursed volume across the room after I was done was the fact that its physical release doesn't start until the week after this review goes up.

This series is licensed by Seven Seas and J-Novel Club.  This manga is ongoing in Japan with 6 volumes available.  3 volumes have been released digitally by J-Novel Club and are currently in print.



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