Princess Ai has been hailed by many as a fresh, exciting new manga...but those people don't know the half of it. Behind the scenes, the trans-global creative process used to create Princess Ai was in many ways as complex and innovative as the story itself. For those of you who haven't heard, Princess Ai is the first story to be jointly produced by TOKYOPOP and Japanese publisher Shinshokan, and it is published chapter-by-chapter in the monthly Japanese magazine called WINGS. How do we do it? Read on!

1. The initial story for Princess Ai began in the United States, where D.J. Milky—while visiting from Tokyo—worked with editor Rob Tokar to plot the rough outline for the entire three-volume series (and much more!) before a single page was drawn.

   • BRIEF SAMPLE OF PLOT
   • Scene 3 .(2 pages)
   • Characters: Kaz, Meggi
   • Location: Ai-Land. Same type of elegant and mysterious atmosphere as in the previous chapters. Should be a few mirrors with fog and steam. Since these talks are most likely in a underwater cave or similar environment, it can be dark—maybe with some torches and flame around.
   • Plot: Meggi is at Kaz's side again. Clearly, she is infatuated with Kaz and is very excited to be with him. She tells Kaz the situation—that her sister Tess has not succeeded. "Noble sir, I regret to tell you what my sororal instincts tell me. Tess, while in the Other Side, has lost her will to fulfill. Something has happened—I'm not sure exactly what." Kaz listens, nodding. He also senses that Tess has lost her fight. Kaz has no choice. "That bitch—if we cannot bring her back here, we will never be assured of sealing away the Human Royal Family. Meggi—I have no choice but to send you. Don't fail me like your sister did!" Meggi smiles like a vixen—excited to be able to please Kaz and to put her skills to work. "Thank you, thank you, noble one. I won't let you down, sir!"
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   • Scene 4 .(2 pages)
   • Characters: Hayabusa, Takeshi, two masseuses
   • Location: HTA complex. Hayabusa is getting a message in a very sophisticated and luxurious estee spa within the HTA complex. He is lying down on a massage bed, with a towel over his bottom half. A beautiful and obedient masseuse is massaging Hayabusa's back and shoulders with oil. He is still wearing his sunglasses and holding a TV remote control in his hand. A plasma TV is on the wall and the final scene from the Heaven Tonight show with Princess Ai's performance is just finishing. Takeshi is in a comfortable chair against the wall, with his feet in a bucket of warm, bubbly water, soaking. Another petite yet pretty masseuse Is holding one of his feet, massaging it just outside of the bucket. Hayabusa begins to talk to Takeshi.
   • Plot: Hayabusa turns off the TV via remote control just as the concert ends. He snickers and turns his head facing Takeshi. "Looks like our rock diva is even more rebellious than I had imagined. By the end of the week, the entire population of teenagers will be her devotees." Takeshi nods, smiling in agreement, "Yes, sir." Suddenly, Hayabusa's facial expression becomes cold and hard. Takeshi is a bit surprised. "It looks like she's trying to change the game—no one is permitted to do that." Takeshi tries to cover a bit of fear. "How so?" he asks. Hayabusa mutters, almost to himself. "Threatening me with breaking the contract, refusing to cooperate—there is a point where one can cross the line."
2. Taking his plot to Tokyo, Milky worked with talented manga-ka Misaho Kujiradou and her editor Akane Ishii to refine the storyline. From this revision, Kujiradou created the "name" (the Japanese term for rough layouts of manga pages), complete with rough dialogue.

   

3. After reviewing the name with Ishii and Milky, Kujiradou made any agreed-upon revisions and drew more finished versions of the pages in pencil.

   

4. Once the pencils had been approved, Kujiradou inked the pages, erased any stray pencil lines, and then added tones. Though Kujiradou inked the outlines of the balloons, the lettering itself was added at the publisher (Shinshokan.)

   

5. After five chapters were published, they were collected into a tankoban (graphic novel) of their own. At this point, Kujiradou had the opportunity to retouch the already-published pages if there was anything she wanted fixed or adjusted. If you'd like to see what changes (if any) were made at this stage, pick up a copy of Princess Ai Volume 2: Lumination to compare!

Finally, D.J. Milky wrote the English version of the script and the book was assembled and lettered by Jose Macasocal, Jr.