American alt rock star goddess Courtney Love is collaborating with top U.S. manga publisher Tokyopop to produce Princess Ai, a shoujo fantasy manga series, which will feature character designs by the renowned manga artist Ai Yazawa (Paradise Kiss).  Love, the widow of rock icon Kurt Cobain, is by no means a typical pop star.  Strong-willed and fiercely independent with striking blonde good looks, Love is far more the singer/songwriter than the prefabricated pop idol.  Turns out she is also a manga fan, who will incorporate Princess Ai imagery into both her live performances and recorded videos.  The Princess Ai manga series, which will appear sometime in 2004, will chronicle the adventures of princess from a mysterious unknown land, who has escaped to our world and is now taking refuge as a singer in the bustling nightclubs of Kabushiki-cho.  Love admits to a strong bond with the character she describes as 'my alter ego, but in a fantasy setting.'

 

While Princess Ai represents another cross-cultural move by Tokyopop, which has just begun releasing a line of homegrown manga, it is also a major departure for Courtney Love, who has just signed with a new record company (Virgin) and begun yet another career makeover.  If this series can add a portion of Courtney Love's audience to the already sizable contingent of teenage female manga fans, Princess Ai could be a success.  Tokyopop CEO & COO Stuart Levy clearly has major ambitions for which could easily include animation projects, merchandise, 'and other evolutions of Princess Ai in the near future.'