▪	RELEASED BY:		DIGITAL MANGA PUBLISHING
		▪	AUTHOR / ART:		AKI
		▪	FORMAT:		JAPANESE/ B&W
		▪	PAGES:		230
		▪	RATING:		YA
		▪	RELEASE DATE:		03/25/2009
		▪	REVIEW DATE:		03/22/2009
		▪	REVIEWED BY:		HOLLY ELLINGWOOD

The stand alone manga offers a highly original tale set in a faraway land, in another time, another place. The peace of a kingdom is determined by two things: the sovereign and the songstress. There have always been a male sovereign and a female songstress to ensure peace and prosperity to the land. There cannot be one without the other for the sake of the kingdom’s well being. The sovereign rules from the center, while the songstress goes to the outskirts to sing her magical lullaby that keeps the land safe. However, Kain is a young man and yet he is a songstress, while in the heart of the kingdom, the king has died with his only heir – a daughter. The two who should not be, meet. And a new path begins to be forged.

Beautiful artwork graces the immersing fantasy tale. The manga holds a soft, rich look highly appealing to the genre and nature of the story and a wonderfully engaging story it is. Kain’s plight is one that is given more understanding as the manga goes from Kain’s first meeting with the princess to then go back in time to Kain’s childhood. The time with his twin sister Maria was one fraught with anxiety over their caged existence and that of their songstress mother tortured by the village. His only duty and reason for existence was to protect his sister, the future songstress. But when the kind son of the village chief starts to visit, Maria’s world opens up while Kain’s crashes down around him. Thomas inadvertently takes Kain’s place in Maria’s life in many ways and Kain feels the loss and the jealousy. It is the heart of his reason for running away and the seeds for what is to come.

Maria’s maturing is shown with an air of tragedy. She is confronted by the true nature of the villagers when they try to assault her and it causes her to question Thomas’ motives and feelings for her. Her mother’s death and the long held bitter hatred her mother nursed for their captors only adds to her misery. The loss of her brother, missing for ten years only hastens her sorrow along with the realization that she does not have the true gift for song. Longing for freedom but never truly free, not even in her heart, her story comes to a heartrending end. That end however fuels Thomas’ determination, the one born from his first meeting with Maria, to find a way to change the plight of the singers. When Kain returns on the heels of his sister’s demise, his own guilt forges a cage stronger than any metal. But during his time abroad a meeting with another songstress opened his eyes to possibilities, the same kind of possibilities Thomas is trying to find now. With a new sovereign who is unconventional, being female, the time may have come for them to finally make amends to Maria through the fulfillment of a long held yet unspoken wish.

It is an incredibly moving tale. The art style is of such a lustrous quality that one could see it easily as an anime. The book also holds a bonus tale called “Dakira”. It is a more disturbing story about a young man with a brutal job to kill certain people who exhibit specific flaws. When he questions his duty, he jeopardizes not only his own life, but potentially existence as he knows it. It is a fascinating tale both in ingenuity and philosophy.  

IN SUMMARY:
Utahime is a bittersweet tale about freedom. It is an innovative and involving fantasy story.