Last updated: 2024-08-30
Original source: Monthly Afternoon 10/1997 and 7/1998
Source: HIME limited run promotional telephone card
Before Princess Maker 4 was announced, Takami Akai had an infrequently published manga in Kodansha's Monthly Afternoon called "ヒメ HIME".
Monthly Afternoon was a collection of manga that ran alongside Kodansha's Comic Bombom, allegedly targeting an older "seinen" audience with works like BLAME!, Parasyte, Ah! My Goddess and Genshiken. Despite that, both publications had similar standards for exposed breasts, toilet humor and graphic violence in the late 90s.
Unlike Comic Bombom, Monthly Afternoon's focus wasn't usually on existing media franchises and toys. Rather, the magazine's focus was on original manga that could potentially become popular franchises and cult hits in their own right, ideally to publisher Kodansha's own benefit.
Source: Monthly Afternoon 9/1997
The announcement in the 9/1997 issue of Monthly Afternoon highlights the Princess Maker connection and declares that four volumes have been commissioned. While the fourth episode printed in the 7/1998 issue ends with "to be continued" messaging, no further original works were made.
These volumes have only been republished in a limited run Ninelives CD-ROM released at the very end of 2000, and haven't been reprinted since then. They are at the very least Princess Maker adjacent, showcasing yet another young princess who is shown to age briefly, just prior to the work's cancellation in 1998.
In Ninelives' own words:
Full-color original illustrations and stories (renga) are being serialized (irregularly) in Kodansha's monthly comic magazine “Afternoon”.
Takami Akai sends his full-color fantasy picture scrolls to all readers, depicting a mysterious girl who changes her form freely according to her heart's desire.
Source: Ninelives websiteOnly two of four volumes have been found so far, sourced directly from the pages of Monthly Afternoon.
The first volume is primarily a showcase for Akai's art, with birds, dragonflies and the new shapeshifting princess all receiving nearly equal coverage.
Dialogue and story are especially light, preferring to focus instead on the picture book nature of the work.
This volume shifts from Akai's traditional, painterly style to one that emphasizes simpler sketches over photoshopped photographs
That style is the one that Ninelives' works would double down on from 1998 forward, including Princess Maker Q, the other Ninelives quiz games, Crest of the Stars in video game and illustrated forms, and the screenshots and previews shown for the Karen version of Princess Maker 4.
The first page gives the protagonist a Princess Maker cover-style glow up with royal robes in Akai's traditional style, before going all in on the new for 1998 style.
BurlapChafesMeSo suggested that this episode might have been ghost written by Akai's wife, Kimiko Higuchi. Specifically, there are style similarities to Higuchi's comics for the Princess Maker series and within Gainax fan magazines.
That said, the credits of this volume of Afternoon claim it to still be Akai's work.