Prince on the Hill

Even though Yumiko Igarashi has made some minor mistakes when drawing Prince on the Hill in the manga (as mentioned in Love Triangle (Part 8)), I must say she did an excellent job overall. It was very convincing to us manga readers that the mysterious but nice guy was very handsome. Not only little Candy named him Prince on the Hill with a valid reason, but his brief appearance gave her a lasting impression.

Usually the first guy who appears in a story is an important character, and Prince on the Hill is no exception (from the beginning to the end). Because of his badge, Candy stumbled upon the Ardlay’s premises, and due to the striking resemblance, Candy fell for Anthony instead of Archie or Stear. They were all kind to her and good looking in different ways, but she picked Anthony. Yet, in Candy Candy Final Story (CCFS), Candy described Anthony this way (from spoilers):

The boy at the rose gate looked alike her Prince but his shiny blond hair and smile were fainter than the Prince she thought.

If you want to read more about Prince on the Hill, I have written quite a few posts concerning his impact on Candy, like these two posts: Candy’s memory of Prince on the Hill and Candy’s first letter to Prince on the Hill. 🙂

In other words, if Mizuki intended to give Terry to Candy, why created the character Prince on the Hill? Not only that, Candy could never forget him and often carried his badge with her. Unbeknownst to her, her prince came and went in her life, and without him, she would have had a completely different life, possibly being a child labor somewhere. Later, her prince lost his memory and also fell in love with her.

Some people claimed that Mizuki “changed her mind”, so she wrote CCFS. If that was the case, why did Candy in her thirties say her life changed the day Annie left Pony’s Home (see spoilers from the CCFS prologue)?

… Beautiful May. The Pony’s Home in lush green of the trees. We were there, Annie and I. When my life changed significantly, the day when Annie was adopted by the Brightons…

Guess what? The story of CCFS began with Annie being adopted, and in retrospect, it was also the day Candy met her Prince on the Hill. 😉

Not to mention that in the CCFS epilogue, Candy kept calling Albert “Prince” or “Prince on the Hill”, so much so that he had to ask her to stop. 😆

Besides, Mizuki modified the way Prince on the Hill confessed to Candy in CCFS. In the manga, after Albert’s confession, Candy ran happily into her prince’s outstretched arms. Then the story ended (or it’s the beginning of another story of Candy and her prince). In CCFS, the ending was nearly the same, except it wasn’t a confession this time, but Candy also happily ran into Anohito’s outstretched arms after he came home.

Now, putting two and two together, isn’t it very obvious what Mizuki had in mind? 😉

Inspired by Albert’s letter in CCFS when he described in detail his runaway incident to Candy, I’ve attempted to draw Prince on the Hill by modifying Igarashi’s original illustration. In my imagination, it was early afternoon when he climbed the hill, admiring the panoramic view of the area. This happened prior to the arrival of a certain crybaby. 🙂 It seems very windy up on the hill in the original drawing. In order to make it more realistic, I made Albert’s hair look ruffled. 🙂

I couldn’t decide whether to draw him more like Anthony or Albert as an adult. If he was indeed seventeen as written in CCFS, it’s nearly impossible Candy couldn’t recognize Albert some years later as explained in Age difference between Candy and Albert. Therefore, I opted to draw him as a boy in his mid-teens, when he likely just started his growth spurt, so I imagine him to be around 1.65m tall. By seventeen of age, he should be much closer to his adult height (1.85m) and size.

Furthermore, I thought of drawing his famous badge as well, which wasn’t in the original drawing either. However, I changed my mind at the last minute because I figure the badge wasn’t meant to be a pin with a sharp point on the back. Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense how Candy could dangle it around her neck under her clothes (wouldn’t it hurt?). 😉

Other than drawing the bagpipe differently, I also selected one of the easier tartans to draw his kilt and the long plaid, which are both longer because the kilt is knee-length and the plaid is supposed to be a blanket. I thought of using greenish tartan, but I chose red/black at last.

Last but not the least, this is the present I have promised Reeka, as mentioned in Welcome 2015!, but she didn’t want her name on the drawing, so I respect her wish. I’ll also use this as the cover photo for the French version of “It must have been love” to show my gratitude for Antlay, which I will post some time in February. She has asked me once why I didn’t draw Prince on the Hill, and believe me, I was afraid I wouldn’t do a good job. No kidding. 😆

I’m not saying that this new drawing is good enough, but at least I can say aloud that I have put in lots of time and effort into this. 😛

Hope you like it! 😀