From the nimiety of shoujo manga out there, Toru Fujieda-sensei scores with a refreshing past life-troped offering, starring a wimp who prevails over a prince in the "who's really her soul mate now?!" duke it out. And they're fighting over a heroine who's the farthest from the breathless, "I can't graduate until I tell him what I really feel for him" chara type.
(From my description of the heroes, you get a hint of why Oyayubihime Infinity—spanning six volumes—is different. Now let me go into more of what makes it special.)
Kanoko, a seemingly shy, bespectacled girl could've been the girl you passed by in the halls with a pitying or anxious look, depending on your disposition (unless you get moist-eyed over meganekko—which I sometimes do). But don't worry about Kanoko; she's actually the Machiavellian power behind superstar Maya, her older actress sister who is the 180 degrees opposite of Kanoko when it comes to confidence. Aside from blood, the siblings share butterfly-shaped birthmarks on their thumbs that they mark down to some genetic quirk. So imagine Kanoko's consternation when a guy at school—who has been constantly after her to let him paint her nails ("She's the only one I haven't manicured yet!")—shows off a similar birthmark.
The popular and engaging Tsubame believes that the birthmark brands him as the soul mate of Agemaki, a geisha who lived during Japan's Tokugawa period, with whom Tsubame in his past life committed couple suicide. His manicuring thing is just a cover (notwithstanding his actual love for it) to look for Agemaki's reincarnation. But as two sisters possess the same butterfly birthmark, who is really Tsubame's soul mate? Kanoko gets to hold hands with Tsubame and flashbacks to the time of her drowning; after that unsettling experience, she realizes that she is NOT Tsubame's fated partner.
So is it Mayu (her sister's real name)? If so, with whom did Kanoko commit suicide? Furthermore, how come there's a Mayu stalker, claiming to be the one who threw himself in the river to drown with Agemaki? How come Tsubame's closest friend Mike also remembers a past life with Tsubame? And as if that's not enough, how come Tsubame remembers his past life when he accidentally touches someone's hand during a school concert—hinting at one more prospective Agemaki?
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