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EP. REVIEW: Princess Principal


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Lorias



Joined: 08 Aug 2009
Posts: 14
PostPosted: Sun Jul 16, 2017 5:29 pm Reply with quote
I'm pretty sure Charlotte is the princess' name, that's what the duke/her uncle called her.

Meaning the scene where she calls Ange Charlotte was meant to imply that Ange is the real princess and that apparently the princess and Ange swapped places years ago. Which if their higher ups aren't aware of would make wanting "Ange" to impersonate the princess the coincidence of the century.
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NonsenseUser



Joined: 22 Sep 2008
Posts: 51
PostPosted: Sun Jul 16, 2017 5:39 pm Reply with quote
This is probably my early favorite for the season so far. I really like Ange as the lead and am looking forward to seeing more of her backstory. I hope the other characters get their time to shine as well. This seems like the kind of series where the plot may or may not always make sense but as long as it doesn't get too stupid and just has some good fun action along the way, I'm can live with that.

Also, good catch with the names. I completely missed the letter greeting Princess as 'Ange'. That should present some intrigue going forward as well.
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Key
Moderator


Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18138
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Sun Jul 16, 2017 6:20 pm Reply with quote
Lorias wrote:
I'm pretty sure Charlotte is the princess' name, that's what the duke/her uncle called her.

You're right! I somehow missed that.

And yes, that does tend to more suggest that Ange and Charlotte switched places rather than were just sisters. That means that they could be playing even their superiors, too. Even more intriguing. . .
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Angel M Cazares



Joined: 23 Sep 2010
Posts: 5407
Location: Iscandar
PostPosted: Sun Jul 16, 2017 7:58 pm Reply with quote
I am pleased by the first two episodes of Princess Principal. I am usually not a huge fan of cute girls anime and spy stories, but this show has combined them effectively to make it appealing so far. This is apparently going to be a 13 episodes series, and I hope that in roughly 5 1/2 hours the show is able to provide a complete and satisfying story.

Princess Principal is my early dark horse candidate to be the best anime of Summer and perhaps be in the top 3 for the whole year. I am also happy for Sentai that they were able to license a title with a lot of potential.
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CaRoss



Joined: 11 Nov 2014
Posts: 457
PostPosted: Sun Jul 16, 2017 8:27 pm Reply with quote
The whole "cute girls doing things" sub genre of anime rarely appeals to me, but once in a while series that hit the right notes for me come along and just win me over. Now, joining Hanayamata, Railgun and School Live, it looks like Princess Principal could be one of them.

The time period, the characters, the animation and the music all greatly appeal to me, and have made this a front runner for AotS alongside Gamers. I'm looking forward to seeing how the pieces introduced in these two episodes move about this board Anime hyper
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darkchibi07



Joined: 15 Oct 2003
Posts: 5459
PostPosted: Sun Jul 16, 2017 8:32 pm Reply with quote
Ohh, could this show be a "Prince(ss) and the Pauper" like story but with steampunk spies? I am down with that! Hopefully, this series stay on the right track and not go off in the halfway point or so.
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gridsleep





PostPosted: Sun Jul 16, 2017 8:40 pm Reply with quote
Most of the world's spies ARE cute girls because most of the world's secrets are kept by horny men.
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PFdaCIA



Joined: 01 Apr 2017
Posts: 111
PostPosted: Sun Jul 16, 2017 9:16 pm Reply with quote
There are many aspects to addressing about the first two episodes: the first thing is the non-linear plot that is setting the plot, and also demystifying some things; Some people said that the Princess said very foolishly that she was a spy in the first episode, but they did not make it clear why she did it so naturally, the answer though partially given in the first episode was completed in the second episode. The fact that she said she was a spy in the first episode was that she was aware that Eric was being manipulated, so the information he tried to leak through his mail pigeon was not just that the spies of the West were there, In the heart of Normandy, but that the Princess of Normandy herself was part of that subversive organization. The expiation of the Princess was purposeful. This breaks a certain myth they have created about the series, from being about cute little stories with children's lines, something that is far from being true, I might add.

The second point is the monologue in the first episode, along with a flashback during the conversation between the spies and the Princess about what to do with the deserter Eric and his sister: when the Princess questions her friends if it would not be better that Eric and his sister Live together, Ange has a Flashback from an event that was clarified in the monologue at the beginning, implying that she was at that event, which is probably what threw her into this spy war. Although the last analysis of episode 1 and 2 was reasonable, there are other elements that let go: Eric talks about the use of Cavorite by Ange, in a size he had never seen; This in itself is also a point to connect, since technically Ange is a spy from the West, so in episode 2 when he spoke from that deserter from the West to the kingdom of Normandy which the Duke struck, that question of the ingenuity moved to Cavorite that Ange Wore makes a little more sense. Probably the form of the use of this ingenuity is what also motivates the realms to seek to gain advantage of intelligence on each other.
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Kadmos1



Joined: 08 May 2014
Posts: 13541
Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP
PostPosted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 2:11 am Reply with quote
angelmcazares wrote:
I am pleased by the first two episodes of Princess Principal. I am usually not a huge fan of cute girls anime and spy stories, but this show has combined them effectively to make it appealing so far. This is apparently going to be a 13 episodes series, and I hope that in roughly 5 1/2 hours the show is able to provide a complete and satisfying story.

At least the Cute Girls Doing Cute Things trope is going for a non-Japanese setting and is more Westernized this time. Dorothy having a nice figure is reason enough for me to watch this show.
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HuuskerDu



Joined: 29 Feb 2016
Posts: 93
Location: USA
PostPosted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 2:01 pm Reply with quote
The Cavorite*, the steampunk London skyline, the baroque cars, the guns, the fin de siècle AU historical setting, with a group of secret agents with amazing abilities? Somebody's been reading Alan Moore's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (the GN not the cheesy film). But since this is anime the members are a bunch of gothic lolis.

Masaki Tachibana's storyboarding and visuals are pretty impressive. My main concern is the quality of the writing. The series composition and screenplay are written by Ichiro Okouchi, who wrote the screenplays for Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, Code Geass, Kakumeiki Valvrave, and he wrote half the eps and was the associate series compositor for Guilty Crown.

So I expect the series will have lots of flashy style and great world-building, but with a storyline that eventually goes off the rails like it did in GC and Kabaneri.

(*Yes, I know that 'Cavorite' originated with HG Wells, but everyone associates it with Moore.)
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Joshua Zarate



Joined: 12 Jan 2017
Posts: 2061
PostPosted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 2:15 pm Reply with quote
I too enjoyed these first two episodes and hope that it can continue to deliver in terms of quality and entertainment. This and Made in Abyss are currently the two shows I believe that can contend for AOTS and I feel confident that they will both be in the top 5, maybe even top 3. This season is definitely looking to be very interesting, at least.
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Lorias



Joined: 08 Aug 2009
Posts: 14
PostPosted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 3:30 pm Reply with quote
Key wrote:
Lorias wrote:
I'm pretty sure Charlotte is the princess' name, that's what the duke/her uncle called her.


That means that they could be playing even their superiors, too. Even more intriguing. . .


Oh absolutely, I quite enjoyed the first episode but it was episode 2 and all these interesting plot points and implications that really sold this show for me.
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dragonrider_cody



Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Posts: 2541
PostPosted: Tue Jul 18, 2017 8:40 am Reply with quote
The "dual Charlotte" scene at the end was very interesting. It definitely makes me look forward to seeing where this all goes. I really didn't expect a whole lot from this show, and it was even on my radar prior to the premier. However, I seem to be enjoying it more and more.

I only had two issues with this episode. One was the fact that bleach would have ruined an expensive ball gown like that. Not to mention, it would have still been wet and would have reeked of chlorine. The other was the CGI Ballroom dancers. They were very creepy, and the animation and motion was completely out of place.
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phia_one



Joined: 15 Jan 2012
Posts: 1654
Location: Pennsylvania
PostPosted: Tue Jul 18, 2017 1:15 pm Reply with quote
I wasn't expecting to enjoy this as much as I did so it was a nice surprise. I know that Okouchi's name being attached to the series makes people hesitant, but he did the screenplay for Fuse: Memoirs of a Huntress so I was willing to give this a shot since I loved that movie.

I liked how the first episode established Ange's character through her conversations with Eric. I find her to be an intriguing character so far, along with Princess.

Review wrote:
Although the series has a great jazz-infused score by Yuki Kajiura to back up the visuals (and a kick-ass opener sung in English)


I disagree on the OP. The music isn't bad, but the vocals make the whole thing nails on a chalkboard for me.
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MarshalBanana



Joined: 31 Aug 2014
Posts: 5296
PostPosted: Tue Jul 18, 2017 4:31 pm Reply with quote
This looks good, I wish Amazon had licensed it for the UK as well.
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