Forum - View topicThis Week in Anime - What Makes Princess Principal So Engrossing?
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Flare-kun
 Posts: 92 |
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I know I should give this show another shot, but after the first couple episodes it honestly didn't appeal to me at all -- I liked Vatican Miracle Examiner better, of all things.
I guess my main gripe is the kitchen sink approach of throwing a metric ton of characters, conflicting motives, and deceptions at us all at once, and leaving the audience to sort out the mess. I'm all for twists and complexity, but this felt like it was trying too hard. I also can't say I understand why it's being so highly touted compared to Kabaneri -- a show I actually quite enjoyed, and which had interesting world-building, and strong themes about things such as cooperation vs. xenophobia. I can't really parse what the themes of Princess Principal are about, aside from some very basic ideas about deception and opportunism in the midst of greater conflict. Obviously the overwhelming positive response seems to indicate that the show eventually rises conceptually to the level of its high production values. I'll probably give it another chance, at some point. The other thing that's given me pause is I didn't care much for any of the characters in the first couple episodes. The backstories are suitably compelling, but the personalities are not -- at least so far. |
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Angel M Cazares
 Posts: 5503 Location: Iscandar |
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Princess Principal is my favorite show of this season, and my surprise of the year. Who knew that combining cute girls with steampunk and political conspiracies could work. Jacob pretty much expressed my own thoughts on why this anime works. I have the feeling that this show is becoming popular, but I hope more people discover it and that it can become a hit.
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yuna49
 Posts: 3804 |
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Once I put aside any notions that plot was going to matter much, I have been enjoying this show much more than I expected.
If you're curious about a real-life spy the age of these ladies from the same time period, I suggest this article by David Ignatius in the Washington Post about a brave young Frenchwoman named Jeannie Rousseau de Clarens. She got herself attached as a translator to high-level German officers. They couldn't wait to impress her with the plans for the V-1 and V-2 rockets. She informed London about the location of Peenemunde which the British promptly bombed. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-diminutive-woman--and-a-spy-who-defined-courage/2017/08/29/963343a2-8ccb-11e7-91d5-ab4e4bb76a3a_story.html |
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7jaws7
 Posts: 705 Location: New York State |
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I can't get enough of this show. It's easily my favorite of the year and will probably stay that way. Really wish more people would give it a chance!
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John Thacker
Posts: 1009 |
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The Cavorite is a classic H.G. Wells antigravity material (from The First Men in the Moon) that's been used by other authors as well, so it's not like it's a particularly unusual steampunk Victorian premise. It's a classic one, just with the moe.
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zrnzle500
 Posts: 3768 |
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I didn't come into the show with high expectations, and thought of it more as entertaining than good at the beginning, but it has really grown into a genuinely good show, especially with Dorothy's and Princess and Ange's episodes. I never thought I would say this at the beginning, but it is one of the best shows this season. I was surprised to see that Jacob not only watched this past the first episode but also liked it. I can always respect giving a show a fair shake even if you have your doubts.
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Zhou-BR
Posts: 1461 |
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The one bad thing I'll say about Princess Principal is that the second episode really should have been the first one. Good thing I generally like Okouchi's work, because otherwise I would have dropped the show after the merely OK first episode and I would have missed out on some great stuff.
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Joshua Zarate
Posts: 2062 |
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Yeah, I'll echo 7jaws7's thoughts and say that this show has definitely been an enjoyable ride for me and that this and Made in Abyss are, without a doubt, my top two favorite anime of the Summer 2017 season and possibly also the best of said season period. If all goes well, there will be some tough competition for top (insert number here) best anime for the whole 2017 year.
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Angel M Cazares
Posts: 5503 Location: Iscandar |
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I love making lists, and so far these are what I consider the best 10 anime series of 2017: 1. Attack on Titan season 2 2. Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju (season/part 2) 3. Made in Abyss 4. Sakura Quest 5. Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul 6. Scum's Wish 7. Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid 8. Princess Principal 9. Tsuki ga Kirei 10. Little Witch Academia I hope the upcoming second season of Blood Blockade Battlefront and Ancient Magus Bride also end up in the top 10 for the whole year. |
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Takamachi Ryoko
 Posts: 332 Location: 東京, 日本 |
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AOTY contender for sure. I feel bad for those drop this because of its cutesy art, but I have been enjoying the heck of this series. I'm a sucker for anything set in the 19th century like those old novels and really like what they have brought. The intro song is catchy and it reminds me a lot of Gunslinger Girl so it's another plus.
And the mobage is pretty cool. |
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darkchibi07
 Posts: 5511 |
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It's understandable since that second episode wasn't exactly a splashy entrance unlike Case 13 of the 1st episode which was more of a blockbuster opener. It's pretty ironic it did the opposite for some peeps.
Hmm, would this show have gotten more attention if all the main girls were aged up like say 10 years while everything else is kept the same? |
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jroa
Posts: 548 |
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For the record, I would say Kabaneri was better than Valvrave, which in turn was preferable to Guilty Crown. So far Princess Principal would be at the top of the list, with Code Geass generally being either right above or right below, depending on how you feel towards that particular series. Okouchi has also made other shows, including adaptations with a lot of new material not found in the original source (see Planetes and Angelic Layer), but I think you get the idea.
To put it in constructive terms, I think the simple fact is that Okouchi has always been an entertainer and a goofball, first and foremost, but one with both self-awareness and occasional aspirations of aiming higher than that. He does have some actual ability, regardless of whether he happens to express it by using good form or not, and sometimes that works out. Sometimes it doesn't. More often that not, I'd say his series tend to have a range of episodic successes and episodic failures. How much an allegedly flawed event, character or situation ends up being problematic enough to ruin the whole show (or not) is mostly subjective. In any case, the overall results will also tend to vary due to the specific goals and given circumstances of each project plus the respective director's skills and tastes, which are also involved in both positive and negative ways. That's one of the reasons why I'd like to read more interviews with the Japanese staff behind this show and other anime productions. Without that, even the most informed critics are more or less going by their extrapolations and gut feelings when it comes to judging who is exactly responsible for what part of a series. Going back to Princess Principal in particular, I think the fact that the majority of the cast consists of female characters with a degree of agency has been a welcome change from the usual harem dynamics present in other shows, because it challenges anime writers and gives them an opportunity to come up with a variety of personalities, relationships and gimmicks of their own, rather than typically having the female characters (with exceptions) take more of a limited role by circling around whoever happens to be the male protagonist. |
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v1cious
 Posts: 6227 Location: Houston, TX |
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Damn catchy theme song
I was under the impression the title is Engrish, although Princess Principle still sounds kind of weird. The one thing that keeps nagging me about this show is the whole "Black Lizard Planet" thing. I know it's most likely metaphor, but I wouldn't put it past them to make something that ridiculous. Time will tell, I guess. |
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lostbirdinatree
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Didn't someone specify in one of the episodes (the one where Beatrice tries to call the group "Team Wildcat", High School Musical be damned) this is the "principal team"? Even though they don't call the team "Princess Principal" in the show itself, I thought the source of the show's name was pretty obvious from that. As for the show itself, it's neither here nor there on a lot of episodes, but it works a lot better than, say, the 2 episodes of 7O3X I saw (which I was hyped for as a lover of quiz shows). The applications of cavorite in spywork and society are probably what makes this show stand out against its competition. |
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SquadmemberRitsu
 Posts: 1391 |
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I felt that Jacob was being really unfair by judging the show based on the writer's past work. I say that as someone who found Valvrave to be one of the single most horrid, unpleasant experiences I've ever had watching an anime series. In fact I wish you hadn't pointed out that he worked on that show because it made me more worried about where the show was heading
But it's held up pretty well so I'm glad to see a change of heart. I mean, Valvrave definitely got worse as it went along but the first episode was pretty awful too. Princess Principal on the other hand had one of the best first episodes of the season. There's just something so uniquely charming about it. It takes a bit of influence from the 'girls with guns' shows from the past which is no surprise given how Kajiura and some key members of the team that made Noir are on board. I still find Princess Principal more appealing though. The whole Victorian London setting, the magic powers, the disjointed continuity, the dialogue, it's all very fun to watch. The only drawback is that the character designs are a bit generic but it's not a dealbreaker for me. Kind of a shame that Sentai Filmworks got this. I would have loved to see Funimation dub it and go full Black Butler with the accents and scriptwriting. |
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