Sunday, March 13, 2011

Shamanic Princess: Review

So finally got around to seeing this and was surprised that there are only 6 episodes. You can find them all on YouTube.
The rundown: The anime follows a Tiara, a hot-tempered girl sent from the guardian world to retrieve the Throne of Yord on Earth. Sounds simple, except that it was Tiara's former lover who stole the Throne (which comes in the form of a portrait) and the Throne has taken Tiara's childhood friend, Sara, captive. Ooooh, complication. The plot is good and makes sense, Tiara goes from being loyal to her duties to wondering if it's the right thing to do and wanting to save Sara.

Probably the best parts of the series are the frequent actiony fights and awesome music. Tiara goes head-to-head with childhood rival Lena and her "partner" Leon. Tiara is able to transform into a demon when she needs to kick some major ass.
The visuals are also quite gorgeous with lots of bright colors.

With that said, it's also waaaay too short. I admire the fact that the creators got straight to the point and didn't add any fluff episodes, but there's so much backstory to explore in this series, as evident by the last 2 episodes which detail the events leading up to the Throne being stolen and Sara going missing. I want to know more about the guardian world! According to the Throne, which is more like a malevolent being (think Charlie Sheen), it created the guardian world and granted humans magical abilities just so they can worship it, but I wonder if that's the Throne's ego talking. Otherwise, wow that sucks, your whole existence pends upon a god with a superiority complex.
Also, I wanted to see more of Graham, Tiara's first "partner". I think he was cute even if he's creepy and obsessive about Tiara - she did give him a body after all.

Now I say "partner" because it's more of a master/servant relationship. They gave their partners bodies and the partners for fill a contract to protect their mistresses. They are in no way equals. And it's sad because you can tell these partners have a thing for their mistresses.

 Another drawback was that I just didn't like Tiara. I'm not a fan of hot-headed characters who yell at everyone, even those who try to help them. I especially didn't like how there are no reflections or grief over Graham's death. It's like he didn't matter to her, even though she summoned him when she was a kid and she must have spent A LOT of time with him. Not to mention the effort it took her to win him over. Instead, she silently accepts that he's gone, moves onto her next partner and that's it (Wiki says she swears revenge but she doesn't really). But given that this girl wants to hear the words "I love you" so desperately from her beau, I just didn't buy it. She wears her heart on her sleeves.

But other than that, I did enjoy this anime and would recommend it to those who enjoy fantasy action.

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