Ranked #2675

UFO Princess Valkyrie

This story has a pretty cliche' storyline. Guy meets girl, then other girls suddenly appear in droves. Seen it before, right? Well UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie has a few twists that set it apart form other romantic comedies. First, because the main female protagonist has shared her soul with the male lead, she has regressed mentally and physically to the level of a six year old, which presents a whole new challange when it comes to romance. Secondly, the story is dramatic and serious when it needs to be, so the series has just enough drama in it to make it believeable.

The artwork is very clean and bright, which compliments the atmosphere nicely. And be careful all you delicate types out there; all but three or four episodes in the entire franchise (around fifty episodes) shows certain female body parts, so be warned. read more

What can I say, this is a weird title indeed; on one hand it seems to be a fanservice show but it doesn’t go all the way. On the other it had a serious tone to it which somehow became all out sci-fi by the end. Well, I guess I’ll just take it from the top and go ahead one aspect at a time.

Opening sequence: 6
Ending sequence: 6
My Age Rating: PT: Some mature situations, most of the nudity is drawn out already so nothing too shocking here.

First off, the story. It revolves around a princess from outer space killing the main character, Kazuto, and then giving half of her soul to save him. Doing that forces her to live in the body and mind of a kid which Kazuto as to take care off. Did I mention he also runs a bathhouse, so far I was getting a heavy and controversial fanservice vibe from this show but for reasons beyond me they didn’t go all the way. The jokes were risqué as you could say but they didn’t present them in such a manner, which while not a drawback is a bit unusual for what seemed like the perfect premise for a harem fanservice show. Of course there was nudity but most of it was drawn in a manner so as to not being full out nudity.

The story then goes on to follow the characters in various situations which involve the princess returning to her original form to defend the group and the bathhouse, mostly it’s due to interferences from her relatives or so to speak, and herself that most of these disasters occur. After that, the story takes an even weirder turn; it becomes sci-fi in the last 3 episodes. Yeah, with spaceships, battles and space battles. Not that any of this is to say the show was bad, it turned out pretty well for a show with multiple themes and they seemed to have known what they were doing.

The characters weren’t the most impressive cast you’ll ever see in an anime but they were original, some of them at least, and they actually worked on them. They pursued development with the characters unlike what you’d expect from your average fanservice show. The norm usually is a shy teenager with a girl phobia and a girl who loves him and does everything to get him, but here the girl he falls in love with is a kid for most of the show and he takes care of her rather than lust after her. There isn’t any sexuality going on between the two aside from misinterpretations from the other characters and when he kisses her to return her to her original self so she can fight.

Valkyrie, the princess, is trapped in the body of a kid as I said earlier, and of course to that effect she was made to be very cute and endearing. The other characters consist of Kazuto’s money grubbing sister, another princess also trapped in a kid’s body charged with bringing Valkyrie home, a cat maid and a weird dog like creature. The cat maid was an interesting character all and all, her weapon which allows her to transform normal girls into cat girls, would at least have made every Otaku’s dream, let’s not forget her maid squad either.

The voice acting was fine, no complaints but no outstanding performances either. Some moments will be annoying but that’s due to the characters not the voice actors who can’t do anything but play the part that’s before them. Valkyrie’s voices are believable and well acted for both her forms.

As I said this show is an oddity: It shifts between different genres but remains itself in the process. Even though the series itself is not worth high praises the work they did on making it so unique it deserves credit nonetheless. It as fanservice but they didn’t go full out; they covered full nudity by not drawing all the details and as such avoided going into 17+/Mature territory but still delivered on the fanservice for the fans, whenever they could too. It’s gone to magical girl territory too, with Valkyrie and the other princesses having their own transformation scenes and special powers as well. And finally it went into sci-fi, space to be more precise. Full out space battles, crisis on the homeland, escaping military patrols; it had it all in those last 3 episodes and they didn’t pull a Puni Puni Poemi on us, it was genuinely well made if only anti-climatic.

At the end of the day it’s a show for those who enjoy good risqué humor, some action and a pinch of magical girl (well, you know what I mean). Of course amid not going all out, it’s still centers around fanservice and controversial situations, so if these don’t click for you then don’t try this show, otherwise it’s a good watch. read more