Ranked #1314

Princess Resurrection

Welcome to another example of a show that could have been great, should have been great and would have been great if not only for the fact that 95% of the stuff this show is made of completely ruins it.

Usually I leave the writing of reviews to others, but for some reason I really felt it as my personal duty to share my experience with Princess Resurrection; the story of a naive anime watcher that was lured in, saw his hopes scattered everywhere, and now stands guard to prevent other people from going through the same.

[Story 4/10]
The plot used in this series isn't something very unique or impressive, but it would have been bearable. Well, that is if the producers actually would have used it instead of recycling the 'Who is this monster? It is ....' formula for 23 out of the 25 episodes this show has. The plot is there in the background at the start of the series but isn't really used until the pre-final episode where the ultimate evil guy is introduced and defeated easily. Hopes scattered.

[Art 5/10]
The art wasn't really that great, but it was bearable. I have seen anime series that looked like they had backgrounds as if they were done in MSPaint. But art is a vital component of any anime. Of course, art takes up a bigger role when rewatching a series or when seriously paying attention to it compared to the first time where you get used to it. When I look back now I don't think I can rewatch this again without getting some serious disturbance from it.

[Sound 5/10]
The soundtrack maybe had one or two tunes that were fitting the show, or rather how the overall atmosphere of the show should have been. The 'spooky' or 'mystery' music (dunno the exact name, also plays when Dracul summons those lower-class vampires at his castle) really was a jewel in the rough there. But the rest wasn't really noticeable. If a soundtrack is noticeable it means it's either really good or really bad. I know that the soundtrack isn't usually one of the main reasons why you start on an anime, but its still one of those details that can either make it great or break it. The soundtrack in Princess Resurrection did neither of the two, so I guess it's somewhere in between them.

[Character 3/10]
One thing that -really- killed this show for me were the characters. The main guys are not interesting to watch at all; they have no significant treats and are rather annoying. The evil guys are all one-day flies; they appear once and disappear afterwards or fill in some cheap fodder role for a few minutes.

The male protagonist...I don't think I have ever watched a character that took the meaning of the word 'annoying' to such an extent. The only thing he can do is throw himself in front of his princess and die, try to fend off enemies with a broom or just yell and be afraid. Except for Hime all other characters is a total waste. No hard feelings, but if a show can make me facepalm, rage and skip over parts of an episode this much something has to be wrong.

[Enjoyment 4/10]
Hime, episode 13 and one tune of the soundtrack were the only things that were decent in this series. And that isn't enough for a show that had the potential to be much, much and much better. I don't really know what the producers had in mind when they made Princess Resurrection...it couldn't be entertainment. The show only has three things that belong under that category. Money making? I highly doubt if they made much from this show if anything at all. Maybe a mix of both. If you as producer don't feel like giving a series the best you have got then why bother publishing it? You only waste your own time, the time of the viewers, cause frustration and provide enough reasons to storm your house.

[Overall 4/10]
I started on this show with normal expectations. After 25 episodes, I'll be frank and say it has greatly disappointed me. Except for the three things stated above this anime has failed me greatly. I have been around in the world of anime long enough to tell when a show is good, and I can assure you that the overall show is Poor at its best. There are numerous shows out there that are better than this one, so do your daily schedule, eyes and me a favor: watch something else. read more

If anything good came from me watching the 26 episodes of Princess Resurrection, it’s only that I can write this review in good conscience in order to try and prevent other people from wasting their time. In all honesty, there isn’t really any good reason for anyone to spend their time on this show, so don’t! However, I don’t make such statements without reason, so if you’d like to know why I feel that way, continue reading.

Story: There’s a story here, but you’d barely know that. Our main character Hiro is killed 5 minutes into the show when some steel beams randomly fall from nowhere, and he pushes Hime out of the way, thus saving her. In return, she grants him half-immortality and makes him one of her servants, as apparently here entire family is trying to kill each other over some right of succession. Not that you’d ever know that though, as you effectively see 4 of the siblings in the show, and there is only a single 2-part arc where any of them seriously fight. So, the show revolves around a war between siblings, that isn’t in the show! Outside of that, it’s truly a random monster of the week format, where they introduce some new monster during each episode that our hero’s have to defeat, and half the time, said monsters are sent as assassins by the siblings that you never see, but are supposedly out there trying to kill Hime. This show never, ever, EVER goes anywhere! There’s no more conclusion to the whole sibling war at the end of the show, than there was at the beginning of the show. Actually, you don’t even know how many siblings there are! There could be a thousand, or five, you never know, but by about a third of the way through, you simply won’t care.

Characters: This show’s one claim to fame is that it sports literally the single most useless character in the history of the world! Hiro, Hime’s first servant in the anime, is your average teenage boy, no powers, no martial skills. For some shows, that’s perfectly fine, but in a show where supernatural monsters are trying to kill your boss, normal teenage boys aren’t particularly useful. The only thing he ever really does effectively is throw himself in front of attacks, and DIE! I actually lost track of how many times he dies, and after a short bit, you simply kinda wait for his inevitable death and resurrection. It’s not like any of the other characters are all that useful either though. Riza, the half-werewolf has about two or three episodes where she’s actually useful, most of the rest of the time, she sucks almost as bad as Hiro. There’s the vampire Reiri, but she’s got a reason not to fight almost every time. And then there’s Hime (who goes by that since she’s a Princess and apparently hates her name) who for the life of me, I can’t understand how she’s survived. She’s got no real powers other than granting half-immortality to others, and the first one she goes and does that for, leads her enemies straight back to her half the time. The robots….ugghhhh…if I hear “Huga” one more freaking time! The bottom line, these characters suck! They don’t progress, there’s no depth to any of them. They each boil down to being a single thought regurgitated throughout the entire series. There’s about a half an ounce of personality between ALL of the characters combined, they aren’t likable, and by the end of the show, I was actually rooting for them to die.

Presentation: The music isn’t good, but it won’t make your ears bleed, so I guess that’s a bonus. There really isn’t much else to say about the sound, it’s passable if you aren’t looking to remember it five seconds after it’s passed. The art is not good, but not terrible. The characters are plain and boring, with the princess being the only character that’s remotely interesting, and only because of her eyes. The backgrounds are flat and uninspired, and the colors are pretty much a complete wash. In the end, I suppose it’s all done with competence, and if this show were put together by college students, it’d be alright. There’s very little to keep you interested from an artistic view point. Also, I think this a good place to point out that I did actually buy these from Sentai Filmworks. If these DVD’s are indicative of their work, I’ll never buy their products again, and I will actually highly suggest people simply get fansubs. If you’re only putting out a subtitled product, then your subtitles had better be good. But these aren’t even ACURATE! Characters names are misspelled, there are mistakes and missing letters in the subtitles, and worst of all, the subtitles aren’t even on by default!! It’s a sub only DVD, and you actually have to turn ON the subtitles. Thinking about this makes my head hurt, so I’m moving on.

Enjoyment: There’s none to be had, at all!!

In the end, this is a show that doesn’t quite veer into my depths of truly god-awful, but it’s certainly bad on almost every level. There’s really nothing to keep you interested in watching this show, as the 20th episode is exactly the same as say the 5th, and that’s not a good thing. The characters are dull and boring, if not downright offensive (Hiro’s naturally huge breasted sister borders on mentally handicapped). Even if you were just looking for mindless fan-service, this show wouldn’t deliver. There’s no real story, no character development, sub-par art and music, and no mind-less fun to be had. There’s really nothing redeeming about this show, so simply avoid it, trust me, you’ll be better off for it. read more

'Tis a funny thing, potential. Princess Resurrection has a fair bit of the stuff, but it fails to capitalise on it properly.

With our hero, Hiro - a not-very-forceful personality - surrounded by attractive women and contracted to serve the story's heroine (the eponymous Princess), there's obvious potential for a harem-comedy show. But while the studio occasionally hints at romance, it's never really developed. And there are attempts at comedy, but it's actually rare for this show to manage to be funny. Most of the characters are not developed beyond one or two simple and often cliched traits, even in the twenty-five episodes that the studio have to work with.

The show follows a monster of the week format (literally), with the Princess and her bodyguards facing off against werewolves, vampires, enraged fish-men, overzealous medical staff et cetera, et cetera. There's obvious potential for some scintillating and gory action, in a variety of settings and against a variety of opponents. Sadly, this potential is wasted by unimaginative and low-quality animation; the animation for this show smacks of a low, low, low budget. The studio can be creative in disguising it, but there's only so much one can do to paper over the cracks and I did find myself physically wincing once or twice at the quality. Furthermore, the potential for gore offered by the profusion of axes, chainsaws, morningstars and other sharp objects is rather lost - possibly because the content has been toned down from the original manga to make it acceptable for TV.

One good thing about the action is the Princess' 'killshot of the week' as she dispatches whichever eldritch horror is threatening her, usually using a particularly large or inventive weapon. Indeed, the character of the Princess is probably the shows' best asset, with her arsenal of weapons, her unshakeable sang-froid and her deadpan humour - humour which is one of the few really funny elements, and one which doesn't get enough screen-time.

The music is unremarkable, as is the voice-acting. In fact, they're both so unremarkable that I have nothing more to say on the subject. What I will mention, however, is the ending credits sequence. With considerably better animation, it's a superb tongue-in-cheek visual riff on gothic/horror motifs. If only such quality was reflected in the actual content of the show.

Turning to that most subjective of traits, 'Enjoyment', I must admit that I didn't absolutely hate this show. In fact, part of me did enjoy the ludicrous nature of the action: where else can you see a girl in a black, gothic dress and a tiara riding the roof of a duck-shaped pedalo and fending off a horde of mutant fish-men with a large hammer? But that's not good enough for Princess Resurrection to redeem itself. I can't recommend it unless you're a diehard fan of the manga. A sad tale of potential in the show's setting, characters and action, ultimately wasted. read more

Yeah... like two other reviewers once said, been here done that, but still I had to watch it (yeah, this sounds weird, but I feel obligated to finish anime I've started...Except for Hatenko Yugi..bleh terrible stuff!). This show was one of those anime that wanted to go for that never ending series, which lasted longer than the viewers, i.e. Pokemon (bleh). What I can say though is the characters were very funny and "cute" (eh, that word just emasculated me). The plot though... nope nothing special.

7/10, hell just watch it. It wouldn't kill you, its more of a way to kill time.

Monster Princess is about how a guy (Hiro) who saves Hime (Princess Of Resurrection / Monsters) but gets himself killed in the process. Hime gives Hiro a flame of life which means that he can't die by ordinary means. In order for him to live he must stand by Hime and receive the flame of life every few days. Those who recieve the flame are also known as servants as the Royal Family. Hiro is a servent.

It's great. The only bad point that it gets tedious after a while but it has a great storyline and some funny parts too. It's a shame that Hiro has permanent hat hair but it could be worse. I liked it mainly because of the art, plot and sound. The opening tune has to be one of my favourites.
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When I first came across the Princess Resurrection manga, I bought it out of boredom. The summary on the back didn't impress me, but I was out of things to read at the time. I find myself now on volume six of this series, and when I first was aware of the anime, I really wanted to see it. After watching all 26 episodes, I was split down the middle, but found that it's kind of an enjoyable filler show if you are familiar with the manga.
STORY: As said, most of the anime is filler, but the general basis of the plot is implemented. From there it becomes more of a wacky, whimsical cache of misadventures with Hime, Hiro and friends involving supernatural monsters like vampires, mummies, werewolves and witches. It's fun to watch in passing, and this keeps it enjoyable as they battle whatever monster has shown up to challenge them. An interesting thing to do is watch for Hime to fight using weirder weapons than before.
ART: The characters are beautifully designed, and the four females Hime, Liza (or Riza), Reiri, and Sawawa are just cute/hot. However, once action picks up, the animation kind of dips a bit. MADHOUSE usually does great animation, but it seems they kind of took a day off and called in the C squad to work on this title when you see some of the fight scenes. Since the show is rated PG, a lot of the violence has been toned down considerably. A mild issue I had at first was Hiro has to drink Hime's blood to stay semi-immortal, but for the show, it's the Flame of Life. It kind of waters down the bond Hime and Hiro share a little, I think.
The reason the art gets an 8 despite the less than stellar animation is the atmosphere. Hime's mansion sitting atop the hill overlooking the quiet and unsuspecting residents of Sasanaki town with it's ominous swirl of clouds above it just seems like such a classic seasoning of old-school horror movie appeal that quite honestly look great. Especially in the Princess Sacrifice episode.
SOUND: I fell in love with this soundtrack immediately. The opening theme Blood Queen preformed by Misato Aki is very catchy, the ending theme, ALI PROJECT's Hizamatzuite Ashi Wo Onami, is really twisted and addictive and a lot of the BGM in the show has a dark, haunting melody that gives you an aura of walking through a spooky castle all by yourself.
The voice acting has no english track, but that does not hurt it, by any means. All the voices are terrific and fit each personality to perfection, from Liza's voice filled with a bold sense of strength and werewolf pride, to Reiri's light, almost seductive vocals, to even the androids, Flandre and Fransisca's monotone "Huga", and Hime's sense of coolness and calculation when she speaks, there is no flaw in any of the voices in this show. Maybe the crazy vampire doctor, Housei Sanagida, but even thats so over the top annoying that it works.
CHARACTER: If anyone wanted a reason for me to recommend this show is for the title character herself, Hime. Normally, I'm not too big on main characters, I mostly see them as tools to market the show they're a part of (Pikachu, Naruto, Doreamon etc.), but Hime is just so calm and calculating that you might pass her off a cold, heartless princess who can toy around with anyone she feels she can take advantage of. But this demeanor she puts on just shows how well she can face adversity in even the most grim of situations without panic or worry, never allowing the enemy to pinpoint her weaknesses. This execution is really a big redeeming quality of this show and I fell in love with her instantly. She's honest, blunt, cold, and full of mercy all at the same time. Yes I've seen it done in other titles, but it just works so well in this show, and in a current state of anime where I don't think there are many strong female leads, Hime stands out to me, and thats why she's one of my favorite characters. Also, I'm not too big on the gothic look, but her attire, her blond hair, the crown, her laugh, and her eyes just make her, oddly enough, a combo platter of fan-service that I never expected I would be attracted to. She's dead sexy, no pun intended.
I probably should mention the others, but there isn't really too much difference from their manga counterparts. They just arrive and their personalities bounce off one another. There's no real main antagonist in the show outside of Zeppelli, who I sort of enjoy more in this version. I really like the Sherwood character and was happy to see her get more time to shine in the show than in the manga, so that's an extra plus. I actually got a kick out of Hiro's ditzy big sister Sawawa, who's barely in the manga, but is here to add a bit of cuteness with her love of parfaits. It's kind of weird, the relation I have with this show.
ENJOYMENT: Most of this show just feels like a trailer to buy the manga, but I think you can find enjoyment in it as a collection of random adventures. It gets a little episodic in the second collection of DVDs, but it's still fun to watch, but it just sort of stops. The comedy isn't laugh out loud funny, but it's pretty amusing in it's own right. Most of the gore is toned down, yet there is more light-hearted fan service ( I won't complain, I think these girls are beautiful). The Royal Blood/ Flame of Life change might not sit well with manga fans, but I got over it after a while.
OVERALL: I think if this title stayed true to the manga, it would have been so much better. It's got a great vibe to it, but since most of the key story points aren't in it, it's a bit of a let down. I found some enjoyment out of it, as I am a fan of the personalities and the manga. I would keep my fingers crossed for a season 3, but if not, it's a decent title that doesn't have much of a plot.
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a very nice idea behind the story.. very cool ending theme and opening. I havent gotten through all of the series just yet but so far i would say some of it could be better. i will not rate it with a REAL score just yet because i didnt complete the series (so my scorers will change in the future). The series definately has potential. i just wish it started out a little better. Again though, good story and idea behind the characters. I think knowing what its about is what is mostly keeping me watching this series since i havent really got "hooked" in yet. read more

I'm not quite sure what I expected from this series when I decided to watch it. I knew it wouldn't be amazing but I was curious. It couldn't be that bad right?

Story: There is a plot. It's not very developed and rarely talked about but it's there. The main character named Hiro dies in the first episode by pushing Hime out of danger and getting crushed by pipes. He is then resurrected via Hime granting him half-immortality. He has to constantly refuel his life by taking in this flame that Hime makes. So he basically works for her as a servant since without the flame he'll die in a certain amount of time. Hime is the daughter of the king of monsters and the king has x amount of children who are all fighting for the throne except Hime because she doesn't care. The problem is that the number of siblings is never revealed and you only see maybe 3 of them besides Hime. The creator could've at least told us how many there were. The manga is far from finished so there could be more seasons. Unfortunately, it doesn't really go anywhere. Each episode basically revolves around a hired assassin trying to take Hime's life, then she defeats them somehow. Only a few episodes seem plot-related involving the other siblings showing up or some other recurring villain.

Art: I'd like to give it a higher score because at times it looks really well-done. However, if you pay more attention, the animation isn't that great. They have some way of cheating where it looks good. Can't describe it but you'd notice if you checked this show out. Also, there's fighting but you don't see much motion. Like you'll see a character swing a sword but the next frame shows the sword already hitting the opponent. That's kind of a sloppy way to do fight scenes.

Sound: I really like the songs for the opening and ending of the show. I'm not a fan of Ali Project but I thought the ending song they did here was pretty good. As for the background track, it's nothing really special. I can't remember any songs that stood out or sounded really good. The voices weren't terrible to listen to. Reiri's voice took some getting used to. At first I didn't think the voice fit her character. It was a good voice but it took me a few episodes to like it alongside her character. Kawasumi Ayako does a fine job with the poker face-type character of Hime. She voiced Saber after all so it works.

Character: Sigh...

Hiro - One of, if not the worst main characters I have seen from an anime that I watched more than a few episodes of. He's supposed to be one of these carbon copy male characters who have good qualities and is supposed to be an all around nice guy roped into a dumb situation. Okay, that's fine since we've all gotten used to it but I'm tired of him being useless in this series. He doesn't do anything comedic and for a show with fighting, he isn't much of a help there either. He'll either pick up a random household object and swing it around or take hits for Hime. I'm tired of talking about him, moving on...

Hime - She's kind of an interesting character, probably the best one in this show. She acts indifferent towards everything but she's also sympathetic and kind though you could never tell from her face. What I don't like is her confidence while fighting. Every time she fights, she acts like she has everything under control but it's annoying because she doesn't seem any more powerful than Hiro. Despite being the daughter of the king of monsters she displays no powers other than being able to give others half-immortality. She does seem to be pretty good with a sword I guess. You usually see her run around with some random weapon like a mace, a chainsaw, a baseball bat. It's a wonder how she's lived through this war for the throne but the plot requires her to survive so there you go.

Riza - I really didn't care much for this character. She was there for fanservice and kind of protecting Hiro and Hime. She doesn't even seem all that good at fighting. Overall she was boring to watch unless she was interacting with Reiri.

Reiri - Um... I liked her voice? I wish she would've done more in the series other than run away. She rarely fights despite being a powerful character (According to the manga anyway) and when she uses wooden stakes as kunai, the animators used that lame technique where you see her throw it and the next frame shows the enemy with the stake already in him. Yeah, the show could've used her more. I liked her more than Riza.

The rest - Hiro has a big-breasted sister that also works for Hime who is pretty stupid and clueless about everything. Hime likes the tea and food she makes though... Then there's Flandre the android who belongs to Hime. All she does is say "Huga" and use super strength to fight. The "Huga" wasn't that irritating until more androids showed up and they all said it. Forget the other characters, I don't really care. Although I will mention the hospital director for being super annoying. Worst character in the show and I hate when he appears. He has this obnoxious voice and he's so creepy. Ugh... The opponent in episode 8 I really wish I could erase from my mind as well.

Enjoyment - To be honest, I didn't watch all the episodes in order. After sitting through maybe 8 of them I looked up summaries and watched the interesting ones first or whichever ones seemed plot-related. Then I went back to check out the ones I didn't care as much about. Episode 7 was terrible and 8 was beyond creepy. Really disliked seeing those.

The anime is very different from the manga. A lot of blood is cut out and the stories were altered for content. I can understand why on some of the things. Like Hiro's foot getting cut clean off, Reiri's leg torn off and something I don't want to talk about since it's a spoiler in the manga.

This show definitely had potential to be a harem-ish comedy. To be honest, I would've liked it if they took some notes from... Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo. That's right, Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo. In that manga, they're always throwing each other in front of attacks then blood gushes out of Jelly Jiggler of all things. Ridiculous but instead of the stupid deaths Hiro goes through, I'd rather have someone pitch Hiro in front of attacks in that style several times, then follow up with him falling on the ground with spiral eyes. He's immortal so they could've done so much stupid stuff with him that might've gotten laughs out of the viewers.

Final thoughts, I didn't hate Princess Resurrection. It was pretty tolerable. With anime that are new to me that turn out underwhelming, I can safely say that I have seen worse. Is this show for you? Well, the ending isn't great. They slapped a terrible non-canon scene at the end which was a pain to watch because it was just stupid. You'll surely be disappointed at the ending. The characters are a hit or miss. Some people find them bland and boring, some find them acceptable and okay. Anyway, if you get the premise of the "plot" go look up episode summaries and watch the cool ones. That's what I recommend. Watch the rest if you're bored.

Feedback would be greatly appreciated. Hope this helped. read more

if you like this you might like they are my noble masters they both have a brother and sister working as servents and both have fighting they are my noble masters has more comedy and ecchi to it

It wasn't the best but was interesting enough to keep my attention thru till epi 20. Reminds me of Rosario + Vampire in more ways than one. The basic similarities are that they were both better as manga, and the main male character was a weakling pushover in both the manga and the anime; but had some real power in the manga. IE: some kind of transformation. Which were cool but left out of the anime’s for some reason.