Shamanic Princess

I went into Shamanic Princess knowing very little about it other than it had a short non-canonical crossover episode with Magic User’s Club, so I had no real expectations going into this. I’m not going to say that I’m disappointed, but more just underwhelmed with it. That’s not saying that it’s bad by any stretch, but the series overall could have been much better with a few minor changes.

This 6 episode OVA follows Tiara, a special agent from the Guardian World, the home of mages, who has been sent to earth disguised as an ordinary high school student to recover the stolen Throne of Yord, ... a powerful mystical object which is the source of magic energy in the Guardian World. During her hunt for the Throne of Yord, she discovers that it has a terrible secret when some of her friends and colleagues from the Guardian World fight to keep her from retrieving it.

This series has a lot going for it. It has good animation and art, a decent premise, a great soundtrack by Yoshikazu Suo that is appropriately moody and fits the series well, and has an darker atmosphere and themes that could drag you in if it’s something that especially appeals to you. But as I mentioned earlier, it does have a few problems that just prevent it from being a great series instead of just being an OK one.

For some reason, the first four episodes of this series seem to really rush through it’s plot. As if either the series didn’t have the budget or time to properly flesh it out. One scene goes to another without any real transition and doesn’t really give any breathing room, making the pacing of the show just feel off. By the time you’ve realized what’s going on, you’re already half way through the scene. There is even a plot point early on where out main character goes to a human high school to fit in as to not arouse suspicion that goes nowhere. It’s probably why those first four episodes are so confusing and hard to keep track of at first, it’s too busy rushing through it’s own story. Maybe the series could have done with at least one other episode just to give the series a better pace.

My biggest problem with this series are the last two episodes. Those last two episodes contain all of the character development and establishing plot points that lead up to the first four episodes of the series. Which begs the question, why are these last two episodes not the first two episodes? These two episodes feel like they were moved around just so the series could have some sort of twist at the end. If the people behind this series wanted to tell something out of order, they could have had these two episodes be flashbacks placed at certain points throughout the series. At least that way, it would have given the rest of the series a better pace, and it still could have lead up to some sort of “twist” if that’s what the creators wanted.

Shamanic Princess isn’t a bad series by any stretch, but the idea to have the last two episodes be where they are really drags down the series as a whole, making it more confusing than it needs to be, and the series as a whole would have been much better if they were located somewhere else. I’d recommend Shamanic Princess to anyone who like their series with some darker themes and more atmospheric presentation.

First things first. My "reviews" system is explained on a blog entry. Which can be found through my profile.
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✦Story
In short, story was intriguing and unique with a feel of classics. There were lot of interesting parts in the story, but obviously since it's 6 episodes long there are a lot of things that would need a lot more explanation and development. But nevertheless for 6 episodes I felt that the little story overview or "section of few characters" life was done pretty good. It was tragic, yet odd. It was quite different to what I'm used and quite dark especially regarding the powers and the ... background of most stuff in this Anime.

Cannot really mention much, but that is the general gist of the story I got. It was odd, unique, dark and tragic and those 6 episodes gave that experience just fine. So story is actually quite nice.

✦Art & Sound
Old Anime, but nevertheless Animation, some powers, transformations and so on did look actually quite good, unique and at times quite disturbing. Probably biggest downside on the art side is that characters, especially their faces looked really derpy.

As for music, well it was okay.

✦Character
Mainly story is about 2 characters, whereas everyone else felt as "just to give some plot". I found characters okay, can't say much else. Main girl probably wasn't really the most enjoyable one. She was quite annoying, but her anger issues and self-conflict are kinda understandable. Whilst other characters didn't give me much impression or impact. Mostly it's just small circle of characters, their past, feelings and issues.

So yeah, characters were "okay".

✦Enjoyment & Overall
It did felt dull at times, but I were more interested than bored, thus the "6". It had some sense of uniqueness and pretty intriguing story and powers. Whilst at the same time I would liked this series to be with more episodes to understand story, world and characters a bit more clearly.

Story 6/10
Ok, so the story is a bit confusing. Pretty much, Tiara, a princess, is ordered to retrieve the throne of Yord. So, based on that, the story sounds great, it's just badly pieced together. Like there were events that I understood that led to the story, but then there are other events where I was asking myself "Wait, what does that have to do with the story". Also, like I said, the story itself is confusing. You really have to piece together the story for yourself. Like, figure it out on your own.

I'll admit, it has some cool action scenes that tend to make ... up for the bad storytelling.

Also, the main story pretty much ends at the fourth episode. The last two episodes are like flashbacks to the past. Basically, it's the past that led to the main events, so if you really didn't understand the main story or what was going on, then watch the last two episodes, it'll really help you understand.

Art 7/10
The art isn't bad. There were some scenes that were badly done, which bothered me, but for a 90s OVA, art isn't all bad.

Sound 7/10
So the soundtrack isn't bad. I really didn't like the openings though, but the music for the events and fight scenes, I quite enjoyed.

Character 4/10
So you have a bland protagonist, Tiara. I mean,, she wasn't interesting at all, but they did a good job explaining her past. I gave character 4/10 because they were all bland, despite that they all had character development, but I just didn't find myself interested in the characters and to me, the characters were boring. But the story does make up a bit for the bad characters.

Enjoyment 6/10
My enjoyment level of this anime is mixed. I found myself enjoying the fight scenes and once I somehow pieced the story together, it made it a bit understandable. But, I don't want to have to piece a story together. Like, when you go into a anime, you should understand what the story is without having to piece it together.

Overall 6/10
I mean, it's not all bad. If you don't mind having to piece together the story, then this anime may not all be bad for you. Honestly, I enjoyed the anime for the action scenes and for some of the story, but I can't really say it was a good experience or bad experience. Just try it out and see for yourself.

Thanks for reading. Let me know your thoughts on this review and any feedback you may have for me. Until next time!