Murder Princess

After a sudden coup d'etat by the court scientist Dr. Akamashi results in the king's death, Princess Alita Castilia Arago Forland is forced to flee the capital. During her mad dash for survival deep into the forest, Alita collides with the brutal and temperamental bounty hunter Falis, which causes the two women to magically switch bodies.

Using her original body as collateral, Alita convinces Falis—and her henchmen Dominikov and Pete—to help take back the capital from the treasonous scientist by pretending to be the real princess. However, while the plan was initially successful, the only diplomacy Falis knows is with her sword. Alita must now work hard to make sure the kingdom is not trading one royal scandal for another, all while the two displaced women look for a way to return to their original bodies.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Falis Main

Park, Romi Japanese

Forland, Alita Castilia Arago Main

Koshimizu, Ami Japanese

Dominikov Supporting

Yao, Kazuki Japanese

Yuna Supporting

Saitou, Chiwa Japanese

Kaito Supporting

Namikawa, Daisuke Japanese

Ana Supporting

Saitou, Chiwa Japanese

Armstrong, Pete Supporting

Takase, Akimitsu Japanese

Entolasia, Jodo Supporting

Ishimori, Takkou Japanese

Cecilia Supporting

Toyoguchi, Megumi Japanese

Dr. Akamashi Supporting

Tsuchida, Hiroshi Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Maru, Ryouji Producer

Kurokawa, Tomoyuki Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Takakuwa, Hajime Sound Director

Reviews

Jun 2, 2024

StardustSynchro

Recommended

Plot and Setting:
The story begins with a dramatic and unexpected twist. When the kingdom of Forland is attacked, the young Princess Alita Forland is forced to flee for her life. During her escape, she encounters the infamous bounty hunter Falis. A magical mishap leads to the two women switching bodies. With no other choice, Falis, now in the body of the princess, agrees to protect the kingdom while Alita, in Falis's body, takes on the role of her loyal guardian. This setup creates a dynamic and unique narrative where both characters must adapt to their new roles and work together to save the kingdom from ... various threats.

Characters:

Falis (in Alita’s body): As the main protagonist, Falis is a fierce and skilled warrior. Her transition into the princess's body brings an interesting dynamic to the royal court. She’s tough, pragmatic, and unyielding, bringing a breath of fresh air to the often docile and refined royal image.
Alita (in Falis’s body): Alita is gentle and kind-hearted, initially overwhelmed by her new situation. However, her determination to protect her kingdom and her growing bond with Falis make her a compelling character.
Dominikov and Pete: Falis's loyal companions add depth to the story with their unique abilities and unwavering support.
Animation and Art:
The animation quality of "Murder Princess" is solid for its time. The action scenes are fluid and engaging, showcasing the intense battles and the protagonists' martial prowess. The character designs are distinct and memorable, fitting well within the fantasy genre. The backgrounds and settings are beautifully rendered, bringing the kingdom of Forland to life with rich detail.

Music and Sound:
The soundtrack complements the anime's tone perfectly, with dramatic and epic scores that enhance the action scenes and emotional moments. The opening theme, "Hikari Sasuhou (shijunban)" by Back-On, is particularly noteworthy for its energetic and catchy tune.

Themes and Execution:
"Murder Princess" explores themes of identity, duty, and sacrifice. The body swap premise is handled with surprising depth, allowing for character growth and introspection. The bond between Falis and Alita is the heart of the series, and their evolving relationship is both touching and believable. Despite its short length, the anime manages to deliver a complete and satisfying story, though some viewers might wish for more episodes to further explore its world and characters.

Conclusion:
"Murder Princess" is an underrated gem that offers a refreshing take on the fantasy and action genres. Its strong characters, intriguing premise, and well-executed action sequences make it a must-watch for fans of the genre. While its brevity might leave some wanting more, the series succeeds in delivering a thrilling and heartfelt adventure that stands out among its peers.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Mar 13, 2022

nozomiEX

Mixed Feelings

Going into this, I made sure to set my expectations low, and I still left underwhelmed. With only six episodes to adapt a similarly short manga that was forced to a rushed conclusion because of the publication it ran in, I knew to not expect everything to be fully fleshed out but I'm still disappointed with how little substance there really is.

If you took the story beats and characters on paper, in a vacuum, this story is fine, with great potential to be enjoyable. Not much in the way of complexity or novelty, but still a solid framework for a fun romp through ... a fantasy setting. Now just develop this over the 120 minutes or so that you have and it should work. Sadly, this happens so little in Murder Princess, telling only the minimum needed to get from A to B to C and so on. Characters have almost no depth to them at all, only a handful of traits, simple and shallow motivations (if they even get them at all,) very little interaction between characters outside of propelling the plot, and surprisingly little in the way of levity. You very well could count on your hands (maybe, maaaaybe your toes) how many intentional jokes or moments intended to be humorous there are over the entire run time of the series. The plot is bare bones and especially in the last two episodes sped up to the point that ass pulls and deus ex machinas are dropped on a by-the-minute basis. Exposition dumps make up half the dialogue: tell, don't show is the reigning paradigm here. Compounding these issues are numerous oversights in basically every department. For example, characters addressing others by name when they haven't even been introduced to each other. Sure, you could excuse it and say "they got to know each other off screen," but having to constantly cope and do the heavy lifting for the show does not make for an enjoyable experience.

All this is to say nothing of the poor "animation." This is a very stiff show, lots of slideshows and panning, flashes and cuts. Fights VERY often being one swing and it's over. Sparse sets and little detail make this a very un-stimulating visual experience, so it's going to be up to you to make yourself pay attention, and when the plot, characters, and all the little things that fill in the gaps are in large part MIA, it's very likely to be a chore.

Ultimately, my time watching this was mostly spent trying to excuse things on its behalf and the other part lamenting how much better it could've been with only more competent, passionate hands. It may seem easy to excuse a 6 episode OVA for not accomplishing a lot in its run time but 120 minutes is actually quite a lot to work with to tell an engaging story. Even ignoring the entirety of filmdom, there are even SHORTER OVA series that still manage to make what they're given to work with into a compelling, enjoyable experience that far outlives its runtime in the hearts and minds of those who view it, and this is not one of them.

PS (Actual postscript, lol): I went and read the manga to see if any of that potential was realized better. There two are almost entirely different plotwise, save for several key points. I'd actually say the plot in the anime is more complete but the characters in the manga feel marginally more developed, or at least a couple of them, and it's more humorous. The fact that you can breeze through the manga in an hour or two makes it feel much less like a chore to get through, but ultimately both are unsatisfying with how little anything gets fleshed out.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Sep 21, 2023

Cayusashi

Not Recommended

Just looking at the name of the anime you should know what you're getting into. I thought, "Murder Princess is one of the most on the nose and cheesiest names for any anime I've ever seen and it's only six episodes, so it can't be THAT bad. There should at least some entertainment value here." This has to be some of the most boring and soulless 2 hours of my life. This anime was so boring that I couldn't even watch it all in one sitting which is really saying something for the minimal content present.

The anime starts with a bounty hunter searching for her ... mark while the Forlund Kingdom is undergoing a coup from the scholar, Dr. Onion (not his real name), and his two robot lolis. The princess who escaped before they arrived in the keep runs into the bounty hunter causing them to fall off a cliff together and somehow switch bodies?? Yeah, I have no idea either, but ok. Don't expect this to get explained well or rectified in any way. Milano (the name the princess in bounty hunter's body eventually goes with) makes Alita (bounty hunter in the princess's body claiming the princess's original name) promise to protect the kingdom seeing as Alita is much stronger than Milano could ever be. The remaining five episodes follow the two as they adapt to their new lives and thwart the plot which runs deeper than they originally thought. While unoriginal there was still potential for the plot to be interesting despite the anime's short length. However, nothing really happens. There's the coup plot sure, but we have basically no motivations for anybody involved. They're just doing things either because they're being forced to or are good/evil. The big episode four plot twist was stupid, made zero sense, wnd was never fully explained. In one episode Dr. Onion and lolis attended a ball "undercover" without any disguises. Who is just letting these terrorists in? To top it off the world building was stuffed into three minutes of episode five. It felt like we got the first and last three episodes of a show but are completely missing the middle 5-6.

The characters are completely lifeless. I've already said how nobody has any real motivations and how people are just doing things. There are no real personalities for anybody, they're all two dimensional. Milano is shy and cowardly but stands up for what she believes in only if it's in front of Alita. Alita is strong and kills people with a somewhat good moral compass. Pete and Franky (not his real name, just voiced by Franky from One Piece) are the friends of Alita when she was a bounty hunter and want to protect bother her and Milano. The lolis kill people and love their creator Dr. Onion. The main antagonists are evil just because. The only somewhat interesting character dynamic was between Milano and Alita who were a little gay for each other which is shown a few times without being explored deeper. I can confidently say I'm not going to remember a single character name a week after writing this review.

The animation was cheap. It looked acceptable but was clearly the bare minimum for what they needed to do. There's errors in layering from time to time. The battles were especially boring which is terrible for a show called "Murder Princess." It was slow with minimal choreography other than a few punches and slashes before its over. Very dissappinting.

The music sounds like it was chosen from a library of action shows and movies from the 2000s. It was fine but sounded like every other action sequence you've heard in your life. The opening was good but the ending was a snooze. The voice actors were clearly in it for the check with only the main female leads putting forth any effort. I love Kazuki Yao, but he was really phoning it in with this one and giving his vocal cords a rest.

If you couldn't tell, I really didn't enjoy Murder Princess. I don't get why they needed a body swap plot line if they were never going to do anything with it. These types of plots only work when we have a sense for the characters and their dynamics. One Piece and Futurama have terrific body swap episodes and actually do something with the concept. Just make the show called "Murder Princess" about a Princess who goes to battle or something. You don't need to overcomplicate it with this much nothing. I believe the reason this is six episodes and not just a movie is because the studio wanted to spend as little money on this property as possible and try to turn a quick buck. If you really want to watch it, go ahead. It's not like I can stop you. But don't say I didn't warn you about this boring turd.

Plot: 3/10
Characters: 4/10
Animation: 4/10
Sound/Music: 5/10
Enjoyment: 3/10
Overall: 3.8/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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