Princess Army: Wedding★Combat

Princess Army: Wedding Combat is a largely typical shoujo OVA, complete with a bright, sparkly aesthetic and a reverse harem of dudes falling over themselves for Nonoka, the main protagonist. However, there are a few things that complicate this categorization. Namely, aside from the unique judo martial arts theme, there is a fair bit of fanservice with Nonoka as the subject, which is out of the ordinary for a title like this one, where presumably she is meant to be a self-insert for the largely female intended audience. In any case, it's an odd little thing, and has some interesting qualities that make it stand ... out from the crowd more generally. Beginning with the story, as mentioned earlier, it's a bog standard reverse harem shoujo setup, with one especially pushy suitor pressuring her into marriage while the other love interests challenge his claim through the sport of judo. It's broadly funny, if pretty silly throughout, though it does have a couple of moments that feel out of place with the rest of the show. Its conflict is also fairly contrived and makes it difficult to actually get invested in the events at hand. Beyond these aspects, there's not much else to say about the story other than it is quite short and manageably self-contained, making it a great random time-killer or quick addition to round out your anime list.

The art is this anime's strong point by a mile, with a bright, colorful palate, and character designs that are instantly striking and, therefore, memorable. It's certainly not afraid to be itself in this regard, awash with sparkles and big eyes and dudes with weirdly long fingers, which is a recurring theme for certain shoujo titles. It radiates the optimism and innocence of the 90s, with even the heaviest conflicts feeling as though they're being toned down by the neon world of pinks and blues which Nonoka and the people in her life inhabit.

The sound is similarly upbeat, with a certain dramatic streak, though overall it just meets the basic standard of quality for the time in which it was made.

The characters are fine, again meeting the basic standards of quality for the time. In general they feel as though they're pushed along by the plot to where they need to be at any given time, and given how short this OVA is there's really no time to develop them or their characters. Overall, Princess Army: Wedding Combat is a stereotypical shoujo anime from the late 90s, complete with a silly conflict, flashy art style, and a generous dose of interpersonal drama. For me personally, it's a pretty middle-of-the-road OVA, with aspects that carry it and others that fall behind, but for the right audience I think it has the potential to be an obscure gem for the shoujo fanatic.

This anime falls into the rape = love category of shoujo anime. Where the strong character it betrothed to marry a possessive rapist who doesn't have her best interests at heart. Of course we have out troupe of other men who are jealous and will certainly come to her rescue all culminating to the title's "Wedding Combat" where she is fought over like a piece of meat. Let's ignore the fact she knows Judo and threw the said rapist style character before. Of course she soon become the weak flower who let's him do whatever he wants to her, with him only laughing at her ... when she gets mad.

It made me sick to watch this. We have enough stalkers, rapists and abusive men out there, having an anime like this that celebrates it is pretty sick. Worse is when the main character doesn't even fight back against it. Strong woman she is not.
I realize this is from the 90s, however shows like these keep being remade, take a look at Kaichou wa Maid-sama where the character is a bit stronger, but still lets the abuser character take advantage of her. Love... it is not.

Honestly, what was even the point in this?

(Absolutely none of the slight spoilers below should be new info if you watch the first 5 minutes including the OP. This is acting solely to offer a gist beyond that, for those still on the fence whether to waste so much as 10 minutes skimming through these two episodes as I had. The first 5 minutes are truly that big an indicator!)

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.:CONFLICT:.

FL’s father wanted her to marry into his friend’s family. This was said on the man’s deathbed and so there’s room for misinterpretation. In any case, the family friend believes he wants ... FL to marry his son; the two are the same age and were already friends. But instead of giving a head’s up about this, he left for Poland with his kid. FL didn’t know, her brothers didn’t know, and all the while, the family friend was raising his son *solely* to become FL’s husband. He flat-out admitted it.

In any case, the family friend has decided the kids need to marry the moment FL turns 16 and then return to Poland with them. And thus begins the actual conflict of this arrangement.

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.:CAST:.

FL has been skilled at Judo since childhood, to the point of becoming her fiancé’s inspiration and first love. She has no friends outside her Judo buddies who all lust after her and a piano playing boy. Out of all of them, her only love interests were the two pretty boys. And then her fiancé once he shows back up.
In regards to love, she simply wants someone willing to tell her he loves her. But she knows she’s not ready for marriage just yet so she doesn’t go along with her fiancé’s father’s whims. She is very wishy-washy in regards to whether she puts her foot down or waits for someone to save her.

Love Interest #1 is a fellow Judo member and is the type to act and never think. The writing hints him to be the eventual ML, but he was used largely as an excuse for FL to not marry and leave for Poland before she was ready. He acts as a barrier between FL and the creepy Judo member, but whenever he shows intimacy towards her, her brothers finally show up.

Love Interest #2 plays the piano and is a natural tactician. He’s who FL goes to for support or even a second opinion, and she trusts him enough to be all alone in the music room with him. However, he refuses to express his feelings and even denies them when directly confronted. He’s the only reason #1 won.

Love Interest #3 is the fiancé. He grew up mostly in Poland with his father and there appears to be a LOT of manipulation at play in his upbringing. The boy is smart and knows how to use his good looks that mask his natural clumsiness. His impulsiveness is only ever in regard to FL.

Overall, all love interests are scum. Fiancé is harder to brush aside given the OVA itself shows only that, but the OP hints the other two are no better. They simply don’t have a time limit or sus father who throws her family into drama.

For the rest, FL has three older brothers. No real personalities aside from their unconditional love for their sole sister, and the eldest is the acting Head. He’s also the one who reminds them that it’s FL’s choice to make, not theirs, not the family friend’s, and not even their departed father’s.
Unfortunately, their downside is they’re short-sighted simps. They don’t push back against the family friend even to reject a marriage until FL is an adult; back then, that was 20 years of age both legally and culturally. While they could consent and allow her to marry at 16, they could just as easily use her finishing high school and preparing to emigrate to keep her there for 2-4 years longer.

The family friend, all the while, is just sus. His not telling anyone about the engagement plans is easily chalked-up to the usual lazy writing Japanese stories show, wherein the shock factor makes up for everything. But because he’s forcing the marriage the second it’s technically legal and having admitted to raising his son solely to be FL’s husband? That’s a character description, not merely bad writing. He is sus – it should’ve been him, not FL’s father!!

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Honestly, they should’ve just written FL’s fiancé as a returnee, even if only temporarily, rather than a visitor there to take her back to Poland. Instead of such desperation tactics for shock value, they’d have just as easy a time for cultural differences acting as such...