The story told is about war, and it keeps the theme well, it doesn't sugar coat death, reason, or emotion, war is war and i felt that The Price of Smiles did a good job at telling it as such, people die, friends die, family will die, none of it gets skipped over, it shows that even the strongest people on the outside are harboring the same or greater pain than those around them who are wearing their hearts on their sleeves, our examples being the two main protagonists Stella and Princess Yuuki, respectively. The story progresses well and it shows war as it is, it's a horrible thing to witness and especially being thrust into it out of not even knowing there was a war, it will shake a person, that person being Princess Yuuki.
Overall i never noticed the art making any significant dips in quality, it was well animated and the backgrounds were also done well, it wasn't anything fantastically stunning save for a few moments to give a greater impact to the scene or action, an example being the Last Episode with the literal world spanning rainbow, there were nice touches throughout but nothing too worth note and very few small quality dips. I will say that the CGI and movement of the Mechs didn't look out of place or take away from the show at all and i was happy to see that.
The sound design and music also catch no complaints but also no rewards from me, the effects weren't overdone (I'm looking at you, Fate/Apocrypha), but they provided what was needed, the BGM flowed nicely with the scenes it was placed in and the Voice acting was good, but again, nothing fantastic or particularly negative either, there were a few scenes where you could feel the emotion put through by the VA's which added well to the scenes or the story being told during the episode, the OP and ED were fairly good as well although i will admit i enjoyed the OP much more than the ED.
Where i did find most of my love for this show was in the characters, the supporting cast was written well in my eyes, with most having a back story, their own goals and lives they want to live, and motivations, only a few felt like they were fluff characters though they did help progress the story and other characters growth and motivations (Huey, although i dont like him at all, did this job well). Through our 2 Main Protagonists of Stella and Princess Yuuki we get to see two almost polar opposite people, Yuuki, who wears her heart on her sleeve, and Stella, who faces everything with a Smile, no matter what she feels inside, through multiple character interactions and plot progressions, Yuuki develops into someone who is actually fit to lead her country, make the hard decisions, and learn just how much it costs to be able to afford Peace and Happiness, which is where the name of the show fits in perfectly as the theme, it takes Death, War, and atrocity to reach Peace, even if it is all hidden behind a curtain, it still happens, even if it's being shunned when it gets brought to light, there is more behind the scenes than anyone truely knows besides the ones that are on the ground doing what needs to be done, Stella being our experience of that, she acts near autonomously, always with the same fake smile, she doesn't act on emotions even though she does feel them, she keeps them down deep and bottles in anything she feels so she can act as a soldier.
Princess Yuuki, as much as i detest how she started as a character, develops very well, she learns, Although not quickly enough, that the perfect peace that she desires wont be achieved unless she learns how to make the hard decisions, "Even if it means everyone hates me," she keeps her motivation until the end, she wants as little people to need to die as possible, on both sides, she hates death, she's experienced far too much loss in her own life and does not want anyone else to have to experience it through violent means, this does get in the way of her making rational decisions when it comes time for her to lead, she acted on emotion too often which ended up with more lives lost than needed to be, however as time progresses she does learn The Price of Smiles and makes much better, more rational decisions to achieve her goal of ending the war as quickly as possible and with as few deaths as possible on both sides.
Stella Shining, was the perfect opposite to princess Yuuki, on the outside atleast, her character for the most part was developed when we meet her, she's The Smiling Soldier, anything that comes up she will face with a smile, even if it is fake and she's in agony mentally, however through the course of the anime she softens and takes down some of her own emotional walls, Stella, who tends to not act on emotion and thinks logically and weighs the consequences of her choices and her emotions, begins to act more on what she thinks is right and what should be done on the ground, instead of what her superiors are telling her to do, during the last few episodes this change takes place rapidly, delving into her backstory and her motivations and reasons to always be smiling, and during the last episode her shell finally cracks, the fake smile is replaced with a genuine feeling of happiness and the feeling that she's done what was right, even if it meant consequences to herself.
The Price of Smiles was a very enjoyable anime for me, one of the most that i enjoyed this entire Winter 2019 season, it wasn't for the reason of it being a perfect animation, or the story having no holes, or even the characters being flawless and interacting perfectly, it was just well done, everything meshed together well, the characters were placed where they belonged and interacted well with each other, and the plot progressed smoothly, it felt realistic, but kept its touch of fantasy.
All being said, in general the show was nothing to put on a pedestal, it was just very enjoyable and well produced and directed.
8/10, would hate Yuuki's decisions again.
