Those coming into a magical-fantasy story like this should keep your expectations in check. This isn’t some complex tale crafted with deep lore or character study. If it can even be called that, Syalis is a princess that wants nothing more than a perfect, beauty sleep. Or as in her case, Syalis is in love with sleep. She wants to get the most out it and enjoys it as a way of life. Based on the manga of the same name, we got ourselves here an anime adaptation telling the story of a princess and her daily sleepy adventures.
The English title has ‘sweet dreams’ as part of its header. Getting a good sweet dream isn’t a simple task with all the daily misadventures. For instance, a recurring trend is how the princess constantly gets abducted. Usually in fantasy shows, it would focus on a protagonist to save the princess. But in this show, we have the princess living her life like another day at the park. It appears that getting abducted serves more as a distraction, an example of comical plot device often used in the show. If we watch this show from start to finish, you’ll quickly notice how each episode portrays like a slice of life comedy. While there’s no linear plot, there’s many recurring trends with abduction and beauty sleep being part of the formula.
With the bevy amount of strange characters in the show, princess Syalis seems to always stand above all and catch the most attention. Whenever she gets kidnapped, the demons doesn’t harm but instead gives her plenty of freedom. In fact, it’s easy to say the overwhelming amount of characters in this show serves as comic reliefs, whether the good or bad guys. Princess Syalis’ ultimate objective is to get her perfect sleep regardless of any circumstance, whether it’s to find the perfect time, place, or objects. On any episode, she would go to any measure to get that sleeping opportunity while being completely oblivious to events around her. Yes, that includes being abducted because to her, Princess Syalis just wants her beauty sleep.
On the other hand, there’s a figurehead in this show going by the title of ‘Twilight the Demon King”. Serving as your stereotypical demon king role, he acts as the major “antagonist” in the show. Truth be told, this show also portrays him as a comic relief character as while his deeds are mischievous, he doesn’t seem like a truly evil being. Even with his reputation, Demon King’s odds with the hero and princess serves more as a source of humor. As I said before, this show really doesn’t subscribe to a complex tale of epic battles, saving the world, or defeat a great demon lord. It’s a simple slice of life that takes the word ‘sleep’ to a whole new level. With that being said, there are still some characters to watch out for such as Neo Alraune, Harpy, Frankenzombie, among others. These creatures seems to be borrowed from classic fantasy lore and added to this show to spice up some entertainment. However, the one carrying anime is none other than the great Princess Syalis herself.
With all these flavors of genres added together, the show at its core sells it as a slice of life comedy. Doga Kobo is an expert at adapting the SOL genre so here they are working the gears again. The artwork style retains the familiar feel of the manga with its character designs and world setting. It’s also safe to say that Princess Syalis is decorated with eccentric amount of charm. The sleepyhead looks like she’s about to fall head over whenever she is in a sleepy mood. Her sparkling eyes show her child-like delicacy and obliviousness to the real world. Even her daily outfit looks like something a character would wear when they’re about to go to bed. Is she a princess? Yes. Does she really act like one? Probably not.
This is among one of the easiest shows to recommend as the simplicity of the story and elements can be understood just about anyone. Even if it’s your first anime, the show doesn’t take deep thinking to get into the mood although the comedic style can be a mixed reception. With a hallmark of comedy awaiting for you, Maoujou de Oyasumi is the show that keeps on giving.
