But still, when people try, we at least get something that stands out from the rest of the typical copy-paste blurb that we've seen of both the Shonen and Isekai genres, and that's how we get novelist Yui's Mushikaburi-hime a.k.a Bibilophile Princess. And this also being another Syosetu title, it's definitely surprising to find a fair few stories that isn't the Isekai Reincarnation kind.
As is with Shoujo anime, think of it as like the past glories of Kaichou wa Maid-sama! and the closest example being that of Ouran Koukou Host Club a.k.a Ouran High School Host Club, but with the show's premise being pretty much like Akatsuki no Yona a.k.a Yona of the Dawn or Akagami no Shirayuki-hime a.k.a Snow White with the Red Hair, only except that the female MC Elianna Bernstein, is like Honzuki's Myne in every regard. This is because Elianna is not just your typical girl: she is known as the Bibilophile Princess, coming from a family of bibilophiles and is a family heirloom of national treasures that benefit the Kingdom as the "brains of Sauslind", but choosing to be politically neutral in the sight of conflict. Being a bibilophile and a bookworm herself, after being engaged with Christopher Selkirk Ashelard, the crown prince of the kingdom, Elianna chooses to house herself in Sauslind's royal library just for the added perks of being able to access the royal archives and read all day long, which consequently earns the ire of many others in the kingdom's walls and labelling her as a phony fiancé: someone who completely ignores the happenings and proceedings, and most importantly, the crown prince Christopher himself to his own devices.
To be fair, I think that Christopher and Elianna's relationship is just about what you expect from a completely Shoujo work: the crown prince and his princess, there's so much uncertainty that's riding with the tumultuous commotion of the kingdom and going along with it, the not-yet husband-and-wife duo must act coordinated and soundly to ensure that their kingdom doesn't fall in pieces. And that is Elianna's Achilles Heel: with her presence almost being equal that of a wandering ghost trying to play catch-up with the kingdom's numerous political issues, whilst remaining close to her heart about the way that she would handle things. It's that tenacity where she feels like she's lost at times, though her comeback will vary since people MUST act like in a complete Shoujo environment of wavering feelings and decisions made that could affect her fiancee as well. And that always turn out to be that hit-and-miss feeling of lackuster aspects about the source material as well. The other characters of servitude, eh I can take or leave it being the fact that there's just way too many of them to even give us time to think about. Though I would say that the Ikemen that pretty much stuck with me is the butler character Alan Ferrera, he's the perfect embodient of a background character used as a running gag of a joke that to me, truly never gets old.
I'm just going to be frank: what's up with Madhouse being chosen to adapt very odd titles, outside of the ones that we expect them to have (i.e. Overlord), not to mention Winter's HakoZume a.k.a Police in a Pod (which that one I felt was within the acceptable range). Ironically, in the same vein, they have done shows like Ore Monogatari!! and YoriMoi before, so this should be a cakewalk...and as someone commented in a review, the strange white vignette that's used all the time as a filter, yelp. I mean, this is a relatively different Madhouse we're looking at now after all of the fiasco that the studio has undergone throughout the years, and is trying to find a groove for itself. Sadly, I don't think that this show ever fitted with Madhouse's abundance to begin with, but it just looks fine.
At least the OST fares somewhat better: DanMachi's Yuka Iguchi producing a really nice OP song, and Kashitarou Itou being the falsetto, perfect-pitch tenor guy with a unique vocal voice to boot. Music is generally enjoyable, but in the context of the show as a whole, it's not much.
I think I know the reason why we gravitiate less towards Shoujo shows: being the predictable premises that they are, it takes talent and creativity to spice all of the melodrama out of a series, and for novelist Yui, it would've been OK for the time had this show came out much earlier, but I digress that there's just nothing unique about it, aside from the tried-and-true Shoujo demographic hit points. Let's be real: the right for Shoujo anime to exist, is only if the writers and their source material have enough traction to go around, and this show didn't even generate any marketing about it other than the usual teaser and PVs to go around.
Is it a shame that there's no more Shoujo shows left to adapt? It depends honestly, but in the case of Mushikaburi-hime a.k.a Bibilophile Princess, it's a dud, a false perception of the Shoujo genre's comeback, even if miniscule. Only watch this if you feel very bored, you're not missing much.
