Customer Reviews

The Complete Shamanic Princess

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've heard reviews from both the Amazon raters and from the Anime Encyclopedia claiming that this film is convoluted and incoherent. I checked it out anyway and decided they were wrong here (though they were right about Maze, it stunk) as I had no trouble following the plot. As I watched though, I found that there were several tricks to following the action. First, you need to learn to filter flashbacks and mirages from the current events. Second, you need a basic grasp of Eastern philosophy, particularly Taoism. Third, you have to understand that the last episodes were flashbacks. It's pretty easy to follow actually, even easier than A Man Called Hero.

I bought this anime yesterday and I watched four times.I didn't really expect it to be this good. Tiara, a princess with awesome shamanic powers is determined to retrieve the THORNE OF YORD, a talisman.By disguising as a high school girl, she bumps into Lena, her ex-partener.In between the storyline,Tiara and Lena ally and fight with each other.Both women can transform into demonic figures that have awesome ablities.If you love action/adventure anime, Buy this one!

Wow. I didn't expect SP to be quite this good. I had read that some people found it confusing or disliked the way the story was laid out and was worried that, even though I was interested enough to purchase it, I would end up not watching it much.

What did I worry for?

The artwork and direction comes from the same people who brought you Magic Knight Rayeart and Outlaw Star, respectively. Though the big "anime eyes" are a bit larger than normal in this series, the characters and scenery are extremely detailed and the voice acting flows with events very well (on both parts, actually).

As far as the story, I really liked it. Of course, this is coming from someone who thoroughly enjoyed Evangelion and LAIN, despite having to think about things a bit. Sure, as people have noted, the last two episodes basically do belong at the beginning of the DVD, but it doesn't take long after the first episode starts to piece together what is going on. Tiara, the "main character," is a powerful Magic User sent to regain the Throne of Yord, a mystical entity that grants power to the Guardian World. Through the series, she interacts with other members of her world as an intricate story unweaves between them all and her objective.

Anyone who's ever read one of my other (short) reviews knows I give away very little about the series.

Anyway, if you are a fan of CLAMP work or interested in something a little less mainstream and more gothic in plot and style, don't hesitate to look this up.

Shamanic Princess is an often gorgeous show, with intriguing character designs and a few spectacularly-animated sequences. The story focuses on Tiara, a girl possessing great magical powers, who enters the human world to retrieve a stolen artifact. The scenes of magical combat are the highlights, with some beautiful magical effects and creative rituals and forms of combat.

Unfortunately, that's not enough to give a whole-hearted recommendation to Shamanic Princess, as the story is poorly plotted and executed. The first tipoff that there's a story problem is simple: the show starts in the middle and proceeds to a conclusion. The fourth episode contains that conclusion, with the beginning of the story then told in the last two episodes. Once you've watched the whole thing, it's obvious why: the writers had to artificially create a sense of mystery by withholding information from the viewer. This is a cheap tactic, ill-suited to an obviously high budget show such as this.

The harder question is whether Shamanic Princess is good or bad as a whole. If you're willing to sacrifice story for visuals (note: the music is also nice), then don't hesitate to buy this. If you favor story over visuals, this likely isn't your best buy.

I recently watched this series and it's good. There is a lot of action and the story tends to flow rather quickly, maybe too quickly. Although the technical material was not really explained, you can still understand it.

The box is rated at 13 and up and that is rather suiting. There is a lot of violence (as with most action animes) but the nudity is VERY brief, maybe 5 seconds of actual nudity within the whole 3 hours (towards the end), and those 5 seconds you don't really see anything. The rest of the series is just the tight clothes the female characters wear. Basically, if you're comfortable with the cover of the box, then there should be no problem.

The layout of the series is a little confusing. Episodes one through four progress through. At the end of the fourth episode is the "end" of the series. Episodes five and six are flashbacks to before the first episode. So the chronological order of the series is 5, 6, 1, 2, 3, and then 4. I would still watch it in the order it is on the DVD simply because episodes 5 and 6 contain things that would spoil the other episodes if you didn't see those. But if you are confused after the fourth episode, keep watching the second two because it will answer a lot of the questions you may be having.

Overall, it's a good series. The animation is good and the English dub is good. The plotline isn't so complicated you can't follow, but not so linear that you get bored. If you can afford the somewhat hefty price tag, I would highly recommend this.

Seriously, this Anime is like a long, strange play that draws you in inexplicably. Taken directly, it's just a Shoujo romance anime, but the story itself is a strange dance of emotions and wonder and horror.

Most animes, I either just like for the entertainment, that I like animation, or for the lurid appeal depending on genre. This one, I wish I could have somehow had a hand in writing this, that I'd stretch it into a longer series and include so much extra in it in terms of themes and plots and subtle messages.

The plot was very good and the buy (cost versus amount of anime) was among the very best (at 3 hours of film for $9.98 the cost effectiveness is better than going to a matinee at the theater). This film could probably be called a PG-13 although there may be some brief female frontal nudity (I do not remember any at all). There are some issues that may be a bit disturbing for young children.

This was a great addition to my collection. The animation is absolutely breath-taking! I really like the storyline too. It's not cliche. The downside is that the dub is not good at all, but for me that was ok because I usually watch the Japanese version anyway. Definitely worth the money.

Since I'm such a huge fan of Clamp my opinion might sway one direction more then the other, but I tried my best in deciding how to rate this OVA, to stay neautral.

Shamanic Princess is a unique series in itself, in that the first 4 episodes are focused around a main plot, while the last two are sort of a "prelouge" to those 4. Strangely enough, this seems to work with this anime series. I, personally, feel that if this series had been shown in chronological order, interest would've been lost, 'thus creating a fan following to be lost. While it does make things confusing at first, just don't think about things so hard as you're watching it. It's nothing really that difficult to grasp, just something you'll have to "ride through" as you watch it. Besides, it's a one deal DVD, all of the episodes are featured on it, so you don't have to worry about buying another DVD volume if you are one of those types to finish what you start watching.

As always with Clamp, the artwork is just absolutely stunning. I know some people hate Clamp's work, with the large eyes and such, but I find it gorgeous. While they only did the character designs for this series, I'm sure if any other artist had done this series it would have lacked what effect the series creates.

In short, if you love a darker themed "magical girl"(altho' Shamanic Princess isn't really you're typcial "magical girl" anime) anime, or if you absolutely love Clamp, it is strongly recommended. Otherwise I'd say at least give it a rental try, or a borrowed try. See if ya like it.

Wow! This dvd was amazing! The story is really interesting, every episode, until the last 4, brings in more and more mystery. Honestly, thorough out the dvd, I was never able to predict the ending, because of all the twists in the story. And of course, the animation is just beautiful!!!!(mind you I usually dont like clamp style that much). This anime strengths are great plot, amazingly beautifull animation, great music. Weakness....I wanna see more than 12 episodes.
Dvd includes 2 trailers, intro to main characters(really cool, it includes clips from the series so you dont just spend time reading stuff), about creator, and so on. If played on a computer it will give you a link to a gallery.
This is now my most fav. anime!
Oh yeah, watch it in English, the voice cast was perfect.