Product Details

• Format: Animated, Color, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English, Japanese
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Section 23
• DVD Release Date: November 25, 2003
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0000DD79C
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #172,856 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Sixteen-year-old Himeno Awayuki feels uprooted when her widowed novelist father marries a gazillionairess: she moves into a vast mansion run by her snooty stepmother and two icy stepsisters. While she's trying to cope with these changes, she meets the seven Leafe (Lee-fay) Knights, magical beings who are fighting the demon larva planted by Fenrir, the Princess of Destruction. To overcome these life-draining monsters the Knights need the Prétear, the Princess of Light whose soul can merge with each of theirs to destroy the larvae. Himeno finds herself facing classical magical girl problems: trying to overcome her natural klutziness, learning to use her latent powers, falling for gentle Sasame, quarreling with diamond-in-the-rough Hayato and befriending the other Knights. This appealing but lightweight adventure-comedy plays like a mixture of Fushigi Yugi, Blue Seed, and Cinderella. (Rated 15 and older: violence, brief nudity, alcohol use, minor profanity and risqué humor) --Charles Solomon

Product Description

PRETEAR VOL 1 - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's about time!, December 12, 2003

By 

Laura Bellamy (Greensboro, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pretear - Vol. 1 (DVD)

This is my very favorite anime ever done, and I was so excited when it was finally brought out in the U.S.

For those who enjoy the "chick-flick" animes, this one is incredibly charming, from beginning to end. It subtley combines a couple of fairy tales, but goes far, far beyond merely that.

The subtitle for Pretear is "Legend of the New Snow White," but it begins as a sort of Cinderella story. The main character, Himeno, has just obtained a stepmother and two stepsisters -- one of which is as nasty as the typical wicked stepsister is supposed to be. Himeno finds herself shunted to the side, hardly noticed, and she wonders how she can find a place in her new life. Then she meets the Leafe Knights. And she becomes Pretear, protector of the world and life.

There are seven Leafe Knights -- much like the "seven dwarfs." The story strays from any fairy-tale-esque elements until near the end, but I won't give the ending away QUITE yet. ;-)

This too-short show is nevertheless perfect, the story is sweet and romantic, while at the same time getting darker as you go along. But you'll love Hayate especially, and Sasame is great. Kei is strange -- he seems so effeminate, but at the same time he's so dully serious! It makes for a unique combination. And the kids are simply darling. You'll fall in love with this anime!

This first volume of Pretear has only the first four episodes, out of thirteen. I can only assume that there will be three other volumes, with three episodes each. This first volume is enough to hook you on it if you aren't already. The final show on this particular disk is a very strange one, I'll warn you about that.

But the DVD is beautiful, the picture is clear, and there are options to watch it either dubbed (which I would NEVER dream of doing, the original language is so fabulous), or Japanese with English subtitles.

This is a fabulous show, no anime lover should go without seeing it! I can't wait for the next episodes!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hail the Princess of Light, July 12, 2005

By 

Daniel J. Hamlow (Narita, Japan) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pretear - Vol. 1 + Series Box (DVD)

"Leafe-it is the source of life. Leafe-it's a power all living things have."

I have to thank Melissa H. for turning me onto Pretear. This fantasy/action/romance anime has some elements I find endearing, and is the second anime series I saw from start to finish. Himeno Awayuki is an energetic and sometimes ditzy high school student whose father, a widowed romance novelist and sculptor, has recently married the wealthy widow Natsue Hojo. As a result, she finds herself living on a wealthy estate and near a city where the nearby businesses are all renamed after her father's surname. However, Mayune, the long pink-haired stepsister, is a meanie with an obnoxious and loud laugh, who specializes in ridiculous practical jokes against Himeno, most of which backfire on her (e.g. a gigantic tube of mayonnaise). The introverted and soft-spoken stepsister Mawata, on the other hand, is somewhat withdrawn and indifferent to Himeno. This is different from the original manga, where Mawata was actually as bad as Mayune. In the anime, she is someone to be pitied, not hated.

Meanwhile, the seven Leafe Knights of the world of Leafenia, are out to stop Fenrir, the Princess of Disaster from conquering the Earth with her demon larva. When mature, they are huge slug-like monsters with tentacles and demonic reptilian eyes, absorbing the Leafe from all living things to feed Fenrir. Trees and flowers blacken and wilt when touched by a larva. The Knights' powers are limited, so in order to combat this menace, they need a chosen woman to "prêt" with, a Pretear, the Princess of Light. A Knight and the Pretear merge together, where the Pretear defeats the demon larva with weapons created from leafe, energy from living essence. Well, Himeno is the chosen one, and she is overwhelmed at being needed by the Knights, as she is still trying to find her place in a new family, home, and school, where she is shunned. Each Knight has a special power, be it ice, fire, wind, sound, etc. The child Knights, Mannen, Shin, and Hajime, take to her and even call her "naychan" or big sister. The dashing and quiet Sasame is an isle of reason and kindness, helping her in her training or being someone with a sympathetic ear. He's empathic, hosting a radio program, and replying to postcards, among them being from Mawata. However, the brooding Hayate arrogantly dismisses her, saying that she doesn't have what it takes, saying that they don't a Pretear, which isn't the case. Himeno's not that crazy about him either, and a state of mutual contempt exists between them. That starts to thaw by the end of Episode 4, though Hayate gives her a funny nickname based on her hairdo-"tulip head," which she isn't too chuffed about.

When Himeno prets with a Knight, there is a transformation scene complete with fanfare, where she is surrounded by coloured bubbles, reemerging with a colourful costume. Kind of a throwback to Sailor Moon, but minus the "moonlight crystal power makeup" schtick.

Once, I noticed the full title, "Pretear-The New Legend of Snow White" and it made a lot more sense. Think about it-Himeno's stepmother is mean, with two stepsisters. Then the Leafe Knights number seven. Aha! But there is an environmental message as well, on protecting the Earth from things that threaten to drain the life and life force from living things. Plus, the Knights also detect the presence of the larvae through their jobs, ever alert to a high level of depression in conversation.

Pretear also sports a host of well-known voice performers. Mikage the kindly maid is voiced by Yui Horie, best known as Tohru Honda in Fruits Basket and Naru in Love Hina, while Yuji Ueda, who is Kaoru, acted opposite Horie in Love Hina as leading man Keitaro. Satsuki Yukino (Mayune) was also in Love Hina as Mutsumi, but also in Ai Yori Aoshi as the energetic Tina Foster. Himeno's voice actress, Sayuri Yoshida, also sings the catchy ending theme song, "Lucky Star," but it pales compared to the energetic techno opening theme, "White Destiny," sung by the one and only Yoko Ishida. And Takahiro Sakurai (Sasame) is also Kamiyama in Cromartie High School. Finally, Kikuko Inoue (Natsue) voiced the landlady Hibiya-san in Chobits.

A great start for the 14 episode series.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazed at how good this turned out to be!, February 10, 2004

By 

Nurse Washu (South Burlington, VT United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pretear - Vol. 1 + Series Box (DVD)

Pretear is the latest anime show that's I've been taking in. I first read about it quite a while ago and found out that it was based on the old fairy tale "Snow White". In fact part of the title is "Snow White a New Legend". So originally I'd thought it would be kinda corny, but then a friend recommended it, so I went and got my hands on it. The story and characters are drawn from "Snow White" but are only very loosely tied to it, and it's quite different actually. The main character, Himeno, her father marries a wealthy widow and suddenly she finds herself in a whole new family with two new stepsisters. One of them is a lot like Nanami from Utena, but the other is very quiet and keeps to herself. Himeno has a hard time relating to either of them. Her father and his new wife are quite the happy lovebirds - they're hilarious! ^_^ Instead of having seven dwarfs (dwarves) Himeno has the seven Liefe Knights, each with their own brand of magical powers. They are the ones who come to this world and draft Himeno as the new "Pretear" - a sort of Magical Princess that they serve as assistants to. This show does have some new and original variations on the mahou shoujo genre that are interesting to see. I also love the opening sequence, it's one of the most beautiful I've seen yet, of any anime. The artwork in general is above average, with very pretty character designs and I just love Himeno-chan's Pretear outfits! By the time I had finished watching Pretear it was like .. wow! I had no idea how powerful the drama would be in the last few episodes. The series starts out funny and lighthearted, but about halfway through, when it starts to get into the heart of the story, I was just amazed at how good the story turned out to be. It's something that I wasn't expecting at all. And I loved the ending, but that's all I'm going to say about that - no spoilers! ^_^ Anyone who likes Cardcaptor Sakura or Fushigi Yuugi or shoujo anime in general will love this series!