Customer Reviews

Princess Princess, Vol. 2

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After watching the first disk I couldn't wait to get the second. This series (Vol 1 and Vol 2) has a mostly endearing character to it that many, especially those who don't mind a little cross dressing, can find it enjoyable. There is a bit of forshadowing in the first volume, like why Kouno comes to the school in the first place and his worries about money. In the second volume we get a glimpse of why he did and what at least one of his friends is willing to do about it and for him. I recommend watching it if your looking for entertainment and don't mind subtitles. Having never read the manga I couldn't compare the two.

Next to Your Under Arrest it has to be among the best cross dressing anime to come out of Japan as it funny without the traditional sterio type bits you see in most modern cross dressing and magicial transformation series.

Continuing to be a surprising hit, this series is still hilarious and entertaining. While the third volume is highly unlikely to provide anything else particularly ground breaking, this series so far has been an enjoyable ride. The comedy is well timed and paced with writing that never tries to be deep. While some people are going to look at this with a confused sideways head tilt, many more of us will be giggling incessantly.

This series is wonderful. Even if you are not reading/have not read the manga series it is based on, I highly recommend checking this title out. This volume of the DVD includes my absolute favorite chapter from the manga (and of which I was saddened to have not seen in volume one of the anime, and delighted when it came up on this volume): Shihoudani and Kouno's visit to Sakamoto's house. The comic timing is impeccable and the message is fantastically presented. This storyline is the reason Sakamoto is my absolute favorite character in the series.

But that's only one of the four such fabulous episodes available for viewing on this disc, making the price to episode ratio not only bearable but honestly reasonable. Since Anime Works rarely dubs their titles (this series being no exception) we tend to get less work from them for sometimes less money, but sometimes the same amount as would be expected from a dub. This is one of those times when we can feel we're getting our money's worth from these folks.

For fans of the manga, some of the storyline is mixed up in volume two of the anime. For one, and probably to create a greater amount of drama for Kouno's situation, is the lack of resolution between Kouno and Sayaka. We get the scene between the two with the famous Shihoudani kiss from volume 2 of the manga, but this scene is jumbled up with the chapter from volume three concerning Mikoto's tone deafness. In episode four, as I mentioned, since the situation is still not resolved, the storyline concerning the new school director and the fate of the princess system (a storyline that has yet to appear in the English manga releases) is heightened. We can probably expect the second Sakaya confrontation and resolution (and aftermath) early in volume three of the anime.

Princess Princess is not a yaoi title, nor is it BL (despite the "kiss" in this volume). It is shojo (girls) anime with suggestive enough elements to appeal to the niche yaoi market, but abandon any hopes of any real fan service. Aside from that I commend this series for its fantastic sense of humor and recommend it to all who are interested in gender bending antics.