Search - Petite Princess Yucie, Vol. 1: Princess Academy on DVD

Underaged girls in miniskirts! Yes!

Hans Tseng | Orange, CA USA | 11/26/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I came upon this title by a recommendation from a friend, and really, I felt a little awkward watching it at first because the title and the character designs seems to accommodate lolita fetishes (the character Glenda, for example, flaunts her 10-year-old cleavage), and the fact that it's produced by Gainax can be both a blessing and a curse in this respect. After viewing the entirety of the first volume of this series however, I'm relieved to say that this title provides a great deal of enjoyment withOUT the need for perversion.

While not many people know of this series, they may have at least heard of the game called Princess Maker, where the player takes on the role of a knight who finds a girl amidst a battlefield and accepts the responsibility of being her adoptive father. The player then has to make the necessary decisions for the young girl, give her part-time jobs, and teach her lessons in order to produce a proper princess when the game concludes--or at least, that's what I've heard, since I haven't played the game myself. But being that the game was made by Gainax, this series is their animated adaption of the concept, and fans of the game may recognize many familiar aspects within the anime. For instance, the character designs of Yucie and Cube were directly taken from designs in the game.

More in line with the events that occur over the course of this DVD are the part-time jobs; the first two episodes are mostly introductory, but onward from Episode Three, the Petite Princesses find themselves signing up for various oddjobs, not for their wallets, but for their hearts to grow--it is part of the training to become a princess, after all! And while it's typical of many shoujo anime to have these kinds of "filler episodes" for the purpose of character development, the part-time job episodes in Petite Princess Yucie have a different feel which makes them more fun and entertaining compared to other shoujo titles despite not having much in the place of plot advancement.

Another thing with which I was particularly pleased was the voice acting in these episodes. The first episode was decent, but from the second episode on, Rachel Rivera, who plays the voice of Yucie, truly adapts to her character and makes Yucie come alive with her enthusiastic and convincing skills in acting; she captures the essence of the 17-year-old-stuck-in-a-10-year-old's-body elegantly without sounding forced or flat whatsoever. The voice actress for Glenda, despite having a much lower pitch than her Japanese counterpart, also manages to convey the demon princess's personality to a T, and the quarrels between her and Yucie are a joy to watch. But while I was admittedly not as taken by the rest of the cast at first, by the end of the fifth episode, all the voice actors had demonstrated a likeable quality that reflected in the characters they play, and I look forward to seeing the chemistry between them unfold in future episodes of this endearing series.

Petite Princess Yucie is targeted for girls, no doubt about it, but even guys who are willing to sacrifice their masculinity for the duration of this DVD will find themselves amused and entertained; it may be cute and full of fluff, but the characters are genuine, the directing is excellent, the animation is high-quality, and while we don't see much of it, the plot looks to be promising. For this first installment, it turned out to be a pleasant surprise with hopefully many good things to come."

Fun and cute anime

Dennis A. Amith (kndy) | California | 08/13/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"One of the most popular PC video games in Japan was "The Princess Maker" video game series which featured a knight who discovers a mysterious girl on the battlefield.

In the video game, you play the knight who assumes responsibility as the girl's father and must raise the girl to become a princess.
GAINAX, the producers of that video game and also of the very popular old school anime "Nadia" is back with the anime TV series, "Magical Princess Yucie" (or Puchi Puri Yuushi).

Inspired from the popular video game, the first episode, like the video game features a knight, who after battle, heads towards a mysterious light and finds a baby.

The anime then shifts towards the 17th birthday of Yucie and you learn that she dreams of getting married but for some unknown reason, her body stopped growing at the age of 10.

It's not long until Yucie finds out that Queen Ercell is having a contest for women to be a candidate to become a Platinum Princess and will obtain the Tiara of Eternity. A magical tiara that is handed down every 1,000 years and makes one wish come true for that deserving princess.

Yucie wants nothing more but to have the body of a person her age and marry the prince, so she is determined to become a Platinum Princess candidate.

This sets up the early part of the anime series as Yucie attends a Princess Academy which features many girls who will compete to become the Platinum Princess.

To Yucie's surprise, she meets a rival named Glenda, princess of the Demon World, like Yucie, is a 17-year-old girl trapped in the body of a 10-year-old.

Through the course of the first five episodes, through odd jobs and meeting new people, Yucie and Glenda must find a way to work together.

I admit that I was hesitant of watching this anime at first because it looks as if the target demographic would appeal to young female teens. Fortunately, after watching the first volume of this anime series, I can say that people of all ages, boy or girl, can enjoy "Petite Princess Yucie".

The animation is very colorful and vibrant and the dubbing for the anime (both English and Japanese) is top notch that fans of either language will be pleased.

As for the special features on the DVD, featured are the clean opening and closing theme animations. Production sketches and the DVD insert cover is reversible.

"Pretty Princess Yucie" is an anime that fans of "cute girl" anime (like "Akazukin Cha Cha", "Magical Princess Sammi", etc.) will enjoy. It's fun, it's cute and I recommend the series for those who need a break from action or adventure based anime."