Search - Princess Resurrection: Collection 1 on DVD

"That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange eo

trashcanman | Hanford, CA United States | 07/24/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Princess Resurrection" is an anime that I found surprisingly engrossing considering it has been completely unheralded. I ran into it by coincidence while searching for obscure vampire titles and it was just about love at first sight. The show has been released in two 13-episodes sets, which I feel is a solid model for releasing anime seasons as opposed to the excruciatingly expensive and frustratingly lengthy one-volume-at-a-time approach. While full season sets are still preferable, if half-season ones get the latest anime in our hands that much sooner and cheaper, then I'm all for it. I'm reviewing both sets at once because I'm lazy. For a show that seems to utilize nearly every anime convention imaginable, this one still manages to feel fresh by combining elements from all sorts of genres within the genre. The primary setting for the show is classic horror with broad swaths of comedy and it reminds me a lot of Buffy The Vampire Slayer in it's approach. It's got the "monster of the week", a metric ton of homages for classic horror/sci-fi fans, recognizable archetypes that are allowed to revel in their roles to the point of parody, and a pretty bizarre sense of humor to tie it all together. This may not have gone over big with the masses, but it feels like it was made with me in mind.

Every good anime (or any work of fiction, really) thrives one one thing above all else: characters. "Princess Resurrection" is a show that is acutely aware of this fact. While the limited cast of the first few episodes leads to a slow start, Princess Hime of the Monster Kingdom soon begins building her femme dream team of supernatural servants and allies and ends up with the usual ragtag group of lovably caustic personalities interacting with each other. Hime herself is a mythological creature, but revealing which one is a spoiler although you will likely smack yourself in the head for not realizing it sooner. She has the ability to resurrect the dead to be her faithful servants. It is the fate of all potential royal heirs to do away with each of their siblings before one can ascend to the throne and although our heroine has no interest in becoming Queen, she still lives under constant covert attack from members of her family. Her haughty reptilian gaze and cold mannerisms hide a kind and merciful woman with a passion for medieval weaponry, chainsaws, and general carnage. Flandre is her robotic pint-sized guardian who speaks only using the word "huga" and looks more then a little funny in her little maid outfit with her mouth wide open in a perpetually surprised expression. Hiro is granted the Flame of Life and becomes the first new subject drafted into Hime's service. He requires her Flame regularly to maintain his immortality and is immune to death so long as he receives it. Maybe he would have been better off dead when the alternative is eternal abuse at the hands of a harem of ill-tempered female supernatural creatures.

Along the way two more primary characters show up to make the show really cook. First, Liza, the half-werewolf who can only semi-transform (usually her arms), but makes up for it with pure fighting spirit. She's the typical tomboyish loudmouth character. For contrast, the vampire high school idol Reiri comes in initially to drink Hime's blood. But being defeated, she withdraws but remains a part of their lives for the show's duration. Her capricious and demure mannerisms coupled with her scorching wit make her the most entertaining character by far. It doesn't hurt that she seems to have her own agenda as well. Whether she seeks friendship, another shot at Hime's blood, romance with Hiro (or Hime), just wants to be entertained by the struggles and antics, or all of the above is not really made concrete for most for the show and I like it like that. Plus, any vampire that actually lives in an abandoned church is just damn cool. It's also worth noting that Liza and Reiri HATE each other with the vamp typically getting the better of their exchanges. There are many more characters, but this is the primary cast.

Okay. Characters: check. What else is there to love? I haven't even gotten started. Mermen, mummies, shapeshifters, an invisible man, spider-bats, triffids, headless horseman, the entire vampire race, a slasher film reject, a ghost ship, a vain witch with an unhinged laugh and goblin servants, an inept tanuki vampire hunter, a catgirl assassin, and some original surprises are just a few of the foes to be taken on before the anime's premature conclusion. Hiro will be pierced, slashed, hit by vehicles, drowned, and vamped among many other demises along the way. He's like an anime Kenny from South Park. Oh yes, and the satire. While "Princess Resurrection" utilizes several standard anime devices, it occasionally takes the time to mock itself and it's own fans. One character happens upon the lead character combo and politely inquires what kind of cosplay they are doing. That is some funny stuff. Taking the premise even further, they stage an episode where a group of Hiro's classmates invade the mansion (word to the wise; stay away from the creepy mansion at the top of the hill with a constant vortex of clouds over it) and each fall head-over-heels for their favorite anime-girl fantasy. One goes ga-ga for Hiro's ridiculously chesty and naive sister, who works as Hime's live-in maid and constantly makes groping gestures and repeats "squishy squishy". Another admires the Amazonian warrior type and falls for Liza. The third is a shameless masochist who wishes to be dominated and treated poorly by the princess herself, who stomps on his face and then demands Flandre bring her a new unsoiled pair of shoes. It's his dream come true. Thankfully, Reiri wasn't around so I didn't have to suffer an animated version of me making girlish "squee!" noises everytime a vampire was onscreen. They also missed a chance for more laughs by neglecting to point out that Hime's little sister, Sherwood, is the classic loli archetype, which is disturbingly popular among otaku. But then again this particular anime's only real weakness is that it often seems to pull punches on anything potentially offensive, which is both too bad and very odd considering the brazenly salacious closing credits. Speaking of which: the opening and closing credits are both very entertaining and amusing in and of themselves.

Now, this show was well on it's way to five star status before the climax. But when Hime's elder brother unleashed the ultimate biological weapon known to horror fans upon her town (and if you don't know what that is, shame on you!), the show closed the deal. But on top of that, there are two bonus standalone episodes that I wish they had put sequentially before the climax because after building up and concluding the story arc that impressively, ending with a few throwaway eps -although very entertaining ones- kind of dampened the ending a bit. Still, this is a show I've enjoyed more then almost any anime in recent memory and that is a lot of anime. This definitely turned out to be a big sleeper hit for me. Sadly, getting a second season of a show like this one is even less dependable in Japan then it is in America so it appears "Princess Resurrection" is doomed to be incomplete as an anime. But then again, with animated series, there is always hope of it being picked up again down the line. And there's always the manga if you aren't retarded like me and get a headache reading right-to-left. Check this series out if you're a horror fanatic and pray with me for another season."

No English Dub!

P. A Clark | San Jose, CA USA | 04/28/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I just wanted to let you know if you are viewing this product online. IT HAS NO ENGLISH DUB. That's not a reason to not buy it, but we get so used to having anime in both English and Japanese with subtitles these days. This one is Japanese with English subtitles only. I bought it and will eventually watch it. But having an English dub choice would be nice. I should have read the case more closely."