The dog also walks and hits an anime. No.34] "Princess Principal" - High School Girl Spy Action Enjoying the Ordinary in the Extraordinary

We want to meet more and more anime that excite our hearts, anime that will cheer us up tomorrow, and anime that we will always love! Our anime writers will introduce you to anime that are hot at the moment, regardless of whether they are new releases or long-running favorites.

This time, we will focus on "Princess Principal," which finished airing in September.

The story is about a high school girl who is a spy and a steampunk girl, and how they are combined. How do you combine them?" This 12-episode anime was first introduced as a "steampunk," "spy," and "high school girl" series. We wondered what kind of work it would be, but we were able to enjoy each and every episode and came to a good conclusion.

The Blu-ray & DVD release started on September 27. We will take a look back at the charm and enjoyment of the show, which makes you want to wait for the sequel.


A strange balance of "daily life" and "extraordinary life


This is an action story about five girls who work as spies in the dark. The setting is a fictional London, the capital of the Kingdom of Albion.

Ten years ago, a revolution took place in the Kingdom of Albion, dividing the country into the "Kingdom" and the "Republic" by a wall. Many people were separated from their families and friends by this sudden event, and 10 years have passed amidst the chaos. London, the capital of the Kingdom, is now the front line in an information war in which spies from the Republic are in the dark.

If you hear that the first story is about a researcher who wishes to defect from the Kingdom to the Republic with information ......, you will think, "Ha ha, I see. The Kingdom of Albion is a stage for spies, cut and pasted with images of the French Revolution and a Germany divided into East and West by the Berlin Wall.

Now, climbing this tailor-made stage are "five high school girls. The term "high school girls" usually refers to high school students in modern Japan. I thought, "Why spy, steampunk, and high school girls?" I thought, "Why a spy, a steampunk, and a high school girl? They are indeed "high school girls.

The five girls attend the Queen's Mayfair School, a coeducational boarding school for children of both families. They meet on campus and in their dormitories, happily discussing their assigned missions and operations, and enjoying tea and sweets. It is as if espionage is a "club activity.

Yes. What they are wearing is the air of "everyday life. The ordinary, everyday time is fun, shining above all else, and sweet.

While the story is about the cruel and heartless world of espionage, at the same time, the treasure that the girls value more than anything else is pure "friendship.

The contradictory elements of "everyday" and "extraordinary" are mysteriously balanced and united here. The viewer is soothed and healed by the warmth of everyday life that briefly appears amidst the ruthless and hard-boiled worldview.


The fateful bond between Angers and Princesses that began when they switched places.


A principal is the top dancer in a ballet company. The "princess principal" may mean the princess and the leading dancer. Who exactly does it refer to?

At the beginning of the story, in the first episode, it seemed to be a princess who is "a princess of the kingdom with the right to the throne, but also a spy working for the republic.

However, by the second episode, a part of the secret is already revealed. Angel, a spy from the Republic, and the Princess, called Charlotte, are old acquaintances and best friends, a pickpocket girl and the real Princess, who were swapped just before the revolution 10 years ago.

The original and masterpiece of thrilling entertainment involving swapping is Mark Twain's "The Prince and the Beggar". A prince and a poor boy, who look exactly alike, swap clothes, switch places, and are unable to return. The two see the world differently from each other and grow and change amidst their difficulties.

What if two people who have switched places cannot come back? One answer to this question is Angers and Princesses. When the viewer realizes this structure, he or she becomes an accomplice to their secret friendship.

In front of their peers, they behave only as a spy and a princess, but only when they are alone do they have intimate conversations between their best friends. The bond that their ten years of survival and their current position support makes their relationship special.

This is one of the warp threads of the film. The feelings of Angel and the Princess, who have risked their lives as spies and princesses and still care for each other, are pure and radiant for that reason.

Their past was revealed in episode 9, "case20 Ripper Dipper" (TV broadcast #08).

It was a moment of high school girls' smiles, built on 10 years and their determination for the future. Friendship that is guided by a destiny that could only be lived here. This is the spice that you don't find in other "high school girls" stories.


Dorothy, who bears all the sadness of an agent.


The other three spy girls are also attractive. In particular, Dorothy, the oldest and the leader of the five, is the one who carries the sadness and bitterness that is indispensable for a spy story in each complete episode.

She is the oldest and the leader of the five, with a large bosom and a big heart, and is a compassionate older sister. The conflict between love and duty, which is essential in the drama of spies and agents, is best portrayed in Dorothy.

Dorothy's father appears in episode 7, "case 18 Rouge Morgue" (TV broadcast #06). It was a memorable episode that depicted the family's conflicts and emotions. It is a good episode that gives a sense of weight and austerity as a spy story, but it was a difficult role for Dorothy.

The single-minded and young Beatrice and Tise, who comes from Japan, are cute as small animals, but they have shady backgrounds. Beatrice has a history of being experimented on by her mad scientist father. Chise has come to this country to defeat a renegade bandit, but there is a secret about her family.

One of the charms of this work is that it strikes a good balance between these aspects of entertainment. If it is too light, the seriousness of the worldview is lost, and if it is too heavy, the aftertaste is worse than tragic.

Each episode is a story of tension, small joys, and melancholy, and you can enjoy the activities of the beautiful girls while savoring the aftermath. It is good to be able to enjoy such a story.


In a fictional London, a magical girl named Spy dances


The key to the retro-futuristic worldview is the "Caver Light," a futuristic technology that seems out of place in this era. This technology blocks gravity and makes a certain space weightless. Angier makes full use of a small personal gravity control device called a "C-ball," which enables him to perform actions such as flying.

Standing on a vertical wall, she is able to move freely and effortlessly above or far below the ground. Since personal gravity control devices can only be owned by a limited number of people, Angel's abilities seem to be a kind of "magic.

The five girls look younger than their age. Their thin, lovely limbs do not seem very action-ready. With their bodies, the girls use their individual specialties to cross over to the big, trained men, take advantage of their skills and maneuvers, and win.

I see. Angers, who are too cute to be spies, are "magical girls who have borne tragedies" in this world.

Each of them has a wish to fulfill, and that is why they fight even at their own peril. Their mission is always next to death. Even so, they cannot give up their feelings.

I think I understand how to enjoy this work when I think about it.

The subtitle "Case XX" refers to the order in which the episodes are arranged in chronological order. In other words, the order is purposely broken up so that Chise had already appeared in the first episode. It is cut out so that the viewer can enjoy watching just one episode, no matter where it is viewed from. It is also interesting to arrange them in one's mind in the order in which they appear, to think about the flow of the story, and to read the lines in depth.

The final key to all 12 episodes was still the "bond" and "friendship" between Angel and the Princess. The ruthlessness and compassion of the mission, elements that are conflicting in a typical spy story, are balanced perfectly in this work, leaning slightly toward the "compassion" side.

On this balance, we do not know how long Angel and the Princess will live to realize their dreams. Nor do we know if the realization of their dreams will make them happy.

But if they are happy as high school girls, maybe it doesn't have to be a big one. Maybe the present time we can spend together is enough. ......

If there is a second season, I would like to see a little more of the daily life of the "two princesses" as spies who keep dancing on a very delicate stage.


(Text by YAMAYU)


(C) Princess Principal Project

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