Princess Principal

We all have seen and heard of Spy stories at some point in our lives. Whether it's the ever-famous titles like “James Bond'' or not, there’s no doubt that the life of a Spy is quite intriguing and action-packed. Their mysterious, meticulous, skillful, and vibrant lives almost always come with a side romance that makes for a vastly entertaining watch. Anime has its many takes on Spies, one of the most famous titles being “Spy x Family.” But, what else should we keep our eyes peeled for?

Princess Principal has a misleading name; many might take it for a Slice of Life Drama with a side of Romance featuring cute girls. However, only the latter part is accurate as this is a solid Spy series involving politics, assassinations, and of course, spying. This is a 12 episode TV anime series that aired from the 9th of July until the 24th of September in Summer 2017.

It was produced by Bandai Visual, Lantis, Movic, Tokyo MX, Q-Tec, Hakuhodo DY Music & Pictures, and Medicos Entertainment, licensed by Sentai Filmworks and brought to life by Studio Actas and Studio 3Hz. The main staff involved included Tachibana Masaki as Director, Episode Director, on Storyboard, on Key Animation and 2nd Key Animation, Iwanami Yoshikazu as Sound Director, Nomura Kazuya as Episode Director, on Storyboard and Key Animation and Ikehata Hiroshi as Episode Director. It features the genres of Action and Mystery along with a Historical theme. As a spy series, it received an R - 17+ for violence and profanity best suited for mature audiences.

Princess Principal is an Original anime series. It has a Summary ONA episode titled “Princess Principal: Ange Report” (Princess Principal Recap), which aired on the 16th of September 2017. This featured a Chronological summary of episodes 1 to 8 from the main anime series. A Side Story Special series was also released under the title “Princess Principal Picture Drama” from the 27th of September 2017 until the 23rd of February 2018. As the title suggests, there were 3-minute Picture Dramas with a total of 6 episodes.

A Sequel was released in the form of a Movie titled “Princess Principal: Crown Handler Movie 1” on the 11th of February 2021. This is the first out of a total of six Movie Sequels to the main TV series. This movie spawned its own Side Story titled “Princess Principal: Crown Handler Movie 1 - Busy Easy Money” on the 28th of September 2021, which featured a Short special episode. “Princess Principal: Crown Handler Movie 2” was released on the 23rd of September 2021. The remaining 4 Crown Handler Movies are yet to be released.

The story is set in the early 20th century when discovering a peculiar substance known as Cavorite changed how the world worked. Cavorite paved the way for the production and use of highly advanced military technology, which soon steered the whole country towards strife and conflict.

Not even the mighty city of London could remain unchanged, as it was then divided by a great wall. The Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Albion are thus waging a silent war, within which the only permissible weapon is espionage, which each side uses in attempts to destabilize their enemy. The spotlight then moves to a group of “not-so-ordinary” girls from the prestigious Queen's Mayfaire school, who work as undercover spies for the side of the Commonwealth.

Their leader is Dorothy, an experienced driver with an equally striking personality. Their group consists of girls of many diverse talents, including Ange le Carré, a cold-blooded liar plus expert sharpshooter; Chise, a highly proficient samurai; and Beatrice, a specialist in the art of voice-mimicry. Using their own unique individual skills, they battle for the Commonwealth to survive in their dark and dynamic world filled to the brim with conspiracy, mystery, and infiltration. While the war rages up front, these girls remain in the shadows with only one specific goal in mind: completing their mission no matter what.

Princess Principal is pretty unique, even among other Anime. It takes viewers on an original journey with a group of unusual young girls as they go about conducting espionage, spy work, and assassinations. It may sound a tad ridiculous, but this group of young schoolgirls has legitimate spy training. Being students are merely their guise, as they seek to execute the orders given to them by their superiors at all costs, even at the stake of one’s own life. The wide array of characters possess unique personalities that go with their skills as well.

The political climate is incredibly tense and chaotic in the technologically advanced version of historical London, where steam and coal still powered most devices. The Queen of the nation is merely a figurehead rather than a person with actual power.

The strings are pulled by various factions, deciding whether to help or dispose of her. The difficulty of the missions, the queen’s situation, the allegiance of multiple factions, and the possibility of failure drive the story forward. It starts episodic but with great pacing and reaches a linear flow over time. The story is entertaining, but it isn’t necessarily profound and rather bland at times.

The Characters of Princess Principal are primarily unique. While they do loosely fit some of the standard archetypes of anime, all their background stories are pretty exciting but fall short because they aren't especially memorable. This is primarily due to its limited episodes, and they definitely had the potential to amount to more. Ange steals the show as its most exciting character, and the series mainly follows her.

She comes off as an odd girl who speaks monotonously but enjoys telling both lies and jokes. Regardless, she remains a mightily skilled spy capable of performing amazing feats throughout the series. Chise is also well done, armed with various fighting styles and swordsmanship, functioning as a loli samurai of sorts. Dorothy is proficient at using her charms in seducing men and functions well as the Queen’s assistant.

The Queen herself is pretty typical; knowledgeable, skilled, and noble but with a daring personality. Each girl has problems, painful pasts, secrets, and unique wills, which all fit well into the plot. They all receive decent development as well, making unexpected decisions along the way.

The Art and Animation are done well in Princess Principal, fitting and enhancing the setting. Character designs are excellent; the animation is fluid, and special effects flow well with the rest. The backgrounds and sceneries aren't as detailed, but they get the job done and are decent overall.

The Art style itself is not that unique but has a "steampunk" vibe. It complements the show’s color palette, mechanical designs, and character concepts while using standard lighting and dark ambiance at appropriate timing. The Art also does an excellent job in enhancing the storytelling and portraying the timeline.

The Sounds and Music of Princess Principal are also great. The sound mix is complex, and it features many good OSTs. The Special effect sounds are all on point, and the Voice Acting does not pale in comparison. The Opening theme is "The Other Side of the Wall" by Void_Chords feat.MARU, which is excellent, and the Ending theme is "A Page of My Story" by Ange (Ayaka Imamura), Princess (Akira Sekine), Dorothy (You Taichi), Beatrice (Akari Kageyama), Chise (Nozomi Furuki), which is also pretty decent.

Overall, Princess Principal is very entertaining by virtue of its uniqueness and the very concept of young girl spies. Definitely worth the watch, as the series remains engaging throughout. While it may not be very memorable, there’s nothing to regret by watching it. If you’re a fan of Lolis, Spies, 20th-century London, and Action, then this series would be a thrill for you. Recommended, this series delivers exactly what it promises.