Princess Resurrection – Review

Siren Visual have over the last few months released several interesting anime series ranging from their fast-tracked “English region” exclusive release of Usagi Drop to Dennou Coil which won them the “Australian Anime Release of the Year Award 2011” which is an achievement considering the number of releases I have had the opportunity to check out during the year. The company is well known for their more serious storyline-oriented releases with the odd comedy series mixed in between, but just before Christmas last year I was taken back to know the company had acquired the license to Princess Resurrection, one I had more or less given up hope of ever seeing over here. I had followed the manga series for several volumes and had really enjoyed them… so how did the anime series fare in retrospect? Read on to find out!

The series primarily follows around lead character Hiro, which due to sacrificing himself to save a pretty woman who just so happens to be princess of the monster kingdom ends up being turned into a self-aware, fully conscious member of the undead, kept alive by a flame of life implanted in him every few days by his mistress. While the dark themed opening and ending sequences might lead you to believe you are in for a darker series at first, by a few episodes you will find it is a mixed bag of action-oriented storylines, subtle romantic elements between the characters and comedy – each well intermingled together throughout the episodes.

The series originally has a smaller cast of main characters, which slowly increases as the series progresses. Alongside Hiro who remains your general “whiny at times but defensive and courageous when needed to be” male protagonist, you have the princess herself “Hime” who is perhaps the most interesting character in the series as her backstory is slowly elaborated to the viewer alongside her more playful and teasing personality which was a simple but nice touch. The other two characters introduced from the beginning are Sawawa – the sister of Hiro and maid of Hime (and the only human member of the main cast) who acts as comedic relief throughout the series – aided by the gynoid Flandre who brings much to the entertainment value despite being limited to saying “Fuga!”. Later on several other characters join the series including Riza Wildman (The Half-breed Werewolf) and Reiri Kamura (The Vampire), who form a sort of supernatural harem with other female characters but the relationships are not too heavily weighed upon in this series – although present.

To be honest while none of the series was particularly dull, the main storyline only had the opportunity to shine in the last disc and a half, with the rest of the series attempting to alternate between presenting small tidbits of plot surrounding Hime (and her siblings) and standalone content which had varying degrees of success which in themselves I would have liked to see incorporated into the plot more or otherwise expanded upon. But overall, while I found it difficult to watch in only one or two sittings – expanded over the course of a week it worked in small doses at a few episodes a sitting session, and it was fun picking out the obscure references to other horror fictional tales. More focus on the main plot instead of the standalone “filler” content would have made it go from “Good” to “Great however.

While the design quality of this series was satisfactory, I felt it didn’t really surpass “average” given the studio behind its release, Madhouse’s other releases around its time of airing in Japan. Unfortunately in the midst of reshuffling my bookshelf I cannot actually find my manga volumes to direct comparison at this time, but going from memory the character designs and basic locale details matched well with the original source, but lacked was refinement for the character designs and lack of detailing of the backdrops resulting in scenes being less memorable in comparison to others released in its time. On the plus side however, their choice of colour pallete in part made up for its downfalls, and the animation was solid – in particular during the battles.

A certain highlight of the series to me were the opening and ending sequences for the show, and one of the few times the ending sequence provides a more enjoyable experience than a comparable quality opening. Blood Queen by Aki Misato which is a more upbeat tune with slight hints of the darker themes in the show hinted through the tone and animation. On the other hand, the ending sequence Hizamazuite Ashi o Oname by Ali Project (A particular music group of mine) provided a very enjoyable J-POP track complemented with some detailed albeit dark animation. In regards to the other music in this series, it was nothing all too memorable however complemented the themes and scenes presented throughout well.

I was a bit hesitant on the voice acting at first feeling some of the voices may not have suited their respective roles, however this was short-lived and have to say the English Dub cast provided a great dub overall, with some great casting on the behalf of Sentai Filmworks. My main concern initially was with Blake Shepard as Hiro, but as I said above I warmed up eventually and thought he did a solid job even if it might not be up to scratch with some of his other roles. Shelly Calene-Black (Hime), Luci Christian (Liza Wildman) and Monica Rial (Sawawa Hiyorimi) also deserve special mention for their ability to match their voice with their respective character roles.

Unfortunately the one thing really lacking in this release is extra content, the only content included on disc being a clean opening and clean ending sequence which was a bit disappointing – with me personally would have having liked audio commentary or some other form of bonus goodies. As with most of Siren Visual’s releases however we are provided with their usual slipcase to house the DVD case in, and I think they captured the theme of the series well in its design.

Overall though, while the design might not meet the level I was hoping from the series and the storyline occasionally relied too heavily on less-important side-stories, I really did enjoy the chance to check out the series and believe it might be something to consider for fans of the manga franchise or who those who want to enjoy a darker comedy with action and slight romantic elements mingled within it. To sum it all up, it was an interesting series that was a surprise acquisition, but nevertheless one I am glad they got their hands on.

If you are after something a bit more darker and along the lines of a murder mystery – Siren Visual will be releasing the first collection of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai this May. They will be the only company currently outside of Japan to release the series in English and is a follow on from and intends to answer the questions posed in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (When They Cry) which had seen a release in many regions including Australia/New Zealand and North America.

Final Score
Storyline / Character Development: B-
Design: C
Music/Voice Acting: A-
Personal Preference: B
Extra Content: C
Overall Score: B-