My roommate comes home with another Anime for me to watch. What’s this... Shamanic Princess? Oh great (sarcasm). Her friend with a large Anime (Japanese Animation) collection lends her movies, from time to time, for us to watch. Some have been good, others okay, but the last three were bad. I hate wasting my time with bad movies, and I had a bad feeling about the Complete Shamanic Princess. Surprisingly, I ended up finishing the DVD with a good feeling about the series. I think I want to buy it!

The Complete Shamanic Princess is a DVD collection of all six episodes plus lots of extras. The DVD case says that it is from the director of Outlaw Star, another great series. Just because I loved Outlaw Star didn’t necessarily mean that I would love Shamanic Princess. I hesitantly began the first episode in English. The storyline was a little confusing, but that’s common with lots of great Anime. The art was amazing though so I kept watching.

As I began episode three, I wasn’t too impressed. The storyline was simply confusing and I couldn’t get completely into the story. I actually missed part of episode 4 and all of episode 5 because I fell asleep. My roommate woke me up and I caught all of episode 6, in a vegetative state on my couch. Whoa. Episode 6 was really cool! I asked my roommate what I missed in 5 and it all suddenly made sense! I watched 5 and realized how cool the series actually is. It has an odd way of telling the story, and ends up being one of those stories that is much better the second time around.


The Characters
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Tiara - The central character of the series, Tiara is a magic user who has been assigned the mission of seeking out the Throne of Yord and returning it to the Guardian World. She has a snotty attitude and is possibly the most powerful magic user that the Guardian World has.

Japolo - Tiara’s partner, Japolo’s duty is to protect Tiara. Being a cute little ferret, Japolo’s fight scenes shouldn’t be missed. He recently joined Tiara, and you see their bond grow throughout the series. And yes, he talks. In my opinion, his Japanese voice is much better than his English dubbed voice.

Lena - Tiara’s childhood friend and rival, Lena mysteriously shows up unexpectedly and gets in Tiara’s way. Her magical powers are strong, but not as strong as Tiara’s. Her fighting skills even out through her partner, Leon. Unlike Tiara, she is very quiet and refined.

Leon - Lena’s partner, Leon’s duty is to protect Lena. He seems to be stronger than Japolo and can also transform into a stronger form when needed. Leon is very loyal to Lena. They work well as a team and his well-mannered demeanor matches Lena’s personality.

Kagetsu - Kagetsu is a Neutralizer from the Guardian World. He was once Tiara’s companion, but has now become Tiara’s target. For reason’s unknown, he has stolen the Throne of Yord, and it is Tiara’s mission to get it back. It’s possible that it has something to do with the disappearance of his sister, Sarah.

Sarah - Sarah, like her brother Kagetsu, is a Neutralizer from the Guardian World. She is also a childhood friend to both Tiara and Lena. Sarah fell ill and then mysteriously disappeared. While on her mission, Tiara has been able to speak to Sarah through her dreams. What’s going on?


The Plot
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The series begins with the introduction of Tiara and Japolo materializing on a rooftop. Through their dialogue and a brief fight scene with a magical shadow, we learn that Tiara has been sent, along with her partner Japolo, to find the Throne of Yord and to return it to the Guardian World. Due to the shadow’s attack, she knows that Kagetsu is in the area as well.

Tiara enrolls herself in college to give her a plausible reason to be in town. She finds her childhood friend, Lena, also enrolled at the same school. Why is her rival there? Tiara continues on with her mission as planned, but finds that Lena is getting in her way. A couple of ritualistic, magical confrontations take place between the two. We find out that Tiara can change into a beautiful demonic
combat form, and Lena can lend her power to Leon to allow him to change as well.

During an intense combat between Tiara and Lena with partner, Kagetsu makes a dramatic appearance. He uses his Neutralizing power to stop the combat. He says to Tiara that he does have the Throne of Yord and she may have it in a few days when he is done with it. He leaves it at that, but Tiara is confused. What does he mean when he is done with it? Japolo persuades her not to wait. She must continue with her mission.


DVD Features
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-All 6 Episodes equaling 180 minutes of animation.
-Dolby Digital Stereo sound
-English dubbed version
-English dubbed with English subtitles version.
-Japanese language version.
-Japanese language with English subtitles version.
-Chapter selection
-Character Bios
-Artist info
-2 Trailers
-Previews for other movies
-DVD Rom features


More of what I think
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The Complete Shamanic Princess is a great story of love, friendship, rivalry, magic, mystery, action and adventure. Only six years since its release, the animation is superb. Vibrant colors and impressive character design make the animation a joy to watch. Lots of attention seems to have been given to each character’s looks. They are all unique and stunning in their own way. By keeping the character count small, it makes it easy for the viewer to keep track of who’s who. I really enjoyed the demonic combat forms of Tiara and Leon. Everything about them is... well... cool. I especially like Tiara’s long red hair which looks and acts like angel wings, but coming off her head rather than her back.

The only thing I didn’t like about the animation is just that the character’s eyes are so large. I normally don’t care for anime with extremely large eyes. I know many people really like that, so this is just a personal issue. My roommate did comment that although everyone’s eyes are large, they’re all well drawn and unique. We compared them with the large eyes of other anime (which I don’t care for) and I realized that Shamanic Princess eyes are detailed very well. Everyone’s are different and help evoke emotion. The large eyes of anime I don’t like are all very cookie cutter with all of them being very simple and the same. I still don’t like the Princess series eyes, but I do give them credit.

The character development matches well with the great art. Each has his or her own personality and the viewer finds themselves caring about the outcome of each character. Episodes 5 and 6 take us back to the childhood of Tiara, Sarah and Lena where we learn much about their past. It was from watching these two episodes that I finally took a liking to all the characters and decided to watch the whole series over again.

One thing I like about this series is it isn’t all that epic, it has only a small handful of characters in it, there really is no good guy and bad guy, and yet it ends up being a great story. It has its clichés, but they’re combined with enough twists and turns to throw us off and make the series a little unpredictable. One example cliché is that Kagetsu is Tiara’s former companion and now she’s been ordered to bring him in. One twist is that we think Kagetsu is up to no good by stealing the Throne of Yord, and Lena has taken his side. We figure that of course the childhood rivals end up fighting over the same man and all, but as it turns out... oh... well... you should find that out for yourself.

A couple of last things that I liked are the soundtrack and the location. The soundtrack is great. It sets the mood just right without being too over powering or annoying. Each character and certain events have their own music. I like the music that accompanies Tiara’s transformation into her demonic combat form. I also liked that the large majority of the series takes place in a quiet little town that looks like it was based on an old German village. It gives the series a little more personality.

Conclusion
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The main thing about The Complete Shamanic Princess that I do not like is that it is very confusing the first time around. I also don’t like their really large eyes and that the DVD is not 5.1 surround sound. In the end, the great animation and excellent re-view appeal make this a DVD I would like to purchase. All those who like Anime should check this series out knowing it’s better the second time around. People that like action, adventure, or basically a good story should give this series a look as well. I bet most of you will want to watch it over and over.

Check out the official site at http://www.shamanicprincess.com.

I probably shouldn’t have to say this, but I will just incase... Anime does not equal cartoon. Just because a movie is animated does not mean that it is for kids. It is suggested for 13 year olds and up, and I agree with that rating. There is some violence and brief nudity that should not be viewed by children. Besides, kids wouldn’t understand any of the story. They’d just enjoy watching the cool fight scenes and the cute little Japolo.


Thanks for reading my first movie review. Tell me how I did! =)



Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD