After watching the existentialist/sci-fi/psychological horror epic that is Ergo Proxy, I seriously needed something like an anime vacation. It was a good show, but not easy to watch. I figured that Murder Princess, a six episode OVA produced by Marvelous Entertainment and Bee Train, would give my brain a rest. With a title like Murder Princess, how could anything go wrong?
The story begins with Princess Alita fleeing her castle as it is raided in a bloody coup d'etat, committed by an evil scientist who looks like Street Fighter's Guile but with an even worse haircut. As Alita escapes through the forest she is attacked by a colossal demon. Alita bumps into a female bounty hunter, Falis, who rescues her from the monster, but not before they fall off a cliff and nearly die. As they fall, their souls mystically switch bodies and so Falis is in Alita's body and vice versa. Alita asks Falis and her fellow bounty hunters to defeat the mad scientist and protect the kindgom, and in exchange Alita will become Falis' slave. Falis beats the scientist and his minions in a matter of seconds, but she's still trapped in Alita's body and so must play the role of princess and defend the kingdom until she is restored to her own body.
Here at The Anime Guardians I try and highlight positive aspects of an anime before I address problems. In this instance, there was a lot of potential. The animation for Murder Princess is pretty good. I don't say that out of any preference for a style of animation, such as characters with big eyes or chibi. Character designs were at least interesting, consistently drawn and well shaded. The music was also very good. The opening song is a catchy rap-rock song that reminds me of what Linkin Park used to do. The musical themes in each episode functioned well according to their respective scenes, and the rock music for action scenes was suitable.
Unfortunately most of the show's potential was squandered; I wasn't crazy about this show's story at all. It included many elements the typical fantasy epic might have, such as an evil witch who wants to access an ancient power, and a warrior with a troubled past who fights for justice despite her ambiguous morals. These were addressed with almost no amount of depth whatsoever. It is revealed during the final two episodes the evil scientist worked for an ancient witch who was after an energy called Taoria. Taoria magically grants its users the power to do whatever the hell they want, exactly like a genie would. The witch desires to obliterate mankind so that we may be free from an endless cycle of destruction and misery. It was an absurdly random and pladitudinous plot. There's a few other issues with the show, but there isn't much point in writing a list of grievances.
Well... that's all I've got to say. This has been surprisingly brief, just like this show. But brevity isn't the issue; FLCL is also six episodes long but manages to outperform Murder Princess by a long shot. This show lacked a sense of direction, and when it found one it was too late. I suppose I got exactly what I wanted: something to give my brain a rest. As always I encourage everyone to watch for themselves. My words are not law and my ratings are inherently subjective. To each his own.
* Murder Princess is available for free viewing at Hulu.com. Surprisingly my Netflix loads a lot slower than Hulu, which makes me feel like I'm wasting my money...
- Elijah Lee
No comments:
Post a Comment