Shamanic Princess

Tiara, a skilled sorceress, and her familiar, Japolo, have been sent to Earth from the Guardian World, a realm of powerful beings responsible for maintaining the balance of magical energy. Their mission is to retrieve the Throne of Yord, a magical artifact that is the source of Guardian World's power and has to be returned before it falls into the wrong hands.

While tracking the artifact, Tiara encounters her old friend Lena, another sorceress seeking the Throne of Yord. Tiara's situation is further complicated by the appearance of Kagetsu, a man she once held strong feelings for. Kagetsu is a negater—a person with the ability to neutralize magic—and holds a close link to the Throne of Yord. Torn between the loyalty to her mission and the bonds with her friends, Tiara embarks on a difficult journey filled with unforeseen challenges.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Tiara Main

Sayuri Japanese

Lena Main

Yayoi, Mitsuki Japanese

Graham Supporting

Matsumoto, Rica Japanese

Japolo Supporting

Matsumoto, Rica Japanese

Sara Supporting

Sakurai, Tomo Japanese

Leon Supporting

Yuuki, Hiro Japanese

White, Susanna Supporting

Nakagawa, Akiko Japanese

Faria, Apoline Supporting

Kagetsu Supporting

Yamadera, Kouichi Japanese

Elder Supporting

Naya, Rokurou Japanese

Hongou, Mitsuru Producer, Director, Script, Storyboard, Original Creator

Ikeguchi, Kazuhiko Producer, Series Composition

Takanashi, Minoru Producer

Nishimura, Hiroyuki Director, Script, Storyboard

Reviews

Dec 13, 2024

ReiEvaUnit00

Recommended

Beauty and animation are the core of this anime- the animation quality is abundant throughout the entirety of the OVA though extra special moments such as the festival in the second episode or many of the fight scenes in the latter half do standout. The painted backgrounds cannot be praised enough for their variety, gravity, and overall artistic appeal. It feels like half the OVA is panning of the background and that's definitely not a detriment. The character designs are elegant and move with grace during intense scenes. Tiara makes for a magnificent canvas for trying out various poses (greatly helped with her Barbie-like ... frame), sports dynamic hair and an expressive face, and touts the tight and revealing clothing to provide eye candy though this is well-controlled and by no means an ecchi anime. It also helps that Tiara is the most intriguing character - a somewhat hot-headed magical girl but does listen to those around her. The story is simple is slow-paced, content to showcase the animation rather than tons of action. The ending is admittedly inconclusive with little payoff. Shamanic Princess is a wonderful, beautiful fantasy anime OVA.

I love how the first two and a half minutes is ominous and the daughter (with a dramatic pause) names the creation "Graham" lol.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Sep 13, 2024

SgtSalamander

Recommended

Shamanic Princess starts out so normal. It opens as a beautiful 90s OVA with a fun story and cool macguffin, but becomes a psychedelic exploration of complex philosophical concepts, with brutal metaphysical violence, and even straying into the realm of body horror. When I sat down to watch this OVA, there was no telling what it would become, and that unpredictability is part of what makes this anime so unique. Beginning with the story, it is very solid, and as I said, it unfolds in a very unusual way. This is in terms of both the story itself and the ... format in which the episodes are ordered, with the last two taking place chronologically before the first episode. Without spoiling anything, the storyline becomes very complex and decidedly trippy, exploring heady and unsettling themes you wouldn't necessarily expect from a magical girl anime, even one more aimed towards an adult audience, as this one is. These themes include the nature of existence, fate, duty, and identity, and I even picked up on an implicit exploration of gnostic philosophy, with the anime's major focus on mysterious, amoral, and often arbitrary metaphysical forces that impact their whole lives and how they live them, embodied with particular intensity in the main villain. These themes are great, and really give you something to chew on, but due to the brevity of the OVA, they can get somewhat confused in their own analysis. The other aspects of the story are strong, but also suffer from some pacing issues, like the fascinating yet underexplored worlbuilding, and the confusing, somewhat anticlimactic ending. Despite all this, the story is bold and intriguing, and deserves praise for even attempting to cover such complicated concepts in only six episodes. Even if you don't engage with the heavy ideas on display, it's still cool as hell to look at and go through as a unique aesthetic experience, which brings me to this anime's strongest aspect- the art.

The art for Shamanic princess is incredibly strong from the very start, and only gets better from there. The character designs are striking and memorable, with a lithe sleekness to them that conveys a kind of effortless elegance. The backgrounds are rich and complicated, filled with detail in every scene. The animation is incredibly smooth, imparting a lifelike quality to both scenes of action and scenes of mundanity. Altogether, however, and especially for the latter half of the show, the art summons this otherworldly essence that simultaneously amazes and unsettles depending on the scene. It is totally original to itself, and not afraid to lavishly execute its creative vision in ways that seem haunting or bizarre. It is for this aesthetic ambition that the art is the backbone of Shamanic Princess, and what ultimately sets it apart as something special amongst the veritable ocean of 90s OVAs.

The sound is quite good, with a rich, emotional dub, and a soundtrack that fills every scene with an exciting, crackling atmosphere, tense with action or an odd foreboding.

The characters are quite strong, playing their roles well in a story that moves them from interesting place to interesting place. While they're not written in such a groundbreaking manner, they are still written well, and how they act in the situations they're put in is distinctly engaging. Of them, my favorites are Tiara, as a fun and interesting main heroine that isn't a mary sue, and the main villain they encounter towards the climax of the OVA, who I will not name here. He, or, I suppose, 'it', is an incredibly strong and well-written villain, fitting into something more akin to cosmic horror than the big bad from a magical girl anime. It is a being that left an impression on me as an astoundingly sinister thing, capturing the essence of something that doesn't necessarily belong in the world it's in, which is deeply impressive. Overall, Shamanic Princess is a fantastic 90s OVA that hits you with intense themes and visuals that really come out of nowhere, striking the balance between badass action complete with special named attacks with combat transformations, and heady experimental cosmic horror with obscure philosophical overtones. I strongly recommend this, as whether you watch it for the combat or the concepts, there's something here for you.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Apr 22, 2019

megafat

Mixed Feelings

I went into Shamanic Princess knowing very little about it other than it had a short non-canonical crossover episode with Magic User’s Club, so I had no real expectations going into this. I’m not going to say that I’m disappointed, but more just underwhelmed with it. That’s not saying that it’s bad by any stretch, but the series overall could have been much better with a few minor changes.

This 6 episode OVA follows Tiara, a special agent from the Guardian World, the home of mages, who has been sent to earth disguised as an ordinary high school student to recover the stolen Throne of Yord, ... a powerful mystical object which is the source of magic energy in the Guardian World. During her hunt for the Throne of Yord, she discovers that it has a terrible secret when some of her friends and colleagues from the Guardian World fight to keep her from retrieving it.

This series has a lot going for it. It has good animation and art, a decent premise, a great soundtrack by Yoshikazu Suo that is appropriately moody and fits the series well, and has an darker atmosphere and themes that could drag you in if it’s something that especially appeals to you. But as I mentioned earlier, it does have a few problems that just prevent it from being a great series instead of just being an OK one.

For some reason, the first four episodes of this series seem to really rush through it’s plot. As if either the series didn’t have the budget or time to properly flesh it out. One scene goes to another without any real transition and doesn’t really give any breathing room, making the pacing of the show just feel off. By the time you’ve realized what’s going on, you’re already half way through the scene. There is even a plot point early on where out main character goes to a human high school to fit in as to not arouse suspicion that goes nowhere. It’s probably why those first four episodes are so confusing and hard to keep track of at first, it’s too busy rushing through it’s own story. Maybe the series could have done with at least one other episode just to give the series a better pace.

My biggest problem with this series are the last two episodes. Those last two episodes contain all of the character development and establishing plot points that lead up to the first four episodes of the series. Which begs the question, why are these last two episodes not the first two episodes? These two episodes feel like they were moved around just so the series could have some sort of twist at the end. If the people behind this series wanted to tell something out of order, they could have had these two episodes be flashbacks placed at certain points throughout the series. At least that way, it would have given the rest of the series a better pace, and it still could have lead up to some sort of “twist” if that’s what the creators wanted.

Shamanic Princess isn’t a bad series by any stretch, but the idea to have the last two episodes be where they are really drags down the series as a whole, making it more confusing than it needs to be, and the series as a whole would have been much better if they were located somewhere else. I’d recommend Shamanic Princess to anyone who like their series with some darker themes and more atmospheric presentation.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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retro animes𓂃 ࣪⋆₊˚𓍢ִ໋✿.*ੈ˖.ೃ࿔･❀༉

by peyocchi

10 Entries · 5 Restacks

yuri 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩👭

by grrrlsrevolution

50 Entries · 113 Restacks

Really short anime series to watch (less than 12ep)

by lainnvx

50 Entries · 51 Restacks

	Poll: Shamanic Princess Episode 6 Discussion MusashiRose - Apr 14, 2010	10 replies	by JVskunkape »» Sep 1, 2024 2:30 PM
	Poll: Shamanic Princess Episode 4 Discussion MusashiRose - Apr 13, 2010	6 replies	by JVskunkape »» Aug 28, 2024 1:50 PM
	Poll: Shamanic Princess Episode 3 Discussion MusashiRose - Apr 13, 2010	8 replies	by JVskunkape »» Aug 28, 2024 11:20 AM
	Poll: Shamanic Princess Episode 2 Discussion MusashiRose - Apr 13, 2010	8 replies	by JVskunkape »» Aug 26, 2024 8:16 AM
	Poll: Shamanic Princess Episode 1 Discussion MusashiRose - Apr 13, 2010	11 replies	by JVskunkape »» Aug 26, 2024 7:44 AM