Kaizoku Oujo

[neflight86]

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"Fena Houtman remembers little about her childhood. Orphaned and raised as a servant in a brothel, her life changes when she escapes to an island of pirates where she discovers the truth behind her family. With Fena being the only one able to unlock her family's secrets, and a formidable crew of female pirates on her tail, she must take her place as captain of her Samurai crew for a high seas adventure!

Source: Crunchyroll"

Genre(s): Adventure

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1-3

A late premiere for the summer season, or perhaps an early one for the fall... I didn't expect to see another show compete with Kobayashi for best animation this season, but three episodes in, I'll stand by that. It says Production IG, but the motion feels more like Bones, in a good way, (though the two have worked hand in hand in the past). It feels like anime made to cater more to a western market, which, while maybe a bit manufactured, still feels like a breath of fresh air compared to the isekai rom-com flood I'm inundated with.

It feels most like Sirius the Jager from a few years back in that the story is actually quite straightforward with little pretense, and strangely enough seems like a traditional adventure story where this thread leads to that, and so on while being chased by danger. I like it- the tone is not heavy, and the character designs are attractive and fun. Clear goals and actions to advancing on them. There is a snappiness to the dialogue as well, and it just feels like a quality product, in the best way possible. Definitely give it an episode or two.

[neflight86]

4

It keeps catching me off guard that this takes place in the regular world, when I keep looking for traces of mysticism. The mystery isn't particularly interesting (Joan of Arc faking her own death?), but its presentation was top notch, and that counts for alot.

I also liked the 'trying everyone's weapons' scene that ended with the revolver girl scolding Fena for being late by the time it was 'her turn' to refuse to help her. Just good entertainment all around, though a bit more sexual than I would have pegged this for; but not in an overly fetishistic, awkward way anime tends to do.

[DarthEnderX]

I'm enjoying this so far.

5

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Yeah! City of Gold, baby!

[neflight86]

Those lady pirates know how to do business the proper way- with hostages!

Due to the regular people-talking-over-one-another, I hope the dub for this is good.

Also, every time gun-girl talks, I hear that stupid spider. :3

[DarthEnderX]

Also, every time gun-girl talks, I hear that stupid spider. :3

Lol, I had to look her up cause when she whenever she yelled I was like "I KNOW that. Who IS that!"

[neflight86]

6

So not all is as it seems, and it looks like the only thing to strike terror into the hears of the noble Japanese warrior is... dun dun DUN! ...another Japanese warrior. Umkay.

I wonder how Abel ties into this, as in is he only obsessed with Fena's mother, or does he also want part of the secret?

I didn't expect Bonnie to be such a dere.

Also, I love the character design of first mate 'spider web' pirate. Adorable and somewhat haughty. Waifu perfection.

[DarthEnderX]

7

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Well that sucked. They just killed off all the cool pirate chicks.

[neflight86]

What a waste of some gorgeous character designs!

Unless a few survived, I hope.

Admiral Alucard got a chuckle out of me.

The explosive shell was quite a spectacle, indeed.

So it seems the original inciting incident had more than one aggressor? Both pirates and the British navy?

The violence keeps me on edge in this show. Sometimes it is backhands and flat parts of swords- then it 180's into full on throat shots and other high seas murder. Its almost jarring mixing what feels like slapstick and hijinks with full on no-doubt-about-it-he's-dead combat. Not bad, just something I noticed.

[neflight86]

8

It is an inevitability in most shows, and Pirate Princess is no exception, it seems- this was the slow 'regroup' episode where the characters had to re-affirm their motivations and not advance the plot, which comes off as padding. The mini 'witch' drama also felt a bit forced, but at least Shitan had that 'I don't trust you' scowl for a few episodes now to cash in for something before he too, fell under the spell.

Is it just me, or would there being truth to that story be a much more interesting plot twist than that the priest was simply being superstitious? Fena wouldn't even need to be evil, per say, just unawares of her unnatural charisma driving those around her to ruin.

They are selling the death of the lady pirates pretty well. I miss them.

[neflight86]

9

About the third time they viced the versa, I may have rolled my eyes a bit.

This episode was supposed to explain much about Abel and his relationship to the late Helena, but I pretty much glossed over it. Unrequited love, royal infidelity, elopement, burning at the stake, and all ties together with "Eden". Sometimes I'm just not gripped enough to really care, and that's a shame because I think this show deserves more out of its viewer. Maybe because Abel's been a mostly brooding blank slate of obsession with little character to intrigue, but at least his fifteen minutes in the spotlight are behind us now. The plot-convenient timing of deciphering of the next clue was more than slight serendipity.

[DarthEnderX]

10

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Dammit, this show got boring.

[neflight86]

Exploring a treasure cave shouldn't feel so... pedestrian. The lush vegetation and intact architecture of this submerged island immediately gave me pause as it rose. Its was a pretty scene, but mist dissipating to reveal it rather than rising from the briny deep would have less burdened my suspension of disbelief.

The rest of the character banter carried the episode as they traveled, but it felt kind of... hollow? I suppose that, up until now, as they have been at odds with pursuers, that the excitement and tension sidelined the lackluster 'do your job' characters, which is a shame because only Fena and Yukimaru get substantial screen time and dialogue to begin forming character. As a matter of fact, I think an earlier episode even made a meta joke about how little screen time the others get. That's all coming to roost now that we are decidedly in a lull.

[DarthEnderX]

You know what would liven things up? A crew of pirate babes! Too bad we don't have one of those!

[neflight86]

Hear hear! More pirate wenches, or we mutiny!

[neflight86]

11

Welp, I dunno what I was expecting. I've seen this pattern a million times before, it seems in that anime 'made for westerners' can get off to a great start, meander around a bit, and totally flub the climax and resolution of... whatever they were thinking they were doing. B: The beginning, Zankyou no Terror, Sirius the Jager, and now Fena. The whole 'spirit of the past laying to rest the dying' thing has been done before, and it has never been welcome, but it felt like 1/2 the runtime here was dedicated to watching a bleeding man burn as well- burn with a passion that, I'm assured by outside sources, was real and true. We don't care. Not enough to justify this screen time and the kid being some sort of supernatural conduit of her father's will was not the cliffhanger you wanted to pin this episode on...

Sad part is, I'm now actually much more curious for if this is a one or two cour show, as that will inform what kind of potential the other characters (and lady-pirates) have to return and make Kaizoku Ojou a decent watch again. If this ends next episode, there isn't much to work with, story wise, to make an interesting story without falling heavily on expositional mysticism (we're gonna hear all about Fena's race of people!). I hope the few unresolved plot threads are hints at more going on.

[DarthEnderX]

12

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Absolute garbage. Series was a total waste of time.

[shinta|hikari]

Is it over?

If it is, I'll delete the remaining episodes.

[DarthEnderX]

Seemed pretty final. Unless it starts a whole new thing.

But it completely squanders it's cool "pirate princess" concept in the 2nd half to turn into a bunch of tired cliche anime bullshit.

[neflight86]

Ugh. What a waste of everyone's time...

Just about every tired flowery anime trope was in full effect here, and after the weak Armageddon scene, we get an almost happily ever after with every potentially interesting plot thread neatly (boringly) tied up to make clear that this is most likely the end. We even got Fena transformed into a dark-hired Japanese beauty that we deserved all along. At least the animation maintained a fairly high quality, though it was seldom put to use. Sorry to everyone who gave this a chance; they can't all be winners!