There’s something to be said for a anime that can be so silly and yet take itself fairly seriously when it comes to dishing out some serious drama. DamePri kind of walks a fine line throughout most of its run time but the end result is pretty entertaining. What did you think?
Review:
Given I’m not big on comedy and normally by mid-season any comedy I’ve picked up is starting to wear me down, my overall reaction to this anime is a bit of a surprise even to me. That isn’t to say that this anime didn’t have a mid-season slump. Episodes 7 and 8 were definitely a low point for this otherwise fairly charming if mostly harmless series. Yet, the final arc really let the drama of the story with political intrigue between all three Kingdoms play out even while the characters persisted with their comedy moments of Ani’s deadpan reactions, Narek’s narcissism, and Ruze’s general co-dependence on his prime minister.
This isn’t a story that is easily explained given there’s a lot of interconnections but at the end of the day you don’t really need to get the bigger picture as this show doesn’t jump between times or locations but rather tells us what we need to know, when we need to know it. The focus is always on the characters, particularly the young Princes and the Princess as they form a fairly tight friendship (and a bit more given most of the Princes are crushing on the Princess who remains mostly indifferent to their advances but respects their growth as people).
The political shenanigans are therefore just a backdrop to give these characters room to show off what they can do and while individually they might become annoying, the mix of ‘types’ being presented here works with none of them staying long enough to truly make you wish them harm (Narek is touch and go early in the series but as the anime continues, has one of the better character progressions). Of all the ‘main’ characters, Teo, Ani’s knight, is probably the one who is used the least in a meaningful way, though he does still get at least one cool moment in the final episode so he wasn’t totally forgotten in amongst substantially more interesting and colourful characters.
Mare (Mea – depending on your subs) is by far my favourite character. A shut in and the brother of the shining Ruze, he talks mostly through his doll though that pretence fades more and more as the series continues and Mare is one of the most open about his feelings for Ani. Most scenes with Mare hit their mark for me and I quite enjoyed his screen time.
Visually, this is bright and pretty but nothing exceptional. The character designs are distinctive and probably the only real point of note, other than the sparkles around Ruze at times. The same is pretty much true of the music with the ED being pretty cool but not a lot else of note.
If you are looking for a reverse harem with a down to earth female character and an anime that isn’t afraid to make fun of itself or its obviously generically constructed cast, then you will probably have a bit of fun with this. It isn’t exceptional by any means, nor is it particularly bad. Some jokes will be repeated a few times too many and other visual gags will just kind of leave you rolling your eyes, but the feel good tone of this show and generally quick pace as you move from one set up to the next for the cast will mostly keep you entertained with more hits than misses.
I’d love to know what you thought so if you watched the show please leave me a comment below.
Episode Reviews:
- Episode 12:
- Episode 11: Narek’s Moment Is Done, Bring on Mare and Ruze
- Episode 10: To Rescue A Princess; To Become a Prince
- Episode 9: A Dance And A Farewell
- Episode 8: Random Excuse to Have Younger Versions of the Princes Before Introducing a Random Villain
- Episode 7: Oh It’s A Beach Episode. Wait! Nope, It’s Actually A Hot Springs Episode
- Episode 6: How Weird Is It That A Fashion Showdown Does Not Seem Out of Place?
- Episode 5: In Which Mare Get’s Lost and Vino Attempts to Do Something Useful
- Episode 4: And Then They All Visited The Farm
- Episode 3: And We Have Finally Met All The Princes
- Episode 2: Walking The Fine Line Between Absurd And Stupid
- Episode 1: This Was Really Silly And Yet Kind Of Okay
Thanks for reading.
Karandi James
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I tend to be a sucker for reverse harem so I’ll try to find this one.
I watched it on HiDive. Not brilliant but amusing enough and I did quite like Ani as the sensible character amongst the chaos.
Wow, I just finished this show. I’d say something, but maybe I should save it for my review 🙂
Sound like fun. I love that meta/self-referential stuff.