The Princess, The Hero, and Everyone Else

Posted on by Karandi
Endro - Post Title Image

Endro Episode 7 Review

When the Princess decides she wants to get to know the Hero’s companions, the audience is given an episode divided into three distinct segments each one having the Princess tail one of the companions for a day as they go about their business. While this could have been mind-numbingly dull, the Princess brings enough enthusiasm for both the companions and the history of previous companions to previous heroes to keep the episode bopping cutely along.

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I do feel that this episode missed an opportunity to expand on each of the three characters. With Seiran, Mather, and Fai each pretty much playing true to form, while it was cute and fun it didn’t add much to what we already knew about the characters. No hidden layers or unexpected elements here, just what you see is what you get.

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Again, that isn’t really a problem because the episode is light and frothy fun with the usual adorable antics at school, looking for Cartado or Fai’s eating contest. However, the tight focus on each one of these characters at various points provided space for them to be a little more fleshed out and I feel it is a bit of a pity that it wasn’t taken.

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Mao was also pretty absent from this episode but I feel that was deliberate given the focus really was on the Hero’s supporting characters. So while nothing overly special, this was enjoyable enough.

Endro Episode 8 Review

Episode 8 continues the focus on Princess Rona but this time she enlists Mao’s help to see the Hero in action. After spending time with the Hero and her friends day to day, Rona decides she wants to see the Hero facing a threat and unwilling to wait for one, she fabricates one.

Endro Episode 8 Rona and Mao

The end result is that the Hero’s party storms that ‘castle’ and takes on a range of threats, some less threatening than others before facing off against the Demon Lord while the Princess is trapped in a cage. Only, don’t expect a fight to the death, given the overall tone of this show, we end up getting a lesson about friendship and heroics before we all call it a day.

Endro Episode 8

While I didn’t find this episode quite as charming as the previous one, I do enjoy seeing Princess Rona becoming more of a character and less of a trope. She’s probably the character outside of Mao getting the most actual development in this story and while she’s a little bit over the top she’s quite fun.

If you’ve been enjoying Endro so far, this episode continues to be cute enough, a little bit of fantasy and action, a little bit of comedy, and a lot of friendship and pastel colours.

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ENDRO!: JUULIA CHARLDETTO
ENDRO!: JUULIA CHARLDETTO

DamePri Anime Caravan Series Review: Take Standard Reverse Harem With Just a Touch of Parody

Posted on by Karandi
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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.

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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).

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Karandi James

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DamePri Anime Caravan Episode 12: Showdown Between Inaco and Milidonia

Posted on by Karandi
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At last we reach the final episode of this bit of silliness in anime form, and I must admit I haven’t much minded the journey to this final episode despite this being outside of my usual kind of fare. Narek and Ane are racing to Inaco to try to stop Narek’s father, the King of Milidonia from invading with his army though they don’t have much of a plan save appealing to his sense of reason that seems somewhat limited. This leaves Ruze and Mare out for a lot of the episode but they get to make a dramatic return later in the episode in case you really can’t have an episode without the pair.

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Pretty much every character and reoccurring joke get’s jammed into this episode that barely lets up for a breath of air and the end result feels a little rushed but at the same time kind of satisfying. It is pleasing to see Narek has grown even if deep down he’s still a narcissist and the other characters have all grown in small ways even while remaining true to their type.

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And for those who really want to see Narek’s portrait diced, this episode will deliver, though don’t ask for the logic behind why the portrait is even on the battlefield because that is unlikely to make sense. I’ll get to a full review of this shortly, but I must say I’m oddly pleased by it.

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Karandi James

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DamePri Anime Caravan Episode 11: Narek’s Moment Is Done, Bring on Mare and Ruze

Posted on by Karandi
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There are few anime that can pull off delivering a joke about a prince disguising himself as a commoner but refusing to remove his feathered boa and yet are still able to deliver a rousing and emotional speech later in the same episode about brothers and protecting a kingdom, and yet DamePri Anime Caravan kind of pulls it off. While Narek is still coming to terms with the events of the coup last week in Milidonia and his father is still stomping his army toward Ani’s homeland, we learn that the plot against Ruze and Mare’s kingdom is far further along then we might have suspected.

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On that note, Mare remains my favourite character of the cast here. I’m a little worried that Vino didn’t make an appearance and part of me wonders if we are meant to assume his injury last week was actually life-threatening but maybe he’ll show up for the final.

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Despite the fairly real drama this week, the show still manage to find ways to push the absurd with the mastermind behind the plot making an incomprehensible appearance with his words being translated by Chrom to Ani. Every over the top villain ever has been channelled in this character including the snake accessory and fangs.

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I have to say at this point I am genuinely enjoying this show. It remains completely silly and yet it is managing a relatively decent story underneath the antics. Okay, relatively decent is probably an exaggeration given it is a pretty basic story, but it is functional and entertaining and that’s really all this show seems to be aspiring to be.

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Karandi James

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DamePri Anime Caravan Episode 10: To Rescue A Princess; To Become a Prince

Posted on by Karandi
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This anime has been mostly a laugh with some mis-steps along the way, but DamePri stepped things up a bit this week with a conflict worthy of the final story arc of the season. With Ani kidnapped, Narek being pretty much ignored and looked down upon, and Vino’s uncle attempting to shove him into the role of coup leader, things are going downhill fast for both the kingdoms of Milidonia and Inaco and if the episode preview is anything to go by, Ruze and Mare are next to have their lives turned upside down.

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And this conflict works because it hasn’t come from nowhere. The audience is taken by surprise because the characters we’ve been following haven’t been in the know. They are the young royalty of these kingdoms and in Narek’s case, he’s been acting a fool for so long no-one would have told him what was going on even if he’d wanted to know. Narek’s growing maturity since meeting Ani has been a fine thing for the audience to see, but here we see him finally realise just what everyone else thinks of him.

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Outside of the political conflicts, we see some fairly nice moments between Vino, Narek and Ani and while their future is uncertain, this is great payoff after a season watching these characters bump heads and mostly aimlessly mill about.

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That said, the ED this week was great and one of my favourites so far for the season. For a comedy anime that has been pretty average, this episode really delivered some decent entertainment and a good promise of a solid ending.

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Karandi James

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DamePri Anime Caravan Episode 9: A Dance And A Farewell

Posted on by Karandi
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Review:

This week’s episode was pretty good fun but from the beginning it was clear this was the last little hurrah before something changed for the dramatic so you were always kind of waiting for the reveal. That said, it didn’t let you down in the end.

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The tour is finally done and the Princes need to head their separate ways except that there’s a festival about to be held in Ani’s kingdom so they decide to join in there first. Of course there’s a legend about those who have the last dance at the festival and each of the princes, and Teo, attempt to ask Ani for a dance. Some of the reasons they are unsuccessful are truly ridiculous but in the over the top manner that this show kind of got right in the beginning so it kind of makes you smile even as you roll your eyes at Narek running from a caterpillar or Teo just chickening out and screaming at the sunset.

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I won’t tell you what happens at the conclusion of the dance but it does set up a nice path for this show to follow to the climax and so hopefully this show will end on a reasonably high note. It’s never been great but it was good fun to start with and it kind of looks like we’re getting back to that for the end.

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Karandi James

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DamePri Anime Caravan Episode 8: Random Excuse to Have Younger Versions of the Princes Before Introducing a Random Villain

Posted on by Karandi
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Review:

I remember when watching Knight’s & Magic how weird it felt when about two thirds through the season they finally showed us some guy on a throne ordering an attack against our main characters (or at least an attack on someone the main characters would care enough about to intervene). Who was that guy? What did he want? Where did he come from? And the final episodes of that show didn’t really answer any of those questions.

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Last week this show kind of made it obvious that the prime minister that Ruze clearly listens to about everything was actually up to no good and this week’s final minutes show us the ominous guy in throne who I guess is going to be a villain for the final episodes. The question I’m left with then is wondering why one is needed?

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The story so far has been about Ani working with her neighbouring kingdoms to ensure they don’t get attacked again and just dealing with random issues as they come up. It is a silly story but that is the story. Do we actually need a fourth party introduced that is somehow going to be a threat to them all? Is it really the kind of show that could pull that off? The only answer I’m left with is probably not.

So while I quite enjoyed this week’s mystery with the cursed village and the shrinking princes (wish I’d gotten a screen cap of Mare) I have some real concerns with how this show intends to wrap itself up in the final weeks. I’ll wait and see but I’m definitely worried.

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Karandi James

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DamePri Anime Caravan Episode 7: Oh It’s A Beach Episode. Wait! Nope, It’s Actually A Hot Springs Episode

Posted on by Karandi
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Review:

It is kind of refreshing when one of the cast shares your disdain for the trite set up that they begin to foist on us at the start of this episode. Unfortunately, what little goodwill that may have earned this episode was quickly eroded when they did a bait and switch and gave us a hot springs episode instead. Totally different (not).

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And while watching the hot springs get blown up and the Princes get washed away and right back to the beach while wearing nothing could have been amusing, I found this the flattest of the episodes so far. Not even the awkward return of the Princes as they had to navigate their way through the town could really relieve the tedium.

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If it wasn’t for a final reveal about a possible actual villain (and believe me if you’ve been watching you’ve seen this coming), I would say this episode was entirely skippable.  However, I am curious as to what the plan is and how it gets foiled in a suitably stupid manner given the nature of the show so far.

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Karandi James

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DamePri Anime Caravan Episode 6: How Weird Is It That A Fashion Showdown Does Not Seem Out of Place?

Posted on by Karandi
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Review:

This show continues to manage to be absurd enough without making me want to smack my head into the desk and that’s a fairly fine line to walk. This week seemed like it was veering sharply towards ridiculous and yet somehow managed to make the scenario fit perfectly with what we knew about the characters.

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The Princess is almost entirely side-lined this week, trapped in a perpetual tea party with the prime-minister of the empire, that leaves the princes free to run their show. And Narek is on the hunt for the perfect fabric and no one is going to get in his way. Mare gets dragged along as he decides the fabric is perfect for his doll.

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All and all, this episode is pretty ridiculous with the princes arriving in the village where the fabric is made and then doing a fashion show in order to earn the shiny material. Mare was looking distinctly uncomfortable, but with the doll on the line he did his best. I was surprised by how well Mare and Narek play off each other given the two have had very little to do with one another so far in the series.

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Now I just have to wonder what will come next and to be honest I haven’t the faintest idea.

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Karandi James

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DamePri Anime Caravan Episode 5: In Which Mare Get’s Lost and Vino Attempts to Do Something Useful

Posted on by Karandi
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Review:

On returning to Narek’s kingdom, I fully expected the worst of the narcissistic Prince and to be fair, the show certainly delivered segments of confetti covered prince posing for those who find Narek slightly more charming than the protagonist does.

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However, the episode fortunately quickly ditched Narek and we focus instead on Ani, Vino, and Ruze (accompanied briefly by Teo), as they go in search of the missing Prince Mare.

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The search is ultimately just an excuse for various set-ups and moments, including a fantastic Prince Ruze sparkle attack on some would be kidnappers (who turn out to have nothing to do with the plot whatsoever), and yet despite the absence of a point, this episode was kind of fun. Vino’s character was given a significantly more defined role other than pretty boy and we definitely saw that Ruze isn’t just a doll that recites his Prime Minister’s words as he has some genuine concern for Mare’s well being.

Overall, another fairly average episode in the grand scheme of things, but fairly enjoyable nonetheless.

Thanks for reading.

Karandi James

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