Introduction
Princess Principal has made it past the third episode and since it has, we figured now would be a good time to explore how the show is doing. Is it any good or is it just a bunch of lolis running around cutting each other up? Regardless, this article is for those not sure about making the jump, or those who are watching and want to see if our views and thoughts match up with theirs. Anyway, let’s dive right on in to this series of drama, murder, spies, and double agents.
Story
At the turn of the 20th century, London, the capital of Albion Kingdom, has been divided into east and west by a huge wall. There is the Commonwealth of Albion and the Kingdom of Albion. Five girls are enrolled in a school famous for upholding tradition and formality: Queen’s Mayfair Academy. Under the guise of being high schoolers, five girls are anything but your average girls. They take spy work. Disguise, secret intelligence, infiltration, car chases… They run around as a secret organization doing orders and are humans who live by telling lies.
Expectations
This was written before I watched anything other than the PVs. Honestly, I am reaaaaaaly hoping that this show is anything but a bunch of underdeveloped girls sitting around and just drinking tea while sometimes having a dramatic life. I really hope that this can hold its own with well-rounded characters who have depth. This looks like it could be a better Joker Game, which was terrible, and it just needs to focus more on plot development rather than people sitting around for most of the show.
What’s Happened So Far (Episodes 1-3)
Episode 1
This is mission 13 so maybe the show is going to air out of order? Series opens with a scientist named Eric wanting to defect. As he is being hunted down, he is safely smuggled by Ange into the school by the spy girls. Eric will not defect to the other side without his sister. Ange and Betrice sneak into the hospital where his sister Amy is and find out that she is ill and needs a lot of money for a surgery. It is called Cavonite Poisoning. Eric starts acting weird as the date to defect gets closer, and he gets messier and messier. Ange somehow deduces that he is a double agent when Eric tries to send a message one night via a carrier pigeon and it is intercepted by the girls. From there, they know that something is afoot. Dorothy, Beatrice, and Chise infiltrate the handler’s place and kill everyone. Chise does a real number on everyone there and it’s really kickass. It all starts with a flash bomb/grenade. Eric’s defection date is moved up rapidly to that night. As Ange takes him out in a car, another group in a car comes to kill Eric. But Ange, being the badass that she is, not only really messed them up, she uses some device to alter gravity and kills them. She takes Eric to a park and lays his plan bare in front of him. Eric wanted to cure Amy, so he asked the Duke of Normady, the person that Chise and company wrecked earlier. Eric’s condition was that he would fake defecting. Ange is not totally heartless as she makes him sign a life insurance form that will pay out should he not die right after he signs it. She then shoots him after he fails to get away. A week later, his body surfaces and the life insurance policy pays out.
Episode 2
Case 1. Ange is introduced as a transfer student on a scholarship. After a clumsy introduction, we learn about Operation Changeling which is what Ange and Dorothy work for. Dorothy and Ange meet on the roof where it is revealed that they used to be in the same orphanage and Dorothy is 20. They then begin to spy on their classmate Princess. They try to lure out Princess and Beatrice by going to a dinner party. The problem is, they get emergency orders while at the party. There are blueprints that need to be destroyed before a war breaks out. The Duke of Normandy will arrive in 30 minutes and they need to get to the key for the blueprints before he can. Dorothy perks up her boobs to try to talk to this man from the west who has the key. She gets shot down and there are soldiers are everywhere. They then decide to approach Princess. Ange puts something in a drink in order to get closer.
She spills a drink on Princess’ dress and they run away to get her changed. It was a dye though not a drug, so Ange cleans it very fast, changes, and appears to be just like Princess. The Minister with the key needs to hand it over to the Duke in order to get asylum. Ange scores a dance and begins to sweet-talk him. She is trying to get him to take the key home and help him defect with his wife whom he loves. Ange offers no guarantees, just like the Duke, but it is clear she is the devil. He gives her the key at the end of the dance and they are back with the real Princess. Princess knows everything. Princess’s Uncle is the Duke of Normandy which is a shocker. Princess wants to become the queen and she wants help becoming the queen. Princess leaves them with the choice of a message of full support or she will expose them. As the minister is leaving, the Duke arrives and kills him with a ring. Suddenly guards seal the building and decide to search everyone. In order to get out, they give Princess the key and cut a deal to support her. Ange sends out a message and the organization debates on helping her. The bell chime will ring to signal that they are on her side. The heads of the organization begin to argue, but the signal is given. We then learn that they have known each other for 10 years. Ange’s real name is Charlotte.
Episode 3
Case 2. Princess and Ange talk about the past and Ange wants to escape from her current situation. Princess does not and wants to honor their old past. Ange gives in and decides to deceive everyone to save Princess and honor their promise from a decade ago. We learn about the power of this Albion Kingdom. At the turn of the 20th century, the kingdom had a monopoly on Cavorite and a fleet of airships that changed the power balance of the world surpassing even the Roman Empire. However, there was a breakdown among the ruling family leading to the wall and the establishment of the Commonwealth and the Kingdom. Ten years later, spies from each country are spying on each other. Beatrice does not like Ange and Dorothy, but Princess is on board. They then attempt to create a backstory together in order to make it sound like they have known Princess for years. They instead make a club to hide. The organization that they all work for, Central, represents the Commonwealth. They now need to intercept a delivery of printing plates.
The Duke of Normandy is the villain as he has been at the center of all conflict for all episodes thus far. Ange is going to pose as Princess to expose her. Beatrice has some sort of issue with her throat and we learn her father was a mad scientist who operated on her and installed a mechanism in her throat. Princess aka Ange gets on the ship carrying the plates, but Dorothy has to sneak her way in. Dorothy sneaks into the air ducts and opens a spot for Ange later. When Beatrice chases after Ange, she accidentally gets dragged in. Most likely, they are in a fuel tank. As the airship takes off, Ange and Beatrice are ready to go and start hiding. Plugging into the relay system, Ange listens in and finds the channel that is going to talk about the plates. She finds whom she is searching for using the blueprints from the previous episode and prepares. Using the power of the Cavorite, Ange scales the ship, but is shocked by lightning. She is spotted Regaining her footing, she runs towards the turret that she needs to be at. The Cavorite is breaking as she gets closer to the plates. Beatrice makes the jump but Ange is injured and tells Ange to go alone. Using her skills, Beatrice uses the throat machine to distract all of the guards and send them away. Fleeing the ship, they parachute away and the Cavorite breaks right as they land safely! And that is how episode three ends.
Expectations & Impressions After Episode 3
Unless Beatrice gets on board fast, she is going to be very annoying. I like a difficult tsundere, but she is getting on my nerves ever so slightly. Though, her backstory is endearing so I feel for her. Next up, where is Chise?? She was in episode one, but now nothing. I guess she has to transfer in. She did serious work in that first episode, so I need her back. The other thing too is that the episodes aired out of order. We saw Episode 13 as Episode 1, 1 was 2 and 2 was 3. I hope this pattern breaks and we get them all out of order so that we can enjoy a re-watch of the series. Honestly, I thought this was going to be slightly boring, but I am really glad that I decided to look into this as this is genuinely interesting. The characters are interesting, no one is boring, though Beatrice is slightly annoying, and there is actual killing. It gets the seal of approval from me.
Next up, I guess we are going to get the Chise backstory, and then starting with episode 5, we will get the story progressing forward. Princess Principal comes from a mobile game and actually, it’s pretty good compared to 18if, another anime from a mobile game this season. Other than that, the Duke of Normandy is someone who is clearly either going to elude these girls all season, or be someone just so powerful that they cannot reach him till the end. It should be a good ride nonetheless.
Keep Watching or Drop?
Yes. I will keep watching Princess Principal. This was a show that honestly caught me off guard a bit. The characters are well developed, the story is interesting, and you have that unique Cavorite element to everything which keeps the spies on their toes since it allows them to control gravity. So far, Ange is standing out as best girl of this series but that could be just because she feels like the main character. I would assign this series an 8.5/10 as a score. It’s definitely an interesting story, it’s Joker Game done right, and overall, it’s just flat out entertaining. The OP definitely scores points in my book because it suits the series perfectly. I will stay for more, but will you? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!
Author: Nagareboshi
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