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R1 DVD Reviews
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Written by maehara
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Sunday, 29 July 2007 17:00 |
 One last crystal flower retrieval mission for Yucie and the others, as Petite Princess Yucie meanders a little bit more along the road to its final volume. Note to the writers: 13 episodes would really have been fine, honestly. After several volumes of my complaining that we weren't going anywhere, guess what? We're still not...
19 - We're Here to Serve You! The Master is a Mr Stubborn
Beth finally swallows her pride and takes up her place at the Princess Academy - if she ever wants to be Platinum Princess, it's something she'd have to have done sooner or later, and although she's not about to admit it her contact with the other girls has played a part in persuading her to come back. Yucie and the others, meanwhile, are working on the estate of one Mr Rockwell, who's turning out to be rather difficult to deal with - especially for Elmina, as he reminds her a little too much of her father. A long-running row with his daughter Sheena has left Mr Rockwell a rather embittered old man, and even when Sheena tries to rebuild the bridges between them, he's not about to give any ground...
20 - Speak Your Heart! A Dance for Two!
With Beth having passed the test to become a Platinum Princess candidate, Queen Ercell uses the power of the crystal flowers to contact the rather shadowy Lady Maga Selent, who she seems to be taking her orders from without knowing what the Lady is really planning. You get the distinct impression, though, that whatever it is, it isn't going to be good. For the girls, there's a formal ball to look forward to - especially for Yucie, as Arc's due to attend. But just before the ball begins, Arc once again flees the castle. When Yucie catches him on the way out, though, Arc asks if she wants to go with him...
21 - All Together! A Song to Join their Hearts
The next unit of the Platinum Curriculum is a singing recital - the girls have one week to prepare themselves, and as ever Glenda's confident that she'll come out ahead of the others. With Beth having passed the Scene of Light, though, she's got a little competition, and by refusing to rehearse with her "tone-deaf" fellow candidates, Beth's not giving much away about her abilities. While she soon finds herself enjoying the company far more than she expected or wanted to, though, a row between Glenda and Elmina threatens to derail things, and Yucie's efforts to heal the rift don't meet with immediate success...
22 - Visible? Invisible? Welcome to the Haunted House
With the problems with the World Tree becoming ever worse back in the Fairy World - and the effects of the problem beginning to spread into Yucie's world - Beth's getting ever more impatient about becoming the Platinum Princess. Fortunately, Ercell has a mission for them - to retrieve the final crystal flower from the Spiritual World. When the girls get there, they find it deserted, almost like a ghost town - which if you think about it, it is. Cocoloo's right at home, of course, but the the rest of the girls, speaking to ghosts is just a little bit creepy. When their search for the crystal flower leads them to an abandoned old house, things threaten to get even creepier...
Okay, patience really running thin now. The most notable event on this volume is the appearance of Maga Selent, whose glowing red eyes are a fairly large hint that she's up to something underhand. Who'd have thought that Queen Ercell could be taking orders from somebody else? The other "biggie" is finally seeing the five girls working as a unit, which surely must be the cue for some larger story to kick in.
For this disc, though - episode 19 is enjoyable in that it gives Elmina a chance to be in the spotlight for once, and the way she handles Mr Rockwell is another step along the line of learning that her father's opinions aren't really the most important in the world - even if he is God. Episode 20 throws a little more onto the conspiracy theory pile as Arc gets to star, and Yucie gets to looks as adorable as ever while she tries to deal with him - and her feelings for him, without giving too much away. Episode 21 is the obligatory task episode, while ep 22 is the obligatory crystal flower ep. They all cover the usual territory, and outside the intriguing appearance of Maga Selent leave you convinced you've seen it all before. Don't worry, it's not deja vu, you have seen it all before - and that's the cause of most of my frustration with this series.
Hopefully the final four episodes will go somewhere - although knowing GAINAX's past record with creating coherent endings, I've got real cause for concern. If this was a standalone disc, I'd be saying "rental at best". It's not, though - it's part of a series, so instead I'll say "don't bother until I've reviewed the final volume". If the final disc finishes the story properly, this one may become worthwhile. At the moment, it isn't...
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