|
Now in Japan
|
|
Written by maehara
|
|
Thursday, 02 June 2005 12:54 |
 I love magical girl anime - it's my achilles heel, and I have
a huge collection of the stuff that I save for when I'm in the mood for
some guilty pleasures. The promo pictures I'd seen of Futago Hime
before it aired had me convinced from the start that it was going to be
right up my alley, especially with Junichi Sato at the helm - but no,
it wasn't to be...
1 - An Extraordinary Smile * The Twin Princesses
The Mysterious Planet is a peaceful place, with seven kingdoms inside
it. It's lit by the Sun's Blessing, in the middle of the planet -
but something's wrong with the Sun's Blessing, and if it can't be fixed
it means the end for all the kingdoms in the Mysterious Planet.
Fortunately, Sun Kingdom princesses Fine and Rain are on hand to save
the day - when they're not torturing their governess, Camelot.
But first there's the matter of Princess Leonne - she's due to attend
the Princess Party today, but she's very shy & doesn't want to
embarass herself and has done a runner. While looking for Leonne, they
meet Princess Grace, who saved the Mysterious Planet once before, and
now has a test for them...
Futago Hime seems to be aimed at the Mirumo de Pon and Comet-san age-group, but sadly doesn't have
Comet's appeal. It's very cute and very bright, but sadly just not much fun, even
it is it a Junichi Sato (Magic Users' Club, Princess Tutu)
show. I'm not sure I can even put my finger on where it's falling
short - the character designs are perfect for this sort of show, and
it's been well animated and presented. Fine and Rain are great
characters on their own, but they just didn't click with me, and
neither did the setting for the show. One of those 'go figure'
things, I guess.
Kids will love this, but if you're a grown-up mahou shoujo nut, there's just something missing here that leaves Futago Hime falling a bit short. Pass.
|
