Steven has been impatiently waiting for my comments on Petite Princess Yucie. I’m afraid he’s going to be disappointed, because I don’t have anything particularly deep or insightful to say about the show. It was good, I enjoyed it, and I can recommend it for all but the youngest audiences. My main two worries — that the ending would stink, and that Kikuko Inoue would release a deluge of tears — were unfounded, though if the series had ended with the 25th episode, I would have dispatched Mireille and Kirika to Gainax HQ.
I have a few reservations. There are some heavy-handed moments, notably the visions of Elmina’s father in the nineteenth episode. Beth is excessively abrasive, to the point that I was tempted to hit fast-forward whenever she appeared. Some of the episodes approach dangerously close to sentimentality. Yucie’s dilemma in the penultimate episode seems contrived, not naturally arising from the premises — it almost did have a Gainax ending.
Still, the virtues outweigh the faults. The main characters are mostly attractive and sympathetic, even Elmina once she warms up to the others. The writing throughout is interesting and often clever, and there are a lot of little touches that enliven the story.
I suppose I could analyze the different models of fatherhood illustrated by the series (only Jubei-chan: The Secret of the Lovely Eyepatch goes into greater depth on father/daughter relationships), or compare and contrast the ending of Yucie with that of the first season of Sailor Moon, or discuss whether the princess candidates form a “five-man band,” but I have other things to do — as Steven guessed, I do in fact “have a life” of sorts.
When I watched it the first time, I was afraid that after the 23rd episode, on the Fairy world, that the ending would be an anticlimax. That was so amazing, so exciting, so emotionally moving, that I didn’t quite believe they would be able to top it for a satisfying ending.
Of course, they did.
I didn’t think the events in the 25th episode were contrived. They were a surprise, of course, and even a tragedy, but I believed it and accepted it.
And I believed what the four of them did at the end of ep 25, too — though it hurt a lot to watch it, and it hurts every time I rewatch it. The end of ep 25 always brings tears to my eyes.
On the other hand, it was neat to see the full fury of the Princess of the Demon World. She really can be terrifying when she wants to be, can’t she?
You talk about the various father/daughter relationships. The most comfortable one, the most “normal” one, I think, was Cocoloo and her dad. He’s an odd one, of course, but there seems to be plenty of love, no tension, no strangeness in how the two of them deal with one another. Maybe that’s part of why Cocoloo herself is so strong and loving?
As you said, once Elmina loosens up she’s a lot more fun. All of the eyecatches in the series are wonderful, but the one with Glenda and Elmina is far and away the best one IMHO. It’s hilarious, especially if you know the characters.
One more thing: Now having seen the whole series, I think you can understand why Glenda is my favorite character. Can you believe that Glenda’s seiyuu also did Osaka in Azumanga Daioh?
(Sorry for babbling, it’s just that this series is pretty special for me.)
For my part, I enjoyed the show too, but I thought some aspects of the ending seemed to come out of nowhere. Perhaps if I rewatch I’ll pick up some clues on that, but at the time I was pretty much “Wait, wait–how is it that [not going to spoil it] now?”
But yeah, Yucie and Glenda on either side of that invisible wall still makes me tear up.