I’ve been studying yet another treatise on father-daughter dynamics, Petite Princess Yucie. Steven liked it and it sounded promising, so I ordered it last week, along with Magic Knight Rayearth TV (which Jonathan Tappan reviewed positively). I’ve watched four of the five discs in the thinpak and will probably finish tonight or tomorrow evening. It is pretty good — it already has the distinction of being the first Gainax series that I watched more than the first disc of — and if it ends well, it will be a show I can recommend to almost everyone.
The primary pleasure is in the characters and their interactions, but there is much else to enjoy, such as the utterly terrifying Demon world.
Update: Finished it: thumbs up. I may write more later, but I’m going to be away from the computer for a few days.
There’s also architecture from fairy tales
and M.C. Escher
and interesting flora and fauna.
*****
I enjoyed Angelic Layer, and Cardcaptor Sakura was even better, so I figured it would be worthwhile to check out some of the other CLAMP-based anime. Rayearth antedates the other two by several years, and the first episode does seem more primitive in every respect. In particular, the characters thus far are mostly stereotypes. Perhaps as the series continues, Hikaru, Fuu and Umi will gain some depth, but right now they are the genki girl, the meganekko and the ojou and little more. I’ll watch more after I finish Yucie.
Ahh… Yucie. If memory serves me right, the designs for Yucie and her friends were taken from a game that Gainax produced. Interestingly enough, it was from their “Princess Maker” games. Coincidence? ^_^
The biggest connection between the two would be that the fact where in some of the games (there are currently 5 of them, I recall), you have a butler who aids you in raising your “daughter”. And apropriately enough… the butler’s name is Cube. See the connections?
The episode where Yucie and Glenda go to the Demon world is pretty much my favorite episode in the entire series. There’s just so much that’s right about that one, between lots of character development, plenty of humor, marvelous interaction between those two girls, and all the magic. I love Glenda’s gentle “shiteru-wa” (I know!) just before she hits the glass sphere with the big hammer. The -wa feminine soften ending is just so out of character that it’s clear she’s being really, really nasty and snide.
By the way, it definitely does end well. But for a while in there it sure doesn’t feel like it’s going to.
Don’t leave me in suspense like this!
AAAARGH!!!!!
The visual style of Petite Princess Yucie looks great. I’ll have to keep this one in mind.
The visual style of Petite Princess Yucie looks great. I’ll have to keep this one in mind.
Steven wrote:
> Don’t leave me in suspense like this!
> …
> AAAARGH!!!!!
Heh. Sorry, Steven. I know for a fact that Don has spent the last three days surrounded by soft pillows, good books, and a female companion to fetch him delectable food, cool drinks, and fresh raiment. The TV remote and computer keyboard have both remained untouched. It may take him a few days to get back into the swing of things.