Puppet Princess
Aug 7, 2005Story
Puppet Princess easily has one of the most messed up and unique plots I've seen. At first glance, it only seems somewhat unusual... evil sentient puppets, murderous revenge, etc. I won't spoil, but I'll tell you that when the true nature of the puppets is revealed, you will think differently about the morbid level of the plot. ;) For someone like me who loves horror, this was a real treat... not only for the idea, but for the execution of it and the flow. The animation definitely had a part to play in my opinion of the story, so this is a fairly mixed score as far as where it came from.
Animation
Another gem of this series was the animation style. Hundred Stories should instantly come to mind when you start to watch this, for the gritty, crazy feel behind the sheer horror of what's going on. Granted, Puppet Princess isn't quite as abstract, but it still manages to give you a really messed up feeling. The character designs were also very... unique. Aeon Flux will quickly come to mind for the bizarreness factor. Faces tended to be very thin and hollow looking, with sharp lines for facial features. Usually very large, sunken looking eyes. The grotesque "ninjas" killing everyone were the best, though... very misshapen and deformed, contorting in painful looking directions that make you cringe.
The actual OVA itself is incredibly violent, with deaths happening in a variety of sword slashing and ripping ways. Death by gears is not a thing of the imagination anymore, as is being ripped apart by a giant wooden doll. Cheesy, perhaps.. and sometimes a bit too much blood for realism's sake.. but still very entertaining and well done.
Sound
As with many things I watch, the music didn't stick out very much. Music is void, a lot of the time, and the rest of the time is fairly standard samurai series fare.
Characters
For a short OVA, there can't be a great deal of character development, and I never feel right grading poorly because of it. So, like other short series I've reviewed, I will base my score on how well the characters fit their roles they were given, or other aspects.
In this case, both main characters fit their part very well. And even though the OVA was short, background of our heroine was still revealed, giving you a great deal of empathy for her. In addition, plot twists make for interesting revelations about the characters, a great break from generic series. Besides the two main characters, no one was really developed at all. But then again, the point of this OVA isn't an in depth character development. For what it was meant to be, and for the length, the characters were just fine.
Overall
Horror is my favorite genre by far, so my score might be a bit biased for this reason. Non-horror fans might find this to be cheesy or shallow, but I found it to be gloriously entertaining. From the obscure, odd animation to the very unique and gruesome plot that makes you shake your head, I can't see many reasons why this OVA would have failed. For me, it was a fantastic watch, and I think you should check it out too.
For rewatchability, are you kidding? This was an incredibly badass OVA, and I'd definitely watch it again.
9.5/10 story
9/10 animation
6/10 sound
8/10 characters
9/10 overall
You must be logged in to leave comments. Login or sign up today!
All reviews will be somewhat biased, but there are degrees of objectivity. With official reviews it is expected that the authors will grade the material against other, similar products rather than their own tastes. Skilled writers can weave in their opinions while appearing to be completely objective, warping the reader's interpretation of the material.
That said, I don't think this review is particularly biased (or at least not enough to be a concern).
I'm a tad confused about how objective certain people want reviews to be. Reviews are clearly going to be the presentation of somebody's opinion on a subject material. Now, if that opinion is objectively wrong, or you feel that there are important points that you disagree on that are worth noting, then go for it. I heavily support such a discourse of ideas. Yet, to dismiss a review as an biased opinion piece (you know, what all reviews kind of typically are), is to dismiss something out of hand, without even discussing the material in question. If you don't want bias, then you should look for summaries, or basic information about the plot/characters (Anime News Network can be pretty useful in that department, in my experience)
Let me say, I much prefer reviews that provide the opinion of the reviewer. That way, it allows me to get a feel for what that user likes, through what they like about the show, thereby making it easier to judge if I'm likely to enjoy it as well. The more detailed and thorough the review is, the better- although I can see why Site Reviews on AP work better by mostly being spoiler-free and succinct.
I would just make this a response, but given that this seems to be a common complaint, it's more something I just wanted to say in general.
Overall, I really appreciate this review, and as a horror fan myself, I'll definitely put this on my "Need to Watch ASAP" list.
I know the review is old, but why the accusation of bias? I don't work for the studio that put this out, nor do I have any motives.
Yeah, this anime is pretty fun but this review is rather biased. I prefer to have the reviews I read more informative and objective.
It was watchable, but extremely mediocore and forgettable. I don't really know about that character development