Shamanic Princess

Title:Shamanic Princess
Overall:Rent
Keywords: , , , , , ,
Notables: IMAI Yuka
MATSUMOTO Rika
R1 License - Central Park Media(Defunct)
YAMADERA Kouichi
Tiara is sent to another world to retrieve an artifact stolen by her lover. She discovers that an old friend and rival is helping the thief.


[OVA, 1996-1998, 6 episodes, 28 min]

1:50min Opening Sequence - YouTube Video
Episode Details 
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Rent 8 7 7 8 7 7 Ggultra2764 [series:243#1552]
This actually wasn't a bad OAV series though it is marred with some major issues that keep me from giving it a Buy. Shamanic Princess creates a decent buildup in Tiara's search for the Throne of Yord and eventually dealing with the being within the portrait representing the item. It tosses around enough stuff to keep you glued on the series: some mahou shoujo elements, friction between friends, some romance, philosophical emphasis on one's self, elements of suspense and some fun battle scenes. Had the makers of the OAV chose to put the last two episodes of the series before the "Throne of Yord arc" instead of after it, the narrative would have been more smoother as said episodes explore the events leading up to what led to that arc and this would have made the series a definite Buy. Instead, you get tossed right into the events of the arc without knowing anything before hand which does make for a confusing narrative for first-time watchers. In addition, the characters don't really get too fleshed out despite how interesting they come across in personality and abilities. Regardless, the OAV did do well at entertaining me for its nearly three hour entirety kudos to an evil sentient being in a portrait screwing with the cast and questioning the flaws of human nature.

Last updated Sunday, May 15 2011. Created Sunday, May 15 2011.
Rent Stretch [series:243#628]
A neat little series--once you figure out what the hell is going on! If you're anything like me (i.e, not particularly brilliant when it comes to understanding plotlines), it is imperative that you watch the episodes in the order of 5,6,1,2,3,& 4. That's because 5 and 6 are prequels about events that took place before episode 1 does. When I tried to start out watching in the usual order, trying to make sense of the plot of episode one was so frustrating that the magic fights seemed like a waste of time--time that should have been spent better explaining the characters' motivations, etc. I couldn't really "get into" the action when I had little idea why Tiara and Lena were mad at each other. In contrast, though they aren't exactly crystal clear themselves, the prequels gave me a far better understanding of what was going on, and watching episode one yet again was much more enjoyable.

I read one review which claimed that the average viewer would be so enthralled by the superb artwork that the disjointed plotline would hardly matter. That may well be true, but I'm anything but your average anime viewer. I prefer shows which have interesting, original and not too hard to follow plots, yet mediocre animation, over those with beautiful artwork but predictable, mundane plots. Fortunately, despite getting off to a rough start, the story behind Shamanic Princess comes neatly together in the end (episode 4, that is). Though as usual I would be hard pressed to explain exactly why things ended the way they did (Sarah is The Throne of Yord?), I genuinely liked the way the story wrapped up. In fact, as magic/sorcery anime series go, I would say the conclusion to this one made more sense than average (which is kind of ironic, considering how confusing it was early on)! And, even if it's not my top priority, the wonderful artwork certainly didn't hurt. All in all, definitely a bargain. Perhaps best of all, I got the impression that this show takes magic seriously--there are all sorts of details of what is clearly an ancient system of beliefs, and even if I don't understand it myself I'm confident that magic operates by understandable rules and makes sense, in a way. Most shows with magical themes don't even try to go that far.

Last updated Wednesday, July 29 2020. Created Friday, November 19 2004.
Buy 10 10 10 9 10 10 aoneish [series:243#1615]
it's unique, to say the least.
the plot is completely original and unlike other "magical" animes. but that's what makes it great. the magic powers includes partners and magical contracts and constructs, concepts that're a refreshing break from the usual fireballs and spells. the costumes are really beautiful, imaginative, and original. again the whole series is beautiful, imaginative, and original.
it starts off in the middle of the action and takes us through to the resolution. and then the last two to three episodes tell us the back story of the reasons for the motivations behind the actions. how it all began. it's genius. you don't actually need the back story to get the main plot, but it does shed more light on the relationships between the characters and shows more of the personality and depth of the characters themselves. and it takes us deeper into the workings of the guardian world in order for us to understand the significance of what happened.
another thing that's great about this series is that the focus is mainly on the characters and their relationships. there's depth and feeling and pain. yes, there's fighting and rivalry and magic, but it's the focus on these characters, and the things left unsaid, that makes it more interesting to watch.
there's a couple of concepts in the plot that take a more than a viewing or two to understand. because we follow only the viewpoint of the lead character tiara, who herself doesn't really know what's going on at times. but maybe that's just me.
overall opinion: totally worth buying.

Last updated Friday, October 22 2004. Created Friday, October 22 2004.
Buy 10 10 10 9 10 Mint [series:243#926]
I rented this DVD at first, I wasn't sure what it was about so didn't want to waist my money. Well, after watching it twice, I had to buy it!!!! This series are amazing!!! The art is beautiful, the transformations of Tiara and will blow u away, and the story is just amazing - u will never guess the ending. If there is a word to discribe the story it would be mysterious, lets just say things are not what they seem for most of the anime.
Because the whole series is on one DVD, this is a great buy! I loved it!!!!

Last updated Tuesday, August 19 2003. Created Tuesday, August 19 2003.
Avoid 8 7 7 8 4 3 V-babe [series:243#237]
I am regretting that I ever spent the three hours it took to watch this. I found it unentertaining and confusing. When I read the back of the DVD it sounded really interesting, but I decided to borrow it from a friend first. Am I ever glad that I didn't waste my money. The only good part in my opinion was the decent music and the beautiful animation. I thought the art was gorgeous, but the characters were kind of annoying. I found the plot totally confusing and didn't really see the point to the last two episode. They should have ended it after the first four episodes. All in all, although I liked the art, don't waste your money on this. The whole concept and world was not explored or explained enough.
In a nutshell: Good idea and concept, not well done.

Last updated Sunday, April 13 2003. Created Sunday, November 11 2001.
Buy 8 7 6 10 7 Midnighter [series:243#94]
Shamanic Princess is a nice little OAV series that came as a pleasant surprise, as I wasn't expecting much. The entire 6 episode series is available on a single DVD, which was nice.
The story of Shamanic Princess starts out strong and continues to be rather engaging. I recommend you watch it in the order it was presented, as it works better and ends up more entertaining if some of the things remain a surprise. It's more rewarding after you watch the last 2 episodes and think "Oh, OK, cool, THAT'S why..." Also, being an artist/writer myself, I present things in an order for a reason, and I would not want one of my creations shown or read out of the order I intended. Believe me folks, the order of the anime was like this for a reason. Respect it.
The character designs were nice, though the male characters were nothing spectacular, the female characters were fairly unique looking, no small feat in anime. Interestingly for a 'magical girl' series, Tiara has to manually put on her costume, as opposed to relying on the usual 'transformation sequence' and the convenient stock-footage that accompanies it. I give Shamanic Princess extra points for having a female who can dress herself without magic. The backgrounds are very, very nice. Alot of detail will be noticed on repeated veiwings. The animation is very good most of the time, though disappointing during some of the battle sequences.
Another nice point of this series is the excellent musical score. An interesting mix of orchestrated music and synth, the result is a distinct sound in the sea of usual uninspired
J-Pop.
Overall, I gave Shamanic Princess a buy because of an engaging plot, good animation, nice art, and a good value, as the entire series is available on one DVD.

Last updated Friday, October 26 2001. Created Friday, October 26 2001.
Buy 8 8 6 9 8 Lord Folken [series:243#202]
This was a good anime with a story full of plot twists. It was imaginative and kept me thinking. The animation and character designs were good, but I didn't care much for the faces. It was cool how the last two episodes showed a back story. I would recomend watching it in the correct order, since that was the way it was intended to be seen. The ferrit, Japalo, was funny too.

Last updated Monday, October 08 2001. Created Monday, October 08 2001.
Watch 7 7 3 CatWoman [series:243#65]
ummmmmmmmm...well what to say about this? I liked the little farit guy! But other then that...too much magic, and not the best plot...It was wierd really really wierd, and it really left a bad taste with me! Even Cripin's wonderful voice could not help it...well I can't say that, becouse it did, he is a great voice acter and does well with the charicter, but other then that! (and what is with that one hair on the main Charicters head?)

Last updated Friday, April 27 2001. Created Friday, April 27 2001.
Rent 7 7 4 5 1 The Coyote [series:243#64]
Actually I liked this one but I just have to say one thing WHY THE SMEG DIDN'T THEY RUN THE LAST TWO EPISODES FIRST! Ok got that off my chest. take my advice watch episode 5 and 6 then watch the rest of the series or youll just have to watch it all over again just to make sense of it all trust me on this one ok. the story is cripic but actually interesting and for you dub fans who like the dub verion of slayers Cripin Freeman who dose Zel in slayers dose a very good job in this one too. (Im still more partial to Lisa Ortiz but thats a personal thing)sigh any way try this one out then if you like it bye it otherwise it's a good one to rent

Last updated Tuesday, March 20 2001. Created Tuesday, March 20 2001.
Rent 8 8 8 7 8 Kaitou Juliet [series:243#137]

The biggest asset to this series is the look of it. The character designs are gorgeous and stylish, if you don't mind the unusually huge eyes (even for anime; a friend said they looked like "bug eyes"). The settings are very lush. The images stay with you long after you've seen the show.

The plot is intriguing as well, but sometimes very cryptic, which may turn off some viewers. In addition, it's not told in a linear fashion; the basic storyline is wrapped up in episode four, while the two episodes after that cover events leading up to episode one. Some people may find this confusing. If you're one of them, try watching episodes 5 and 6 first!

CLAMP fans will likely enjoy this show. It has the same character designer as Magic Knight Rayearth and is similar in "feel" to a lot of CLAMP's shows.



Last updated Thursday, September 19 2002. Created Friday, February 16 2001.

Other Sites
NameURL
Official Shamanic Princess Site http://www.shamanicprincess.com
Tiara's Dimension http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Gulf/8144/1010.html

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