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Princess Jellyfish is an 11 episode anime based on the ongoing manga by Akiko Higashimura Its been published since 2008 This years anime line has been, to put it nicely, BLAND! Besides Guilty Crown, (which I have my own problems with) nothing this season looks to be worth a watch. With the rutt of no new anime to watch, I decided to dive into a show I skipped out on last year, called Jellyfish Princess, a slice of life show about a jellyfish obsessed girl living with neets in a boarding house. Adventure away!
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| Admit it ladies, you love Sex and the City |
So how does the show itself hold up? Unfortunately, not as well as you might imagine, but Jellyfish Princess has its moments that will make you smile. The show focuses around a girl named Tsukimi, who lives in an apartment building called Amamizukan, with several other socially awkward women. They constantly stay indoors and never go outside, because they are afraid they might run into normal people they call the “stylish”. Each of the woman have exactly one obsession that drives their whole character, a few examples being, Tsukimi who has mother issues and is a nerd for Jellyfish, Banba who’s fascinated by trains and subway cars, and Mayaya, who’s oddly enough, obsessed with the War of the Three Kingdoms, a famous war in Japans feudal history. It seems like the young Tsukimi is doomed to be alone and misunderstood, until a stylish and bombastic woman, Kuranosuke, comes into her life to reinvigorate her love for all things fun and Jellyfish. Tsukimi has finally found the perfect person who’s going to help her become the type of woman her mother always wanted her to be, but it turns out that the she is he, for Kuranosuke is a boy who loves to dress in girl cloths and be paraded around in drag. Oh yes, this is THAT kind of anime people.
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| Yep, that's a guy, and that man he's waving his butt at is his uncle |
The characters in Princess Jellyfish are a mixed bag. Some are truly great, such as Kuranosuke’s bad with woman brother Shu, and the amazingly vicious land developer Shōko, are both fun & extremely extremely enjoyable to watch when they have the spotlight. Even our main leads Tsukimi and Kuranosuke, are a lot of fun, as they work off one another very well.
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| The scenes with Shu and Shoko are the highlights of the series |
On the flip side, most of the time during the shows run is spent with the “one joke apiece” sisterhood, who while they aren’t terrible characters, can get boring and old very quickly. Most of the scenes they are in can be summed up as, “Oh look, they did something weird and cooky again, everyone point and laugh! Herpa derp!” That’s one of downsides with this series, the minor characters are so much more fun and interesting to watch than the main cast, that you almost wish the show was about them instead of the lady stooges. Again, they aren’t horrible, but you really wish that they did more, and contributed more to the overall story.
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| They're like Charlies Angels, only they suck |
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| Kill Bill. Nuff said |
A weird & disturbing theme of the show is the idea that if the ladies put on makeup and fancy clothes, that people will actually take them seriously, and not consider them to be complete freaks. Its not shoved down our throats, but it always seems like the only way to get Tsukimi and the ladies to get anything done is if they are dressed as fashion models. It doesn’t come off completely like this, the clothes are more a symbol of outward self confidence for the main cast, but I can’t help shake the feeling that a message of “Be fashionable and what people want you to be, or else no one will take you seriously.” is present here, if only slightly.
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| Remember girls, men will only love you if you look pretty! :D |
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| This picture leads to the funniest scene in the whole series |
I give this quirky comedy a “Stylish” 6/10
