A young man sacrifices himself to save the life of a beautiful stranger on the street of a small town. This stranger turns out to be the Princess of the netherworld, who resurrects him, (Thus the title!), an act which binds poor Hiro to her service for all eternity. He soon finds himself in way over his head in a world of vampires, demons, mummies, and all manner of 1930s movie monsters- many of which are attractive women. The story settles in to a weird balance of slice-of-life, horror, comedy, and kind-of romance with some wonderful lesbian and femdom undertones.
Right out of the gate, this show might be my favorite thing ever. I adore the weird character dynamics and callbacks to classic horror movies. The characters aren't anything tremendously deep, but are well-realized and well-acted. The music ranges from good to great, with highlights from Ali Project. Compared to most other anime, the fight scenes aren't really anything to talk about, but the female cast is older, more mature, and more confident in their abilities and sexuality than one would normally find in the genre. The show actually has a talent for mastering the sex appeal of a subtle gesture compared to most others- a finger slowly slipping along someone's chin is portrayed surprisingly erotically, which is a far scale down from the panty shots anime is known for. The story, when it finally gets going, is a great idea and a vector for all sorts of fights and drama.
So why does this show only have a 6.6 with 111 ratings, and only four reviews from a decade ago? Princess Resurrection does have its drawbacks. The odd mish-mash of genres means I struggle to even categorize it, to know who to recommend it to. If I tell you it's a horror show, there's not -that- much horror. If it's a comedy, there's not -that- much comedy. If you want to see pretty ladies fighting monsters, the fight scenes aren't -that- great. The translation you'll find anywhere makes some choices that will likely confuse the audience- for example, the main character, the eponymous Princess Resurrection, asks to be referred to as 'Hime'. This is not her name- Hime is the Japanese word for Princess. She is being referred to by her title, and dislikes her actual name. But if you didn't already know this (I was lucky enough to catch the simulcast back in the day, which used a different translation) you would have no reason NOT to assume her name is Hime, which will leave you in the dust when characters call her by her -actual- name later in the story. The English dub is fine if you must use it, but I don't think any of the actors really got their characters 100% (aside from Hilary Haag as Sherwood, who nails her part)- and like I said, these characters aren't especially deep, so I'm not sure what wasn't to get. To my ears, the Japanese vocals seem much better acted. Worst of all, the show ends almost as soon as the main plot gets started, leaving you to track down the comics it was based off of if you want closure- and THEN your realize that the anime basically used the manga as a rough draft, and can be kind of alienating to those only familiar with the animation.
Overall, I adore the show, the story, and its characters, but I understand why it never especially caught on. If the phrase "Pretty ladies fight classic movie monsters" got you interested in watching, I think you'll enjoy it! Just be sure to temper your expectations. Anyone else could probably find any individual element of this show done better elsewhere.
Right out of the gate, this show might be my favorite thing ever. I adore the weird character dynamics and callbacks to classic horror movies. The characters aren't anything tremendously deep, but are well-realized and well-acted. The music ranges from good to great, with highlights from Ali Project. Compared to most other anime, the fight scenes aren't really anything to talk about, but the female cast is older, more mature, and more confident in their abilities and sexuality than one would normally find in the genre. The show actually has a talent for mastering the sex appeal of a subtle gesture compared to most others- a finger slowly slipping along someone's chin is portrayed surprisingly erotically, which is a far scale down from the panty shots anime is known for. The story, when it finally gets going, is a great idea and a vector for all sorts of fights and drama.
So why does this show only have a 6.6 with 111 ratings, and only four reviews from a decade ago? Princess Resurrection does have its drawbacks. The odd mish-mash of genres means I struggle to even categorize it, to know who to recommend it to. If I tell you it's a horror show, there's not -that- much horror. If it's a comedy, there's not -that- much comedy. If you want to see pretty ladies fighting monsters, the fight scenes aren't -that- great. The translation you'll find anywhere makes some choices that will likely confuse the audience- for example, the main character, the eponymous Princess Resurrection, asks to be referred to as 'Hime'. This is not her name- Hime is the Japanese word for Princess. She is being referred to by her title, and dislikes her actual name. But if you didn't already know this (I was lucky enough to catch the simulcast back in the day, which used a different translation) you would have no reason NOT to assume her name is Hime, which will leave you in the dust when characters call her by her -actual- name later in the story. The English dub is fine if you must use it, but I don't think any of the actors really got their characters 100% (aside from Hilary Haag as Sherwood, who nails her part)- and like I said, these characters aren't especially deep, so I'm not sure what wasn't to get. To my ears, the Japanese vocals seem much better acted. Worst of all, the show ends almost as soon as the main plot gets started, leaving you to track down the comics it was based off of if you want closure- and THEN your realize that the anime basically used the manga as a rough draft, and can be kind of alienating to those only familiar with the animation.
Overall, I adore the show, the story, and its characters, but I understand why it never especially caught on. If the phrase "Pretty ladies fight classic movie monsters" got you interested in watching, I think you'll enjoy it! Just be sure to temper your expectations. Anyone else could probably find any individual element of this show done better elsewhere.