Princess Nine, Vols. 1-6 (2001)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Directed by Tomomi Mochizuki
Character Design by Yoshimi Hashimoto
Original Character Design by Akihiko Yamashita
Original Story by Kensei Date
Music Performed by the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra

Features:

• player profiles
  
• clean opening and closing
  
• English and Japanese audio
  
• English subtitles
  

Dindrane's Anime Warnings:

• girls packin’ baseball heat
• the Man holdin’ girls down
• adolescent angst and growth

Rating: 12+

Anamorphic: N/A

My Advice: Buy it. One of the best titles this year.

Princess Nine is a unique property in the United States; while sports genre anime titles are nothing new in Japan, American producers have always feared that such titles would fail here. Luckily, ADV gave this one a chance, and we anime fans can reap the benefits and see this fascinating, enjoyable show for ourselves.

The series tells the tale of nine young women chosen to form their high school’s first female baseball team, and in a school known for fine athletics--and in a country not given to handing women much of a break--the pressure is on to win at the Koshien finals, where women have never even been allowed to play. From Ryo to Koharu to Chairperson Himoru, each character has her own Achilles heel and talents, and baseball weaves through the whole thing like the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean.

The characters are wonderfully acted and come alive on the screen. Each character is different in her own way, flawed and excellent by turns...just like real girls. There is real emotional involvement here, as well as character development, but don’t let the fact that this is a girl’s anime fool you--there’s real action and sophistication. A couple of ‘em may have bows in their hair, and there is a love interest or two, but that’s definitely secondary to their drive to be the winners on the diamond.

The audio and video are both top-notch. The colors are rich and vibrant, and the music, dialogue, and sound effects are all clear and enjoyable in both language tracks. The actors, as I said above, know what they are doing, and each character sounds as different as he or she should. This show may not win awards for its art like a Ceres, but it’s still quite lovely to look at and effective. Don’t neglect the truly awesome musical score, courtesy of the Warsaw Philharmonic.

The extras include a clean opening and closing--a wonderful addition for fans of the music or the art. Each disc also has player statistics, a profile of each player, but much better than your usual character profiles. These include eye-catches, a caricature, statistics, including the ubiquitous blood type, hobbies, birthday, etc.

I just can’t express how uniquely refreshing and interesting this show really is. Whether you like baseball or not, or whether you think a sports-themed title might bore you, please give this one a try. Boys and girls alike will enjoy this one, as will kids and adult anime fans, both. The story is so good, and the characters are so engaging, that the baseball milieu is secondary. If you are a baseball or sports fan, however, you will love the way the metaphor weaves throughout the title and how the characters use their athletics to grow together as a team. A wonderful example of Girl Power and the benefits of taking creative risks. Get the whole series for all the women in your life.