Ginga Kikoutai: Majestic Prince - 01, 02
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Vagish has been falling ill recently, so he's asked me to cover his series for the time being. I know what you're thinking: why would I, a person who doesn't like mecha very much, consent to that? Well. I actually like the three airing this season, and Majestic Prince has a charm of its own.
Before its airing Majestic Prince somehow had my attention. Nothing spectacular about its staff or studio - Motonaga is fine, though Dogakobo aren't impressive - but a hunch that this series will have something I enjoy. Looking back at the first episode, I can see what that might be.
Majestic Prince is a spoof. Nothing more, nothing less. From the start it doesn't take itself seriously, instead giving us comedy whenever and wherever it can be squeezed in. You'd think something like this wouldn't be watchable but it is. Actually, the first episode was enjoyable.
Don't get me wrong, Majestic Prince isn't breaking any barriers here. It's hard enough to do that with the story as simple as this one: four mecha pilots-in-training are drafted as an emergency, and each is assigned their roles before they are thrown into battle at moment's notice. Sounds like any mecha anime you can shake a stick at, am I right? That's where the comedy comes in and gives the series its "hook" so to speak.
Starting from the recruitment process, we get bombarded with jokes. Each character adhere to their own, over-accented archetypes and their interactions give birth to the comedy we get. Not only do we get the comedy but it comes at serious moments, such as being briefed on the mission.
The only really, nitpicky, problem I had with the first episode was the excessive use of the split-screen. For me that was a product of lazy directing, which could have been avoided. Everything else was fine: we were introduced to our characters, saw some pretty decent animated action and ended things with a victory for the good guys.
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Moving on to episode two, my mind hasn't changed much. Another fun episode of Majestic Prince, with some plot progression happening in the background.
Following on from the events of the first mission, the crew is met with a warm reception that inevitably comes with media coverage by means of press. Again, Majestic Prince injects its humour into what could have been a serious moment and it works. Not the funniest in terms of laugh out loud, but still pleasant and enjoyable to watch.
At the same time, the episode moved the story along. The addition of the press media coverage was small yet interesting choice, seeing as how it adds a Tiger & Bunny element to the series. It also adds an obstacle for the crew to clear in the future, as we see at the end of the episode. All the while, we're introduced to a new character by the name of Amane, who for the time being shows her objections to what the kids are doing.
There were some parts of the episodes, intended to leave us curious. One identified as Theoria, the pink-haired girl and her assistant and the other was the identity of the mysterious enemy and his very flashy mecha. Guessing this was their unofficial introduction, in order to give us a hint for their later appearance.
Finally, there's also the case of the bad guys winning this round. A nice counterbalance, and way to set up the ongoing two-cour fight Majestic Prince has to offer. Again, this is placing another obstacle for the crew to get over, and gearing us up for the many upcoming battles against the enemy which as it goes to show, won't be easy.
Majestic Prince OP 1
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Majestic Prince ED 1
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