Princess Princess | |
プリンセス・プリンセス (Purinsesu Purinsesu) | |
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Genre | Comedy, Drama |
Manga | |
Written by | Mikiyo Tsuda |
Published by | Shinshokan |
English publisher | |
Magazine | Wings |
Demographic | Shōjo |
Original run | August 2002 – April 2006 |
Volumes | 5 |
Manga | |
Princess Princess + | |
Written by | Mikiyo Tsuda |
Published by | Shinshokan |
Magazine | Wings |
Demographic | Shōjo |
Original run | May 2006 – January 2007 |
Anime television series | |
Directed by | Keitaro Motonaga |
Studio | Studio Deen |
Licensed by | |
Original network | TV Asahi |
English network | |
Original run | April 5, 2006 – June 21, 2006 |
Episodes | 12 |
Video game | |
Princess Princess: Himetachi no Abunai Hōkago | |
Publisher | Marvelous Interactive |
Genre | Visual novel |
Platform | PlayStation 2 |
Released | October 26, 2006 |
Princess Princess (Japanese: プリンセス・プリンセス, Hepburn: Purinsesu Purinsesu) is the title of a fictional series written and illustrated by Japanese author Mikiyo Tsuda about the lives of three high school boys and the school they attend. The series is contained within multiple media pieces which began as a manga first serialized in the manga magazine Wings starting in 2002. After the first manga series ended, a sequel entitled Princess Princess + started serialization in the same magazine in May 2006, and finished in January 2007. An anime has since been adapted from the manga and began airing in Japan on April 5, 2006, produced by the Japanese animation studio, Studio Deen. A live action adaptation called Princess Princess D aired in Japan from June 28, 2006, to September 13, 2006. Finally, a visual novel video game for the PlayStation 2 based on the series was released on October 26, 2006, in Japan.
Princess Princess is a story revolving around the lives of three boys chosen to dress up as girls at the all-boy school they attend, which also just happens to be the most elite school in the area. The main protagonist, Toru Kouno, has just transferred to a new all-boys school, Fujimori, after living with his uncle for a time. He is one such boy chosen to be one of the Hime (姫) or "Princesses", which is a tradition at the school in order to break up the monotony of life surrounded by nothing but males. Students (based on certain qualifications) are selected to be Princesses and are made to dress up as girls and attend school functions like this.
At the beginning of the story, there are already two such Princesses, Yuujirou Shihodani and Mikoto Yutaka, known as the Western Princess and Eastern Princess respectively, due to their room location. Toru is convinced into becoming a Princess soon after entering the school though once he accepted the job, he found it to be much more enjoyable than he thought.
A candidate for a Princess must be a first year student of the school since they: have more free time from school work, their bodies have not fully developed, and they can easily wear girls' outfits. From all the first years, those with the best looks and most-suited personalities are chosen to be Princesses. However, if one only has good looks but is not popular, that person will not be chosen. The Princesses' duties consist of: wearing girl's clothes to morning meetings or school events, encouraging others at school, and cheering at school events. Students who are required to be Princesses cannot refuse the position.
When there is a conflict between a Princess' work and school classes, absence from class or leaving early can be considered as a school vacation, and the absence will not show up on his attendance record. Every month the Princesses receive thirty school luncheon vouchers each. Therefore, when they eat at school, they do not have to pay. All necessary school supplies (notebooks, school apparel, etc.) are covered by the Princess budget, which is the largest in the whole school. Also, the Princesses will receive partial profit they can use as pocket money from the photography club that takes pictures of the Princesses and sells them to other students. The school rules require the photography club to share profits with whoever serves as model for the photos they sell, and the photographs of the Princesses are the most sought-after.
The Princess Princess manga, written and illustrated by Mikiyo Tsuda, was first serialized in the manga magazine Wings, with the first tankōbon volume being released at August 2002. The series was published by Shinshokan in five volumes. Once the first manga series ended, a sequel entitled Princess Princess + started serialization in the May 2006 issue of Wings. The first manga series has been licensed by Digital Manga Publishing, with the first volume released in November 2006. Mikiyo has commented that Wings preferred her not to write it as a shōnen-ai series.
The anime series of Princess Princess based on the manga that preceded it aired in Japan from April 5 to June 21, 2006, and had twelve episodes. The opening theme is "Kimi to Deatte Kara" (キミと出逢ってから, Because I Met You) by Atsushi Miyazawa, and the ending theme is "Hohoemi o Agetai" (微笑みをあげたい, I Want to Give You a Smile) by team-F. The series premiered on Toku in the United States in January 2016.
No. | Title | Original airdate | |
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1 | "The All Boys School's Princesses" "Danshikō no Purinsesu" (男子校のプリンセス) | April 5, 2006 | |
Toru Kouno is joining a new all-boys school in the middle of the semester. As soon as he arrives, he sees a beautiful girl, who is running from students calling her "Princess". After being led to his classroom by the teacher, he is surprised to receive a warm welcome by all his classmates (who are looking at him in a weird way). The class president, Sakomoto is asked to guide him around the school and he is seated beside a beautiful boy named Shihodani (who looks like a girl). The teacher says that Toru is "that" and asks Shihodani to take care of him. At lunch time, Shihodani seems to be surrounded by admirers. While Sakamoto takes Toru for a tour around the tour, Toru notices that everyone, including the seniors, are bowing their head to Sakamoto in respect and call him "Sakamoto-sama". After school, Shohidani takes him to the dorms. He is introduced to the dorm head, third-year Tsuji. Toru is led into the "P-room", short for "Princess room". Since Shihodani already shares a room with Mikoto, he is asked to move out; Toru recognizes him as being the same girl he met at the entrance and is surprised. He is introduced to the "Princess system" where the beautiful boys in the school are nominated and dressed as girls to "relieve the stress" in the all-boys school. Toru is pretty surprised by this system, but even more shocked when he learns that he himself is nominated as a Princess candidate. | |||
2 | "A Princess is Born" "Hime Tanjō" (姫誕生) | April 12, 2006 | |
Toru, Yuujirou and Mikoto are summoned to the Student Council, where the Student Council members are all introduced to Toru by the president, Arisada. The president presents to Toru all the benefits of becoming a princess – after hearing which, Toru readily accepts to be a princess, even as Mikoto keeps disapproving (since he has a girlfriend already, he does not like dressing up like a girl). The princesses' clothes' designer Natashou also appears, completely exhilarated about new inspiration found by looking at all the Princesses. It is also revealed that Arisada is a former princess. Planning for the "New Princess Introduction" is also started. Mikoto immediately observes that Toru is quickly getting used to his Princess role and has already learnt how to deal with the fans. Toru says that he has learnt it from Yuujirou, who keeps everyone at bay by being sweet and having the pride and confidence of a queen. Mikoto also rehearses a little and succeeds at this. They also try out the new costumes to be used for the ceremony. Later when they meet Arisada who is overseeing the preparations for the ceremony, Sakamoto is also present, helping. Arisada says this is because Sakamoto is the next presidential candidate (this, even Sakamoto didn't know) and they all realize that it's because of Arisada that everyone calls Sakamoto "Sakamoto-sama" - he started it himself. The ceremony finally happens, where the Princesses ask each other to take care of them. | |||
3 | "The First Job, Princess Cheerleader" "Hatsu Shigoto, Hime-sama Ouendan" (初仕事、姫様応援団) | April 19, 2006 | |
The three Princesses are to cheer for all the clubs, for the local preliminaries. Arisada also tells them that they are all to go for cheering all the clubs which win the preliminaries (and also those which go ahead and win the national finals) or the princess benefits will be cut - Arisada has gone even to the national games for cheering. But Mikoto is against this since he has to dress up as a girl and go outside the school premises. Going along with Arisada's idea, Natashou has designed the costumes to be nurses for the local preliminaries, cheerleaders for the prefectural and wedding dress for the national finals! Mikoto is entirely against this idea of being a man's bride. but Mikoto is nowhere to be found. Toru tries to convince him saying that if the teams do not win, they would not need to dress up and go out, but it seems that all the teams are trying extra hard to win with the Princesses cheering them, following the cheering tactics provided by Arisada. Completely beat up in the evening, Mikoto again sees that Toru is doing pretty fine with the Princess job - when he says that its easy when you want to do things yourself than when others force it on you. After two weeks of this regime, they see that teams are indeed winning the preliminaries with exceptional performances. So, the Princesses have to dress up in their special costumes to go cheering now - but Mikoto again throws a tantrum that he doesn't want to go out in dresses. The morning when they are to go cheering, Mikoto is nowhere to be seen. As toru and Yuujirou start searching for him, they find him trying out the costume - Mikoto remembered Toru's words about wanting to do thing by oneself and wanted to try putting on the costume himself. Finally, all the Princesses get along together again, with the special costumes on to go for cheering. | |||
4 | "Yuujirou's Past" "Yūjirō no Kako" (裕次郎の過去) | April 26, 2006 | |
Summer vacation has arrived, and Yuujirou and Toru stay behind in the dorms to talk about their pasts as Mikoto leaves to spend time with his girlfriend, Megumi. | |||
5 | "Stalked Princesses" "Nera Wareta Hime" (狙われた姫) | May 3, 2006 | |
Even though it is summer, the Princesses still have to cheer for sports teams and other clubs. Even Mikoto is called back for Princess work. As the princesses get ready, Sakamoto also accompanies them. As they are moving about, Toru has the creepy feeling that the Princesses are being watched. When they get to the Home Ec room, they see that the Princesses' costumes are laid on a sea of roses. Sakamoto tells the Princesses not to enter the room and fetches the Student Council members, who start investigating immediately. When Arisada gets to know that someone is watching them, he asks the princesses to stop their work until things are clear. But as the culprit does not come forth by the investigation, they decide to use the Princesses as bait and lure the culprit out. Even though they are reluctant to the idea, the Princesses soon agree since Mikoto says that he does not want the ones dear to him (meaning his girlfriend) to be affected in any way from this. As the Princess again start making their rounds, they come across a man photographing them. The Student Council captures him and it is revealed that he is from an agency and wants to make the Princesses as idols after he saw them at the tournament. Although he admits that he had been taking the Princesses' photos, he did not send any flowers. While everyone is still puzzled over who sends the flowers Natasho senpai comes floating out of nowhere, holding bouquet of roses and hands them to the Princesses claiming to have so found new inspiration. | |||
6 | "Sakamoto's Family Secret!" "Sakamoto ke no Himitsu!" (坂本家のヒミツ!) | May 10, 2006 | |
Finally getting some free time, Toru and Yuujirou start with their summer homework. But they find some problems difficult to solve and so decide to go to Sakamoto's house to ask him for help (Sakamoto had invited them over earlier). they are also hopeful of meeting the famous older "Sakamoto-sama". When they finally arrive, Sakamoto warns them not to get too surprised by what they see, but Toru and Yuujirou convince him, that as princesses they are used to almost all surprises. When they arrive to Sakamoto's house, they see that, once after the other, all the family members they meet are exceptionally beautiful, to the point that they even ask Sakamoto if they are his real family. They meet everyone but the older brother "Sakamoto-sama". Later, when they are about to have barbecue, Sakamoto asks them to consider him too as their friend. Toru and Yuujirou accept and they all decide to call each other by their first names. Suddenly, the older Sakamoto arrives and baffles Toru and Yuujirou by being pretty childish over Akira not calling him to the barbecue. | |||
7 | "A Chorus Concert with Sweat and Tears" "Ase to Namida no Kashō Konkūru" (汗と涙の合唱コンクール) | May 17, 2006 | |
The Princesses have to put on a song and dance opening act for the choir group at their school, but there is one small problem: Mikoto cannot sing. During practice, Toru meets his cousin, who wants him to come back and marry her. | |||
8 | "The Princesses' Existence Endangered!?" "Hime Sonzoku no Kiki!?" (姫存続の危機!?) | May 24, 2006 | |
The director of the board who is in charge of the school comes to visit after inheriting the position from his father and is shocked to find out about the Princess system. So shocked, that he seeks to remove the system entirely. | |||
9 | "The School Festival Starts!" "Gakuensai Kaishi!" (学園祭開始!) | May 31, 2006 | |
The school's cultural festival has finally started and the Princesses are hard at work once again. During the festival, Yuujirou's family comes to visit. | |||
10 | "Lovers' Time" "Koibitotachi no jikan" (恋人たちの時間) | June 7, 2006 | |
Mikoto's girlfriend, Megumi, and his older sister, Makoto, come to visit him at school during the cultural festival, and things do not go exactly as planned. | |||
11 | "Secret Past" "Himerareta Kako" (秘められた過去) | June 14, 2006 | |
With the school festival over, things are supposed to get back to normal, but strange things start happening to Yuujirou. | |||
12 | "The Path a Princess Chooses" "Hime no erabu michi" (姫の選ぶ道) | June 21, 2006 | |
The chase continues to find out what Sayaka is doing at Toru's school, and later Toru has to decide whether stay at the school or return home. In the end, he decides to stay. |
A live action drama based loosely on the series, named Princess Princess D (プリンセス・プリンセスD, Purinsesu Purinsesu Dī), aired on TV Asahi from June 28, 2006, to September 13, 2006, for ten episodes. The D in the title is for drama. Mikoto is the protagonist of this series. The story deviates from the original manga in that a new character named Otoya Hanazono, who is dissatisfied with the half-hearted efforts of the current Princesses, creates his own team of Dark Princesses to rival for the students' attention. The drama also excludes Mikoto's girlfriend, Megumi, and like the anime series features shōnen-ai overtones that are less present in the original manga.
A visual novel based on the series named Princess Princess: Himetachi no Abunai Hōkago (プリンセス・プリンセス 姫たちのアブナい放課後) was released on October 26, 2006, for the PlayStation 2 in Japan.
Casey Brienza described the anime as "phony" and disliked its premise of forced cross-dressing.[1]
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: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)Works by Mikiyo Tsuda | |||||
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As Mikiyo Tsuda |
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As Taishi Zaō |
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