#The mechanic of the Past and Future levels has bewitched me

[brainjuicezz]

I was missing out on Sonic CD,,,

[animebw]

Binge-Watching: Princess Principal, Episodes 1-3

And so we begin! In which first impressions are out of this world, everyone’s pants are on fire, and steampunk has never been cooler.

Love at First Sight

There are few things more delightful in this line of work (such as it is) than when your excitement turns out to not only be entirely justified, but a complete underestimation as well. I had high hopes for Princess Principal going into it; everything I’d heard about it had me convinced that this show would be right up my ally. Super-cool steampunk spy gadgetry with magic and yuri undertones? There are few kinder combinations of words to my ears. But while I was right in expecting it to be good, I was in no way expecting just how good these first three episodes ended up being. Princess Principal is an utterly bewitching, expertly crafted cocktail of style and slickness, juggling its many different balls with enough cocky ease to put a circus acrobat to shame. I was sucked in and giggling with glee before the first scene was even over, and every second since then has only further convinced me that my first impression was right. I am having a goddamn blast with this show, and if the rest of it is even half as good as what we’ve already got, I’ll consider it time very well spent.

The first word that comes to mind when thinking of how to describe Princess Principal’s first impression is “confidence”. It’s a show with a strong, recognizable sense of self, carrying its incredibly complex ambitions with aplomb and making it look easy every step of the way. You can see this in the worldbuilding most easily; with only a brief opening exposition dump, it’s instantly able to suck you into its unique setting, engrossing you in its world and letting you experience how it operates from the ground up. The Victorian steampunk aesthetic is killer right from the get-go; there’s burnished bronze atmosphere permeating every scene, like the entire show is being illuminated by the flickering light of a gas lantern. And the environmental design, between the slick high-class fashion, clockwork mechanism magic tools and highly specific setting details, communicates so much of how this world operates without the need to spell it out in time-consuming detail. A single shot of a character dropping down a long elevator to the slums below instantly clues us in that the underclass literally lives in the shadow of the rich and wealthy, while a single sick girl we meet there tells us everything we need to know about the dangers of the sickly green Cavorite element that powers this show’s magic. And that idea is taken to the next level by another single shot later in the same episode, where a car ride over a bridge pans out with the velocity of the ride in a jaw-dropping reveal of just how sprawling the slums are, how the entire city is bent and buried before the all-imposing might of the London Wall and the rich movers and shakers who literally soar over them on countless expansive bridges, whistling through the free air up above while the poor and helpless suffer down below. And that’s all before we get to the incredible soundtrack, which probably uses kinetic smooth jazz to inspire excitement and hype better than any show since Cowboy Bebop.

But it’s not just the aesthetic that’s popping off the chain here; everything about the show’s storytelling is streamlined and highly activated to a masterful degree, to the point where there’s almost always something of interest being conveyed just below the surface. With the first episode taking place in media res some point in the future, it’s able to drop a metric butt-ton of fascinating details to keep your attention before fleshing them out in more depth as it goes back to the past in future episodes. Ange’s casual drop off the ledge at the very beginning clues us in that there’s magic at play in this world, confirmed a moment later by an extremely well-composed tracking shot of her target running below ground as she runs above him on the buildings, glowing green with Caverite energy. The camaraderie between the spy girls carries an immediate, easy charm, conveying a group of people who have grown used to the high-stakes danger of the job and now carry it out with enough clockwork efficiency to have fun in the process (”A challenge to a duel?” “A love letter!”) Credit especially should go to the show’s director and episode directors, because the sense of flow between scenes and moments is riveting, even outside the spectacularly kinetic action. The quality of cinematography and editing is almost at feature film level at times, especially when it uses CG backgrounds to let its camera sweep around the fluid 2D character models for extra emphasis. It almost reminds me of Angel Beats in how well it sells the three-dimensional presence of the space. I particularly love the way the camera rotates with the use of gravity magic; it sells the disorientating cool of that power so freaking well.

Spies and Lies

But as good as all that it, it’s the character work above all else that’s sold me on Princess Principal as a legitimate heavyweight contender. Like the rest of the storytelling, the show is able to communicate so much about them in little tidbits that make you eager to see what else they have up their sleeve. Beatrice uses her voice box in the first episode, and we already have something of interest to look forward to for when it’s explored in more detail in a later episode. Ange’s deadpan act is constantly undercut by her obvious desire to be the most extra motherfucker to ever motherfuck extra-ly. I mean, she meets Dorothy at one point while standing sideways on a tower, for Christ’s sake, it’s clear she gets a kick out of messing with people. Not that any of the characters are slouches in the “extra motherfucker” department; Dorothy’s improved casual mode involves a cigarette and a gruff accent that would make Ryoko Matoi proud, while Princess Charlotte’s unraveling of Ange’s deception marks her as a ruthless operator willing to get her gloved hands as dirty as she needs to. And the tense interactions she shares with the gang before joining them are rife with the kind of tightly-wound smarmy tension that pegs them all as fast on the fly, quick-thinking operators at the top of their game. No one needs to sit down and say “Hey, these girls are awesome at what they do”; you just have to feel it from the easy confidence radiating from every single step they take (”I heard his voice back at the switchboard.”)

And that confidence becomes a huge part of making this show’s mind games so palpably stirring. By Ange’s own word, none of these spies are entirely without their secrets; all of them have something to hide, and they’re very good at hiding them. Ange herself is constantly needling at people she doesn’t trust with her back-and-forth lies, rattling off nonsense about the Black Lizard Planet and possible tragic backstories (”I’m not joking, I’m just lying.”), keeping them on their toes as to what she’s really looking for from them. It’s a fitting mindset for someone who is herself living a lie; I pegged that the girl we first know as Charlotte wasn’t the real princess from the moment she talked about the truth in lies as the camera panned over a very suggestive family picture, but it was still a blast to see the reveal of who Charlotte and Ange truly were, how they had taken each other’s place and fit into each other’s lives and how easily they could slip back into them when pretending to be each other for the sake of a mission. “Ange” (I’m gonna keep calling them by their initial names to avoid confusion) has mastered the art of deception so well that even her deceptions can hide even deeper deceptions; you’re never quite sure which Ange is the true one until the very end. Which can lead to some really gut-wrenching moments; Ange’s execution of the sympathetic doctor at the end of episode 1, pumping bullets into him while repeating that she isn’t going to kill him, cuts right to the bleeding heart of how easy it is for her to bury her true self behind whatever mask she needs to weak. But it can also lead to moments of genuine warmth when the masks finally come off, such as when it’s revealed that the “death warrant” she got him to sign was actually for the money necessary to save his sister’s life. Their connection might have been born of lies, but as Charlotte says, some lies can’t help but become truth in the telling.

Mr. Gorbachev...

Which brings me to the most important part of Princess Principal, the pendulum by which it will rise or fall going forward: the story of the princess and the pauper, taking each other’s places and fighting to tear down the wall that separated them in the first place. There’s a lot that could be said about the imagery of two strong girls fighting in a world of men, seeking to literally bring down what keeps them apart, uniting the fractured London alongside them. Charlotte wants to rise to the occasion of her new position, becoming the queen who can end this world’s oppression. There’s a particular line where she says that she’d rather be friends with a lying devil than a truth-telling angel, and it cuts a picture of someone who much prefers when people speak to the borrowed shell she presents than the real her underneath. Meanwhile, Ange believes she must continue carrying out her duties as a spy, deceiving the world over and over again for the girl who’s taken her place. But to keep that deception up, she has to keep the lies up about them, pretending they’re nothing but a royal maiden and her secretive retainer, with no greater bond existing or greater meaning passing between them. They must “pass” for normal in each other’s place to fight for a world where that definition of normal no longer need keep them from each other. And in case the gay undertones weren’t already apparent from that description, “Ange’s” first reaction to properly reuniting with “Charlotte” after so long is to beg that they run away together to a white house in, of all places, freaking Casablanca, so they can be together without fear, only for Charlotte to shut her down by stating her desire to remake their current world so drastically that it won’t matter who knows if they’re together at all. We’re not quite at Symphogear levels of operatic lesbian energy yet, but we’re already shockingly close.

We’re only three episodes in, but Princess Principal has made probably the best possible first impression it ever could. It’s got spies, it’s got magic, it’s got stellar action and incredibly fun aesthetics, it’s got Probable Lesbians, and it’s got all that with a killer sense of direction and purpose that makes every element sing in perfect harmony. This is going to be one hell of a ride, and I can’t wait to see what else it’s got in store.

Odds and Ends

-Excuse me while I JAM OUT TO THIS OP SONG FOREVER AND EVER HOLY SHIT

-”Your class must be very kind.” Stone. COLD.

-Is that 5/8 time signature? This show goes the extra mile, man.

-”Crossdressing?” askjdhas WHY

-”Nice work getting the safety off.” FUCK ME THAT CAUGHT ME OFF GUARD

-Kinda dumb that Bea’s voice box didn’t malfunction after being yeeted through rushing water, but whatever.

-”Dorothy just wants to drink.” pfft

And with that, we are on our way. Good lord, this is gonna be great. See you next time as the adventure continues!