Suddenly Princess · review
Detatoko Princess is a comedy fantasy anime by J.C. Staff that was directed by Akiyuki Shinbo, if you like the comedy of the Slayers movies and specials, this is recommended, however the fanservice is tuned up a tad. This OVA is surprisingly impressive with the key animation, many moments with dynamic camera movement with long durations are to be seen, a check on Sakugabooru can confirm this quickly. The character designs have a cute look and the main girl, a silly blonde elf, is again a bit like Lina Inverse, she even has a purple antagonist girl which is like Naga minus the friendly rivalry.The quality of J.C. Staff art direction in their late 90’s OVAs is consistently impressive, the art direction here is beautiful, colorful, and soft. Personally, I'm fond of when light greens and blues coalesce into the distance for the backgrounds of natural environs, which can be seen in a lot of anime from this time. The fantasy villages and stone walls also look great. The setting changes each entry, OVA 2 is set in an apple grove, and I personally found this one had the best humor and was especially memorable. I’ll add that the OP is delightful with a lovely soft and catchy tune.
Shinbo brings a dense and heavy comedic direction using lots of bold colors and silhouetting, framing with fisheye or otherwise distorted lens, dutch angles, wide shots, and flat framing to name a few. It's potent and polished.
If you take interesting in Shaft comedies, this outstrips most of them, and is recommended for fans of otaku OVAs or late 90’s comedy.