Review of Fena: Pirate Princess

Well, how to describe this anime? It's as if you tried (and failed) to cross Akatsuki no Yona with.. somehow Evangelion (of all things), with character design akin to Lovely Complex and complexity of a table leg. MC behaves like Risa (Lovely Complex) manierisms-wise, but always needs to be rescued, and ML is basically Jin (Samurai Champloo), but flat. That should paint a sufficient picture without going into spoilers. And yes, the first few eps (especially the first one) were really good, I know. Don't be seduced though, it's a trap (and not the good kind). Now, the story: A girl, lost to her 'family' for 10 years,is found in a red light district and saved from having to work her first night there. Turns out she's kind of a big deal and she carries a lot of very valuable secrets. So, naturally everyone wants a piece of her and so, she's promprly dispatched on a journey to 'find out the truth' with a bunch of bodyguards. The first few eps draw an engaging picture, there's questions that need answering, some more-or-less-magical secrets, danger and - of course - looooove. Sadly, once you crash from the initial high, the story propmtly drives itself off the rails and finally straight into lala-land (not to say bat-shit-insane-land).

Art:
Ah. In this, this show shines like a fricking house on fire (and we, the moths, drawn by the blaze, inevetably fly closer and closer with each episode, ready to be charred whole). Character designes and animations have a sort of nostalgic feeling (with types of expressions not seen often in 'modern' anime) and serve the series really well. There's a LOT of care out into animating the characters. There's one scene, where a character stands with his back resting on a wall of a narrow corridor and he blocks the way of ML with one of his legs, which he rests on the opposite wall of the corridor. When he finally puts his leg down, he actually, VISIBLY, shifts his weight and twists his hips slightly from the leg he's lowering, and rotates his hips slightly thr other way. It's such a minute action, however it had me rewinding the scene, just to see the animation frame by frame. It's very rare to see this level of commitment in a tv series. Backgrounds can be quite stunning at times as well.

Sound:
Honestly, other than Fena singing that tune, I can't really recall any other music. I know it was there, just nothing stood out for me, so that I would commit it to memory. Seiyuu of the MC and ML absolutely killed it though! MC with the quirky Risa-like voice and ML with the husky, scratchy, paced sentences. Really well done, that.

Characters:
Mostly covered this in the first paragraph. I've only given it a fair out of consideration for the first few episodes, which I still think were excellent. But the fact remains, the characters felt flat and there wasn't really any change, or depth. It strikes me as a series that would benefit from 24-26 eps, rather than the one-seson-long schtik. Well, it is what it is.

Enjoyment:
I've given fair, again, out of the consideration for the initial episodes. Because gods know you will need all the goodwill you can gather in order to get through the mess of an ending that this anime shoved down out throats.

Overall:
Medicore. I really wanted to score it higher, the first few eps I was certain this is an 8 at the very least. The middle, sadly, fell towards 6 with its pointless meandering and thoughtless plot and then the absolute blathering mess of an ending eroded that further still.

Watch it if you fancy the visuals, just don't expect the quality of the first few eps. It's all lies.