Review of Fena: Pirate Princess

I really, really wanted to give this series a 10. I really did. But near the end of the series it began to depart from what made it so charming in the first place, and while it was not necessarily an excessively sour turn, it did make the show lose much of its sparkle. Pirate Princess has a cast that is absolutely brimming with life and adventure. From Fena herself, to the stoic but easily flustered Yukimaru, and the lovable and quirky Goblin Knights Fena adventures with, each character is written with so much nuance and care, and their dynamics are so much fun to watch.This series, especially in the first half, very much gives off Akatsuki no Yona vibes (mostly in the way the main characters are written - not physically strong, but level-headed and emotionally intelligent), and it has the fun group dynamics of your typical shounen. The premise promised a mix of everything I loved from my favourite genres - and it really did deliver, at least for the first half.

Maybe I should've expected it from how I kept on getting a feeling of... lack of grounding from the first few episodes, but the series began to take on a very abstract, fantastical direction near the end, that was entirely different from the pirating, romantic adventure we thought we'd be getting. If the entire series went for something more high-concept in the first place, I definitely would not have minded - I loved the Joanne d'Arc theme - but it kind of felt like a lost opportunity for an amazing, classic anime.

Despite that, there is still so much to love about this show, and it was still one of my favourites from the season. The artstyle is refreshing and unique, the animation vivid, the score makes each moment so much more gripping (that scene when Yukimaru essentially confesses to Fena... just gorgeous), and the voice acting is superb. There are so many scenes that are still deeply etched into my head, just because of how purely beatiful they were.

I would definitely recommend giving this show a watch, but just keep your mind a bit more open than I did! I think it's meant to be taken more as an artistic experience rather than a real story.