I Want to Escape from Princess Lessons – Episode 1

What’s it about? Leticia Dorman was betrothed to the kingdom’s eldest prince, Clarke, at the age of seven. The last ten years of her life have been a hell of etiquette lessons and constant pressure, so when Clarke comes to a social engagement with another woman on his arm, Leticia couldn’t be happier. But has she really gotten out?

This is a weird one. It’s a little tough to get a grip on where Princess Lessons is going when the premiere is an extended misdirect leading to a fakeout leading to a totally different style and setting. While I loved what the last five minutes of what this episode had to offer, I have an uneasy feeling that it might be planning to lead me right back where it started.

One thing that’s not in doubt is Leticia’s status as a grade-A heroine. It’s something of a slow get-to-know-you process, as she spends the first half of the episode mainly traumatized and crying. Very understandable reactions! But we aren’t in her head for them, and the overly florid and letterboxed flashbacks create a deliberately cold atmosphere. So it isn’t until the ballroom reveal that we’re actually allowed to “meet” Leticia in all her glory: loud, joyous, and with the determined momentum of a locomotive. The turn’s pulled off well visually, as the dappled pans of shadowed rooms and ominous flower beds become bright (maybe even a bit garish) colors and the frame expands into the full screen. Leticia’s glee at her newfound freedom carries the episode along with her, and I was quickly onboard to watch her move out to the country, where she can reunite with her beloved border collie (the best kind of dog) and start life anew. Maybe find a favorite hoe. The world is vast, and the novels this series is based on were a tidy two volumes—perfect for a single cour of anime.

Unfortunately, I also wanted to feed all the men we met in this episode into a wood chipper, and I don’t think that’s going to work out. Leticia’s brother is working out a cushy position working for the royal family thanks to her engagement and is mostly there to remind her to sacrifice for the family, though to his credit he makes good on his promise to back her up when her engagement is broken. Clarke, meanwhile, is a complete cipher thus far, with dialogue just vague enough that I foresee future revelations about how the whole “calling the engagement off” thing was an accident on his part. Certainly a big part of the opening theme involves images of him trying to woo Leticia back while she looks alarmed by his presence.

And while there are ways I can imagine the series selling its main couple, the absolute last thing I want is to watch Leticia be convinced to go back to the life that made her miserable. The episode is too effective at conveying what an absolute horrorshow her upbringing was, and I have less than zero sympathy for Clarke as it stands, particularly if the story intends to convince me that he was somehow browbeaten into letting another woman accompany him. Sir, you are the prince. We have just seen the wretched cost of being a woman near you. Whatever you’re going through, it’ll be worse for the ladyfolk.

It doesn’t help that he looks like Dollar Store Howl, nerfing the possibility of selling him as a winsome rogue in an escapist fantasy about sacrifices for love. Part of the issue is Tagashira Shinobu’s character designs, which are simplified from both the novel and manga art in a deeply unflattering way. Leticia herself looks pretty good in most shots, but a lot of characters feel uncannily like someone stretch-and-dragged a JPEG of their features before dropping them onto their faces. It carries alright for comedy, but drama and romance? I’m not convinced.

It might be worth mentioning at this point that Tagashira is the director in addition to the character designer, and while he’s done some arresting work as a key animator (including the Akudama Drive opening), his main experience as a director is on the two astonishingly underwhelming Junji Ito anthologies. There are already some worrying earmarks, like the weightless feeling of some of the character animation (particularly running), the traditional CGI horse and carriage, and at least one very awkward set of cuts with notably missing in-betweening. Series composer Kanemaki Tomoko is also racking up her very first anime credit, though she’s been working for years on the Kingdom Hearts manga adaptations. On the other hand, we’ve got Kawakami Miho as art director (who last did lovely work on Precure Full Bloom) and extremely storied composer Hayashi Yuki pitching in on music.

As always, I’m frustrated because I want shoujosei adaptations to succeed. I’m certainly on board for at least three episodes, simply because I want to hang out with Leticia more. But I worry that if the love interest doesn’t drag the story down, then the production issues will finish the job. All I can do is cross my fingers that this one defies my expectations for the better.