|
|
|
||||
| Reviewer: RPL |
Run Time: 25mins per ep |
Format: Sub/Dub |
Distributor: Pioneer US |
 |
 |
    |
 |
P R I N C E S S N I N E |
|
 |
Ryo Hayakawa has been gifted with the skill of her father’s pitching. One day, as she creams a box team with her skills, a lady is watching on with interest. Not soon after, she is accepted to the prestigious Kisaragi girls school on the condition that she plays for the upcoming baseball team she is creating. Many obstacles face the team not only by people wishing to ban them from competiting in this ‘man’s game’ to Ryo’s own problems in dealing with Hiroki Takasugi, the boy’s school baseball star, and Izumi Himuro, her rival and seemingly fiancé to Hiroki. Brilliant. Oh, you mean I’ve got to add more? Nuts… Princess Nine recently took the number one spot in my favourite list of anime, knocking Kare Kano and Nadesico off there. Weird, considering baseball isn’t big in the UK. But that’s not the issue. Whilst there is baseball action, it is second fiddle to the soap opera like storylines that happen within it. The forming of the team, the opposition to it, her father’s background, the relationship between her father and Izumi’s mother, Ryo and Izumi on the same team but both having feelings for Hiroki, Ryo’s best friend Souchiro in love with Ryo, getting admitted into the baseball association and the eventual climax which I won’t spoil. The storylines wouldn’t work though without an excellent cast. Whilst Ryo, Izumi and Hiroki take centre stage most of the time, the rest of the team add everything else. Seira, the tomboy former athletics star always cracks me up whenever she and Yoko, the girl not interested in baseball but very interested in becoming a star, are in the same scene. Hikaru, the Osakan, is always the genki girl (and also adds another romantic pair in the show) whilst Yoko and her alien Fifi-chan (don’t ask)…they are somehow both dark and hilarious at the same time. 
In 26 episodes, they manage to sort out almost anything in the end. There are a lot of things to look through in this series, and ALMOST everything is solved. My one vice is that it did end in an anti-climax, and things you wanted to know you won’t ever know. Which is a shame, as this series left me begging for more. You like baseball? Watch P9. Don’t? Watch it anyway for everything else. ADV’s dub of P9 is one of the best in the business (Hilary Haag, most famous for Nene from BGC2040, delivers the performance of a lifetime) and the Japanese version is outstanding. Have a ball. 10/10 - Baseball has never been so good. Back to Menu |
||
| Sporting anime a go-go |  |
||
Sports anime is a rare commodity in the UK, so import is the only way
to go - for futuristic sport, take a look at Battle Athletess.Read the Review |
|||
 |
 |
|
 |
||