The Princess Blog

Everything's coming up mermaids!  I just finished the final book in the amazing  Vazula Chronicles  the same week that Time Princess finally released the mermaid visual novel I had been waiting for. "Sisters of the Sea" draws heavy inspiration from Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid,"  but it is not the same story. Since the majority of it takes place on land, the game failed to provide any mermaid clothing or even mermaid-inspired outfits, opting instead for a more historically authentic Danish look from the period that the story takes place. The mermaids were a big draw for me, but I wouldn't consider this the most well-written story in the game , nor was it  one of the worst . "Sisters of the Sea" puts the player character in the role of Ondine, the little mermaid's sister, who turns human with some help from the Sea Wizard and travels to land in the hopes of restoring the soul of her sister, Marin. In this version, the merma

"The Haunted Castle" Once upon a time, there were two princes. The older prince, Dorian, was kind and wise but had a gentle demeanor that shined through to all who knew him. Meanwhile, his younger brother, Stewart, was hotheaded and envied the crown. When their parents passed away and the crown was to be passed on to Prince Dorian, he and Stewart went out riding together in the countryside. Prince Stewart returned from their trip alone. To the horror of the entire palace staff, he reported a terrible accident in which Dorian's horse was spooked by a wild animal and ran off a cliff, taking the elder prince with him in a fatal drop. The kingdom mourned the loss of their future king, and preparations were made for Stewart to become king in his stead. While most accepted this sad tale as fact, a scullery maid named Lorraine found the young prince's story very suspicious, especially when Dorian's body had yet to be recovered. She decided to try to investigate the castl

Back in June when I found out that Netflix was making a movie adaptation of The School for Good and Evil , I went ahead and read the first book in the series . I liked the idea of a school for fairy tale characters, but it left me with a lot of questions regarding how changing their childhoods would alter their stories and why the author had such a superficial perception of good, evil, and girls in general. The Netflix adaptation resolved many of these issues by cutting irrelevant scenes and dialogue and making just enough minor changes to the plot to make it more coherent. Was it a perfect movie? It was never going to be, considering the source material. The filmmakers did a great job of salvaging whatever substance they could find from the book and turning it into a fun teenage romp with gorgeous costumes. The School for Good and Evil  is about two girls named Sophie and Agatha who live in a backwoods town called Gavaldon. Though the other people in the town are cruel to Agatha and m

It's no secret that I love mermaids . So when I found out about a great deal on the first book in a four-book series by Deborah Grace White  that features a mermaid, I decided to dive right in. The last book I read from her was a mediocre retelling of "Beauty and the Beast."  I decided to give her another chance for the sake of mermaids, and I'm so glad I did! The Vazula Chronicles  is such a well-written and compelling series that as soon as I finished A Kingdom Submerged , I immediately got started on A Kingdom Discovered ! While this series is not based on "The Little Mermaid,"  it does contain a torrid romance between a mermaid and a human that will keep you on the edge of your seat. A Kingdom Submerged  tells the story of Merletta, an underprivileged mermaid who gets accepted into an elite school and is mocked for getting ahead based on her background as opposed to her own merit. Yet, it's pretty clear that the school would have preferred not to ha

While American networks have been shying away from animation , Japan has been releasing multitudes of new anime series each year. This season, we have been gifted with no one, but two princess-inspired anime shows that contain throwbacks to classic storytelling tropes that Disney has graduated from  in the modern era. These shows feature beautiful animation with gorgeous fashions  and relaxing pastel colors. Eastern entertainment has come a long way since Princess Knight  and continues presenting us with the best girly stories to fuel our imaginations in the most pleasant ways that allow us to escape from the hardships of reality . Bibliophile Princess , which I've lovingly nicknamed "Library Princess," is a throwback to the classic version of Belle from Disney's Beauty and the Beast , particularly the scene where the Beast presented Belle with the library. In this aesthetically tranquil new anime, Lady Elianna is offered unlimited access to the royal library in exc

After following the West End run of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cinderella  with great anticipation, I was pleased to learn that the show is coming to Broadway  after its controversial closing in the UK . I was a little less pleased when I learned that its title would be changed to Bad Cinderella. Yes, I know "Bad Cinderella" is the headlining song from the show  and that they don't want people to confuse it with Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella , but after Lloyd Webber was booed onstage for calling the production "a costly mistake" in a letter he wrote for its final curtain call, is it really a good idea to promote its revival in America with a derogatory adjective? Maybe if it didn't spark so much controversy in its British run, the title could have been interpreted as a parody along the lines of Disenchanted . At this point, it gives off the impression that Webber is making fun of the show, something that I personally don't think it deserves. H

I used to think that Revolutionary Girl Utena  was the most innovative, unique, and original anime out there. After watching  Princess Knight  and now The Rose of Versailles , I realize that it drew inspiration from older anime sources. All three of these series feature women who don swords and take on the role of a man to protect the innocent. They each have their own queer-coded attributes  that combine all the best things about noble heroes  and damsels in distress . The Rose of Versailles, which came out in 1979, right in the middle of the 30-year gap between 1967's Princess Knight and 1997's Utena, stands apart from its surrogate cousins because it is set in a historical setting rather than a fairy tale world. The Rose of Versailles takes place prior to and during the French Revolution. It spans the decades of Marie Antoinette's life from her engagement to King Louis XVI to her beheading at the guillotine. If you haven't already guessed, the show does not have a ha

"The Little Seamstress" Once upon a time, there was a poor girl living in a small village with her father. The two were in mourning for the tragic death of her mother, who taught her how to be a seamstress like she was. The girl, whose name was Beatrice, diligently took on her mother's profession and mended garments for the residents of the small village. One client named Prunella seemed to visit more and more often and spent a great deal of time talking to Beatrice's father. Prunella would bring things like a skirt with a missing button that appeared to be torn off or other clothes with small rips that did not look like they happened by accident. Soon, Beatrice learned that the woman was to become her new stepmother. On the night of her father's wedding, Prunella demanded a gift from her soon-to-be stepdaughter. Beatrice had little to offer. She tried offering a prized pincushion, some of her finest needles, and even her favorite spool of fabric that shimmered li