The Princess Blog

The Summer 2026 anime season has begun, and with it comes many new fairytale-inspired shows, some more original than others. The broken engagement trope  is still a big one, as well as the fake villainess trope , which seems to have a new series every season. One thing we don't see as much in modern anime is shows based directly on well-known fairy tales. That's why one of the most anticipated shows of the new season was Goodbye, Lara , an original take on "The Little Mermaid."  There are also two new "Cinderella" inspired shows that offer unexpected twists on the classic tale of the abused maiden. Goodbye, Lara  premiered last week, with its second episode out later today. Although its pilot followed all the major beats of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale about a young mermaid who made a deal with a sea witch to win over a human prince, this show is a far cry from the 1975 anime movie adaptation . Many visual queues set it apart, such as giving Lara...

Among the ARCs I've read so far in To Win a Dark Heart , Falling for the Pirate  by Nicki Chapelway was the most surprising. This book subverted all my expectations of this multi-author series of dual villainous fairy tale retellings and gave me something I rarely see in this genre. It reads like a modern isekai show , in which the protagonists are regular people who are reborn as fictitious characters in a story they are somewhat familiar with. In this case, it happens to be a story that one of them wrote. This is a plot frequently used in anime, most recently with last season's The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess , but I don't see it as often in fairy tale retellings , and especially wasn't expecting it from this series, which already contains several unique features. Vera is a struggling screenwriter who just sold an edgy version of "The Little Mermaid"  that crosses over with Peter Pan  in the trend-setting style of  Once Upon a Time . Vera...

I discovered  Rescuing the Prince  by Meghann McVey  from a Facebook promotion. It looked like a cute story that appealed to my interests, so I decided to check it out. It is the first book from the Leah Heroman series, which appears to be a series of clean romance novels with strong isekai and Disney inspiration. This book started out a little hokey and felt like an off-brand version of the Kingdom Keepers , but it got better as it went along. By the time I finished, I enjoyed it more than I expected to and even found myself curious about what happens next in the series. Although not based on a fairy tale, the story has strong Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper  vibes, along with a magic school, a love triangle, and a relatable heroine from the real world who loves princesses. It's a great escapist fantasy for princess fans of all ages. Leah Heroman is a princess performer at Disneyland  Portalis Park (which definitely would have been sued by Disney if it ...

This hasn't been the best year in terms of new anime. The past two seasons had a dearth of princesses after the Winter 2024 isekai explosion . Not only that, but the Spring 2024 season was severely lacking in romance. Get your tissue boxes ready because the new Fall 2024 season is here to change all that. Nearly half this season's anime shows have a romantic arc of some sort, which is a great follow-up to the shocking love confession in last week's episode of Wonderful Precure . Two anime shows from this season that stand for having romantic princess-oriented plotlines are Nina the Starry Bride and The Do-Over Damsel Conquers the Dragon Emperor . These are the types of shows that I never get tired of. Although they follow some stereotypical anime tropes, they are the only way to relive some of the original Disney Princess archetypes  that have been lost to time in Western animation . Nina the Starry Bride is the newest take on the female-oriented rags-to-riches doppelgang...

We are closing in on the first half of #fairytalesummer  with The Rose Gate  by Hanna Sandvig . This was a new author for me. Her unique style of modern-day fae isekai stories in her Faerie Tale Romances series made for a refreshing change from the usual fairy tale retellings. This book is an adaptation of "Beauty and the Beast"  that does a good job of keeping it fresh while retaining the essence of the classic tale that we all know and love. On a personal level, I particularly liked that the main character worked in the children's section of a library  reading fairy tales to kids. That was more than a little relatable . 😉 The series follows a pattern of girls from the real world traveling through fae gates to Tir Na nOg , which is a great method of escapism that perfectly balances modern sensibilities with fantasy stories of old. Isobel is a typical modern girl who spends her days teaching kids feminism at the library for a mysterious boss who is more than she ap...

It's a strange irony that many  complaints that animation gurus had about Disney's Wish  also apply to modern anime , which is supposed to be the last salvation for creative freedom in the animated world. With an abundance of new shows each season, Japan provides animation nerds worldwide with a myriad of options for every individual taste. Yet, the vast majority of these shows have had the same basic premise for the last five years or so. The "isekai, or "other world," genre has blown up exponentially in Japan. Almost every new show is about a person from the modern world getting killed by a speeding vehicle and waking up in a vaguely European medieval fantasy world full of magic and spellcasters. This season's offerings are no different. Though there is a wide variety of princess-related shows available, only one of them breaks the current mold and is too simple to be the most appealing of the bunch. Like my favorite anime from last season , 'Tis Tim...

"Operation Little Mermaid" I woke up with butterflies in my stomach and eager sense of anticipation, just as any girl would have on her wedding day. Despite years of being confined to isolation in a temple, I had found my prince. Being a princess wasn't all it was cracked up to be, at least not until now. Finally, I could move into a castle and live the life I deserve. Sure, I felt a little sorry for his mute companion who was obviously in love with him, but that wasn't my problem. I leapt out of bed a twirled around with excitement to the mannequin that was modelling my beautiful wedding dress covered in layers upon layers of lace and petticoats. "Princess Helena!" I was so startled by the voice of one of my maids that I twirled straight into the mannequin. It fell directly on top of me, burying me under fifteen pounds of crinolines, petticoats, and lace. I hit my head so hard that the maid came bolting into the room to check on me. "Oh no! Not today o...