Princess Resurrection OVA

So it seems an actual OVA was produced for this series recently. I downloaded it and gave it a watch, but I can’t say as I recommend it. The first thing that hit me was that the art was terrible. Faces were…. um, bad. So I went back to the original series, which I’d previously noted as not having great art or animation, and.. well, maybe it wasn’t any worse. There were a few other puzzling things, however, below the fold.

From Episode 15 of the original series.

From Princess Resurrection OAV 1.

There’s really not as much difference between them as I expected, but then there’s these two:

From OAV -- is that her nose, or the scar left by the plastic surgeon who removed it?

From OAV -- Is that a face, or is Mr. PotatoHead moonlighting in anime?

Then there was the plot — not much. I started wondering if this was a retelling, but I don’t think so — it looks like there’s just enough explanation to support this being a very delayed OAV, which might require re-acquainting viewers with some of the characters. It’s been 18 months since I wrote about the series, but there’s not enough background to explain the weirdness if you didn’t already know — so I don’t believe it’s a retelling. For that matter, the OP was the same as the series, which should cinch it, but it just seem like it was dropped in the twilight zone between “reacquaint” and “retell.”

The opening of the show is Hime slipping into the morgue and dropping a bit of her blood on Hiro to resurrect him. She leaves before he recovers. No dialog, no monologue, no explanation as to how he ended up dead again, and if you’re new to the series, no indication that they even know each other. Hiro wakes after she’s left, and leaves the morgue, but realizes something’s wrong at the mansion. He rushes back just in time to witness an attack that’s practically right out of the first episode, and for once, he’s some use to Hime; he jumps in front of a killing blow to be a meat shield. After Hime wipes the bad guy, she re-rezzes him. The rest of the show continues to be equally lackluster, as the mansion is attacked by some really weak vampires that can’t even stand electric lights. Somehow, they were able to magically shatter every piece of glass in the house, including light bulbs — except for the four Hime had set up in a safe room. All of which, I should note, pointed inward to the corner they took refuge in, which should blind them, and leave the vampires free to use missile weapons… or hell, just throw furniture at the lights, if they can’t use their fancy glass-shattering trick again. For that matter, it turned out they had one that could actually withstand the lights.

Seriously. I haven't seen a fortress this stupid since Starship Troopers.

Oh, and look who’s missing: Hiro’s sister. She has somehow NEVER noticed any of the strange goings-on, like the fact that there’s a robot that uses trees for weapons, a vampire, a werewolf, and a zombie on the premises. (The zombie, is of course, her brother Hiro.) So her absence during the entire attack is handwaved, despite the fact that Hiro was, at one point, messily murdered in the kitchen! (Actually, Liza is missing too, but she could be at her own house.)

He got better. Unfortunately, the show didn’t, as it ends on a completely unresolved note — there was a fierce battle (offscreen) and the house is wrecked, but hey, the vampires might come back tomorrow night! Other than that, no hint that there might be an “OVA 2.” Perhaps it was in the labeling… Grade: D-