This time around, I’m reviewing Puchi Puri Yuushi, a Shoujo anime of 26 episodes. This is a rather generic fantasy anime, complete with kingdoms, a prince, princesses, a legendary hero monsters and demons. It’s not the best storyline in the world, but it’s a personal favorite of mine.

The English title of Puchi Puri Yuushi is Petite Princess Yucie. The English dub of the anime is very well done, so you may view this in whichever dub you like. The voices match up fairly well for the most part from Japanese to English and the lines are mostly kept about the same aside from slight, barely noticeable, differences in certain words or names here and there.

The show starts with the knight Gunbard, who finds a small baby at a battlefield that is wrapped in a mysterious light, but quickly jumps several years into the future, to find the baby, Yuushi has grown up a bit. Yuushi lives alone with her adoptive father and their demon steward, named Cube, on a hill on the outskirts of the castle town. Her doting father is preparing a huge feast to celebrate Yuushi’s birthday and she’s not at all happy about it. Out of any day of the year, her birthday is her least favorite because it serves as a reminder of something she finds quite unpleasant. Yuushi may look like a ten-year-old, but today is actually her seventeenth birthday. Some say it’s an ancient curse, while others say it’s a genetic anomaly, but no matter what it is, she hasn’t grown or had any physical change since she was ten.

While in town, Yuushi’s drawn by a mysterious light in a castle tower that no one else seems to notice. She breaks into the castle, desperate to reach the source of the light, and finds the Eternal Tiara, a magical item said to grant any wish. The queen finds her in that room and offers her a once in a millennium opportunity, a chance to become the Platina (or Platinum, as called in the English version) Princess, the maiden born only once every thousand years, who is the only one who can use the tiara. As a Platina Princess Candidate, Yuushi must strengthen her heart as a student at the Princess Academy, where she will meet friends and rival candidates from the different worlds.

The setting of this anime, while mostly taking place in this single kingdom, expands throughout five different worlds: the Human World (Earth), the Heavenly Realm (Heaven), the Demon World (Hell), The Spirit World, and the Fairy World. Yuushi and her fellow candidates travel to each world as part of their training as Platina Princess Candidates and, despite being rivals, strengthen their hearts and their friendships.

The plot of this anime progresses rather steadily, which helps the show stay enjoyable. There are plenty of moments that will leave you chuckling and, since this is a fantasy story with magical realms, there will be moments that impress you with their creativity and beauty. There are also moments that can be very moving and will likely leave softer hearts in tears. The only problem that some viewers might have with the plot is what is known as the “Gainax Syndrome.” Studio Gainax, who produced this anime, has a nasty habit of taking lighthearted storylines and characters and suddenly trying to make things far too serious towards the end. At this point elements are thrown in that are somewhat unexpected, cheesy, and almost awkward, but the offense is minor in this case. It should only bother the most critical of viewers. Overall, this is a pleasant anime that will leave you smiling, so I recommend this especially for soft hearts like myself.