The Princess and the Pilot

The Levamme Empire and the Amatsukami Imperium are at war. But on the island of San Maltilia a glittering reception is being held to celebrate the engagement of young Lady Juana Del Moral and Prince Carlo of Levamme. Carlo makes a vow to bring the war to an end and marry Juana within the year. But a year passes, the war is still raging and the Amatsukami Imperium suddenly launch a vicious aerial attack on the Del Moral residence. A plan is hatched to spirit Carlo’s fiancée to the mainland and a young mercenary pilot, Charles Karino, is selected to carry out the mission. Charles is the best pilot available in the San Maltilia Air Force but as a bestado, spurned all his life for being a half-blood (his mother was from Amatsukami), he is regarded with utter contempt by the military elite.

Under strict instructions not to engage his highborn passenger in conversation, Charles starts the engines and they set off on their perilous voyage over the sea in the Santa Cruz, a 2-seater reconnaissance seaplane. Overhead, deadly fighter planes, or shinden of the Amatsukami Imperium, are combing the skies and – in spite of a plan to lure them away – it’s not long before the fugitives run into danger. Juana proves herself to be far more resourceful and resilient than her sheltered porcelain princess facade suggests and as they try to outwit their pursuers, the two get to learn more about each other. Their relationship blossoms as repeated enemy attacks force them to move beyond the early awkward formality to trust, interdependence and… maybe more. There’s also the possibility that they once met before, long ago, as children. Overshadowing their growing relationship is the constant awareness that their brief time together must end soon and that a highborn lady and a mixed race mercenary can never hope to break their societal bonds and escape their destinies.

The Princess and The Pilot is that rare animal (these days), a tale of adventure and courage, lightly spiced with romance (but not in an icky way) and some dashing and dazzling aerial combats. It looks sumptuous on Blu-ray (wonderful sky and ocean vistas) – and yet also a little old-fashioned, especially in the character design department, maybe done in an affectionate and deliberate way to reflect the story. The setting (based on light novels by Koroku Inumura) is vaguely Ruritanian/European early 20th century, with Spanish-sounding names for the people of the Levamme Empire and steam-punkish flying aircraft carriers (somewhat reminiscent of those in Last Exile) as well as the fast fighter planes. It’s not the most subtle of narratives (and many of the supporting characters are somewhat stereotypically portrayed) but it doesn’t insult the viewer’s intelligence by opting for a predictable ending – quite the opposite, in fact.

The performances from the two leads, Seika Taketomi as Juana and Ryunosuke Kamiki as Charles Karino, are well-nuanced, capturing the awkward growth of their relationship from highborn lady and lowly servant to companions, working together with a common goal. This is greatly helped by the animation, which portrays a remarkable range and subtlety of facial expressions – something which (given the bigger budget of a film) is not seen so often in a TV series. However, it has to be pointed out to avoid confusion that in this – the US subbed – version, the lead characters are called Fana del Moral (not Juana) and Charle (not Charles) whereas in all the promotional material, Juana and Charles are used.

A sweeping orchestral score by by Shiroh Hamaguchi (One Piece; Karneval) complements the scope of the action effectively, and the Ending Theme is “Toki no Tsubasa,” written by Keiji Inai (Nura: Demon Capital and Karneval). This plaintive song is sung by Seiko Niizuma who plays Chise Karino, Charles’s mother.

The Bonuses consist of Japanese previews and trailers.

In Summary

An engaging yet somewhat old-fashioned story of two people thrown together by desperate circumstances, simply told in animation of the highest quality.

8 / 10

Sarah

Sarah's been writing about her love of manga and anime since Whenever - and first started watching via Le Club Dorothée in France...

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