Princess Princess D

Sometimes you hear about a show with a premise that is so odd you simply have to watch it. As you may have guessed from the title this particular show was Princess Princess D. It's a live action show from Japan that plays almost like an anime.

I can safely say it is the gayest show I have ever seen.

Now do not get me wrong here I am using the word gay in it's proper context. This is quite fun and has a certain zany charm to it, but it's a show largely about gay teens. Please allow me to elaborate on my which show is very gay.

1. It takes place in an all male school, not a single woman to be found

2. The school has a tradition where the three cutest first years are chosen and forced to dress in drag to help "alleviate tension" in the school, and exist as a fantasy for all the males in school. They are known as the Princesses.

3. Even when the Princesses are in their normal school uniforms guys still blush around them and are clearly still attracted.

4. Every time one of the boys attempts to wake up his friend for class, the sleeping friend almost always ends up making out with him.

5. Extended shower scenes (No actual nudity).

6. There are boys kissing in the opening credits.

7. It was based on a popular yaoi manga series.

First off let me say how cool it is that Japan is an accepting society that allows a show like this to be created. I know that a lot of big fans of yaoi are actually straight women, but it's great that there is a show for teenage gay men out there. Honestly American TV has very few characters that are gay, lesbian, or transgender. Now I'm not saying a show with a rather absurd premise of boys being forced to dress in drag at school is nessicarily the best way to represent the gay community, it's more the fact that it's being represented at all. I don't watch too many shows aimed at teenagers but off the top of my head I can only think of two with gay characters. Eric the little brother from Gossip Girl, and one of the kids from Degrassi. I'm straight, but I can only immagine how weird it must be to grow up never seeing people like you on television.

Anyway back to the main story. Princess Princess D is kind of like watching an anime that came to life. There are random non sequitors, completly over the top reactions, and lots of cartoonish characters. The story centers around the three boys chosen to be the Princesses, and the main character is a boy who very much does not want to be a Princess. Trouble arises when a second group of three guys become the Dark Princesses and attempt to try and take over the school.

The series has it's fair share of angst, bu overall it is a commedy. The show has lots of crazy sound effects, and while it is like a living cartoon and is quite over the top it is overall a lot of fun to watch. The show has a lot of really quirky characters. The president of the student council has a Fonzie like snap that brings things into action. The sencronised swimming team has hilarious moved that they practice on dry land. One of the Dark Princesses is always making cat noises for no apparent reason.

Side note: did you know that Japanese cats go Nyah. I don't know I always find it fascinating how animal noises change across cultures. Anyway back to the story faster then your dog can go wooah wooah.

The problem with shows from Asia (at least for us who don't speak the language) is always finding a good fansub. Sometimes you will find a small clip on youtube, advertising downloads with english subs, only to find that the entire site does not have a word of english to help you find what you are supposed to download. Another dificulty is finding the complete series. I have no idea how long ago "Princess Princess D" aired in Japan but I have not been able to find all the episodes.

The other big downside of the series is when they have musical numbers. I have only seen it happen two or three times so far. They arn't like big fun musical productions complete with dance sequences or anything. They seem to consist of one guy sining Karoke for like five minutes or a dude singing about his feelings in a basement. The songs wern't particularly fun or energentic, I personally did not like them very much. But who knows maybe the music will be more to your liking.

This show may not be to everyones taste. Like I have said many times before it's kind of over the top and cartoonish. But if you want to experience a show that is completly and utterly different then anything you would see in the US it's something you may want to try watching.