Princess Principal: Crown Handler Part 1 Review

4 star political intrigue in the palace.

Princess Principal: Crown Handler Part 1 is a Japanese anime film, written by Noburu Kimura and directed by Masaki Tachibana (Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex). Produced by studio Actas (Girls und Panzer) it is the first film in a series of 6 films which are the sequel to the 2017 series Princess Principal.

It is presented here on Blu-ray with both Japanese and English dub courtesy of MVM Entertainment.

“Hmm, so we have a false Charlotte somewhere. Bit too convenient if you ask me.”

Our story begins at the turn of the 20th Century, in a version of England known as the Kingdom of Albion, where a revolution has split the country. A decade later, a wall across London seperates the Kingdom of Albion from the Commonwealth of Albion and spies from both sides cross the wall to gather information.

Following the events of the end of Princess Principal, tensioms are running higher than ever, with both sides beginning to suspect that there could be double agents in their midst.

Control have sent the spy team led by Ange (Aoi Koga – Komi Can’t Communicate) into the Kingdom with two tricky missions, to rescue the owner of an antique book store and to investigate the possibility of a double agent within the palace. They must achieve this while avoiding the suspicious gaze of the Duke of Normandy (Takaya Hashi – Patema Inverted, Guilty Crown).

Will Ange and her team, Princess Charlotte (Akira Sekine – Haikyu!!, Akebi’s Sailor Uniform), Dorothy (You Taichi – Erased, Prison School), Beatrice (Akari Kagayama – Castle Town Dandelion) and Chise (Nozomi Furuki – Sound! Euphonium) complete the mission without being caught?

“Even if you had roughed him up a bit, you would have needed a bargaining chip, ya? Now I get it. Is that why you were acting so strangely?”

Princess Principal: Crown Handler Part 1 is a very enjoyable watch. It hits the spot very nicely with it’s crisp and slightly steam punk animation style, kitschy Englishness and snazzy jazz sountrack.

I would highly recommend watching Princess Principal the series before watching the sequel films, otherwise you might well find all the chopping and changing and political intricacies quite confusing.

A great continuation to the story and well worth adding to your collection.

“West of the wall is not the only place for fishing here. Nothing is bititng.”