Princess Nine 26 FIN
Great ending to a great show. I can almost understand why I used to read complaints about the ending. Almost. Show was often more of a character piece where the games were supplemental to interaction than the focus and I think that was lost on some folk.
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I'm hesitant to draw this comparison but I almost feel I need to. While it never quite channels the same level of art as
Ping Pong,
Princess Nine feels drawn from very much the same place. It's a show that's very character oriented such that while the sport it's based around is prominent, as I said above, it's meant to facilitate character interaction and drive them through their problems, big or small. I don't mean to imply it's too serious though as the show often leans toward more humorous interaction (to the point I'm convinced one character is a send up of
one from the first
Major League movie), it can easily shift gears into something more dramatic. This mostly revolves around the love triangle between Ryo, Izumi, and Takasugi which itself has a satisfying resolution.
Despite liberal borrowing from
other Amano scores, the Masamichi Amano score is one of his best and a real highlight of the show, successully driving (dramatic and romantic!!!) tension. Much like so many other of Amano's works, it's a fiber of the show and without it I feel it'd be a lesser product all around. It's definitely top 10 OST material for me.
One gets a taste of this
via the OP that is performed by the Warsaw Philharmonic like so many of Amano's other works. It's one of my favorites as well. It's one of those I watched every time as it gets me psyched for an episode. Admittedly, it's mostly by the books in how it highlights various characters and their specialties, there's a couple highlights.
First is the brief bit at the beginning that's so incredibly important to the show, touching upon the formative experiences Ryo had with her deceased father and how that influenced her growing up.
Second is the establishment of the rivalry between Ryo and Izumi.
So much of Ryo's identity is centered around her role as the team's pitcher and her carrying her father's legacy. It's arguably the best way for her to reconnect with him after all these years, doing what he loved so much and doing things only he could do when he was successful.
It's fitting that Izumi's role in the natural antagonist to the pitcher, the batter. On top of that (since this is indeed a sort of generational tale!), she's the chairwoman's daughter who once upon a time carried a torch for Ryo's father but lost to Ryo's mother in the game of love. This matters since the girls undergo a similar situation where the two vie for the attention of the main love interest.
This is ultimately so disruptive that even long after they're become teammates and focused upon the common goal of reaching Koshien together, as classmates, there's still lingering resentment between the two who cannot see eye to eye on the matter.
So yeah, if you nerds want to watch something good for a change, it's available online courtesy of Nozomi:
Dub
Sub
10/10 Thanks Nintendo.
