The Throne of Yorudo was stolen by a man name Kagetsu, and Tiara, the main character in the story of Shamanic Princess, has been sent from the Guardian World to retrieve this relic. Accompanied by her partner Japoro, Tiara arrived on Earth in search of the where abouts of Kagetsu, all the while troubled by the images of Sarah, a childhood friend who has been missing for some time, in her dreams. Where did Sarah go and why did Kagetsu steal the Throne of Yorudo? These are the questions that plagued Tiara as she carried out her mission, more often than not interrupted by her long time friend and rival Lena and partner Leon.

Thus begins an adventure filled with intense fighting scenes and mystic powers. The way the episodes are arranged made the plot kind of confusing; in the first part we follow Tiara’s quest to reclaim the artifact, then the story jumps back to the beginning with her past and images of her friends. Even though this OVA series is only 6 episodes long, I thought the character development was quite good, with character designs by Magic Knight Rayearth’s Ishida Atsuko. The plot was a little complicated, but not very hard to understand, so by the end you will have a pretty good idea of the relationships between the main characters and the motives behind their actions.

An impressive animated sequence accompanies Tiara's transformation.	An impressive animated sequence accompanies Tiara's transformation.

The animation was excellent, with beautiful backdrop and character drawings, showing a vast array of emotions. Tiara’s transformation, as well as the fights between her and Lena, are all top notch. Special effects are beautifully and carefully crafted to give off a sense of power, while battles are both dark and powerful, such that each encounter acts as a brush with death itself, because there are no friends on the battlefield. Shamanic Princess is accompanied by some great music, creating a fitting atmosphere. Along with a catchy opening theme song, "Inori no Asa," you’ve got yourself a real treat here.

As soon as I saw the clips for Shamanic Princess, I knew immediately it would be something I'd like, fitting under the genre of fantasy and adventure, very similar to the popular and familiar series Slayers and Legend of Crystania. Unfortunately this series has not made it to the states yet, although this will soon change thanks to Central Park Media. Personally I don’t like dubs, mainly because domestic voice actors just don't have the experience necessary to display the range of emotion that most Japanese voice actors do. Therefore I recommend you try to find a fansub copy of the anime, the translation being quite good, although it is hard to find the later episodes in good video quality. Alternately, you could simply wait for CPM to release the series subbed.

If you are looking for something that is short and sweet, and packs a lot of punch, then I suggest you to take a look at Shamanic Princess. With a fairly well thought out story and great looking visuals, this series definitely delivers the goods.

Distributor: Central Park Media
Creator: Bandai Visual
Released: 1996

Plot: B+
Character Design: B+
Animation Quality: A-
Music: B+
Overall: A-