Two New Anime Series This Season Feature Princesses!

While American networks have been shying away from animation, Japan has been releasing multitudes of new anime series each year. This season, we have been gifted with no one, but two princess-inspired anime shows that contain throwbacks to classic storytelling tropes that Disney has graduated from in the modern era. These shows feature beautiful animation with gorgeous fashions and relaxing pastel colors. Eastern entertainment has come a long way since Princess Knight and continues presenting us with the best girly stories to fuel our imaginations in the most pleasant ways that allow us to escape from the hardships of reality.

Bibliophile Princess, which I've lovingly nicknamed "Library Princess," is a throwback to the classic version of Belle from Disney's Beauty and the Beast, particularly the scene where the Beast presented Belle with the library. In this aesthetically tranquil new anime, Lady Elianna is offered unlimited access to the royal library in exchange for becoming the fiancée of Prince Christopher, who wishes to avoid the scrutinizing eyes of the public by marrying a lesser-known noble. Of course, she accepts. Who wouldn't want to become a princess and have access to an enormous library? When she realizes that Christopher's true feelings may lie elsewhere, she begins to develop unexpected feelings toward him. This adorably sweet series has only aired one episode so far, so readers of the manga that it's based on know a lot more about the plot than I do. Let me know in the comments if you've read it!

The other show, I'm the Villainess, so I'm Taming the Final Boss, is already three episodes deep into its run. It offers an edgier option to princess fans with a protagonist who must charm the villainous demon prince to avoid her untimely demise. This may sound similar to another anime I reviewed a couple of years ago called My Next Life as a Villainess, and that's because it is. Both shows tell the story of girls from the modern world who were obsessed with "otome" visual novel games and got reincarnated as the wicked romantic rivals from their favorite games despite not being wicked themselves. Having completed multiple endings from the visual novels, both girls have some insight into what will cause their bad endings and must take steps to prevent them from happening.

What makes Lady Aileen from I'm the Villainess stand apart from Lady Catarina from My Next Life is that Aileen is far more open about her intentions. While Catarina had secret meetings in her head to discuss her plans, Aileen marches straight up to the demon lord, Claude, after being dumped by his brother, Prince Cedric, and tells him that she intends to marry him so he doesn't turn into a dragon and slay her like he did in the game. Even though Claude doesn't entirely believe her explanation (Who would, really?), he finds Aileen endearing and agrees to be her date for a royal ball. What follows is a very "Cinderella" moment for Aileen when she realizes that Claude is genuinely more interested in her than the game's protagonist, Lady Lilia, who Prince Cedric had betrayed her for. She is a woman on a mission who knows what she wants and won't stop until she gets it!

Disney has yet to release another show like Sofia the First, Elena of Avalor, or Tangled: the Series, so Japan has swooped in to save the day for our weekly princess fixes. These shows satisfy both sides of the princess coin. Bibliophile Princess is a light saccharine pastel-filled dream world of innocent love and classic storytelling while I'm the Villainess, so I'm Taming the Final Boss is a dark and edgy tale of a blunt noble who secretly struggles with internal vulnerabilities. Will you be watching either of these shows this season? Which one do you prefer? Let me know in the comments!