Princess Jellyfish (Kuragehime)

Ciao lovelies! Today, I’m reviewing a somewhat older anime that came from a serial comic in in the Kodansha manga magazine Kiss- Princess Jellyfish! (Kuragehime). This anime really touched my heart and shaped a lot of my early teen years, so I figured I should review it!

In this review, I’ll be going over storyline, characters, and of course, fashions. I will include some little tidbits in an “other” category as well. Warning! Some spoilers ahead!

Storyline

The storyline of this anime centers around a girl named Tsukimi. She is a otaku who loves jellyfish, and lives in a retro building called Amamizukan with her friends Chieko, Mayaya, Banba, Jiji, and the elusive Miss Mejiro. Each member of the “nuns” or “Amars” as they call themselves, has a special interest- Chieko loves traditional Japanese Dolls and Kimono and Yukata, Mayaya likes a show called “Records of the Three Kingdoms,” Banba’s special interest is trains and food, and Jiji likes old men. Tsukimi is an awkward girl who hates social interaction, like the rest of her peers. They only socialize with each other unless it’s an emergency.

One day, while visiting a spotted jellyfish in a pet shop, Tsukimi notices that the shop owner put a moon jellyfish with the spotted jellyfish, which will kill the spotted jellyfish, who Tsukimi has named Clara. She tries talking to the stylish man who is cashiering, but he’s freaked out by her otaku rant and shoves her. A beautiful woman intervenes and manages to get Tsukimi the jellyfish and helps her bring it home, then falls asleep on her floor.

Tsukimi is nervous about this woman when she wakes up. She’s admiring the wig worn by the woman when she notices the woman is awake and…not a woman. Surprise! Cue the freakout as Tsukimi realizes shes accidentally snuck a man into the “nunnery.”

From there, she and the man (named Kuranosuke Koibuchi) become a strange kind of friends, and Kuranosuke manages to gain tolerance from the others in the “nunnery” (though they don’t know he’s a boy.)

The main conflict of the story is revealed as we see that the building they all live happily in is going to be torn down. They begin to work to save their building, with Kuranosuke’s help, and they learn that beauty can be a weapon.

This storyline was really sweet and genuine and really stuck with me. I loved how it could be comedic at times, yet sweet at other times. Not to mention I totally want Kuranosuke and Tsukimi to be together. It’s so cute.

Storyline overall is 5/5 for me. I didn’t reveal every detail here, so you’ll have to watch the anime to find out more!

Characters

God, I love these characters. Each character has their own special interest, which I love, because I have many myself, and can connect to these characters. The characters are lovable without being perfect, which makes them very relatable and dimensional. Even the beautiful Kuranosuke isn’t perfect, shown to be bratty and spoiled and not too kind, and we see his amazing character development without him losing all his flaws.

Even the “minor” characters are well fleshed out and easy to relate to. Characters like Inari who are only really there for conflict still have complex feelings and motivations, enough to make them fully dimensional and believable.

Each character is likeable in their own way really. For characters, even though I love them, I’m still giving this anime a 4/5 because they do still have a few characters who only exist for a running gag, like the Prime Minister and ex prime minister.

Fashions

For a show very centered on fashion and beauty being weapons and armor, Princess Jellyfish contains interesting and cute fashions, many of which I would even wear. While most of the best fashions are reserved for our golden boy Kuranosuke, when the Amars get makeovers, they look pretty dang amazing too. I’ve made a collage of all my favorite looks from the show below:

I think I will make a post soon trying to find ways to replicate some of these looks.

The hairstyles in this anime are also incredible. Most anime has the character have only one hairstyle the entire time, but this anime has huge variations and styles! I made a collage of the best hairstyles below:

I want to make a post attempting to recreate some of these.

Overall for fashion, 5/5. Well done, creators of Kuragehime, you’ve got me wanting to look like a perfect Tokyo street snap every day of my life.

OTHERS

-This anime cuts off rather abruptly and leaves a lot of loose ends, but you can read more in the manga.

-This anime focuses on some heavy topics like the death of a parent and social anxiety.

-The music in this anime is spot on and very emotionally appropriate.

OVERALL

I love this anime so much. This anime shaped my early teen years and high school, and Kuranosuke was my biggest inspiration to experiment with fashion, which was the biggest thing that brought me out of my shell of social anxiety. This anime to this day has a piece of my heart. 5/5!