The group gets a bit of vacation since flying these things takes so much out of them.
What They Say:
After a series of physical exams indicate that Team Rabbits is in need of some R&R, they go on a short trip to a resort. Almost immediately upon coming back from the trip, they are ordered to attack a supply route.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Majestic Prince has been fairly underwhelming to say the least so far, at least outside of some welcome character and mecha designs and some decent action. The first two episodes haven’t had me really caring about the characters in the slightest or even feeling like the larger storyline itself is being laid out all that clearly in a way that works. The focus on the younger members of a specialized training forces is fairly typical material, but there’s just a weirdness about how it operates here. For example, the start of the third episode has everyone undergoing some medical exams since they’re high profile people now after recent events and that means girls freaking out over their weight and just general young men trying to be manly as they go through all the tests.
With that out of the way, thankfully quickly overall, everyone is moved on to their next mission and we again get that bit of clarity where these kids really aren’t well trained in discipline yet. On the positive side, we do get a look at some of their traits through the medical exam, with it being noted that they are top scorers in terms of survival abilities, but their time flying the mecha is leading to some strong emotional and physical stress and exhaustion. Because of this, the kids do get a bit of downtime to go out and relax, which you’d imagine would be a bit harder to do considering their recent celebrity. But just giving them the chance to return home, get out into the world a bit and breathe is a good thing overall as it gives them a chance to recharge through this mini vacation.
While most of the show goes in this direction, including some minor pool side time that was shorter than I expected when we looked like we’d be getting a full on vacation, episode, things do change in the second half with the introduction of Lt. Amane. She’s brought in for the new mission that the kids are assigned to where a strike against the enemy is being planned and there are some complications, especially with a solar storm, so various aspects of the equipment won’t always be functional, which leads to a pretty intense and tight maneuver that’s planned for such young pilots. There’s a decent bit of build up towards the mission, which takes a very short amount of time in the episode overall, especially since things go badly and it’s shunted off to the next episode. The main problem still stands for me here in that with three episodes, nobody has proven to be a standout character and it doesn’t feel like a good ensemble cast. It’s just so by the numbers without any real heart or passion to it.
In Summary:
Majestic Prince sort of just ambles on its way here, moving by inertia rather than any feeling of actual storyline or plot. I still can’t get behind any of the characters here as they’re barely one dimensional in a way with their interactions and personalities, enough so that I have to keep referencing a cheat sheet to remember their names since they’re so unmemorable overall. This episode spends a good part of its time on down time for the group as they’re worn after the first couple of missions and what’s involving in flying the mecha, but it does eventually cycle around to another mission, which bleeds into the next episode. The strong points are still here in terms of animation and character designs, but it’s still feeling pretty empty to me when it comes to character and plot.
Grade: C
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
