initiation
"An act that sets in motion some course of events."
pic Welcome to iHime Mikari's character fan site to Princess Violet, aka Vi, from Samurai Pizza Cats. There are spoilers all around and this is the only warning I'm going to give. I suggest reading the pages in order, especially you're new to this anime. Go on now, explore the site and have fun.
This site is best viewed with Firefox or Chrome. If you want the full effects "go eat a pizza pie" or if your browser supports Java Script, make the layout ignite.
Once you're done looking around here, visit my main site at AzureLight.net, my fansite collective at Genkigirl.net and my fanart and fanfics at Deviant Art and Fanart Central.
Special thanks to: Cherri, Snow, Shirley
information
"Knowledge acquired through study, experience or instruction."
This is the text intensive section of the site where I ramble about my favorite robot bunny princess... Who also happens to be the only robot bunny princess I know.
introduction
"A basic or elementary instructional text."
Things you should know if you're new to Samurai Pizza Cats.
idiom - Details that were lost in translation.
indeterminate - Are these creatures animals or robots?
infrastructure - A blend of historical Japan and modern day metropolis.
inhabitants - The characters of the series and their relation to Vi.
insight
"The deep perception of a situation."
This is where the more detailed Vi-centric content really begins.
identity - Basic information about Princess Violet.
inner - Details about the design and composition of the robo-bunny princess.
illuminated - Episodes that highlight Princess Vi.
illusive - The main characteristics of Vi.
island - The place to where she banishes those who provoke her fury.
interests - The things Vi does to amuse herself and pass the time.
intensity - There is no danger, there are only amusing adventures.
infuriating - She's known as the royal pain in the palace for a reason.
inertia - Her oddball father and often absent mother.
individuals - Further details about people unfortunate enough to put up with Vi.
innocent - Princess Violet's first crush, Speedy.
incompatible - Vi's unrequited love interest, Bad Bird.
inconclusive - The series finale and beyond.
irresistible - What makes this robo-bunny brat so strangely charming?
identical - Other characters similar to Vi.
idiom
"The usage or vocabulary that is characteristic of a specific group of people."
pic Samurai Pizza Cats, known in Japan as Kyattou Ninden Teyandee, is one of those series with a lot of differences between the Japanese and English scripts. For one thing, the main cats were not even samurai, they were ninja. Apparently, no transcripts were delivered along with the visuals and the translators decided to make due with what they could come up with. The result was a silly, funny show with a ton of pop culture references that are totally outdated by now.
The series doesn't pretend to be srs bsns; instead it makes fun of itself at every turn, breaks the forth wall and even alludes to the lack of transcripts in the opening theme song: "as soon as someone finds the script we might begin the show."
Because of all this, many fans see the two versions as different series, with the English one actually being funnier. In this site, I will be referring to the characters and places by their English names. Although when there are significant differences between the two versions of the series in terms of plot, I'll point it out.
indeterminate
"Of uncertain or ambiguous nature."
pic The place is the fictional city of Little Tokyo, the people are... not human at all. They're not exactly your average anthropomorphic animals either. The peculiar beings that inhabit the amusing world of Samurai Pizza Cats are a type of robot animals. They are not completely biological or completely robotic, but rather a combination of both.
While their joints, especially their fingers, are noticeably robotic, their faces appear to be just as soft and fuzzy as the faces of biological animals. Their peculiar clothing seems to mix actual fabric with metal parts that form suits of armor. These beings can change their attire by removing these spare parts, although there is enough of a biological touch in them so that they can't completely rebuilt themselves. It is also evident that they do grow and age.
pic They need to eat regular food and the titular characters of the show even run a pizza restaurant. Aside from that, they also require more technologically oriented methods of recharging their armor and have been known to obtain power from solar light and batteries. There is a distinct difference between these semi-biological creatures and actual robots. Robots often appear on the show used as mere weapons.
Their world holds a variety of animals in a place where humans appear to be non-existent. They don't always stick to dating their species, but somehow it all works out in the end. For example, the emperor is a panda bear with a rabbit queen and a rabbit daughter. Perhaps they are like pokémon in that the child takes after the mother.
pic The mechanical parts of the creatures of this world are not limited to armor. In one occasion, Jerry received a pair of robotic crow feet as a gift, which would be similar to getting a pair of shoes, except he would replace his feet instead. Spare bunny ears are also seen in Violet's room as she contemplates what outfit to wear one day. One of Bad Bird's wings was once ripped off and he didn't even notice it was gone until he saw the detached part, indicating that he felt no pain when it came off.
Yet when Polly gets her seemingly robotic cat tail stepped on in one occasion, she yelps in pain. The crows getting scratched by Polly and speedy and Guido being attacked by Lucille's missiles also induce pain. Given all that, it is at times hard to tell what parts are detachable and which are not so easily replaced. Though there is no real official guide, that's part of what makes this show hilariously original, it's odd, it's silly and that's how it's supposed to be.
If you want to put a more serious science fiction twist on things, we could interpret this as a post-apocalyptic world were humans are either extinct or have abandoned the planet; thus leaving animals to merge with technology and build a new world.
infrastructure
"The basic structure or features of a system or organization."
pic Little Tokyo, the main city where the series takes place, is a modern day monarchy with a few elements that resemble historical Japan thrown into a present day metropolis. The are skyscrappers and highways, but also bare dirt streets and classic Japanese style buildings. There are TVs, video phones, mechas and on one occasion a game system that closely resembles a Nintendo was seen. A jet also makes an appearance along with a variety of technological devices, yet ships are similar in style to Viking ships and move propelled by wind sails. The royal family symbol resembles a bio-hazard sign, but it's actually based on the Tokugawa symbol.
pic The most prominent features of the city are the palace that towers over all the other buildings and the Samurai Pizza Cats' restaurant. The restaurant has a pistol-shaped cannon on top, which is used to fire the main heroes into action. This is their primary mode of transportation, which swiftly sends the cats to the location of their next adventure, granted that it is within range.
As for the cats in question, the three main characters, Speedy, Guido and Polly, work at the pizza parlor, and don suits of armor to defend the city as super heroes when they are needed. Though they change their attire, they still stick to the same colors and they generally keep their helmets on all the time, making their identities pretty obvious. Plus there's the fact that Francine, the restaurant's manager, always makes announcements via the P.A. megaphone attached to the restaurant when the Pizza Cats are about to launch. The cannon is also used for deliveries, not just super hero emergencies.
pic Yet even with all of that, the main villain, known as the Big Cheese, sometimes seems to be ignorant about the obvious connection between the restaurant and the heroes. The tricky fox is the prime minister and part of the royal council. He often steals from the treasury to fund his evil plans, which often include constructing new robots. Even though Al Dente, another council member knows about Cheese's attempts to take over the city, the fox remains with his position as prime minister until the final episode.
The council, lead by Princess Vi, takes care of the most important choices in regards to ruling the city, albeit it usually turns into a debate between the faithful Al and the traitorous Cheese. Emperor Fred is insane and doesn't have much participation in decision making, while Vi is spoiled and easily distracted.
inhabitants
"A person who inhabits a particular place."
pic Speedy Cerviche (Yattaro): The white armored leader of the Samurai Pizza Cats. He's eager, energetic and doesn't take things too seriously. He and Guido both have a crush on Lucille for most of the series. As the main character, he gets to be the hero in almost every episode, destroying the evil robot of the day with his cat's eye slash sword technique. Vi had a crush on him during the beginning of the series.
Polly Esther (Pururun): The red armored heroine of the main trio and one of the several temperamental females that populate this hilarious anime. She can play the flute, make great pizza and put up quite the fight. She's willing to protect the princess when needed as per her duty, but they don't really interact much.
Guido Anchivy (Sukashi): The resident Brock of the series. He wears blue armor, carries a parasol and falls in love with most pretty girls that cross his path, regardless of their species. Ironically, this isn't the case with Vi, most likely because even Guido knows when to set limits. He probably fears Vi's fierce temper and possessiveness should he be unfortunate enough to become the object of her affection.
pic Francine (Otama): Another cat who is the manager of the pizza restaurant. She also handles the communication with Al, the Pizza Cats and the Rescue Team. Her interaction with Vi is basically nothing.
Rescue Team: A team of four cats that back up the Pizza Cats when needed. General Catton, whose main weapons are cannons. Bat Cat, who has bat wings and can fly. Meowzma, who is equipped with drills to tunnel through the ground. Spritz T. Cat... just imagine a Meowth with a whole bunch of water moves. They are minor characters that don't really interact significantly with the princess.
pic Lucille (Omitsu): A soft spoken and emotional sheep who runs a tea house. Despite being kind, when she gets too emotional she shoots heat seeking missiles from her hair. Vi meets her while out on an undercover excursion blending in with the peasant crowd to attend a festival in town.
pic Big Al Dente (Inuyama): Vi's most trusted advisor, even if she might not acknowledge him as such. The loyal dog is always on the look out for Cheese's next scheme and calls the Pizza Cats when he perceives that a plot is afoot. He guards the city's well being as best he can, despite having to deal with an incompetent emperor, a traitorous prime minister and a spoiled princess. Vi trusts him for the most part, though her carefree fun loving ways might sometimes lead them to disagree.
pic Seymour Big Cheese (Kitsunezuka): A member of the royal council and prime minister of Little Tokyo, whose rank is above Big Al, though his intellect is certainly not. A hilarious dumb villain fox with a literally explosive temper. He tries to act nice for the princess and, along with Al, interacts with her the most often. Until the very end of the series, Vi remained ignorant to his evil doings.
Jerry Atric (Karasu): Cheese's crow sidekick and often ignored voice of reason. He generally remains in the shadows and doesn't interact much with Vi. He's the elder of the Ninja Crows, Cheese's army of baddies.
pic Bad Bird (Karamaru): The acting leader and top ranked Ninja Crow. Vi gets a love at first sight crush on him and actively pursues him during all their encounters from that point on. He makes it clear he's not interested in her, but she doesn't care and is content to tie him up and drag him away if given the opportunity.
pic Fred (Iei Iei Tokugawa): Vi's panda father, the insane emperor of Little Tokyo who speaks very little, usually in nonsensical rambles repeating his name. He's nothing but a figurehead and everybody knows that.
Freda: Vi's rabbit mother, after whom she picks. She spends most of her time traveling around and enjoying her husband's fortune, only dropping by to visit on rare occasions. Despite her absence, Vi deeply cares about her mom.
pic Fernando: A professional baseball player whom Vi briefly shows an interest on. He kind of looks like a coyote. Anyway, he was being brainwashed the whole time and in the end didn't even remember meeting Vi. He only appeared in one episode and she disregarded him pretty quickly after falling in love with Bad Bird on that same episode, which I will discuss in detail in the illuminated page.
pic Vi's Maid: Despite being a constant part of Vi's life, very little is known about this kangaroo minor character. Overall, she gets bossed around by the princess as she endeavors in the near impossible task of pleasing her often shifting whims.
pic Carla (Okara): Bad Bird's childhood sweetheart who now works as a circus clown. She and Vi never meet and the love triangle remains a secret to her.
Others: There are more minor characters, such as Guru Lou and the Rude Noise crows, but they are very minor and not significant to the main subject of this site, so I'll just leave it at that. I'll have more details about Vi's relationships with the most prominent characters in her life in the insight section.
identity
"The individual characteristics by which a thing or person is recognized or known."
pic English Name: Princess Violet, aka Princess Vi
Japanese Name: Usako Tokugawa, aka Usa Hime
Vi is the unofficial ruler of Little Tokyo, known in Japan as Edopolis. She isn't too fond of her royal duties and studies, preferring to spend her time amusing herself instead. Used to having everything she wants handed to her on a silver platter, Vi isn't one to take no for an answer.
pic Revealed to be eighteen years old in the English version, Vi lives in the palace with her father, the council and servants. Her room at the top of the palace is decorated with comfy cushions and carrot pictures. She has a kangaroo maid that tends to her needs and gets yelled at a lot, sometimes even becoming the target of flying furniture during Vi's worse temper tantrums.
When someone particularly angers her, she has no qualms about exiling them. Vi has little consideration for feelings aside from her own, though she is more so spoiled rather than malicious. Born and raised in abundance, she doesn't seem to be aware of the consequences of her actions beyond what affects her directly in the immediate future. She expects special treatment because she's a princess, to the point where it takes a lot for her to acknowledge obvious danger.
inner
"Inside or closer to the inside of the body."
pic Though the specifics of the inner workings of the semi-robotic animal species that populate Little Tokyo remain a mystery, let us examine princess Vi's design.
Vi is a white rabbit with red eyes, short orange hair and a bit of blue on the top of her ears. Though she has never been shown without her ears, the presence of rabbit ears in her room hints that it may be possible to remove them. Her short orange hair has a helmet like shape in the back and two cylinder locks on the sides. Only the two short bangs that rest on her forehead had been shown to have movement. Hence we can conclude that the rest of her hair is just as metallic as it looks.
pic Vi has never been seen with different hair. Yet Francine switched between shoulder length and waist length hair in the span of an episode. Plus Lucille changed her clearly metallic hair for a seemingly missile-less style on one occasion. Thus we can theorize that Vi is probably able to switch her hair should she so wish it. In one occasion she is shown wearing a Megaman style helmet while swimming.
pic Vi has a short round bunny tail, which is rarely seen, as she usually wears a kimono that covers it. Her tail is visible when she is in her movie director outfit. Aside from the usual blue armored kimono, Vi also wore a red Kimono which is equipped with a jet pack in the bow. Despite using it to fly, she later seems distraught in the same episode when Bad Bird runs away from her and climbs a structure reminiscent of Tokyo Tower, as she is unable to reach him up there. But hey, those little contradictions and plot holes are all part of what makes a crackish anime so hilariously crackish.
pic Rabbits are seen as a symbol of innocence and spring, which is associated to the Easter Rabbit. Princess' Vi's usual blue kimono has pictures of crescent moons. This is most likely a reference to the Japanese legend that rabbits live on the moon where they make rice balls. In many parts of the world rabbits are considered to be good luck (albeit there are also legends of the opposite, they are fewer). This also fits with Vi's character, as luck seems to be on her side, even if that luck is created by her protectors rather than being purely coincidental.
illuminated
"Provided with artificial light."
As a supporting character, Vi doesn't play a big role in most episodes. There are only a few episodes featuring her, which I will summarize in this page. Behold as the supporting character becomes the protagonist, for a little while at least.
Let the Cellar Beware (Exploration! Amusement Park for a Tomboy Princess)
pic There are rumors going around that the palace is haunted, though Al thinks it's Cheese up to no good. Bored, Princess Vi decides to have a look. Speedy had just delivered a pizza to Seymour and decided to investigate. Vi finds him and drags him in an adventure exploring the odd constructions hidden in the palace.
While Vi is amused by the whole ordeal, Speedy protects her from Cheese's robot of the day and with some help from Polly, Guido and Bat Cat, the robot is defeated. Cheese is confronted by the princess, but he claims he was only trying to build an amusement park in the palace to entertain her and is promptly excused.
Double Trouble for Princess Vi (The Princess is Excited! Everyone is worried!)
pic Vi decides to go out among peasants disguised with glasses to attend a festival in the city. During her exploration of the town, she befriends Lucille and they hang out. All the while the ninja crows are after the princess and the Pizza Cats must protect her. While Vi remains unaware of the danger that was lurking in the shadows, her day ends peacefully and she is escorted back to the palace.
Field of Screwballs (Courtship, Courtship A Baseball Challenge)
pic In the English version Vi demolishes the forth wall and demands her own cartoon. Though the Japanese version is more about her wish for some romance in her life after seeing so many happy couples around the city. Among those she saw there was Speedy carrying a mountain of boxes for Lucille, which made Vi pretty jealous.
The auditions for courtship, or for her own TV series, take place with Cheese sending a famous baseball player, Fernando, to compete, being mind controlled by a cap into following Cheese's orders. Vi immediately takes a liking to Fernando, but Al is suspicious and calls the Pizza Cats. Their arrival ends up with Vi setting up Speedy to compete against Fernando in a game of baseball.
In the end, the Pizza Cats triumph and free Fernando from the mind control. As for Vi, she has fallen in love at first sight with Bad Bird, who had been keeping an eye on the situation while posing as a snack vendor.
Big Cheese Shows His Filmy Substance (Crash! Who is the Star of the Movie?)
pic Vi wants to film a movie and holds auditions that Cheese, the Pizza Cats and many others compete at. Vi doesn't get a whole lot of character development in this episode, but she gets enough screen time for me to include it in this page. This is also one of the few occasions when she is seen with a different outfit, which includes pants instead of her usual kimono. In the end, Vi directs and plays the hero in a parody of Godzilla.
All You Need is Love (Karamaru in Pain! A Ninja's Love)
pic Seymour tries to marry Vi for power. He uses a cupid robot that can shoot arrows with pictures attached, making the one the arrow hits fall in love with the person in the picture. However, the arrows always end up missing Vi. She eventually spots Bad Bird and chases after him, but becomes sidetracked after he hides near a circus, where she is entertained by the show. This is also the episode in which Bad Bird is reunited with Carla, who works as a clown in the circus, though he chooses to once more leave her to tend to his ninja mission against the Pizza Cats.
Unidentified Flying Oddballs (UFO!? Nyankii vs Aliens)
pic Aliens invade little Tokyo, albeit predictably it turns out to be another of Cheese's schemes. The so called aliens, which are ninja crows in disguise, kidnap princess Vi. Though she makes a fuss at first, she soon becomes amused playing cards with her alien guard, whom she doesn't realize is Bad Bird in disguise.
Albeit Bad Bird suspects cheating, Vi claims he's just a bad card player and after he loses his money, he ends up betting his space suit, without which his identity will be revealed. However, the Pizza Cats arrive to save the princess before then. She is reluctant to leave until she wins the whole space suit, but they talk her into it and with the promise of an amusing flight home, she is finally rescued.
Princess Vi's Hippy-Dippy Mom (Touching! Mother Returns Home)
pic This episode is perhaps the one that provides the most insight in Vi's character, with the visit of her fun-loving mother whom she heavily picks after. Called Freda in the English version, the empress is cheerful, casual and carefree. It is said that she left five years ago, which would mean Vi was thirteen at the time.
Freda had brought gifts for several of her palace friends, but forgot to get something for Vi. While waiting for her gift as her mother looked through her luggage, Vi saw a jewel and assumed that was her present. The jewel, which Freda didn't even remember buying, was in fact a power source that Cheese needed for his latest plot.
pic Freda and Vi hung out around the city with the Pizza Cats as their bodyguards while the Ninja Crows tried to recover the jewel. They even offered to trade Bad Bird for it, though Vi decided to keep both her crush and the jewel.
Thus the day was spent with the Pizza Cats protecting the empress and princess, while Bad Bird made continuous attempts to escape being forced to marry Vi. In the end, Bad Bird managed to escape, Cheese's plot was foiled again and Freda left on another trip around the world.
illusive
"Based on or having the nature of an illusion."
pic What makes a fairytale princess? Virtue and beauty, some would say. Then what makes a bratty princess?
Self-centered: Every minute of every hour, Vi has one thing on her mind, what she wants. She doesn't acknowledge much else.
Selfish: As long as she's happy, the rest of the world can fall apart.
pic Inconsiderate: She doesn't care who she needs to kick around to get what she wants.
Thoughtless: She doesn't often think of the consequences of her actions or acknowledge much beyond the here and now.
Temperamental: Even the smallest details make her blow her temper, which leads to yelling, thrown objects and in many cases, exiled subjects.
pic Optimistic: With a life of luxury and an army of servants, who wouldn't be cheerful? Besides, given that things mostly do work out in her favor, she has a good reason for her optimism.
Innocent: Despite being a brat, she has no true malice and only wishes for happiness and amusement for herself, rather than pain and suffering for others. Though she still inflicts it, to her it's all justified self-defense. This can be seen in how easily she forgets about those who have been exiled and remains unaware about the truth of Prisoner Island, which I'll discuss in the island page.
island
"A land mass, smaller than a continent, that is surrounded by water."
pic Prisoner Island is an apparently deserted island that from the shores of Little Tokyo looks dark and dreary with a skull shaped mountain in the middle. The architect who constructed the palace was banished there after having accidentally won a video game against the princess.
The opposite side of Prisoner Island is a tropical paradise full of beach-going tourists and festivities. It even has a statue of princess Vi to commemorate being exiled to the island. Of course, Vi has no idea about the secret that Prisoner Island hides and it's best that she never finds out, or she'll surely throw the temper tantrum of the century.
pic Sheltered and selfish as she is, Vi is the image of self-centeredness. Even something small makes her blow her temper and exile people. She doesn't seem to think much about the implications of being exiled to a supposedly deadly island. If it ever occurs to her what it might mean, it doesn't matter anyway because she's the princess and anyone who angers her needs to be punished, so she's not doing anything wrong by banishing traitors.
pic On one occasion Vi even banishes Speedy and Fred after Fred ruined the pizza Speedy was sent to deliver to her. Although she sent them to China, a storm caused a shipwreck which left them stranded on an island, possibly Extras Island. In that occasion, Vi did feel some remorse and later set out to search for her lost father and pizza delivery boy in hopes of safely taking them back to Little Tokyo.
interests
"A diversion that occupies one's time and thoughts."
pic Vi's biggest concern in life is how to amuse herself next. She has been shown to have a liking for amusement park style rides and has been seen watching movies and playing video games for entertainment. She also enjoys going shopping and, being a spoiled princess, she probably gets as many movies, games, clothes, jewelry and spare parts as she wants, so she's not really short on entertainment.
pic When she wants something different there's always the possibility of doing something out of the ordinary such as filming her own movie playing the role of both director and star, or organizing a martial arts tournament. To summarize, Vi's interests center around anything that amuses her.
She is apparently good at playing cards as shown in an episode where she continuously wins against a disguised Bad Bird. He claims she's cheating, she claims he's just a bad player. Which is true? Since Vi doesn't take kindly to losing and would banish anyone who dares to beat her at anything, I don't think anyone would be willing to seriously try to beat her at a game of cards. The occasion in question is an exception, as Bad Bird was losing parts of his disguise to her, without which his identity would have been exposed.
pic Given the lack of a serious challenge, one might think that Vi wouldn't have the opportunity to become good at playing cards. Yet for the same reason she would have no necessity to cheat. Though it is only a small detail, this does tell us something about Vi's character. I honestly can't picture her cheating. She's the princess and expects everything to go well for her, thus she doesn't need to cheat, she just needs to play and she'll win because she's the princess. I thus conclude that Bad Bird really is a bad card player.
Furthermore, this shows that though Vi is a tricky brat willing to lie to get her way, such as when she accepted to trade a jewel for Bad Bird and kept them both. Yet because she is confident that everything will go how she wants, she doesn't go out of her way to cheat and probably wouldn't trick anyone who is not particularly gullible or concerned with her high rank and the forces that back it.
intensity
"High level or degree; the property of being intense."
pic If we're going to look at this aspect in a positive light, we can say that Vi is very brave. However, the truth is that she's not as brave as she is unaware of danger. She is very sheltered and believes everything will always work out in her favor. For example, when she explores the palace along with Speedy, concerning the rumors of it being haunted, Speedy is attacked by Cheese's robot and Vi orders it to let him go. She shows no concern for the danger of confronting a strong opponent, just as she showed no fear to being caught on the various traps laid out throughout the area. To her this wasn't a problem, it was an adventure and she enjoyed it as one would enjoy a ride at a theme park.
pic It actually makes me feel identified with Vi, in that I also enjoy a little chaos in my life and I can watch the world fall apart with a smile as long as none of the pieces fall on my head. The only difference is that I'm aware that they could, while Vi remains in a blissful optimistic mind-frame where nothing can go wrong that affects her. Given the fact that she has such able protectors keeping an eye on her, it'll probably be a long time before she learns to acknowledge danger.
This does not mean that she is defenseless. Vi actually knows the basics of combat. Yet her inability to identify a potentially dangerous situation right in front of her face, made it so that she only ever showed her true ability once while sparring with her mother.
Taking all of this into consideration, though given how protected she is it is unlikely, if she ever did get hurt, a massive temper tantrum combined with her basic combat skills should be enough to get her out of a jam. Most likely, she would react with anger rather than fear if her sheltered bubble was ever broken. Then she can go back to disregarding what she doesn't like after the immediate peril has passed.
infuriating
"Extremely annoying or displeasing."
pic Vi is a brat, but she's not really malicious. She sends people off to what might be their certain doom if her perception of Prisoner Island was true, but she doesn't really think that far. She's only perceptive of her own feelings and completely lacks in empathy, thus not understanding that the other living beings of the world have their own dreams and wishes too. The only exception to this rule might be her mother, whom Vi admires. With a personality as upbeat and strong as Freda, it's hard not to admire her for both her positive cheer and her not so nice cunning ways. To put it simply, Freda is very cool.
pic Back to the main subject in all of this, as I was saying, Violet is extremely self-centered and as long as she's happy, the world is all good. She doesn't regard Fred too much, though wanting him to return after banishing him does prove that she has some sort of attachment to him. Insane and stupid as he may be, Fred is still her father and he has given her no truly significant reasons to dislike him. He's incompetent and nonsensical, but that's not really his fault, and he can be somewhat passable company at times.
pic In every way, Vi is a spoiled and sheltered child, who is easily amused and set in a lifestyle where her personal bubble is not easily broken. That's also what makes her character so endearing. She's inconsiderate and bratty, yet the roots of that, even if it might sound like a contradiction, lay in her innocent perception of the world where disaster never befalls the princess.
inertia
"The tendency of a body to maintain is state of rest or uniform motion unless acted upon by an external force."
pic Despite being insane and speaking mostly in random gibberish, Emperor Fred is still kept as the official ruler of Little Tokyo, even if he is only a figurehead. The panda has a liking for Japanese fans, a big appetite and can light up the flashlight on his head. Due to being basically unaware of anything going on in the world of the sane, he doesn't hold much influence towards his daughter, whom her maid and Al keep an eye on. As the maid is mostly there for Vi to push her around, Al is left as the most influential figure in her life after her mother leaves. Basically, her father's days are mainly about rest and relaxation in Lala-land, while her mother constantly moves all over the world without stopping in a single place for too long.
pic Vi's mom, Freda, shares not only the same species and very similar looks with her daughter, but their overall attitude is very much alike. Freda is more aware of the real world, though just as cheerful and carefree in the surface. Unlike her daughter, the empress, who was very likely a peasant before her marriage, gives off the impression of having street smarts and cunning. She even blatantly admits having married Fred for his money.
pic She has a sporty look and is very agile. Freda is well versed in combat with bazookas and explosives that she apparently carries in her backpack, which has been shown to hold a lot more than what should logically fit in it. She's the one who taught Vi her self-defense. She calls her daughter "snuggle bunny" upon their reunion. If there's a life lesson that Vi has learned from her mom, it's to stand up for herself, though given her selfishness, perhaps she learned it a little too well.
Though Freda had been absent for years, Vi clearly admires her. It's true that she married Fred for the glamorous life of a queen, but while she does enjoy it, she also remains true to herself wearing comfortable clothing, a tank-top, shorts and sneakers, and preferring sporty head and wrist bands over jewelry. Her attitude is also very casual and friendly, albeit still a little bossy and eccentric, especially when it comes to spoiling her daughter.
pic I think she does care for Vi, even if she has her own life to live and she intends to live it. She stayed long enough during Vi's earlier years, taught her self-defense and, leaving her daughter in riches, she went off knowing that Violet would be safe and happy. Freda also seems to share a friendship with Al, which most likely further reassured her that her daughter would be taken care of in her absence.
Freda and Vi are both very "take charge" characters willing to fight, and even fight dirty, for what they want. The empress seems to think that the end justifies the means, as proven when she tries to help Vi force Bad Bird to marry her. It didn't matter if the crow was clearly opposed to the idea, if it made Vi happy, that's all that Freda needed to know.
pic Both Freda and Vi are spoiled, with Vi additionally being sheltered. However, even if they say that when too people are too much alike they clash, the mother and daughter dynamics of this peculiar duo work well on the basis that they each respect each other's wishes. Freda is willing to spoil her daughter and even if Vi wanted her mother to stay in the city, she didn't throw a temper tantrum when Freda announced she was leaving.
This also highlights the main differences between mother and daughter. While they share similar personalities, minus the screaming temper tantrums in Freda's case, the empress is a free spirit who isn't really the type to settle down, even after having a family, while the princess is a spoiled girl who prefers to be surrounded by servants. They're both strong, whimsical and carefree, though clearly the mother is much more independent and self sufficient than the daughter.
individuals
"Separate and distinct from others of the same kind."
pic Palace Workers: Vi's servants know its best not to mess with her. They try their best to keep her ever changing whims pleased as well as they can. This especially applies to her maid, who only plays a very minor background role consisting mainly of being bossed around and yelled at by the princess, plus occasionally having things thrown at her.
pic Big Al Dente: Big Al is usually the one to take charge and try to set things right when Cheese is up to no good. While he still gets his share of being yelled at, he's the one with the second best chance, after Freda, to get Vi to listen. Of course, his chances are far less than Freda's and he has to resort to eloquently phrased requests and round about approaches at times. Al doesn't get nor expect much appreciation or gratitude from Vi, but it's thanks to him and his alliance with the Pizza Cats that the city kingdom of Little Tokyo is kept running somewhat smoothly.
pic Seymour Big Cheese: Seymour acts like a conniving hypocrite to Vi, posing as her loyal prime minister, although he takes advantage of his position and tries to take over the city every chance he gets. Vi isn't too fond of him, but mostly thinks of him as strange and doesn't dislike him enough to fire him right away.
pic Lucille: Playing peasant to explore a festival in town, Vi meets Lucille and the two get along fairly well. Lucille is a kind girl who gets along with almost everyone, though she is rather sensitive. This is not in the same quick-tempered way as Vi, but rather, Lucille's feelings are easily moved, which causes the missiles stored in her hair to be launched. However, her day with Vi turns out to be relatively calm. While Lucille is distracted watching some fireworks, the Pizza Cats coax Vi to return home. Vi doesn't really interact much with Lucille after that. It is probably for the best, as the spoiled princess would probably be angry if she saw Speedy and Guido giving Lucille more attention than her.
Pizza Cats: Aside from Speedy, Vi doesn't interact much with the others, though they are willing to do their duty and protect her.
innocent
"A person who lacks knowledge of evil."
pic During the start of the series, Vi shows to have a liking for Speedy. She doesn't adamantly pursue him as she does with Bad Bird later, but she does lightly flirt with him. This isn't a serious crush; Vi just thinks he's cute.
Speedy takes her light innocent flirting as exactly that, though humoring her is still somewhat troublesome. He does his duty protecting her whenever the situation demands it and nothing more. She's the princess, he's the main hero of the show and that's all there is to it. His feelings during most of the series are centered around Lucille and later Polly.
pic They make a cute couple, but as cute as the characters are they practically all make cute couples. That aside, I don't think it would have worked out due to a lack of real interest on both parts. Speedy had his crush on Lucille at the time, which had him head over heels. Vi wasn't particularly insistent in pursuing him, proving that her interest didn't run too deep. Given how stubborn she is about small whims, this goes to show just how small a whim her little crush on Speedy was.
Her crush ended when Vi realized Speedy's feelings for Lucille and wanted a boyfriend of her own. That issue was addressed with auditions and a game of baseball. In the end, her affections went to neither Speedy nor Fernando, for Vi had fallen in love with Bad Bird.
incompatible
"Not easy to combine harmoniously."
pic Vi fell in love with Bad Bird from the second she saw him disguised as a snack vendor during a baseball game. Ever since then, she aggressively pursued him every time she saw him and on several occasions attempted to force him to marry her. Bad Bird constantly protests to her forceful affections, but Vi ignores him and continues her quest to capture him.
We're talking about a rabbit and a crow, but in that world stranger species combinations have been seen, including Vi's own panda and rabbit parents. Given the fact that Vi and Bad Bird had not had any real interaction when she fell for him, it can be deduced that her attraction is purely physical. It's hard to tell just how handsome Bad Bird is from a human's perspective. If you ask me, they're all adorably cute, but apparently, by the show's standard's Bad Bird is pretty handsome.
pic Undeniably he has a dark and mysterious aura around him and Vi, being a sheltered girl might be attracted to that; he's different, he awakens her curiosity. Vi has made remarks about his "kind eyes" and Bad Bird has proven that he does have a kind side, though that is surprisingly perceptive of Vi to note.
Unfortunately for Vi, Bad Bird already had someone, his childhood sweetheart Carla. Though he left her and they remained apart for a long time, it's evident that he still had feelings for her. In the final episode, Bad Bird was reunited with Carla and they became a couple. Vi was not a witness to this, thus her reaction to it remained unseen at the end of the series. Personally, I would have preferred Bad Bird to remain single, in an open ending in which he is still available for Vi to chase after indefinitely.
pic Although I have nothing against Carla, her character received basically no development. She's just the gentle childhood honey who has remained loyal throughout their years of separation. Sweet as it may sound, it is a rather plain story. Plus the lack of participation from Carla in the overall series doesn't make her an appealing match for a main character. Maybe it's just me, but I generally don't like it when main characters are paired with minor characters that don't even reach the rank of supporting cast. This would have worked out much better if Carla had actual character development and more of a prominent personality to match the craziness of the show.
inconclusive
"Not putting an end to doubt or question."
pic Although there is an extra clip show episode afterwards, plot-wise, the end of the series is The Big Comet Caper two part finale. Vi discovers Seymour has been stealing from the treasury and fires him. In his final attempt at taking over the city he alters the course of a comet, setting it to crash with Little Tokyo if he's not made emperor, though he ends up losing control.
As a supporting character, Vi doesn't play a big role in the ending, which focuses mainly on rivals Speedy and Bad Bird. They join forces and journey to space in the show's ultimate mecha, the Supreme Catatonic, to stop the comet. After successfully stopping the comet menace, Speedy and Bad Bird return to Little Tokyo and are reunited with their loved ones. Speedy confesses his feelings for Polly, who had realized her feelings for him after fearing for his death. Bad Bird returns to Carla, whom he had promised to marry after his final mission, and they open a pizza restaurant of their own. The Ninja Crows reform, but Cheese and Jerry make their escape and are last seen sailing away.
pic Not all was saved, as the storm caused by the approaching comet wrecked all the buildings in Little Tokyo, leaving the city in ruins. Yet the people's spirits are still merry, as they at least survived without significant injuries. Go figure how that happened despite the buildings being destroyed. Vi is last seen on top of a makeshift wooden castle with her parents and Al. Apparently, Freda rushed home at some point soon after hearing about the comet incident, most likely to check on Vi's well being and help keep things under control during the reconstruction of the city.
That's as far as the series goes, which leaves us wondering about several things. How will Vi handle the state in which Little Tokyo was left? She loves shopping and luxury, but when she fired Cheese she mentioned that there wasn't enough money in the treasury to buy an ice-cream cone, plus the palace was destroyed anyway. In spite of that, when we last see Vi, she seems to be amused watching the rebuilding process. Her amusement is bound to run out eventually, when she realizes that it'll take a while for her luxuries to be restored. Yet with Freda back in the city and Al and the Pizza Cats near by, they'll probably find ways to entertain her and make the situation as bearable as possible until the kingdom recovers.
pic The other big question is: what will Vi do when she finds out about Bad Bird and Carla? Vi got over her crush on Speedy easily enough, though she still occasionally flirted with him, but she didn't pursue him as insistently as with Bad Bird to begin with. She wanted to marry Bad Bird, even against his will, and wouldn't like to find out he already has someone else. Though it is only a theory, Vi will probably throw a big tantrum and exile them both, though they might return to the city without her knowledge. Vi tends to disregard people who she has exiled, as if they ceased to exist, but her crush on Bad Bird was pretty big. This means there might be a lasting temper tantrum to follow, at least until she can find someone else to obsess over.
irresistible
"Impossible to resist; overpowering."
pic It is because of her many negative qualities and very few positive traits that Vi is such a charming character. She's obviously comic relief, albeit then again, practically every character in this anime is. She's over the top, temperamental and is more easily angered than the other two er... most strong willed females of the show.
Yet the way everything works out relatively well for her and her every wish is handed to her on a silver platter, preserves her child-like innocence that gives her a rarely noticed sweet side. She's selfish, not evil, because she doesn't fully comprehend what evil is and as long as she's protected, she doesn't need to.
pic Vi represents a sheltered life style. Not ideal by virtue or social correctness, but ideal in terms of happiness. To have everything you want handed to you on a silver platter, to live in a world where you don't know what danger and malice really mean, that's an unrealistic yet blissful existence. It's the secret wish of many and the not so secret wish of even more.
On the other hand, if everything is granted, then it is difficult to appreciate its worth. Yet that acknowledgement of the worth of people and things comes at the cost of letting go of one's childish innocence and realizing that not everything is granted and everlasting. Whether it's worth it or not, and which is the greater happiness, that is for each person to determine for themselves, as the journey towards the conclusion is vital for the answer.
Even if, like most people, I too had to eventually awaken to the world, the carefree bliss of a childhood extended into adolescence is still a fond memory. In all truth, I rather be a princess who realized she's a peasant playing princess, then to never be a princess at all.
pic Although it commonly happens in such cases, it doesn't necessarily take a hard hit from life to cure a brat. A gentle transition can occur, which creates, perhaps rather than a capable balanced person, a capable brat. One who is still just as spoiled as ever, but perfectly capable of spoiling themselves rather than being dependant on others. If Little Tokyo's rebuilding goes quick, smooth and successful, Vi can go back to her usual ways. But if it doesn't, I think that will be the result.
Maybe she won't be as street smart as Freda, at least not right away. Yet Vi, despite being overprotected, has a strong enough spirit to be independent if the situation demands it. She has the whims to want a lot and the will to obtain it. Perhaps Freda reflects Vi's future more closely than we know. A carefree person with a knack for getting what she wants and a soft spot reserved for the select few who are precious in her eyes.
identical
"Exactly alike; incapable of being perceived as different."
Maybe they're not exactly alike, (is anything ever?), but close enough...
pic Lina Inverse (Slayers): Lina and Vi are both loud mouth redheads with explosive tempers and similar facial expressions. They both have selfish, self-centered and impatient personalities. They're stubborn and generally won't take no for an answer. Plus if anyone wants them to do anything, there better be a good reward involved. While Vi sends those who anger her to Prisoner Island, Lina is known for her use of attack magic spells such as Fireball and the ultra destructive Dragon Slave. The main difference in their personality is that Vi is sheltered, while Lina is well traveled and very perceptive of the world around her, even if it might not seem so at first glance.
pic Angelica Pickles (Rugrats): They might not look alike, but they certainly act alike. Angelica is another selfish brat who gets whatever she wants. She may not have an island to banish those who bother her, but she would certainly use it if she had it, and she would enjoy it too. Their main difference is that Angelica's family doesn't want her to be rotten, even if they spoil her until she is, while Vi's family doesn't seem to mind that the princess is a brat.