What to watch this Saturday morning on Netflix? A slice of life feel good story with a mature, even handed approach to social anxiety and alternative living sound just the thing? I’ve got two words for you: Princess. Jellyfish.
Princess Jellyfish first aired in Japan in late 2010. The series is directed by Takahiro Omori, who is famously known for his directorial work on series such as Hell Girl, Gakuen Alice, Baccanno! and Durarara!! (this guy has a thing for titles with exclamation points in their names).
This animated series is based off of the award winning “josei manga” series by Akiko Higashimura. If you don’t know what “josei manga” is, don’t feel too bad. I had to look it up too. Josei manga directly translates to “ladies’ comics” and is written with a target audience of mostly teenage to adult women in mind. This is as opposed to “shojo manga” which is more intended for preteen to teenage girls. But don’t think this means that it will not appeal to guys. There are those series of shojo and josei manga which are not at all dude-friendly. That is not the case here. Indeed, the more one watches, the more endearing the characters become to viewers of all sexes (ALL SEXES!).
The Jellyfish Princess in question here is our heroine, Tsukimi Kurashita. Tsukimi is just 18 years of age and an “otaku”. In this instance, otaku is used to mean “nerdy geeky outcast artist type person”, more or less. We learn that her profound love of jellyfish was fostered by her mother, who had tragically passed away. Her home is a women’s only shared apartment complex called “Amamizukan” and all of her housemates are fellow otaku. The ladies consider themselves to be nun-like and have a deep seated fear of “the stylish”, which is what they call pretty much anyone who is fashionable, cool, confident and/or not an otaku. This lends for some interesting interactions when out in public – that is, for the residents who even go out in public. One resident, Juon Mejiro, a successful “boys love” manga writer, is agoraphobic and never, ever leaves her room. She is seen by the others with great respect and they communicate with her via notes slipped under her door.
Our adventures begin when Tsukimi attempts to visit the jellyfish exhibit in the city but is unable to contain her anxiety at being around so many “stylish”. Retreating, she returns to a safe zone in the form of a pet store near Amamizukan to view her favorite spotted jellyfish, which she affectionately calls “Clara”. When she arrives, however, she finds that the clerk had tossed a moon jellyfish in with Clara; a development which could spell doom for any spotted jellyfish. The clerk is cold and unsympathetic to Tsukimi and shoves her out of the store. Which is when a “stylish” shows up and saves the day. This stylish persuades the clerk to gift Clara to Tsukimi and accompanies her to Amamizukan to take Clara home, eventually staying the night as a guest. But what Tsukimi doesn’t realize is that this beautiful young woman stylish is in fact a beautiful cross-dressing young man and she has just broken the cardinal rule of living at Amamizukan: bringing a man into the house!
This series grows on you with every episode until the final chapter, bringing it all together with a satisfying conclusion. Deeply moving, heartfelt and introspective, Princess Jellyfish is super stream-worthy and highly recommended!
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