Summer 2021 First Impressions – Fena: Pirate Princess

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Original

Episode Summary: Fena Houtman drifted ashore on a certain island many years ago. Orphaned and alone, her prospects were limited. About to make her debut as a sex worker, her unusual looks mark her as a particularly prized conquest and the highest bidder is a man known to be particularly indulgent of his libido. But this is all a part of Fena’s not-particularly-well-thought-out escape plan; passage on a ship off the island costs money, and money is difficult to come by for people like her unless they’re willing to manipulate from the hands of those who have it.

What Fena doesn’t realize is that her hazy past is about to come into sharp focus. She’s intercepted by two elderly men who she eventually recognizes younger and more svelte attendants from her childhood. Though their sense of direction is flawed they eventually manage to leave the confines of the city and head through the woods toward a waiting ship. But when a group of bandits attacks and attempts to kidnap Fena, she’s saved by a mysterious armored man. Could this man, whose dark eyes shine in spite of his helmet, possibly be Fena’s long-lost friend?

Impressions: On Twitter recently, I read a post lamenting the modern lack of shoujo-flavored action-adventure series. And I kind of agree; I recall when I was a fan in earlier days there was a fairly decent selection of anime series starring girls experiencing action (and often also romance) in various fantasy settings. The normal ebb and flow of genre popularity means that the shoujo anime we get now (when we get it at all) tends to be more grounded in reality or at least based in a more straightforward modern setting. More Fruits Basket and less Yona of the Dawn, I suppose you could say. I don’t always appreciate the tendency toward nostalgia in fandom, because it gives off the impression that the modern evolution of media is somehow lacking in some way rather than just differently-focused. But I do appreciate when a piece of media appears that seems to pay homage to older storytelling styles, because it serves as a reminder that these classic ways of expressing themes and stories can still be appealing.

Fena comes right out of the gate embodying the sort of anime that would have appealed to me in my older teenage years. Its heroine is spunky and funny, but she’s in a tough situation and lacking the resources to completely manage things on her own. Enter her former associates, at least one of whom appears to be a reasonably-attractive man and potential love-interest, as well as the broader implication that our heroine may be someone of status. I think as young people it’s fairly common to have dreams about escaping to some other place where our specialness will surely shine through. Its the sort of concept that’s become a bit warped in modern isekai storytelling, in which the blessings the hero receives are sort of a response to being asked to live and participate in real-life society and them not feeling like it (in the worst cases). Fena‘s expression of this broad trope feels rooted more in the character escaping an actually bad situation (one somewhat based on the historic lack of options for women to create independent lives for themselves). She’s not really escaping to another world so much as being allowed passage back into a part of the real world that brings with it the freedom she desires.

And to be honest, that’s kind of all there is to it. While I always enjoy a little dense weirdness in my anime, there’s also a certain amount of comfort to be had in anime that elects to be straightforward and fun. While there are a couple elements in this opening episode that might be enough to give some folks pause, I think overall it hearkens back to a sort of action-adventure that’s been sorely missing lately from our collective anime diet.

Pros: It’s always difficult to tell what you’re likely to get from a “Crunchyroll Original” anime production. Though one might expect a kind of flagship series from this label, I’m not sure we’d really want to apply that to something like “Ex-ARM.” In this case, however, the production values are really nice (including some especially pretty nighttime lighting/compositing work throughout the episode) and the animation quality is good.

Since so much of anime’s recent woes seem to boil down to an overflow of productions and a lack of resources to devote to them, leaving studios without the ability to plan ahead as much as is probably needed, I find it interesting that this series started so late in the Summer broadcast season. Did it have a more generous schedule to begin with, thus allowing Production I.G. a more reasonable amount of time to complete work on the series? I’m not sure we’ll ever know the exact details. But the first episode is very striking and looks great.

Cons: This episode definitely feels very “anime” in the sense that there are some moments of tonal whiplash that can detract from the overall mood, especially if you’re not used to those kinds of interjections. As Fena is being brought up to the man who’s purchased her, her saviors come crashing through a window. The scene then takes on a wacky hijinks kind of feeling which kind of obscures the seriousness of Fena’s predicament. It’s not the worst sin, especially since I don’t get the feeling that this show was ever meant to be especially serious. But it’s one of those storytelling approaches that can throw one off-balance.

Content Warnings: Violence, including blood, as well as some slapstick-style bumps and bruises. The plot features sex work as an unwilling necessity. Mild nudity.

Would I Watch More? – Yes, I’m looking forward to more. This series got a bit of a late start but it definitely starts off with a bang!