This is going to be a non spoiler writeup for an anime I want to highlight because I think it deserves a lot more attention. From what I have seen online, this show is very underrated, underappreciated, and even misunderstood by some people who have completed it. These are my thoughts after finishing:

First lets point out that Fena is a really unique main character that I don't hear enough people talking about her when they talk about this show. Often I'll see these "princess protags" as female leads and we will either go in two directions. Either that of being a girly caring love interest for someone around her as she learns to become herself, or a daring tomboy not afraid to lead all the meek boys around her as she becomes the hero of her own story. Fena is both and neither. She is modest yet ambitious, a caring support yet speaks confident commands. She can learn from the boys around her as well as lead them. She earns her title "Pirate" and "Princess" throughout her story as she grows into both roles confidently and elegantly.

OK, now this anime goes for the triple threat; that is comedy, romance, and adventure. The weakest part for me would be the comedy, but i would still give its a win. Comedy is subjective I know, and the shojos ive seen tend to be lazy here and try to get a laugh by going down the slapstick route or exaggerated responses to everything. This show manages to thread the needle of those moments to stay pretty funny without turning ridiculous or making the show feel like its target audience went younger than it actually wanted to.

The romance probs landed the best and was my fav part of the show, mostly because of how unexpected and very adult and emotional and real it all felt. The romantic beats with Fena always hit and were directed well. Also Yukimaru was a great supporting lead, and even tho many epis lean heavily on the fact that this is a female protag romance anime, him and Shitan kept things from getting too soft for too long. And not just Fena' journey but Abel' too. (Abel bro, i feel for you, solidarity to the max) Our antag had a great motive and felt like an anti hero of his own story. And the ending scene crushed me..

But at its core Fena is an adventure story; most of our tale is told this way. It feels like shojo one piece as we sail on our journey, or like shojo golden kamuy as we search for our goal. And the whole cast is so much fun; everyone has a role and a job in the story and there are no wasted filler characters or side plots. The story moves from beginning, middle, to end without giving you detours or irrelevant characters to play games with your time. In a lot of ways this anime feels like a long movie. I was going to praise the show for this but after seeing responses to this anime online, I've come to conclude that this may have actually turned into a bad thing for most of the audience. Events happen quick and character actions move fast and there aren't any recaps or dialogue unpacking the plot for you. And because of the ending, this anime almost merits a second viewing bc the small details are hidden and left only for you to find after you know what you're looking for.

I seen many people reject the ending completely as written poorly or being unsatisfying and calling the anime bad bc of those feelings. Well.. without ruining it for others, I would tell those people to go back and rewatch the first few epis again and see if it all comes together better now that you know where you're going. bc the story felt very tight and smartly written to me, and I was captivated and very fulfilled with everything that happened during the last epi. Those feelings come both from what happened plotwise, and what happened romantically. As a whole, the mystery was dripped very well, the journey was so much fun, and the parts of the story where we are on the ship (which is most of it) made the anime feel like real pirate story. Are some parts incredible and fantastical? ya, its anime, that's kinda standard, at least in the anime I watch. And not seeing the twist coming made it better for me.

I cant go further without spoiling. Just know this was a beautiful, well told, tightly written, fun adventure story and imo the ending enhanced the anime and made the show as a whole very memorable. I personally cried and laugh and was in shock jaw on the floor many times along this journey. Music fits so well into the show and nails every single emotional beat. Totally recommend to any coming of age female or anyone who loves pirates tales or any treasure hunting adventure fans.