How far will you go to get the perfect night's sleep? For many, comedy can be very subjective, especially depending on the execution. Some shows rely on constant violence and slapstick, which can work with good timing, but can get very old very fast. Other shows rely on rehashing the same joke over and over, or dragging the joke out for longer than it needs to. Sometimes, you can get equally fun comedy out of characters bouncing off each other and getting into mischief. Usage of animation techniques such as sight gags or jump cuts can also work wonders, but only with a deft hand. I've never personally been big on comedy shows, and oftentimes, anime in particular, or at least the ones I know of personally, tend to reuse the same jokes and gags, even outright dead horses that really need to die. But where on earth can you find a show that's solely about a kidnapped princess wanting to get a good night's sleep and doing whatever the hell is necessary to get it, to the point of making her captors' lives a living hell? Well, this is Japan, and you'd think a show like Sleepy Princess In The Demon Castle would be boring or unfunny, right? Actually...I really liked this one! Why did I miss out on this when it was airing?!

In an unnamed magical fantasy land, demons and humans hate each other's existence, and thus have tried to stay away from one another. But the kingdom of Goodreste is thrown into upheaval when the Demon King Twilight kidnaps the princess Syalis. Goodreste sends a hero, Dawner, to try and rescue her. Normally, the princess would be a weepy, helpless, pure-hearted damsel who's just there to worry and pray and not do anything, right? Well...Syalis is different. Rather than whine about being rescued, she's more concerned about getting a good night's sleep, and her sleeping quarters don't exactly help in that regard. There's only one thing for Syalis to do: make whatever she needs to get the best night's sleep she can, from fluffy pillows to high thread count sheets, and she does whatever she can to do so...namely casually murdering demons, stealing and vandalizing their property for her own personal use, and generally being such a little shit that the demons are outright afraid of her.

Based on the manga by Kagiji Kumanomata, the animation was done by a company called Doga Kobo. You might be familiar with them, as they've done a lot of slice-of-life or moe anime like Anima Yell, Uzamaid, Wataten, Asteroid in Love, Helpful Fox Senko-san, and the more recent Diary of Our Days at the Breakwater. They don't exclusively work on those kinds of anime, as they have produced more serious anime in the past, but the former titles I mentioned are what they're mainly known for. Whether you like them or not, it's made clear from the beginning that the staff on Sleepy Princess really tried to make this game look as good as humanly possible, and I think they pulled it off. Even if the actual character movement isn't the most smooth, the anime makes up for that by making use of a lot of visual gags and comedic facial expressions, along with bright colors and a few off the wall design choices. It does help that because the setting is only limited to a few places, all the character designs stand out and look distinct, and no character looks the same as another. I don't have much to say on the soundtrack, as it can be good, but I didn't find it very memorable.

As far as character development goes, since this is a comedy series, you're not going to find the characters changing much over the course of the show. They go from being afraid of Syalis to helping her out on occasion, but that's really as far as it goes, as this is a comedy series through and through. Be that as it may, the characters themselves are pretty likeable and fun to follow, even if many of them are rather one-note. Syalis in particular stands out in that she isn't some damsel in distress whining to be rescued and is intent on doing all she can to get the best night's sleep ever...and is kind of a huge brat. Whether it be slicing demon shrouds or snuggling with the teddy demons, Syalis is a girl on a mission, and admittedly, part of the fun is seeing just what she does to get the best night's sleep she can in any way possible. We do learn more about her near the end of the series, but it doesn't do much to really develop her as a person. The hero sent to save her, Dawner, is pretty much every RPG hero stereotype made manifest, and the anime even lampshades how much of a complete non-entity he is on every occasion they're able. Other than Dawner, the cast is fine.

If you really need one good reason to check this show out, do it for the Teddy Demons. No seriously, LOOK AT THEM!

I would die for these adorable fluffers!!! And Harpy, too. Seriously, the poor harpy girl deserves more loooooove!! I would totally be her BFF!!!

If you're not into a show playing the same formula over and over again, this isn't going to be the show for you. But if you like wholesome anime that'll let you kick back, relax, and have a good laugh, definitely give the show a try. Oh, and check out the English dub for it, too. It's also funny as hell, especially with plenty of puns and some punched up lines that make certain scenes even funnier. So yeah, Sleepy Princess is a fun, cute show that's sure to not only give you a good laugh, but put you to sleep and have you feeling refreshed afterward.