Sleepy Princess In The Demon Castle
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I picked this anime up on a whim during Fall 2020 seasonals hunting. My first impression towards this anime was something about average - the genre was sort of one I would be interested in, the artwork (again, off first impressions) was not my type, and this anime alongside seasonals such as Tonikaku Kawaii and Wandering Witch didn't seem like an anime worth pursuing.
Nevertheless, this show ended up being a joy to watch, due to it knowing exactly what direction it wants to go in and creating a wonderful experience.
Character Development and Likeability: 25/25
Characters are very well done. The character chemistry is excellent, plenty of time is given into how the characters make decisions and interact with each other, and everything is done very well in order to deliver us a very lighthearted comedy. Indeed, the core foundation for the comedy is mainly based off the characters' interactions with Princess Syalis, and what ends up as a result of their very well-meaning intents is episode upon episode of heartwarming and enjoyable comedy. Full credit for the character composition and personality pool being very compatible to pull this off - and extra credit if I could for the teddy demons, they're so cute!
Plot Development: 15/25
The plot is very straightforward - the princess gotta sleep. While the episodes offer the high quality fluffy comedy, I personally found the beginning episodes a little repetitive and dryly formulaic. Additionally, the comedy through extremely fortunate circumstances for the princess in the beginning episodes grew less enjoyable over time. However, the plot is not confusing in any way - the setting is very much straightforward, yet lacking a distinct variety of storytelling techniques.
Artwork: 10/15
I personally was not a big fan of Princess Syalis's disproportionately big eyes, and I was frankly shocked upon learning that she was an adult towards the end of the anime. The rest of the artwork and animation, to a relatively new anime watcher such as myself, was a pleasure to enjoy.
Emotions were stylistically depicted well in the anime.
Music: 12/15
Background songs fit the mood of the anime very nicely. The OP and ED were a joy to listen to, and I did not skip them at all. In fact, I must remind myself to listen to ORESAMA's works more; she has a very enjoyable voice.
Emotion: 15/15
Nothing extra to say here. The anime walked in confidently proclaiming itself as a mainly comedic anime and handled it masterfully. There was not a single episode where I did not chuckle a little bit due to the characters' interpersonal chemistry.
Dialogue: 2/5
This anime, in comparison with the others I've watched, had some fundamentally basic dialogue structure. It was no lyrical masterpiece like that in Bunny Girl Senpai, nor was it absolute garbage such as that in Looking Up At The Half Moon. However, the word choices were generally repetitive and genuine misunderstandings due to faulty communication are plenty.
Please do not go into this anime taking it seriously. This is strictly a comedy show that serves to warm your heart up with these well-intentioned and fitting characters, yet has ended up being one of the shows I have laughed at most in 2020. If you are looking for intelligent comedy, or something more emotional, I would not recommend this show. If you are a fan of lighthearted comedy, I absolutely recommend this show.