Hey Nerds!

Today I checked out this new Crunchyroll original called Fena: Pirate Princess. I usually give a show 3 episodes before I decide if I will continue with it or not. So I’m here to give my thoughts on Fena and if it’s worth watching.

This is a shojo/romance anime, which I was excited about since I haven’t watched a lot of shojo. To start off, I would say that some of the Crunchyroll’s originals have been hit or miss. A really good one that I can think of would be Dr. Stone and one not so good would be Onyx Equinox. So I had not super high expectations, but I liked the concept. This was also a collaboration with Adult Swim so I was hoping with the addition of Adult Swim this one would be a hit. Also quick disclaimer: MILD SPOILERS for episodes 1-3

I am enjoying it so far. There’s not really a wow factor that I’ve seen. At the moment Fena doesn’t have magical powers (not to say she won’t acquire them). And she’s not a genius or anything like that. She’s just a normal girl who happens to be very striking in her appearance (remember this as I want to circle back to this point later). She has the kinda feisty and kinda ditzy, but she has a good heart. She seems to value her instincts over logical thinking.

You technically meet her pirate crew during the Ep. 1 when she’s trying to escape. We later learn they are samurai living on Goblin island. The master of this island shares that his people have been tasked to assist Fena’s family for years. The master mentions that he has even fought alongside her father as well. She’s given this clear stone with instructions to figure out why her father went on his journey and how to solve what he was looking for. Fena decides to continue looking and her crew of samurai join her. In Ep. 2 we’re introduced to each of them, including Yukimaru who helped her escape when her father died. I really like the her crew. They all have their own distinct skills and I’m looking forward to learning more about them. My favorites of her crew so far are definitely the twins (Kaede and Enju) because of their chemistry and how they play off each other. They are pretty much the resident troublemakers of the group.

Now for the antagonists we’ve seen so far. There’s the colonel of the British Army named Abel and the a group of all girl pirates. I don’t think their name has been revealed yet in the Ep 1-3 but the pirate group is called Rumble Rose. As of now, we don’t know why Abel is trying to locate Fena or what his relationship is with her. This is just me speculating, but they are probably some kind of family. He has the same blue eyes as Fena and considering she was so young when she escaped it’s very unlikely that he’s some past crush. The show is making sure you know that Fena and Yukimaru are end game. I like the Rumble Rose pirates and the members we’ve seen so far. They have a sniper, a muscle woman, and a kind of brawler? Anyway, I’m always interested in an all girl group so I hope we get to keep seeing them throughout the season.

Here are some questions and speculations I have since finishing all 3 episodes. (AGAIN MILD SPOILERS) I’m curious as to why Abel is sleeping with the Captain of Rumble Rose. I know he’s using her pirates to look and capture Fena, but what is she getting out it? Surely more than just some sex. Maybe she’s letting Abel control her crew so she can stay under the military’s radar. Who knows? It just seemed like the show really wanted us to know that they were sleeping together.

We have some black(or at least dark skin) characters, but so far they are mostly pirates. I mean I see some progress but again, it would be nice to see more positive darker complexed characters. Speaking of appearances let’s go back to Fena. I’m not quite sure how I feel about her look. She’s very fair with white silver hair. She is the key to figuring out her father’s mission with her only lead being the word Eden. Not going to give a Bible lesson right now, but if you know anything about the word Eden, you’d know that it means paradise. The garden where Adam and Eve lived and or to represent a place of natural beauty. I can see the purity themes they are pursuing with Fena an example being how she refused to participate in the dealings with the brothel. I’m not saying I don’t get it, but it seems pretty obvious that there’s a connection to her and paradise.

Overall I’d like to finish the season. It has good pacing and I like the characters. There are 12 episodes available on Crunchyroll. My criticisms of the show are not so glaring that it takes me out of the story. After watching the show it is definitely giving Violet Evergarden vibes. I like seeing the collaboration with Adult Swim but I am interested to see what’s going to happen now that Funimation deal has gone through.

I’m going to say that Fena: Pirate Princess is worth watch. Especially if you want to see the budding rekindling between Fena and Yukimaru. I’m going to give it a 4 out of 5 Ns! There’s some I would change but right now I am invested.

Let me know what you think in the comments below! Keep nerding out!