Princess Principal: Crown Handler - Chapter 1 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Princess Principal: Crown Handler - Chapter 1 Blu-ray Movie Review

Time to go back.

Princess Principal – Crown Handler Chapter 1 is an exciting new chapter in the anime franchise. The series is produced by Hirotaka Kaneko, Toshikazu Sugimoto, Yōhei Hata, Yoko Baba, and Yoshinori Hasegawa. Featuring animation by production studio Actas (Classroom For Heroes, Girls und Panzer), Princess Principal – Crown Handler Chapter 1 is a theatrical continuation of the anime series which is an expansion on the original television saga. Fans of the series will want to continue the journey. Licensed for release in North America by Sentai Filmworks, Princess Principal – Crown Handler Chapter 1 amps up the action for a new adventure.

Ange (Aoi Koga) and Princess (Akira Sekine) are on a brand-new mission. The stakes have been raised with more unexpected obstacles in the path of the secret spy ring. With more danger lurking around every corner, an assassination attempt against the Queen causes quite the stir and commotion.

As everything becomes more complex, the Kingdom of Albion amps up its protections against all the upcoming dangers. Yet the main mission for Ange and Princess is finding and retrieving stolen books hidden within a prison. The girls must also come face-to-face with a secret spy agent from within the Commonwealth royal family. Can the villains of the story be thwarted by Princess and Ange?

The characters are fun and charming. The central leads are engaging and important to the success of the anime franchise. Ange and Princess both provide a wonderful sense of charm to the production and the film continuation is all the more engaging because of these well-developed characters. Each character has a distinct personality. One of the strengths of the production.

The animation is stunning. Under the animation direction of Kimitake Nishio (Princess Principal, Dai - Shogun - Great Revolution), Princess Principal – Crown Handler Chapter 1 is a beautiful looking anime series with great background animation, layouts, and line art. The settings are vivid. The mecha designs by Fumihiro Katagai (Bungo Stray Dogs: Dead Apple, Sakura Wars the Animation) provide a fast-paced adrenaline rush to the production and there is something fascinating about that element of the series. Well done.

An exciting new adventure in the anime franchise.

The original character designs are by Kouhaku Kuroboshi. The effort is impressive and the designs fit the stylistic approach of the overall production. The anime character designs are by Kimitake Nishio (Kowarekake no Orgel, Regalia: The Three Sacred Stars) and Yukie Akiya (Princess Principal, Code:Breaker). These designs are beautiful and add to the series fun. The art adds to the character personalities.

One of the most immersive components of the film is the vivid cinematography by Yu Wakabayashi (Princess Principal, Godzilla Singular Point). Princess Principal – Crown Handler Chapter 1 is truly gorgeous looking production. The colors are vivid and pop with plenty of impressive depth. An outstanding effort and the visuals truly enhance the experience. The use of light is beautiful. Extraordinary.

The score composed by Yuki Kajiura (Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Sword Art Online) is one of the best anime scores to date for a feature-film anime spinoff. Arguably my favorite element of the film, Princess Principal – Crown Handler Chapter 1 has outstanding music and it truly gives life and energy to the filmmaking. A beautiful and epic score that will sweep audiences up in its magic.

Written by Noboru Kimura (Amagami SS, Bottle Fairy), Princess Principal – Crown Handler Chapter 1 is surprisingly engaging from start to finish. The script is clever and the characters are fun to spend time with. The film expands on the anime universe and the results are worthwhile. Kimura does a solid job providing character moments and a compelling journey.

Directed by Masaki Tachibana (Princess Principal, The King of Fighters: Another Day), Princess Principal – Crown Handler Chapter 1 is well-made in most regards. Princess Principal – Crown Handler Chapter 1 is certainly a worthwhile continuation of the anime series. The first feature film is fun and exciting. This feature has plenty of action, adventure, and suspense. Director Tachibana did a great job with this hyper-stylized entry in the saga.

Princess Principal: Crown Handler - Chapter 1 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Sentai Filmworks, Princess Principal – Crown Handler Chapter 1 is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The high-definition presentation looks stunning. The colors "pop" with plenty of depth and range. The background animation looks outstanding detailed and the encoding capably preserves the animation. The encoding handles the action sequences with ease. An outstanding effort from Sentai Filmworks.

Princess Principal: Crown Handler - Chapter 1 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release is presented with a selection of lossless, high-resolution audio options: Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound (with English subtitles) and English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound. The surround sound presentation is one of the most enjoyable elements of the release. This is an engaging surround sound presentation and the score and sound effects are memorably utilized during the feature. The score sounds especially beautiful and immersive. The sound effects are well balanced. An impressive lossless audio presentation.

Princess Principal: Crown Handler - Chapter 1 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Japanese Promos (HD, 2:42)

Theatrical Trailer (HD, 00:33)

Princess Principal Preview (HD, 1:35)

"Busy Easy Money" Short (HD, 6:39)

Clean Opening Animation (HD, 1:47)

Clean Closing Animation (HD, 2:44)

The release also includes a selection of trailers promoting other releases available from distributor Sentai Filmworks: Nana (HD, 1:27), Princess Tutu (HD, 1:01), Canaan (HD, 1:33), and Girls und Panzer das Finale – Part 2 (HD, 00:47).

Princess Principal: Crown Handler - Chapter 1 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Princess Principal – Crown Handler Chapter 1 is an enormously entertaining follow-up feature film to the anime series. The feature has plenty of action and adventure. The characters are fun and the storytelling is exciting. The animation is beautiful and the music is phenomenal. The Blu-ray release has a top-notch video and audio presentation. The release benefits from a great surround sound presentation. The release includes a small but appreciable supplemental package which includes a short film fan certainly won't want to miss out on. Recommended.