is a six episode OVA series developed by the Princess Project creative collective and produced by Animate Film in association with Triangle Staff starting in June 1996 and continuing over a two-year period. Central Park Media (CPM) licensed the series for its North America release through CPM's US Manga Corps in 2000. Following the closure of Central Park Media, the series has been re-licensed to Media Blasters for a 2013 release. The OVA later premiered on Toku in the United States in January 2016 and was added to Tubi in 2019 with its 2013 DVD's cover art.
Format & Release Shamanic Princess has had multiple releases over the years. Its initial Japanese release was on 6 Obi LaserDiscs holding 1 episode each and 3 VHS tapes holding 2. The first episode was released in June 1996, and the last was released in June 1998.
Its initial English (ENG) subtitled release was in 2000, also on 3 VHS tapes holding 2 episodes. It was later re-released on 1 DVD in February 2001 as The Complete Shamanic Princess with ENG dub, original Japanese (JPN) audio, ENG sub, and the following DVD & DVD-ROM Features:
Chapter Stops Sneak Peeks Motion Menus Bonus Japanese Trailers Info About the Artist Scripts Art Gallery Character Bios Reviews Production & Cast Credits
In that same year (2001), it was released on 2 region 2 DVDs within their own case—numbered 1 & 2 respectively—and with JPN audio and French (FRE) subtitles.
After the Media Blasters re-licensing, it was again re-released on 1 DVD as Shamanic Princess with only the following Special Features:
Textless Opening Textless Closing TV Spots
Cover art
Front While the ENG 2001 & 2013 DVD's respective front cover art only differs in its text—with the latter bearing nothing more than the series title in a style very similar to the series 'title logo'--the LaserDiscs all use their own cover art, including a winged depiction of Tiara that's not shown in the series. DVD #2's front cover art matches the LaserDisc Vol. 2's and, to a lesser degree, the 2001 DVD's rear cover art. Other than Vol. 1 of the LaserDiscs and #1 of the FRE DVD's both matching the first VHS tape's, the rest of the 13 releases use a completely different front cover art.
Only the 2000 VHS tapes have their own subtitle on the front cover: Tiara's Quest, The Talisman Unleashed, and Guardian World respectively.
Rear The 2001 & 2013 DVD's, 2000 VHS tapes, 1990's LaserDiscs, and FRE DVD's all use their own set of rear cover art with relatively few similarities. Only the first VHS tape (Tiara's Quest) and 2001 DVD align their text to the left side while the FRE DVD's and last 2 VHS tapes align theirs to the right. The LaserDiscs and 2013 DVD all align theirs to the center, with the LaserDiscs reserving a small portion of the right side for additional information.
Vol. 2 of the LaserDiscs heavily resembles the first VHS tape, which includes 2 more images from the series, and both of the FRE DVD's rear cover art most closely resembles the 2013 DVD's, but with the following:
all-French text a much larger paragraph in the center the series 'title logo' at the top center the names of the first 3 episodes (1. Le Trône de Yord, 2. La Forêt, 3. L'Eveil) in the upper center the Staff list sectioned off on most of the right side 4 screenshots spread out like photos below the center paragraph instead of 6 above it the Beez Entertainment company logo on the lower left instead of CJ and AnimeWorks' 5 fairies in-flight throughout, with 1 seemingly pointing at the screenshot of Tiara on the lower right and another reaching for the 'title logo' at the top center
Internal Art The LaserDiscs all have their own art inserts, including:
Vol. 1: an illustration of Lena, on the left side, standing with her hand over a smaller cutout-like Kagetsu who appears to be part of her dress while Tiara, on the right side, stands in side profile turning back to the viewer with her forefinger covering her mouth and the image of Sara on the side of her dress smaller illustrations of Leon & Japolo's respective head are above their respective partners in between them both are simple non-English manga panels an entirely blue illustration of a kaiju Japolo on the left side blasting a burning city with his mouth ray while Tiara, on the right side, stares on Vol. 2: an illustration of Tiara & Lena in a wedding gown with humorous non-English manga panels and a praying Sara in between them a red version of Volume 1's kaiju illustration Vol. 3: an illustration of Tiara & Lena standing in fancy fantasy gowns with non-English manga panels and a very long-legged young Sara floating between them with a bouquet of red flowers in both hands a dark grey version of Volume 1's kaiju illustration adverts for "1 • 25 New Release Information" on the bottom, Entertainment's Mini Mini Magazine cover on the top right, and "Coming Soon EMOTION!" 2/25/1997 sales on the top left Vol. 4: an illustration of Tiara standing in a field of flowers next to a large lake with her pink dress blowing in the wind along with a recently released bandage while yellow-haired fairies fly around in front of her a green version of Volume 1's kaiju illustration adverts for "6 • 25 New Release Information" on the bottom, Entertainment's Mini Mini Magazine cover on the top right showing the series' 2013 DVD cover art, and "Coming Soon EMOTION!" 7/26/1997 sales on the top left Vol. 5: a cover art-like illustration of a young Tiara & Sara standing in front of Graham, whose left arm is completely bandaged with blood splotches throughout a yellow version of Volume 1's kaiju illustration adverts for "11 • 25 New Release Information" on the bottom, Entertainment's Mini Mini Magazine cover on the top right, and "Coming Soon EMOTION!" 12/18/1997 sales on the top left Vol. 6: the cover art of the third VHS tape (Guardian World) line art of Tiara, Lena, and three characters who appear to be from a different anime
Disc Art The 2001 DVD's disc art shows an illustration of Tiara & Lena standing partially back-to-back in front of a large blue moon while interlocking fingers and looking at the viewer, matching the left side of the third VHS tape's rear box art, and the front cover's title at the bottom.
The 2013 DVD's disc art shows the front cover's stylized title at the top of a blue background bearing the series' enlarged eye symbol.
The LaserDiscs only have an inch or so of a 'cover' around their center with the series' 'title logo' at the top, the Side # on the right, and the Volume # on the bottom along with extra text. The background color of Vol. 1-4 all match or resemble their respective rear cover's background while Vol. 5-6 both use white instead of red and black respectively.
Chronology The show is known partially for its odd chronology: the first 4 episodes properly consist of what fans dub the "Throne of Yord Saga", and the final 2 episodes cover the happenings that lead up to the Throne of Yord situation.
Adverts Shamanic Princess appeared in multiple adverts, including but not limited to: VHS sell sheets CPM's The Anime Zone Buyer's Guide online catalogs Right Stuf's MangaStuf newsletters Video Business magazine's June 26, 2000, issue titled Central Park Media 10 Years of Anime Leadership
Reception Right Stuf's monthly MangaStuf newsletter for June 2000 predicted that the series "should do well" while listing both the ENG dub & sub versions of the first VHS tape (Tiara's Quest) selling for $17.99 and $22.49 respectively among many other releases.
The Video Business interviewer Hulse Ed wrote that Mike Pascuzzi (CPM's Director of Sales) believed the second VHS tape (The Talisman Unleashed) could be their biggest release of 2000 before quoting him as saying "It's already got several fan Web sites devoted to it." and "There has been a lot of buzz, and we're getting plenty of inquiries."
Other Releases
Mahou Tsukai Tai! vs. Shamanic Princess (OVA) The latter half of the 1998 OVA Mahou Tsukai Tai! vs. Shamanic Princess (alt title: Shamanic Princess vs. Magic User's Club) shows 2 minutes and 43 seconds of a Shamanic Princess centered animation that presents multiple versions of Tiara all wearing different clothing as well as nude. At the very end, presented in chibi form sitting arms folded and legs crossed in front of multiple naked women's butts, 2 of its creators are shown above their respective name and title: S-ki Seiji (Story Concept) and Hongou Mitsuru-kun (Director).
The short omake was only sent to buyers who could prove they purchased all 6 first edition LaserDiscs of both series and was never sold in stores.
Discrepancies
Dub vs Sub The ENG dub & sub both show different character names in episode 6's credits:
The Throne of Yord / Talisman of Yorde Graham / Gram Elder / An Elder
The ancestor Magic Users in episodes 5 & 6 are called "Priestesses" in the ENG credits roll, but are missing from the JPN one.
Subtitles vs Ep. 6 Credits The ENG subtitles show "Sara" throughout the series, but it's spelled "Sarah" in the credits.
Plot The Guardian World lies in another dimension, and its inhabitants are charged with guarding and controlling magical forces. To this end, the inhabitants possess varying levels of magical power which allows them to change shape, destroy objects, suspend time, or call up elemental beings to do their bidding. The source of power in the Guardian World is the Throne of Yord, a mysterious painting watched over by the Elders, who train Neutralizers to tend the Throne and make sure it is kept safe. One of these Neutralizers (Kagetsu) has stolen the Throne and taken it to Earth for an unknown purpose, causing the Elders to send two different teams to Earth to reclaim the Throne—for if the Throne is away for too long or is destroyed, the Guardian World will be undone.
Characters
A member of the Guardian World's royal family, Tiara is an agent charged with retrieving the Throne of Yord. She believes strongly in her duty and is well known as one of the most powerful people in her world: she can both summon elemental beings and transform herself into a demon-like creature with red hair/wings coming from her head. Tiara is hot-tempered and can be abrasive, but she is more innocent and naïve than she likes to let on.
As the story opens, she enrolls in a girls' college and pretends to be an ordinary young woman, as she searches for the powerful Throne of Yord, and her ex-lover Kagetsu. She is angered by Kagetsu's killing of her partner Graham, and by her classmate Lena's assistance of Kagetsu. The fact that Tiara's best friend Sara is inside the Throne of Yord does not initially seem to bother her. But after Kagetsu is badly injured by a mysterious foe, Tiara finds that she has feelings for him still, and is not sure whether to help him or obey her orders.
When the Throne of Yord overtakes the entire city, Tiara starts fighting its cruel personality, and is forced to reexamine her feelings and her selfish motives. She teams up with Leon, Lena, Kagetsu and Japolo, and manages to bring Sara's kindly personality to the forefront of the Throne.
She, Lena and Kagetsu return the Throne to the Guardian World, and Tiara mentions that she and Kagetsu will be "starting all over" romantically.
Episodes 5-6 show some of Tiara's earlier years, as well as her budding love affair with Kagetsu, and the tempestuous, confusing relationship with her deformed first partner, Graham. She had great difficulty summoning Graham, because he was ensnared by her "shadow demon", until Tiara absorbed her shadow side and gained new power from it.
Though Tiara cared deeply about Graham, she did not return his romantic feelings, and was angered by his hostility towards Kagetsu.