Jellyfish Princess Deserves Way More Hype

Jellyfish Princess focuses on Tsukimi Kurashita, a girl obsessed with jellyfish. She lives with a group of other women, all equally focused on their various hobbies and wary of beautiful people, especially men. One day, while trying to save a jellyfish, a stunning woman comes to Tsukimi’s aid.

After thanking the woman and letting her stay at her home for the night, Tsukimi learns that this woman isn’t actually a woman but a wealthy man named Kuranosuke Koibuchi. Kuranosuke enjoys dressing up like a beautiful woman in his spare time and uses this alter-ego as an excuse to visit Tsukimi.

This anime is from a studio called Brian’s Base (To Your Eternity, Into the Forest of Fireflies’ Light) with Takahiro Oomori as the director (Durarara!!, Natsume’s Book of Friends). It was originally a manga by Akiko Higashimura (Tokyo Tarareba Girls).

Mitsuki Saiga (Drifters, Fullmetal Alchemist) is the voice of Kuranosuke, and Kana Hanazawa (The Quintessential Quintuplets, Blue Exorcist) is the voice of Tsukimi. Motoko Kumai (Cardcaptor Sakura, Chobits), Junichi Suwabe (Bakuman., My Hero Academia), and Sumire Morohosi (Bungou Stray Dogs, Haikyuu!!) play additional supporting cast.

On My Anime List, Jellyfish Princess has a score of 8.11, placing it at #493 out of all anime on the website. Its popularity is fairly low, however, at #1014.

Personally, I think my opinion of the series aligns well with the average. I would give the anime a 4 out of 5. It was cute, funny, and had an interesting premise. There were some overly dramatic moments, and I was a little unclear on where the story was going, but I think it would have been solidified in the second season.

Unfortunately, at the time that Jellyfish Princess came out, Josei animes weren’t all that popular. For those that don’t know, Josei animes are made for adult women older than high school age, such as Honey and Clover, Nana, Usagi Drop, and Chihayafuru.

These shows are finding a niche audience and fanbase amongst anime lovers. However, they are still not a popular option, and very few get released every year. The anime in this category are some of the most likely to be dropped, especially back in the 2010s when Jellyfish Princess was released. Sadly enough, this story only received a single anime season, and that doesn’t appear to be changing anytime soon.

REVIEW SCORE

Still, just because it wasn’t finished doesn’t mean that it isn’t worth watching this hilarious show. If you want to join the fan club and don’t mind that there’s no ending to the anime, Jellyfish Princess is available to watch on Crunchyroll. Additionally, the manga is complete, so you can pick up the series and read it after finishing the anime.