Princess Jellyfish (海月姫, Kuragehime) is a 2010 television anime series based on Akiko Higashimura’s manga series of the same name. The series was produced by studio Brain’s Base, and the staff credits include director Takahiro Omori, screenplay writer Jukki Hanada, character designer Kenji Hayama and music composed by Makoto Yoshimori. The season was first aired in Japan on October 2010.
Background:
“Plain, timid, and obsessed with jellyfish, Tsukimi is a far cry from her idea of a princess. Her tepid life as a jobless illustrator comes complete with roommates who harbor diehard hobbies that solidify their status as hopeless rejects. These wallflowers run a tight nun-like ship, but their no-men-allowed-not-no-one-not-no-how bubble is unwittingly burst after Tsukimi brings home a rescued sea jelly and a beauty queen – who’s actually a guy. When the threat of losing their cozy convent inspires this glamour boy to turn the neurotic entourage into a portrait of success, will Tsukimi take her chance to bloom or will she end up a hot mess?”
Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, June 2023.
The first time I heard about Princess Jellyfish was mainly by name and its visual artwork, which felt unique and stood out compared to other anime released at that time. I also knew it was part of the Josei demographic and how one of the characters is a cross-dresser which I found to be an interesting idea for an anime. In fact there’s even a live-action film and television drama which I’m curious to see how those turned out.
The anime also had a good reputation in the west, which was supported by Kodansha Comics who distributed the entire manga series and even put out a box set which was a rarity unless it sold really well, so there’s definitely a community of people who adore Princess Jellyfish. I also didn’t realise much later on that the anime was also animated by the studio who worked on Durarara!! including the same director which was neat to see.
Princess Jellyfish was one of the anime shows that did see a UK release over a decade ago, and it was licensed by KAZE UK with Manga Entertainment distributing for the market (hence why both logos were on the set). Whilst it was good to see the series make its way to home video, the fact that Funimation in North America released the series on Blu-ray did leave a sour taste for many UK fans, though Blu-rays back then were more of a risk compared to today’s standards.
Eventually KAZE UK discontinued their efforts in the UK scene and that meant a number of their titles had either expired or were rescued by specific distributors (Code Geass now with Funimation UK and Future Diary with Anime Limited as examples). While the backlog is still not entirely rescued, it’s good to see Princess Jellyfish be the next one to see a re-release thanks to Anime Limited and on Blu-ray. Ironically Funimation re-released the series as a DVD only S.A.V.E. Edition so the Blu-ray was out of print and hasn’t been available for years.
Collector’s Edition Contents:
Princess Jellyfish is a perfect fit for Anime Limited to offer a collector’s edition package, especially because Kaze UK provided a special DVD release in the past and Funimation over in North America released the series in their old-style limited edition box sets a decade ago.
The package is presented as a rigid box with an Amaray case to house the discs. Also included with the set is a 32-page booklet, which features character designs, interviews with both the director and author, building layouts and illustration artwork from the series.
The artwork is free of any information or BBFC content and the info sheet covers the information and specification like previous Anime Limited releases. The collector’s edition Blu-ray set is limited to 1000 units for SRP £59.99, and I pre-ordered my copy through AllTheAnime during their early bird deal at £34.99 but using their membership discount for £31.49. A standard Blu-ray is expected to follow suit later down the line.
Physical Contents:
- Rigid Box with clean artwork and Amaray packaging
- Info sheet for specification and BBFC description
- 32-page Booklet
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 12th June 2023
The collector’s edition release for Princess Jellyfish contains all 11 episodes across two Blu-ray discs, with the encode and authoring produced by Funimation (though in this version we do have the Funimation logo & disclaimer notes swapped with Crunchyroll’s name and logo instead). The audio options include Japanese with English subtitles and the Funimation English dub.
The white subtitles (which still retain the old Funimation font layout) are locked during playback, and the regions are locked to Blu-ray players set to B.
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | English, Japanese |
| Audio | English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 |
| Video | 1080p High Definition Native format 16:9 aspect ratio |
| Region | B |
| Subtitles | English |
| Locked Subtitles | Yes |
| Discs | 1 BD-50, 1 BD-25 |
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
Disc 1:
- Episode 1 English Audio Commentary with ADR Director Christopher Bevins, Voice Actress Maxey Whitehead & Voice Actor Josh Grelle
Disc 2:
- Princess Jellyfish Heroes
- Part 1: Mayaya Chapter
- Part 2: Banba and Jiji Chapter
- Part 3: Chieko Chapter
- Part 4: Shu-Shu and Mr. Hanamori Chapter
- Go, Sisterhood Explorers!
- Parts 1-6
- Tsukimi and Jiji’s Jellyfish Tour
- The Princess Jellyfish Field Guide
- Episode 11 English Audio Commentary with ADR Director Christopher Bevins & Voice Actresses Cynthia Cranz, Monica Rial, Leah Clark & Mariela Ortiz
- Promotional Videos
- U.S. Trailer
- Textless Opening “Just Between Us (Koko Dake no Hanashi)“
- Textless Ending “Please Realize How Beautiful You Are (Kimi no Kirei ni Kizuite Okure)”
- Funimation Trailers
- Black Butler
- One Piece
- Romeo x Juliet
- Hetalia World Series
- .hack//Quantum
- Sengoku Basara
- Birdy the Mighty: Decode
- Funimation website
Unboxing Photos:
Final Notes:
Princess Jellyfish is available to order across multiple retailers in the United Kingdom. The collector’s edition Blu-ray can be acquired through Amazon UK, Anime Limited’s store, and MVM’s Anime-on-Line.
(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)
The Normanic Vault 
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