Puppet Princess

Original title: Karakuri no Kimi

Video
2000
Not Rated
40m

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

162

YOUR RATING

Play trailer1:01

1 Video

14 Photos

Anime Action Animation Fantasy History Horror Short

A family who builds special karakuri puppets is slain by an evil warlord. But one member, the princess, survives, and uses her skill with puppets to go on a quest for vengeance.A family who builds special karakuri puppets is slain by an evil warlord. But one member, the princess, survives, and uses her skill with puppets to go on a quest for vengeance.A family who builds special karakuri puppets is slain by an evil warlord. But one member, the princess, survives, and uses her skill with puppets to go on a quest for vengeance.

Director
- Hirotoshi Takaya
Writers
- Kazuhiro Fujita
- Junichi Miyashita
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

162

YOUR RATING

Director
- Hirotoshi Takaya
Writers
- Kazuhiro Fujita
- Junichi Miyashita
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Guard
(English version)
(voice)
…

Takeshi Aono

Head of the Deathless Ninjas
(voice)

Francis Cherry

Guard
(English version)
(voice)
…

Dorothy Elias-Fahn

Boy A
(English version)
(voice)
…

Minoru Inaba

Subaltern Ninja
(voice)

Milton James

Narrator
(English version)
(voice)

Niki Lindsley

Guard
(English version)
(voice)
…

Tom Mann

Guard
(English version)
(voice)
…

Michael McConnohie

Yasaburo Manajiri
(English version)
(voice)

Shelley Meltzer

Women
(English version)
(voice)
…

Matt K. Miller

Soldier
(English version)
(voice)
…

Mugihito

Narrator
(voice)

Kôji Nakata

Sadayoshi Karimata
(voice)
(as Kouji Nakata)

Tony Pope

Head Ninja
(English version)
(voice)
(as Anthony Mozdy)

Jamieson Price

Hisashige
(English version)
(voice)

Michelle Ruff

Rangiku Fumiwatari
(English version)
(voice)

Kirk Thornton

Soldier
(English version)
(voice)

Norio Wakamoto

Yasaburo Manajiri
(voice)

Director
- Hirotoshi Takaya
Writers
- Kazuhiro Fujita
- Junichi Miyashita
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Storyline

Edit

Did you know

Edit

Trivia
This story can be considered a prototype to writer Kazuhiro Fujita's later story Karakuri Circus (2018), which also featured fighters wielding karakuri puppets.

Quotes
Rangiku Fumiwatari: You're a very skilled ninja, sir.
Yasaburo Manajiri: Hey, wait a sec, how can you stand there and say that when your the one who saved me? Are you trying to make fun of me or something?
Rangiku Fumiwatari: Not at all. If you had not been there with me to distract their attention, then most likely, I would not have been able to work Tarohmaru.
Yasaburo Manajiri: What's that supposed to mean?
Rangiku Fumiwatari: You see, there are several puppets stored inside this box. They are all powerful warriors, but only when I control their movements, and unfortunately, if I'm busy manipulating the strings, I'm left completely vulnerable.
Yasaburo Manajiri: Hm. I get it. The dolls may be powerful, but that doesn't matter too much if it's easy to get to you while you're working them.

Connections
Featured in Puppet Princess: Outtakes (2001)

User reviews3

Review

Featured review

6/10

Strange

Even without what seemed like joke English subtitles, Puppet Princess was a deeply strange animated film that feel just short of feature-length. I guess it's about revenge, following a young woman who can control gigantic samurai puppets, and she's also accompanied by a strange warrior who goes by the name Marijuana.

Really wasn't kidding about the ridiculous subtitles. The version of this on YouTube also calls a character Hiroshima Margarita at times. Unless I was misreading things? It is late, after all, and those words do seem in comically poor taste.

Even if the people in charge of the subtitles hadn't been having a laugh, I still feel like Puppet Princess would've been borderline incoherent, but there's fun to be had from the style, action, and quality of animations alone.

It has a handful of cool scenes and doesn't overstay its welcome, owing to that length. It ends up worthy of recommending to anime fans, but probably no one else.