Elf Princess Rane
English Dubbed Version (DVD has subbed too)
Released: 1995
AKA: Yôsei Hime Rên, Elf Princess Ren, Fairy Princess Ren
Version: DVD (AnimeWorks)
Approx. Rated: PG-13 to R (due to rampant nudity and some swearing)
Length: Approx. 60 minutes
Elf Princess Rane is by far one of the funniest, most fast-paced examples of anime I've seen in a long time. The show begins with Go Takarada (Shane Callahan) looking through a pile of wooden blocks of some sort in a temple. He gets caught by the caretaker of the temple and finds himself in fairly serious trouble.
A red-haired girl jumps in and starts trying to stab Go with a spear and next thing we know she is Go's sister (yeah, it can get confusing if you don't pay attention). She tells him to run and she'll pretend to fight with him. He jumps over a hill and then realizes that he's 30+ stories in the air. Then we go to the Title screen.
The rest of the first episode is devoted to Go finding a fairy (Rane, voiced by Juliet Cesario) that's not very good at talking, Go talking very, very fast as he hunts for treasure, and Go's girlfriend, Mari (Pamela Weidner) grumping to another fairy about Go.
For some reason, Go thinks the fairy is the key to some kind of legendary treasure. Mari is saddened that Go ran off without her. Normally, she trails along on his adventures. Fortunately, she meets an elf too, by the name of Leen (Izzy Burger). Leen is a swearing witchy fairy that can be quite funny, but is usually crude.
Anyway, that gives you a run down of the main plots. There are also some sub-plots that deal with a guy named Takuma (Michael Brady II) who is in love with Mari and doesn't usually talk in an intelligible language. He has some kind of made-up gibberish.
And then there's Mari's rich dad and her butler, Konishi (Chuck Denson Jr.) who likes to sneak up on people and stick his face in their faces.
On to the second episode. In it, Go continues his quest and eventually runs into Mari again. Then he has two fairies! (Yeah, he gets Leen too) Unfortunately, this 2nd one has a LOT of nudity in it as Mari and an employee of her father's go to a bath house of sorts. Probably the best part of this episode is some of the stuff that Takuma does (like his silly dance and song) and Konishi.
It's also interesting to see how Takuma's machines always seem to work into the prophecy / treasure hunt that Go is on. And then there's this crazy fire department that doesn't like Takuma's men. What makes the show really confusing is that there are a a lot more red-haired girls that look like Go's sisters and these chicks work for opposing sides.
The Good Stuff:
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I really enjoyed the pacing |
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The animation is pretty good |
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Lots of funny/zany stuff |
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Very likable characters |
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Takuma and Konishi...among others |
The Bad Stuff:
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Vulgar language |
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Nudity...sometimes lingering |
The Weird Stuff:
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That Tukuma's language is all his own... |
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Gotcha' Ba Goose |
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How many of the Red Heads are Go's sisters? |
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I still don't understand why Leen wants Rane dead |
Yeah, this anime is pretty messed up; but I like it a lot. What really stinks about this series is that as far as I know, there are ONLY 2 episodes. There are too many other anime that are like this. A really good show, but way too short. Argh! Get it for a good laugh, but only if you can handle super fast talking weirdoes.
STORY: 
(The story has many sub-plots which make it very enjoyable, although it can
be confusing as well)
VIOLENCE:
COMEDIC FACTOR:
SEXUAL CONTENT: (Come
on and put some clothes on...or at least stick to just showing the chicks from
the neck up!!!)
LANGUAGE:
ACTION:
OVERALL SCORE:
(I would have given it a 5, but the nudity knocked it down)