Yuuki is a character with quite extreme amnesia, returning to practically being a boy, barely able to utter a complete sentence and being constantly defeated by the monsters in the area. It is quite unique that the protagonist of a fantasy series is so weak, however, despite its uselessness, it lends a charming charm to the scenes with its silly smile and extreme positivity. Although her ineptitude fuels several of the series' comedy scenes, she still demonstrates her chivalry and heroism when it comes to defending her companions. Generally, male characters in fantasy series tend to be louder and more abrasive, so seeing a quiet male lead who barely speaks in episodes is quite refreshing.
The first companion that Yuuki meets is Kokkoro, the loving girl who has cared for him ever since. Kokkoro makes sure that Yuuki is not eaten by monsters. A little shy and kind-hearted, she sets out to create a guild. One of the members, Pecorine, is a naive but quite strong girl who loves to eat. Like the stereotype of the strong character who loves food, Pecorine's strength derives primarily from the amount of food he has eaten. Their adventure to retrieve their sword stolen by a pair of thieves intertwines with Yuuki and Kokkoro's journey several times, until in the end they decide to work together to retrieve their weapon.
The three do this with the help of Karyl, an adorable tsundere cat girl who has been watching over Pecorine for reasons not yet revealed in the anime. Karyl offers the cast her personality by being the only one with some reason within the team, by reacting widely to the antics and nonsense of others. The experience of slowly seeing how she befriends the team and finally decides to join is a quite moving story, seeing her cold facade crumble when she recognizes the value of friendship.
However, outside of the four main characters, Princess Connect! Re: Dive regularly has other fun or exclusive characters to offer fan-service. Based on a gacha smartphone game, the series has a lot of girls to present. One of the most prominent is Rima, the girl calls. His introduction to the fourth episode is the perfect example of director Kanasaki's ability to surprise viewers, as instead of seeing a monster in a creepy forest, what he offered was a fun-loving girl called a fashion lover. What makes Rima stand out from the rest is obviously her transformation sequence. This sequence was animated and supervised by Hikaru Miyazaki, and is filled with a healthy dose of humor and, of course, a slight touch of fan-service.
Beyond the fantastic cast of characters, the series also has an excellent soundtrack, taken from the original game and very reminiscent of RPGs. The visual composition is also impressive, as Princess Connect! Re: Dive uses many unique post-production processing effects, such as lens flares and particles that while believed to normally get in the way of the final product, here never feels like that happens, as they end up improving it in the end.
In an interview, Cygames Pictures studio director Nobuhiro Takenaka described the appeal of Princess Connect! Re: Dive as "a program that betrays the expectations of viewers", and that is created "even so that those who have no idea of the original game enjoy it". The choice of director Takaomi Kanasaki to be in charge of this project achieved the fulfillment of both objectives in a very simple way. With its cast of colorful characters, unique visual style, and superb comic direction, Princess Connect! Re: Dive ends up being a mandatory stop this spring season.
© ア ニ メ 「プ リ ン セ ス コ ネ ク ト！ Re ： Dive」 製作 委員会
