The biggest reason I took this long for the last episode of Princess Lover! was simply because I read the episodic for it before I watched the raw, and decided not to watch it since it was so disappointing. I finally did drag my slow ass out and finished it though, because it has to be finished, after all, no matter how bad it is. It turned out to not be as bad as I initially thought, but still bad enough to be labeled a Gonzo’ed ending.

And Nezu is once again set aside as a minor cast character meant to be pwned. In this shot, Ayano asks who he is, and Erika answers that he is that pig. Poor thing. This is his last appearance as comic relief, at the start of the episode after the OP animation.
 

t3h pAwn

Nezu just dug his own grave by telling everyone. This is also the last major appearance for all three of them.

Sorry for the same screenshot spam, but I felt that what Hartmann said here was indeed very true. Most people are indeed only going to believe what they want to believe, despite Charlotte’s rebuttal right after that they believe because they want to. The problem is that most of us just want the gentle lie, not the cold hard truth. It is more difficult to accept the truth than a honey-coated lie, something the princess obviously does not know about in her protected world, a fact which Hartmann drives home at this point.
 

I thought Charlotte looked, once again, exceptional in her graceful curtsy and request of Hartmann to treat Josephine. Certainly, one of the shots that I would want vectored. Then again I have not been to /w/ for a very long time now…not sure if they finally did vector some Princess Lover screenshots I and others requested.
 

In this anime, anything goes, and they continue the lulz and the ridiculous in allowing Alfred and Silvia, on a damn bike to catch Teppei in mid-air or something. Of course, three people on a bike means the bike cannot go fast, so they decide to have one person get off.
 

Men will always be boys.

And Alfred loses twice.

I have no idea how people who went to university and learned how to actually work with medical instruments can run out of money and then wind up with a job as a freaking terrorist of sorts, albeit a poor one. I mean, come on. There could be better jobs out there in related lines, maybe drug dealing, smuggling, etc. But a failed terrorist band? Incredulous.
 

Once again Teppei demonstrates his awesome ability to maneuver on a bike, something you will remember he did way back in episode 1. He even could jump behind Silvia and land like a bloody gymnast even as Silvia has to move forward and grab the handlebars. Wow, the bike did not sway or fall during that imbalanced act? I need to learn how to move on a bike like that, why do they not teach that in schools here jeez.
 

Nice catch…again.

This was seriously hilarious for me for some odd reason. Alfred is on a goddamned tractor. Nice catch…not. And Hartmann gets dumped into the river and survives somehow.

This part was so full of sublime implications the mind exploded thinking of the possibilities of what Charlotte was doing. Maybe she is not so innocent after all, especially the “hajimemashite” part. Good god. I want Charlotte like, right now.
 

Final Impressions

The ending episode was seriously disappointing after the high of episode 6, which you will recall as one of the best episodes in any anime for me all summer. It may not be as bad as it was made out to be, but it is worthy of being under the “Gonzo ending” tag.

It just does not make sense, especially during the part where Teppei could just tell Charlotte he will be ok, then proceed to sweet-talk Hartmann (and the latter does not shoot him too during all that crap) and even forgive him for killing his (Teppei’s) parents. Just, WTF? I doubt if Teppei could truly forgive Hartmann either, especially not making up his mind in that little bit of time that was available to him.
 

Further the ending was left rather open, though it is more than likely that Teppei ended up with Charlotte, even if this was not shown explicitly. And how can Hartmann just give up his past and forget everything and live with Josephine just like that? This was a seriously rushed job. And at episode 11, I even mentioned how they set it up nicely as a cliffhanger for the final episode, and included only scenes from previous episodes to avoid spoiling the ending. This is indeed disappointing when you see that they went for a “everyone is happy and all is well” end.

It seems that the best things to have come out of this series were the girls, the animation level, the incredible lulz, and the OP song (Princess Primp!) by Hashimoto Miyuki (which beats the eroge’s theme song, also sung by Hashimoto). I will not deny there were high moments during the series, but the end, and the way the plot went after episode 6, simply brought the show’s ratings down. Not even the uncensored version of episode 10 will save the DVD sales for this one.
 

Two girls though from the series will make it to my nominations of Top Ten Anime Girls of the Year, with one (Charlotte Hazellink; I am following the official spelling in the eroge) quite likely to make it as number 1. Silvia van Hossen is the other one, despite her likeness to Saber of the Fate/stay night series. Again, some of the seiyuu did an outstanding job, with Yuzuki Ryouka taking lead as Charlotte in the show, and Toyoguchi Megumi being nominated for the same reason (as Silvia), whereas Katou Emiri provides a nice backdrop (though not her best in the season and year) as Houjouin Seika. All will be nominated in the Female Seiyuu category.
 

Despite all its setbacks, and the fact that I will likely not recommend the series for most people to watch, Princess Lover was not that bad of a derail until the very end, and truly, to give it a bad rating just based on the storyline when we never even expected any in the first place (for a harem series) is just not being fair to it. Then again, one could always hope for improvement…or play the eroge, I guess.

Related posts:

1. Princess Lover 08 – Dynamic Entries
2. Princess Lover 10 – Of Emo And Luck
3. Princess Lover 04 – Too Much Seika
4. Princess Lover 11 – RAGE
5. Princess Lover 05 – Charlotte & Silvia