Fena: Pirate Princess (2021)

[海賊王女]

Director: ToyGerPROJECT, Kazuto Nakazawa, Tetsuya Takahashi, Junichi Fujisaku
Studio: Production IG
Starring: Asami Seto, Ryota Suzuki, Nobuhiro Sakurai
Episodes: 12

Synopsis:
A mystic girl known as the White Marginal is rescued from captivity and goes on a quest to uncover the mystery of her family heirloom.

Impressions:
I was fully on board for this after the first episode. It looked liked it'd be a fun pirate adventure with a colorful cast and some solid production values courtesy of Production IG. The fact that the OP seemed to be channeling some of the visuals of the OP of the Lodoss TV series didn't hurt either. However, as the series progressed, I was noticing quite a bit of sloppy writing. Characters weren't acting consistently just so the required plot beats could happen, the grander narrative was just being jammed in, plot threads that seemed important fell to the wayside, etc. I'd actually started to slack off on watching this, so I was seeing a lot of negative reaction to the ending well before I saw it myself. It wasn't quite the trainwreck I was expecting, but it does largely undermine the basis of Fena's character and handles some very weighty matter in a rushed manner to take away most of the punch it was meant to deliver. Ultimately, this is an example of wasted material that will probably frustrate viewers more than anything. There might be just enough good that the viewing experience won't be a total waste, but I wouldn't blame anyone for wanting to pass on the disappointment. Take it or leave it.

Rating:
50/50