Princess Jellyfish (Kuragehime) (2010)
I decided to rewatch this during my spring 2019 exam weeks to decompress. This series I watched years back and this is where ThePrettyOtaku began. There are so many complexities that are underlying within this plot. Disclaimer it is very different and divided from the manga. The manga focuses on the main characters, Tsukimi Kurashita and Kuranosuke Koibunchi, creating a jellyfish themed dress label.
But we're not talking about the manga.
The series is comprised of 11 episodes (so unfair) because there was so much left unsaid and unsolved between the character's development, relationships, and the potential romances that had been presented prior to the ending of the series. The plot of the series is about a 19-year-old girl, named Tsukimi who is an otaku for Jellyfish. Her goal when she moved to the city of Tokyo, she wanted to become an illustrator. Unfortunately, she is only capable of drawing detailed species of jellyfish. One day on an outing, she ran into a pet store that contained a jellyfish, but Clara, (the jellyfish) was paired in a tank with another jellyfish that is toxic for her. In an attempt to become a hero, Tsukimi epically fails, which enters the beautiful (handsome) Kuranosuke. With his incident gesture, Clara is saved and now hosted in a bathtub and Tsukimi is shaken by his beauty. This is where everything begins.
Kuranosuke is fascinated by Tsukimi and desires to spend time with her more often and try to transform her and her roommates into the "stylish" (people who are stylish and non-nerdy). Kuranosuke being a man is unable to set foot into the apartment without wearing his drag, (no men allowed). He is one of the complex characters in the series because he had both mommy issues and daddy issues. He is the product of infidelity and has been living with his father after his mother moves away. He has been trying to locate where his mother is but his older, half-brother, Shuu Koibuchi, and his father refuses to disclose this information.
But to his advantage to use to gain this information, he discovers that Shuu is a 30-year-old virgin because he watched theirs during foreplay with Kuranosuke's mother as a child. He then is approached by Shuu about Tsukimi and realizes that he has fallen for her. Although, later on in the plot, it is clear that both bothers in love with Tsukimi. Except there is the brother who is blindsided with blackmail and is unaware of who Tsukimi is outside of "drag" and the brother who is in disbelief that he is in love with a jellyfish focused otaku.
Tsukimi is a very interesting character. She is still grieving her late mother who is the one who inspired her love for jellyfish. She is also the reason, that Tsukimi dreams of one day wearing a wedding dress that resembles a jellyfish. Tsukimi is unaware of her potential. She is capable of more than drawing. She is also more beautiful than she gives herself credit for. She slowly begins to realize this when she starts to involve herself more with Kuranosuke. But she is more comfortable with him in drag rather than him in his bare skin. She also has feelings for Shuu and does not yet realize that her feelings for Kuranosuke are present as well. She does not mention her father in the entire series. But he is still alive in her hometown.
I wish this series had another season but that is very unlikely unless the power of social media grants it. #Jellyfishprincessseason2. This cross-dressing rom-com is full of laughs, friendship, blinding romance, and facts of jellyfish. If the series were to get a reboot it should follow the manga rather than this original adaptation of the series. Why? The reason being is because the series is nothing compared to the manga because the manga is more about a coming of age story of the young adult Tsukimi who breaks out of her shell.
This story is what created ThePrettyOtaku brand for the simple fact of Tsukimi is a pretty otaku is she used her potential and realized her self-esteem and gives herself more value to her self-worth. It is okay to be an otaku and interested in both manga, jellyfish, traditional Japanese clothing, and makeup.
#Love #Romcom #anime #crossdressing #genderroles #genderneutral