Princess Waltz: Difference between revisions

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Oh, it's not that kind of story? Ok, strike that, it seems the Princess Waltz is less about dancing, and more about said six princesses [[Shonen|beating the unholy crap out of each other with a selection of improbably huge and unlikely weapons.]] With Eldhiland choosing to hold the tournament on present day earth, main character and good natured jock Arata is drawn into events when he accidentally befriends the local [[New Transfer Student|Enigmatic Transfer Student]] and discovers that said transfer student is the much coveted Prince Chris himself. For unknown reasons Chris has joined the Waltz in disguise as the mysterious '''Princess Iris''', and after much [[Ho Yay]] Arata decides to aid him in his battle to beat the other five and win the tournament himself.

Said Princesses include:

 

 

'''Princess Angela [[Meaningful Name|Victoire Blendin]]''': An unapologetic [[Blood Knight]], she cares less about Chris and more about getting the best fight possible from her opponents. As such she is antagonistic but honourable, her [[Slasher Smile]] in combat mediated by her tendency to [[Pet the Dog]] outside of it.

Not getting by simply on the strength of its high production values [[Cast of Snowflakes|(Even the minor characters get unique paperdolls!)]] Princess Waltz combines likable and interesting characters with a tone that shifts seamlessly between comedy and drama with equal attention and skill paid to both. The plot isn't anything new but it's well told, and even if it occasionally veers towards thin excuses for everyone to punch each other the fights are so damn good it doesn't matter. So good indeed that at times you ache for them to be animated, excellent sound effects and clever use of paper dolls combining with strong writing to produce some truly badass stuff.

 

* [[Adaptive Ability]]: The Guardeners. They start in a few basic forms--wolf, giant bug, etc--but regenerate into a new, more powerful form after defeat. The only way to prevent this is to destroy them completely.

** Fortunately, the enemies have very specific criteria for them to use their skills, one of which includes you throwing out four cards in the right phase. They also visibly bring out the skill card whenever you fulfill the requirement, allowing you a chance to decide whether to bring out more guns, let it use the skill, or put the card which triggered it back (which also causes the enemy to withdraw their skill).

* [[Badass]]: Most of the main cast.

** [[Badass Normal]]: [[Ordinary High School Student]] (well, mostly) Arata manages to do some pretty badass things, though he often has to suffer afterwards. He never tires of going after monsters who could kill him with a look, armed with some [[Improvised Weapon]].

** Well, ditto for Liesel: she actually isn't a real princess, as her homeland is a meritocracy without a nobility. For that matter, {{spoiler|she's not the official competitor either. The girl chosen for Waltz was disqualified for... taking the celebration about the fact she was [[Double Entendre|chosen too far]]. Liesel, who made her dress, was the only one who could have mastered it in the remaining time... And she did, wiping the floor with two arguably strongest princessess in the Waltz, only losing to a Love Power-up.}} Gah.

* [[Bifauxnen]]: {{spoiler|Chris}}, who makes all the girls [[Squee]].

** [[It Was His Sled|Worst job hiding it]]. '''Ever'''. Is this even worth spoilering?

** Even Arata feels like a moron after the reveal. It's THAT obvious.

** Hell, on the official English site, {{spoiler|Chris}} is referred to as a she. Which is strange, since it also mentions that Iris always appears when Chris is in danger, but is never around him. The reason is Heavily implied in [[Did Not Do the Research|the first chapter]].

** Hell just turn off Male voices...you'll notice she keeps on talking.

* [[Big Ol' Eyebrows]]: Liliana actually refers to Suzushiro as 'eyebrows girl'.

* [[Butt Monkey]]: Poor Chris proves [[The White Prince]] for about ten seconds before the whole world gathers together to make his life hell.

** Glen too, who despite being a powerful dragon lord is invariably referred to as a chicken and tends to have every attempted moments of badassery go horribly wrong before the scene is out.

* [[Bloodless Carnage]]: Despite the characters clearly being described as being covered in blood this is rarely evident in any of the CG's, where they sometimes don't even seem ''bruised''.

** Most [[Not Safe for Work|after-fight CG]] subverts it, oh-so-blatant [[Clothing Damage]], numerous visible bruise, and LITTLE blood for that much damage...[[Fetish Fuel|of course]]!

* [[Brother-Sister Incest]]: {{spoiler|Arata and his adopted sister Shizuka}}. Even more so {{spoiler|Arata and Chris who are half-siblings, cousins, and second-cousins}}

** The second one probably counts as a [[Crosses the Line Twice]], considering how H-Games usually dance around actually doing this trope for real.

* [[Card Games]]: Hybridized with a traditional RPG battle engine for fights against enemies, and done amazingly well.

* [[Calling Your Attacks]]: This is a given, considering the genre.

* Cast Of Snowflakes

* [[Celibate Hero]]: All the Princesses, mostly for 'Love Is A Distraction' reasons (Seems a requirement for participation is being a [[Plucky Girl]]). Liliana has three married sisters and falls into 'Love is Beneath Me', she frowns on their lack of ambition and won't settle for anything less than a Prince.

* [[Christmas Cake]]: {{spoiler|Liliana spends most of the game pretending to be a middleschooler, yet rather pointedly asks Arata if he likes 'older women'. His mother on the other hand outright accuses her of being a cradle-snatcher.}}

* [[Combat Pragmatist]]: Liesel.

'''Shizuka:''' Ah...ah, no. [[Blatant Lies|That was a slip of the tongue. I meant to say weekly]]. }}

* [[Crazy Prepared]] {{spoiler|Liesel has everything in her dress from a jetpack, to missles, to a frickin shield!}}

* [[Deliberate Injury Gambit]]: Arata beats {{spoiler|Suzushiro}} this way, {{spoiler|along with a [[Can't Have Sex Ever|hefty dose]] of mostly justified [[Moral Dissonance]]. He allows her to punch him (breaking two of his ribs) before tacklehugging her, binding her with power neutralizing bandages and at the same time breaking her [[Celibate Hero|Can't Touch Men]] promise. Still, he feels bad about doing it, and she was the one who picked a fight with him.}}

* [[Downer Ending]]: {{spoiler|Halfway through the game, it tells you that you got the bad ending. It's just [[Bait and Switch Credits]], but a very mean one that almost makes the player cry.}}

** However, the game does imply that {{spoiler|''he fell so hard for Chris he probably knows and still doesn't care!''}} Which is actually a rather [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|touching]] piece of [[Fridge Brilliance]] if true.

** Also contains a mild subversion with Liesel. Since the country Palmied is run by a merchant oligarchy rather than a monarchy, "princess" is simply the designation for whichever girl is selected to participate in the Waltz, rather than an actual noble title...though it's hinted that the princess is usually upper-class, since {{spoiler|Riko was only a lowly engineer, but the only one qualified to use the Dress after the original girl [[Surprise Pregnancy|was disqualified]]}}.

* [[Finishing Move]]: Everyone gets one, given an appropriately awesome CG.

* [[Fission Mailed]]: There's a fake "bad end" halfway through the game.

** [[The Strategist]]: Lun Lun

** [[The Sixth Ranger]]: The Beast Princess {{spoiler|Shizuka}}

** The [[Big Bad]] is an interesting mix of [[Genre Savvy]] and [[Contractual Genre Blindness]]. He's aware he's a villain and is often one step ahead of the good guys, but he fulfills pretty much every stock villain cliche simultaneously. He even hangs lampshades on some of it.

* [[Good Morning, Crono]]: In the grand [[Dating Sim]] and RPG tradition, the game begins with Arata waking up in the morning and discovering that he's overslept and is late for school.

* [[Graceful Loser]]: {{spoiler|After Shichiou gets one-shot by the Arata/Chris/6 Princess-powered Eldhi Arc sword he acknowledges that the heroes are stronger than him and Iris has won their millenium-long game, the two then make-up with Iris admitting she always loved him and the two gently fade away to the afterlife to watch over their descendants.}}

* [[Grand Theft Me]]: Shichiou {{spoiler|takes over Chris' body, so that he can seal the blessing that kept him bound.}}

* [[Healing Factor]]: The Prince's Blessing.

* [[The Heartless]]: The Guardeners. Also a [[Meaningful Name]] as they ''guard'' the ''garden''.

** Given how any and all of the Princesses tend to be a lot more heroic around him ( {{spoiler|his [[Back-to-Back Badasses]] moment with Angela, Lun-Lun's resolve to fight returning simply from remembering something he said to her days before, Liesel's badass return to action in order to protect him, and the fact that they can join with him to become Iris}}), let's face it: Arata '''''is''''' the [[Hero Ball]].

* [[Hot Shonen Mom]]: Arata's mother.

* [[Idiot Hair]]: One of Arata's unnamed classmates, a girl with an ahoge who displays the amount of intellect you'd expect.

* [[Irony]]: Wait a minute... {{spoiler|It's considered foolish for the Emperor to assist in the tournament that decides his wife? [[Authority Equals Asskicking|Where does this balance of power come from?]] Are you sure the [[Henpecked Husband|Emperor's the one running the country?]]}}

* [[Jerkass Facade]]: {{spoiler|Princess Liesel, the ice-cold [[Combat Pragmatist]] of the group. It turns out that the [[Meganekko]] [[Huge Schoolgirl]] Kanada who's willing to run into a damaged building to save a classmate is her true personality.}}

* [[Karma Houdini]]: {{spoiler|April, remaining as mysterious as when she begun.}}

* [[Kiai]]: {{spoiler|Used with Shizuka & Arata's finisher, an overhead swing, the most basic move in kendo.}}

* [[Level Up At Intimacy 5]]

* [[Lightning Glare]]: Suzushiro and Lun-Lun have enough of these to power the entire East Coast for a few days.

* [[Macross Missile Massacre]]: One of Liesel's attacks.

* [[Mega Manning]]: {{spoiler|Angela manages to defeat Liliana by using Iris's [[Finishing Move]] on her, having observed it in a previous fight.}}

** Angela also notes {{spoiler|that if Liliana had the chance to observe this [[Finishing Move]] beforehand she would end up with a powerup of her own: and she seems to do just that during the final battle, if chosen.}}

* [[Not Blood Siblings]]: {{spoiler|Arata and Shizuka}}

* [[Not So Different]]: The [[Big Bad]] claims that Arata will eventually come to the same conclusions he did, which will lead to the exact same thing happening again. Iris retorts that if it does, then the current generation will have to deal with it.

* [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]: If you think that "Lun-Lun" is nothing more than an anime-obsessed [[Genki Girl]] [[The Ditz|Ditz]], then you haven't gotten to the scene where she points out that her family is in charge of the most powerful naval force in their world, and are responsible for constantly battling pirates. As a result, she has at least as much combat experience as ''ANGELA''.

** Actually, this troper remembers differently. {{spoiler|Lun-Lun had more combat experience, but Angela had more raw power. Finesse vs Brute Force}}

* [[Omniscient Morality License]]: Frigging {{spoiler|APRIL}}.

* [[Our Dragons Are Different|Our Dragons Are Butt Monkeys]]

** Poor, poor Glen.

* [[Paper-Thin Disguise]]: No one connects Iris and Chris, despite the fact they even have the same hairdo.

** {{spoiler|May have something to do with Identical Grandparents. The real Iris and Cecilia (Chris' mother) look a lot like Chris as well. It might not be too surprising to people that every female that comes out of Soldia looks like Iris. Shichiou actually comments upon Iris appearance and reveals that Arata resembles her more than Chris do.}}

** Even if you don't wind up teaming with the 6th princess, the game does a very terrible job of disguising who she really is.

** Made especially impressive in that said [[Finishing Move]] was {{spoiler|thought of right on the spot, based solely on observing Iris' Eldhi Arc technique ''once'', and figuring out exactly how it was powered perfectly just from that.}}

* [[Psychotic Smirk]]: Angela rarely wears anything else. Suzushiro also pulls one occasionally when she's in a bitchy mood.

** {{spoiler|Becomes outright inverted after you figure out that Riko and Liesel are the same person. She was pulling a [[Jerkass Facade]].}}

* [[Red Oni, Blue Oni]]: Angela vs Liliana. It had to happen sometime. Also: first battle of Iris and Angela.

* [[Royals Who Actually Do Something]]: Self explanatory.

* [[Running Gag]]: Chris and Arata being forced to hold hands, and the reactions of ''everyone'' around them.

* [[Secret Identity]]: {{spoiler|The other princesses do not know that Chris is Iris, Liesel is gathering data in the form of Riko, Arata's [[Huge Schoolgirl]] classmate.}}

* [[Sexy Mentor]]: April of course! [[Eccentric Mentor|At least as far as she's concerned.]] {{spoiler|Oh and as that previous trope hints, she's not [[Treacherous Advisor|quite as harmless as she seems.]]}}

** Liesel's blue hair, red eyes and cold personality is a [[Neon Genesis Evangelion|more obvious]] shout out.

* [[Surprise Pregnancy]]: Twice in the backstory, disqualifying the princesses in question from participating in the Waltz. In the current Waltz, it resulted in {{spoiler|Riko becoming Palmied's "Princess Liesel"}}. In the last one, {{spoiler|Nanae dropped out after becoming pregnant with Shizuka}}.

* [[The Glasses Come Off]]: To [[Ominous Latin Chanting]] no less. {{spoiler|Go Liesel!}}

* [[Unlucky Childhood Friend]]: Poor Nodoka doesn't even get a second glance. And given the nature of the game her lack of a nude scene, more or less and H-scene is very telling.

** {{spoiler|The "true ending" you get after completing all the others implies that she follows Arata to Eldhiland and is determined to become a princess herself.}}

* [[Weapon of Choice]]:

** Liesel uses a [[Drop the Hammer|freaking huge hammer]], obviously in reference to her being a blacksmith. Arata actually notes that it looks rather odd wielded by the [[Emotionless Girl|emotionless]] and small framed girl.

** Suzushiro {{spoiler|is a [[Bare-Fisted Monk]], her personality a equal mix of cocky and disciplined.}}

** Liliana uses guns {{spoiler|and whips}}, and seems to think she's [[The Gunslinger]]. [[Plucky Comic Relief|It's arguable.]]

* [[Worthy Opponent]]: Angela does this for everyone, [[Say My Name|screaming out their names,]] [[Spirited Competitor|encouraging them to fight harder]], showing mercy when they lose... she even mentions after the fight against {{spoiler|Liliana}} that she would have called the woman a friend.

** {{spoiler|The reasoning behind her later alliance with Arata is that she feels the [[Chessmaster|Chessmasters]] are dishonouring the pride of the fallen Princesses and the honour of the Waltz by using both as pawns.}}

[[Category:Visual Novel]]

[[Category:H-game]]