Princess Waltz: Difference between revisions

''Princess Waltz'' is a Visual Novel by Pulltop, notable for being easily the most graphically intensive and text heavy example of the genre to be published in the west. Indeed some reviewers have declared it a possible and quite intentional [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] for publisher Peach Princess, who it is safe to say have produced what is easily the most accomplished of their localizations so far (which is to say that spotting a spelling mistake is ''rare'').

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.

** 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.

* [[Biological Mashup]]/[[Fusion Dance]]/[[Gender Bender]]/[[Sharing a Body]]: {{spoiler|The Iris form is a combination of Arata and Chris. Later on, when Chris is [[Put On a Bus]], Arata can combine with the other Princesses to fight.}}

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

** 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]]!

* [[BFS]]: Iris's [[Finishing Move]]. Angela and Liesel's weapons are also ludicrously huge.

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

* [[Captain Ersatz]]: Fans have noted a large number of similarities between Iris {{spoiler|and, thusly, Chris}} and [[Fate Stay Night|Saber]], and Shichiou with [[Fate Stay Night|Gilgamesh]].

* [[Elephant in The Living Room]]: {{spoiler|Chris and Arata are 2/3 siblings, having the same father and mothers who were sisters. This is never brought up by anyone, ever. Even though Arata does seem to have some issues about having sex with his [[Not Blood Siblings|adoptive sister]]. Granted, incestual marriages between royals aren't unheard of, but one of the two involved here was raised as a modern-day Japanese teenager.}}

** 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]]}}.

* [[Fan Nickname]]: Chris was christened {{spoiler|Reverse Trap [[Fate Stay Night|Saber]] by her detractors}}.

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

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

** [[The Leader]]: Arata

** [[The Lancer]]: Angela, literally in this case.

* [[Genre Savvy]]: If you look at some of the dialogue of the characters, especially Lun Lun and the [[Big Bad]], they seem to be VERY aware of the H-Game and RPG tropes the game runs on. Angela also has a few moments where she does a very snarky [[Lampshade Hanging]] on how poorly the [[Chekhov's Gunman]] trope was hidden. In fact, Nodoka even notices the clichedness of the stock excuse that is given for Arata knowing all the girls, but Nanae convinces her to follow the [[MST3K Mantra]]. Hell, it approaches [[Leaning On the Fourth Wall]] levels when {{spoiler|April and speaks with Pigeon about how the Elder Guardener has infinite HP!}}

** 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.

* [[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.}}

* [[Honor Before Reason]]: Angela, Arata, Chris, and the [[Big Bad]] shamelessly adhere to this trope a LOT.

* [[Hero Ball]]: Arata repeatedly charges into battle against monsters that totally outclass him. It tends to work out for the best, but, as the other characters point out, it's [[Baka|extremely foolish]].

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

* [[Ho Yay]]: [[In Universe]] example; Chris and Arata, something commented on repeatedly by the other characters.

* [[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.

* [[Out of the Inferno]]: {{spoiler|If you go with Angela for the 2nd chapter, the battle with the Super Elder Guardener not only involves their Iris form doing this, but turning said inferno on their rival and '''''[[Flaming Sword|REDUCING]] [[Finishing Move|IT]] [[Kill It With Fire|TO]] [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill|ASHES.]]'''''}}

** {{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.

* [[Red Eyes Take Warning]]: Liesel. Not evil as such, but certainly not a very nice person.

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

* [[Reverse Shrapnel]]: Liesel uses this trick with high-tech ''cannonballs''.

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

* [[Tenchi Solution]]: [[Princess Waltz]] implies that this could easily be the case through dialogue, plot implications, and practical reasons. To wit:

** Dialogue: ALL of the girls (especially in the true ending), wind up liking Arata to some greater or lesser degree, ranging anywhere from profound respect to outright love.

** Practical Reasons: Due to the events of the game plot having caused major political uncertainty, the [[Tenchi Solution]] would be a great idea for political expendiency (with the added bonus the prince and princesses would actually be pretty okay with it), and considering the whole plot was an [[Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny]] to determine the continuance of the political balance, the [[Tenchi Solution]] benefits all sides.

** The above said, the plot begs for an extended epilogue [[Fanfic]].

** And at the very least, the game pretty much says flat out that although Chris is the more important, Arata also gets together with at least the princess he merged with at the end.

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

** Let's see: [[Fate Stay Night|royalty in a blue & white battle dress]], wielding a [[BFS]] who is stuck with a not so [[Ordinary High School Student]]: sounds familiar, doesn't it?

* [[The Faceless]]: The [[Oracular Urchin|very creepy]] Kije.

* [[The Worf Effect]]: Shichiou proves his credentials {{spoiler|by effortlessly beating Angela in his first appearance. Also a [[Kick the Dog]], as he makes an effort to humiliate and degrade her at the same time.}}

* [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill]]: ''Highly'' encouraged in this game, in fact, as damage past an opponent's last Hit Point translates into an Experience Point boost. Managing to drop an opponent to 1 HP and then unleashing everything you've got on them is an excellent means to level up faster.

* [[Totally Radical]]: "What the hoppin' heezy are you doing!"

** Iris (and Chris) use a [[BFS|sword]], as expected of [[The Hero]].

** 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.

** Angela uses a [[Blade On a Stick|lance]], counter to her [[Blood Knight]] personality. {{spoiler|Though arguably, she later becomes [[The Lancer]] to Arata.}}

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