Original Run: October 6, 2020 - December 2020 Number of Episodes: 12 Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Slice of Life Based on the Series Created By: Kagiji Kumanomata
***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Sleeping Princess in the Demon Castle. Reader discretion is advised.***
Series Synopsis
Whisked from her bed in the dead of night, Princess Aurora Sya Liz Goodereste (voiced by Inori Minase), Princess Syalis, was kidnapped by the powerful Demon King Twilight (voiced by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka). With the entire Gooderese Kingdom in anguish, the people call upon a hero to bring back their beloved princess.
However, despite her abduction, Princess Syalis is in no rush to be rescued. Instead of fussing over her status as hostage, she laments on having nothing to do besides sleep. And that in of itself wouldn’t be a problem if she could actually get a few hours of shut-eye. But with an uncomfortable bed, lumpy pillow, and other annoyances, how does a person get a proper rest in a demon castle?
Not one to just let things be, Princess Syalis is determined to turn her nighttime chambers into the perfect bedroom. And no matter what needs to be broken, stolen, borrowed, beaten, and tampered with, Princess Syalis will get her sleep – no matter what.
Series Positives
I don’t see how this can be a long review. Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle’s (Sleep Princess) success – and believe me, this series was a resounding success – came down to a single element.
Sure, there were plenty of supporting details helping to foster and deliver the scenarios and atmosphere that allowed this show to be one of the funniest, most enjoyable, and, frankly, most relatable anime of 2020. But when you get down to it, Sleepy Princess would have been nothing had it not been for Princess Syalis.
She is a character after my own heart. Throughout the series, her only goal was to get a good night’s rest, and, really, who hasn’t been in that position? Then, when you mix the desire for sleep with a superhuman sense of ingenuity, total lack of self-awareness, and utterly nonexistent sense of personal safety, you get the ultimate incarnation of mayhem.
Admittedly, I have considered characters like Princess Syalis to be selfish and self-absorbed in the past. Had such a sentiment followed suit in this series, it would have been hard to tolerate her for twelve episodes. However, since she was kidnapped by the demon king and held hostage in his castle, Princess Syalis was pretty much free to do whatever she wanted. After all, the king and his subordinates brought the princess’ brand of pandemonium onto themselves.
Sleepy Princess ran with this idea.
When Princess Syalis set her mind on a goal, there was nothing – literally nothing – that would slow her down. If she found something that would allow her to have a better sleep, she would take it. It didn’t matter if that object was locked in an impenetrable dungeon, outside the confines of an unscalable castle, or attached to a demon’s body. If it got the job done, it was hers.
At its core, I think my favorite quality of Princess Syalis was her single-minded focus. Her thought process consisted of point A and point B, nothing in between nor anything after. It would never occur to her that there might be consequences to her actions. Oh, yes, she did occasionally need to face the consequences – kind of.
For example, Princess Syalis heard there was an electric dragon in the castle. She saw this as a chance to take care of the knots in her neck through electric therapy. Not for a moment did she consider that a dragon could instantly one-shot her – which is precisely what happened.
Not even death was enough to stop her, and the electric dragon was the second time she got herself killed.
If not even her own personal safety was enough to give her pause, do you think the demons in the castle had any hope of being spared? For the princess, there was having a rough touch, and then there was over the top violence.
And as this series went on, the situation only became funnier.
At first, the demon king and his soldiers would freak out and assume the worst whenever Princess Syalis escaped/effortlessly strolled out of her cell. They assumed (because why wouldn’t they) she was on some mission to aid the hero who was coming to rescue her. Therefore, they were always beside themselves when they realized her real goal was usually something ridiculously trivial. It got to the point where they accepted that the princess would get out, and it was better to let her do what she wanted. After all, any attempt to stop her would often cause an even bigger headache. “Don’t tell the princess ‘No,’ or she’s likely to blow up the castle,” became the rational.
And where did all this mindless destruction stem from? Princess Syalis was simply bored. Thus, how was a little chaos not expected?
Series Negatives
Now we’ve come to the part of the review I was dreading. I have no idea what I can write here.
I’m not sure what else I could have wanted from this show. It had everything I was looking for.
I suppose I could say that if Princess Syalis wasn’t around, there wouldn’t have been anything to fill the void. However, that would be like saying it would be cold if we took away the Sun; it’s sort of the whole point.
The princess was this show. Although we were never given a chance to see what would happen if she wasn’t the main focus, there was never a moment when she was in the way.
I’m just rambling at this point because I have nothing to add to this section. Sleeping Princess bet everything on one element, and it won a massive jackpot.
Final Thoughts
Do you think I might have liked this show?
Without question, I did.
Once I learned this series was about a character merely trying to get a good night’s sleep, I tried to think of all the ways that idea could go wrong. I couldn’t really think of any, and this show did not give me any ideas.
From beginning to end, this was more than I could have hoped.
Sleeping Princess in the Demon Castle has earned a colossal recommendation.
But these were just my thoughts. What are yours? Have you seen this series? How would you advise Sleeping Princess in the Demon Castle? Leave a comment down below because I would love to hear what you have to say.
If you liked what you have read, be sure to follow Anime Hajime on our social media sights so that you never miss a post or update. Also, please share this review across the internet to help add to the discussion.
For Anime Hajime, I’m LofZOdyssey, and I’ll see you next time.
I absolutely loved this show!
Can’t agree more!