Posts in Futago Hime Category

Seems Sophie's found a treasure of some sort, so it's off to go and see her since it's probably a Grace Stone... well, she's got a little windmill that plays music that she treasures. Not exactly what Fine and Rain were looking for (^^;;) They go to the king and queen to ask for help finding the Grace Stone, but of course the king and queen won't tell them a thing, saying that they heard that the Sun Kingdom and Water Drop Kingdom were in some kind of conspiracy against the other kingdoms -- that's what Bright told them. Even Auraa can't convince his parents that they've been tricked. *sigh* These kingdoms are absolutely hopeless with leadership like this ＿|￣|○ So, since they were no help it's time to do a bit of fortune-telling with the Crystal Fortulette. And the answer is 4.... which would be 3 plus 1, Fine says.. but also 2 plus 2. Auraa says it might be referring to windmill number 4 (all the windmills in the kingdom are numbered), located on the top of a mountain in a valley where the wind blows strongly around it. The Doggels (the dog people) that work there can take them to the top (they can fly, you know).

After another crash landing in the balloon, they ask the Doggels to fly them to the top. But they can't do it, king's orders. So what are they going to do?.. Fine tells everybody to cheer up, they'll find a way, and walks off with everyone following. But she doesn't have any idea what to do like the others thought she did (^^;;)

It's iyaiya dance time, and everybody except Altessa joins in. I know how Altessa feels being surrounded by a bunch of idiots ;)

One of the Doggel girls, Doll, comes up and offers to show them to the top of the mountain where the windmill is. But what if it's a trap, Altessa says. That sets Rain's crazy imagination off -- she imagines being at the bottom of a pit with a very scary looking Doll looking on. She wouldn't be able to get married, etc., etc., etc.. That's our Rain-chan (^^;;) Anyways, they all decide to go and follow Doll...

Entry number 1000 goes (rightfully) to Futago Hime. Only took 675 days to get here ;)

Anyways, while riding the balloon back to the Sun Kingdom, Fine and Rain get things started off this time with the hayaku (hurry up) dance, wanting to see Princess Grace as quickly as possible to ask about their new powers as Eternal Solar Princesses. Altessa tells them to calm down.. but they might find out something about Bright. So Altessa joins Fine and Rain in the hayaku dance, causing Pumo to lose control of the balloon. Crash landing, as usual (^^;;) However, as soon as Fine and Rain go off to see Princess Grace they bump into someone.. it's the nonsense-singing bard, Naginyo -- he says he has something to talk to them about...

Turns out that Princess Grace has had him keep an eye on Fine and Rain. They can't believe it -- neither can I :P But he's got the seals of all the Kingdoms his harp/clothes/earrings/etc, so he must be the real thing, believe it or not. Fine and Rain can't see Princess Grace right now since she used up most of her power to level Fine and Rain up to Eternal Solar Princesses. Fine and Rain can't do anything about it, even though they're Eternal Solar Princesses since their power isn't yet complete. However, if they gain the power of the dragonballs Grace Stones in each Kingdom they can gain the power to save the Mysterious Planet. Grace Stones? Long ago, a Black Crystal brought the power of darkness to the Mysterious Planet, a very powerful item with the power to bring out the despair in peoples' hearts. Princess Grace sealed it (along with Bumo) away, but the (former) Chancellor of the Moon Kingdom broke the seal, bringing back the power of the Black Crystal. So that's why Bright went over to the dark side... at just the smallest chance the power of darkness might take over a person since a bit exists in everyone. So that's why Princess Grace told Fine and Rain to help people smile, giving them hope. Fine and Rain proceed to do the nikoniko (smile) dance, forcing a smile on Pumo and Altessa. Altessa and Pumo join in soon enough, though. Now they're ready to go! ;) Meanwhile... Bumo has been keeping an eye on them all. If Bright can gain the power of the Grace Stones he'll be able to gain even more power....

Fine and Rain ask their parents about the Grace Stones... however, they haven't heard of it. But Altessa's got a idea of where one might be. They all go to the Jewel Kingdom, and there Altessa asks her parents to allow her to give the Grace Stone to Fine and Rain. Their reply -- no, especially not to princesses of the Sun Kingdom.

「ファインとレインは私のお友達よ！」
Fain to Rein wa watashi no o-tomodachi yo! (Fine and Rain are my friends!)

I believe that's the first time we've heard that from Altessa. Nicely said ;) Even so, seems Bright has been up to his usual lies, convincing the king and queen that the Sun Kingdom is up to no good. Fine and Rain get kicked out....

Though I haven't blogged anything else since Monday, I can always been counted on to do Futago Hime, of course ;) Anyways...

We're still in the Water Drop Kingdom for the 3rd episode in a row this time. Queen Yarmul demands that Miruro win "Best Art Princess", not messing around like Fine and Rain... Miruro tries to speak up, but someone comes in to tell the queen that there's apparently something wrong with the cloud making machine.. Fine and Rain are there for the princess party of course, and they hurry along to get prepared. They're kneading this weird.. blue.. flour? for some reason (^^;;) The other princesses are all there and in a pretty good mood. Altessa boasts that she'll win this time... Sophie agrees, pulling out a picture that Altessa drew of something that somewhat resembles an elephant but looks more like a tanuki to her. That's our Sophie! (^^;;)

The queen and king look over the cloud making machine. Seems like it'll need to be repaired, and that'll take more money.. Bright comes in once again offering a plan to help them get that money by making the other kingdoms pay to get rain. Yarmul refuses as she did before... The party finally gets started, and first up are Fine and Rain:

....well, what else would you expect from the most un-princess-like princess(ry. Fine and Rain think the crowd loves it, so they do the uketa dance, but while dancing their monstrous creation falls on top of them (^^;;)

Next up, the Seed Kingdom Princesses, all 11 of them. Very nice :)

リオーネかわいいよリオーネ！
Leonne kawaii yo Leonne!

Had to say it ;) Leonne made a statue of Bo Dragon. Once again, nice :)

Sophie's made a wind chime (very fitting). Did she really make that all by herself? I'm impressed ;)

Milky drew a picture of her big brother. So sweet :) Miruro's next up with Altessa to follow. Not a great position to be in for Altessa considering her... statue of her brother? (^^;;) Speaking of him, Bright comes in telling Altessa to not get so depressed....

While getting ready to have a rather luxurious breakfast, courtesy of Pumo working his butt off as usual, Fine notices that she has one of Miruro's brushes (how did that happen?). They all go to the castle to return it but the guards won't let them in since the Queen has decreed that no one is allowed to enter. While trying to figure out what's going on Fine is hit repeatedly by toys, and soon enough Naruro falls right on her head. Miruro's taking care of him as usual. Seems that her mother has been deceived by Bright, who said that everything that happened was Fine and Rain's fault. So he's stooped that low... Altessa's going to find a way to get him back to normal, though, that's why she's with Fine and Rain in the first place. There's no way she'd be hanging out with such annoying types otherwise :P Fine and Rain are all ready to go... so they do a little dance to the OP music. sono ki yaru ki kiai juubun!

ミルロかわいいよミルロ！
Miruro kawaii yo Miruro!

I have to say it at least once, you know ;) While Fine and Rain are dancing, Miruro says she wants to help out as well, and that everybody should work together to find a way to get Bright back to normal. Fine and Rain get the idea to have a summit with all of the princesses... Camelot and Lulu are nearby keeping an eye on things as usual... and Naginyo's there as well :P

Shifting to the (former) chancellor's lair, where he's ready to test the Black Luce yet again....

だん・だん・大臣
dan-dan-daijin

 
やったぞ！ww成功だ！www
Yatta zo! Seikou da! (I did it! It's a success!)

Well, not really since it seems only those who are chosen can use the power of the Prominence. Too bad :P

Fine, Rain, and Altessa arrive in the Sun Kingdom and greet the king and queen, along with Omendo. Fine and Rain tell their parents that they're going to hold a summit with all the princesses, and Altessa goes off to get herself dressed for it. After Altessa leaves, Omendo explains what he's been up to -- he's put together a device to amplify the power of the Sun's Blessing, so things are okay, at least for now....

Bumo was keeping a watch on the conversation, using up quite a bit of power to do so. Seems Bright has his mind on Fine as always.. he can't understand why she's getting in the way of him becoming king... The (former) chancellor comes in to offer the perfected Black Luce to Bright. When he touches it, it transforms into a boomerang-like thing, giving him the power of the Prominence. And with that, the (former) chancellor's role is done, says Bumo. He's eaten up by the power of darkness, not to be seen again...saraba, (moto)daijin - farewell, (former) chancellor. You gave us some good laughs ;)

The Crystal Fortulette points Fine and Rain and the others to the Water Drop Kingdom as the place they should go (so it actually does stuff besides just numbers...). Camelot and Lulu (doing her best as an Undine) are there to keep an eye on Fine and Rain as usual. Along with Naginyo :P Bright is already there, however, trying to get Queen Yarmul pissed off... so that she'll go Godzilla and destroy everything so Bright can come in and save everybody. Though she does seem the type that could do that, I don't think so :P Shade and Tio follow Bright, and Fine, Rain, and Altessa go into the castle. There, they run into Miruro taking care of her little brother, Naruro. She seems a bit worried... her mother's told her she has to win the next Princess Party that's going to be held in the Water Drop Kingdom. She likes painting, but she doesn't like competing with everybody else. Fine and Rain tell her they'll go along with her to help her tell her mother that.

ミルロかわいいよミルロ！
Miruro kawaii yo Miruro!

However, as usual, in front of her mother Miruro can't say what she really feels strongly and simply gives in. Altessa didn't help all that much :P To cheer Miruro up Fine and Rain suggest they go out and paint. Altessa's okay with that -- she'll copy what Miruro does so she can absolutely get Best Art Princess :P They head out the Rainbow Springs near the castle... Fine and Rain do the iyaiya dance since they forgot paint, but the water in the springs is just like paint. Pumo watches Naruro as they all paint. Miruro's painting is great as expected, but Fine and Rain and Altessa's... However, for some reason Miruro wants to paint the sun in her painting black... Fine and Rain tell her to paint it as she wants.. Rain whispers to Fine that perhaps Miruro's painting the sun black because she's sensing the weakening of the Sun's Blessing... and right after that, Miruro sees Naruro playing in one of the springs, getting his clothes dirty with paint. In tears, Miruro thinks her mother will be really mad at her....

And continuing my recent Futago Hime-related goods buying spree... the Fushigiboshi no Futago Hime 2006 Calendar came in today. Thanks to CDJapan for the quick service.

The calendar is a LOT bigger than my 2005 Tsubasa calendar, actually a bit bigger than the posters I have up on the walls in my room. Each page tears off, so I guess I'll be sticking these up around my room, too. A sheet of cute stickers is also included.

January/February (each page is two months): Jewel Kingdom. Would've preferred Altessa in her new look :P

March/April: Seed Kingdom + Windmill Kingdom

May/June: Water Drop Kingdom. Miruro kawaii yo Miruro! She should be up front instead of Fine ;)

The forces of evil hold a strategy meeting. Bumo wonders why his ABSOLUTELY PERFECT plans have gone awry (^^;;) But he's got a good idea this time -- lock Fine and Rain up for a bit in Thorn Mansion in the Seed Kingdom. Bright still seems to have his mind on Fine...

Speaking of Fine, she's having a rather Fine-like dream about eating food. She ends up just about eating Pumo, who then gets grabbed by Rain. Altessa springs up and tells them to be quiet... she was talking in her sleep. Outside, Bumo, dressed as a girl catches Pumo's attention. When Pumo gets close enough the (former) chancellor's stupid minions put him in a cage. And now Bumo's going to try and take Pumo's place... the next morning Fine and Rain wake up to find a Pumo that's a bit different than usual. Bumo manages to fake his way through it.. then Bumo finds out just how hard it is to be Pumo, having to make breakfast for Fine, Rain, and Altessa since Fine and Rain can't cook. I guess all of the pumos are good at cooking... Fine and Rain bring out the Crystal Fortulette to do some fortune-telling.. the answer is 6. According to Bumo/Pumo, the i of ichi (1) would be the tongari ibara (sharp thorns) of Thorn (Ibara) Mansion in the Seed Kingdom, plus the go (5) of "Go, Go!" adds up to six. That's some impressive reasoning there (^^;;;) So they're off...

ｷﾀ━━━(ﾟ∀ﾟ)━━━ ！！

So, as promised, some photos and impressions of Fine and Rain from Fushigiboshi no Futago Hime Collective File DX by MegaHouse ;) Apologies for my lack of photography skills :P

 
Fine and Rain inside their boxes

 
Fan-Fan-Fine and Ran-Ran-Rain out of the box with their Royal Sunny Rods

Fine and Rain together, about to unleash the power of the Prominence ;)

I haven't really collected many figures or anything so I can't comment on comparative quality or anything, but I can say both Fine and Rain look very well done to me, just as if they were pulled right out from the anime. Terakawaisu! :) I'll be hoping for Leonne, Miruro, and Sophie figures of just as good quality to come later. Right? ;)

Tio rides along with Master Shade, ready to do training as usual.. but his tail seems to be thinking of something different, as it's bouncing along to music. The Fire Carnival in the Flame Kingdom is close, so Tio would like to go.. Shade thinks Bright might do something since it's a big event, so they head to it.

リオーネかわいいよリオーネ！
Leonne kawaii yo Leonne!

Fine, Rain, and Altessa make the usual hard landing in the Flame Kingdom, and Leonne asks them if they're okay (^^;;) Of course, the first thing Fine wants to do at the festival is eat, Rain wants to look around at clothes, and Altessa wants to look at jewelry. After that, Leonne does some fishing and catches... a fire-breathing salamander. Fine didn't know that when she picked it up, though (^^;;) Camelot and Lulu have a booth set up, but Fine and the others pass it by.. Naginyo's there, though, as usual (^^;;) Leonne goes to change into her outfit to dance the samba onstage. Altessa's rather impatient since it's hot, but it should be even hotter according to Leonne...

 
リオーネﾃﾗカワイス!
Leonne terakawaisu!

And Leonne comes out all dressed in her samba outfit. Too cute :) And then her ears move... waaaay too cute. With her dance she wants everybody to become a bit more happy. I don't think she'll have a problem with that ;) The king and queen are all dressed up as well, so it's time to go onstage... but nobody's there to watch. There's another stage nearby, and there... Bright is charming the audience with his hip-thrusting dance (an HG like move according to many Japanese bloggers). Everybody is shocked, heck, so am I. How far you have fallen, Bright (^^;;;;;;;) Tio is incensed by Bright messing up everything, so he rushes onstage, but even he falls under Bright's spell. Thankfully, Shade pulls him back and tells the others that there's something odd about the music... Altessa and Rain start to fall under Bright's control, but get away... Shade explains what he thinks, and Tio decides he's going to do something about it by dancing better than Bright. Shade goes to investigate some more (Altessa goes with him), and Fine, Rain, and Leonne go with Tio to get him ready to samba.

Finally got the first Futago Hime DVD in my hands this afternoon, so here's the quick review for y'all :)

Packaging
 

Very kawaii cover as you'd expect, with Fine and Rain in their Prominence dresses and Princess Leonne :) The back has short summaries of each of the 4 episodes on the DVD, with technical information laid out at the bottom. The first pressing (which I didn't get) included a princess medal, and the disc was picture labeled.

Menus
  

After a brief transition, the main menu has direct access to the 4 episodes on the DVD, along with the chapter menu and the only extra on the disc, a catalog of all the dances Fine and Rain did in these 4 episodes. Mostly iyaiya dances this time, of course ;)

Video Quality
 

As expected, no issues with video quality. And just because...

リオーネかわいいよリオーネ！！
Leonne kawaii yo Leonne!

I'll have to watch this on the big screen TV (or borrow the projector) to see Leonne's kawainess even better ;) Anyways, you can't beat getting an R2 DVD with 4 episodes for about $30US (from Amazon.co.jp), so it's a good buy for all the Futago Hime fans out there.