Everything You Should Know About KING OF PRISM And Pretty Series in 90 Seconds

Everyone and their cat knows how Shinkai Makoto’s Your Name revolutionized anime cinema in 2016, breaking through Spirited Away‘s records. What few know, however, is that another movie made anime history the same year: KING OF PRISM by PrettyRhythm.

As you may know, the KING OF PRISM movies are spin-offs of the Pretty Rhythm franchise. The first movie, KING OF PRISM by PrettyRhythm (shortened as Kinpri) was initially released in 14 theaters on January 9th 2016. Three weeks after release, it was only screening in 9 cinemas, and the staff was preparing for the worst. However, the movie ended up earning more than 800 million yen, and by May 2016 it was in over 100 cinemas across Japan. All thanks to dedicated fans’ word to mouth and the movie’s “Cheer Screenings” (応援上映 in Japanese), screenings where you can come in cosplay, use glowsticks, scream and sing along during the movie, or dub lines during subtitled scenes specifically made for it. The movie had a 9 months run in cinemas, and its final screening was at Shinjuku Wald 9, on September 2nd 2016, even though the movie was already out on DVD/BD since June 17th. KING OF PRISM was a huge success in South Korea as well. The first movie released there on August 11th 2016, and broke the record of longest screening period for an anime film, a record previously held by Love Live! The School Idol Movie!
The sequel movie, KING OF PRISM -PRIDE the HERO-, ended up releasing simultaneously in Japan and South Korea on June 10th 2017.

However, the Kinpri movies have a hidden history unrecorded even on Japanese anime sites. In the first place, how did a kids franchise spawn movies geared towards adults? Why are the movies gayer than actual Boys Love anime? Why does what seems to be a Yuri on Ice! ripoff with Shinji and Kaworu clones is a big enough deal to be screened at Los Angeles Anime Film Festival???

Note: While similar, I’ve added a lot of things compared to the French version of this article I published back in May 2018.  This is basically the XX+ Reloaded Definitive edition of the “Pretty Series History”.

Edit: I fixed the post’s layout, as it got screwed up after I changed the blog’s theme, even though it was fine beforehand during preview.

Pretty Rhythm news&twitter 04/20/2014 edition

Storyboard illustration cover of episode 39 tweeted by the Director.

Director posted on Twitter some new revelations on Pretty Rhythm’s background.
Post isn’t too long but put the read more to hide the spoilers about Rainbow Live.

Pretty Rhythm Rainbow Live – 25

I know right Naru? Bell is the same age as you and yet she’s so much better than you at everything.

Devander, Tatsunoko’s 50th anniversary anime project

It’s been a while since I watched this now. It’s been out for months now and it’s still not subbed. Like I always say, if it’s not streamed by official English sites, most of the things released these days, most notably OVAs, rarely get translated anymore, or not after a long time.

First thing that encouraged me to watch it is the fact that It’s a Tatsunoko Studio Anniversary project. I still remember Karas like it was yesterday, while in fact it’s already been ten years, as Karas was Tatsunoko’s 40th anniversary project. Time sure flies. I still get chills whenever I rewatch Karas’ opening sequence. Karas is for me everything something called an “anniversary project” should be, or in one word: memorable. It’s a pity I can’t say the same for Hanasaku Iroha, PA Works’ 10th anniversary project, as it’s the show which disappointed me the most in 2011. It’s one of the worst shows I’ve seen recently along with SAO or Yumekui Merry‘s adaptations. In any case,  Devander isn’t as awesome as Karas but I still had a great time watching it.

Second thing that made me interested is the involvement of Obari in the animation. Third and last thing is the hero’s name, Devander, which is a play of word in Japanese: デバンダー -> Debandah -> デバン ->Deban : One’s turn. Kimi no DEBANDAH: It’s your turn.

I love the fact that they scripted it in a way that makes it seem like the first episode of a series, even though it’s not. They weren’t shy with expanding the story. Maybe we’ll get to see a full TV series one day.