History Manga / MurderPrincess

''Murder Princess'' is a short-lived 2005 {{manga}} by Sekihiko Inui and a six-episode [[{{anime}} OVA]] adaptation produced by BeeTrain. Although initially believed to be a RedHerring to draw attention from Bee Train's real Next Big Thing for 2007, ''ElCazadorDeLaBruja'', the OVA proved itself as a very solid piece of work and contained just the right amount of [[RuleOfCool cool action]], RomanticTwoGirlFriendship, and fitting (and slightly [[Music/HeavyMetal metallic]]) musical score to appease long-standing Bee Train fans with its character designs and straightforward story.

''MurderPrincess'' is a short-lived 2005 {{manga}} by Sekihiko Inui and a six-episode [[{{anime}} OVA]] adaptation produced by BeeTrain. Although initially believed to be a RedHerring to draw attention from Bee Train's real Next Big Thing for 2007, ''ElCazadorDeLaBruja'', the OVA proved itself as a very solid piece of work and contained just the right amount of [[RuleOfCool cool action]], RomanticTwoGirlFriendship, and fitting (and slightly [[Music/HeavyMetal metallic]]) musical score to appease long-standing Bee Train fans with its character designs and straightforward story.

** In Japan, bounty hunter Falis [[RomiPark is]] [[Naruto Temari]].

** And Falis/Alita is voiced by none other than RomiPark a poster girl for [[LadyOfWar Ladies of War]] amd badass anime women.

* BadassNormal: Falis' entire badassitude apparently rests in her own skills, as she is able to unveil her full combat potential shortly after switching bodies with untrained (and likely unexercised) Alita.

* FiveManBand:
** TheHeroine: Falis/Alita, obviously.
** TheLancer: Jodu Entolasia, the old butler... but no, he is not a BattleButler.
** TheBigGuy: Pete.
** TheSmartGuy: Dominikov.
** TheChick: Alita/Milano.

* NietzscheWannabe: Kaito, full stop.

** RobotGirl twins Ana and Yuna [[ChiwaSaitou are]] [[{{Blazblue}} Taokaka]].

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/murder-princess-cover-2.jpg

* HeyItsThatVoice: You might recognize Dominokov as KazukiYao, basically [[OnePiece Franky, Mr. 2, Jango]], and [[FullmetalAlchemist Yoki]].
** Or, in the English version, he's played by none other than Chuck Huber, aka: [[YuYuHakusho Hiei]], [[DragonballZ Android 17 and Supreme Kai]], [[FullmetalAlchemist Shou Tucker]] and [[SoulEater Stein]].

* RedEyesTakeWarning: Alita, though it's her actual physical ''body'' that has them, and they only really fit this trope after the FreakyFridayFlip incident swaps her with Falis

* TomboyAndGirlGirly: Falis and Alita.

* TomboyAndGirlyGirly: Falis and Alita.

** {{The Hero}}ine: Falis/Alita, obviously.

** Prince Kaito [[PatrickSeitz is]] [[{{Bleach}} Isshin Kurosaki]].

* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: The above does not apply to Doctor Akamashi's monsters. Possibly justified, in that they appear to be {{Mecha-Mooks}}. Although being robots doesn't stop Ana and Yuni from [[WhatMeasureIsANonCute being treated as human beings]]...

* [[spoiler:TheEvilPrince: Kaito.]] Seriously, does it even have to be marked as a spoiler?

* LostTechnology: Ana and Yuna... among others

* TheQuietOne: Doctor Akamashi. He speaks precisely two lines aloud...[[spoiler:and doesn't get to finish the second one]].

*** Some asian languages (presumably including Japanese) lack differentiation between the "EL" and "R" sounds. If both sound ok, then both are valid romanizations. No excuse for the "Akita" thing, though.

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Ana, despite being an adorable RobotGirl, is initially presented as an AxCrazy psycho who delights in slaughtering anyone and everyone, from soldiers to defenseless staff. After her creator is killed, she joins the good guys, no questions asked. Perhaps, the author remembered that machines are generally designed to be reprogrammable...]]
** Well, she does [[spoiler: die along with the other LostTechnology when the MacGuffin is destroyed.]]
** Not quite [[spoiler:no questions asked, either. She gives an extended explanation about why her creator was doing what he was doing. And since the good guys are opposing the people who killed her creator, an alliance with them makes perfect, pragmatic sense.]]
** [[spoiler:At least Ana got a HeroicSacrifice to redeem herself at the end. Kaito gets nothing, even after he arranged the slaughter of most of his family and almost all of his most faithful retainers as part of a mad plot to end the world.]]
** Don't forget that the whole country is now applauding the efforts of a Blood Knight Princess. If they're willing to accept HER because she's on their side then they should accept Ana and Yuni as war assets.

** And Falis/Alita is voiced by none other than RomiParkr a poster girl for [[LadyOfWar Ladies of War]] amd badass anime women.

* LesYay: Either that, or both Falis and Alita suffer from acute narcissism; maybe both.

** Prince Kaito [[PatrickSeitz is]] [[{{Bleach}} IsshinKurosaki]].

* ActionDressRip (Falis/Alita [[RuleOfCool somehow]] cuts the hem off her dress and cuts a slit in it with two movements of her sword.)
* ActionGirl (Falis/Alita)

* AfterTheEnd (throughout the story, it is stated that the world is still recovering from a global war that destroyed most of the old civilization; and that civilization was recovering from an apocalypse before ''that''.)
* ArbitrarySkepticism (Jodu remarks that he doesn't believe in [[FortuneTeller fortune-telling]], while sitting next to a {{Shinigami}}. It turns out he was right about it being fake, but still.)
* BadassNormal (Falis: her entire badassitude apparently rests in her own skills, as she is able to unveil her full combat potential shortly after switching bodies with untrained (and likely unexercised) Alita)
* {{BFS}} (The BigBad's sword is almost as big as he is.)
* BigDamnHeroes (e.g. Kaito's reappearance)
* {{Bishonen}} (Kaito)
* BlackKnight: (Dark Knight/[[spoiler:Kaito]])
* BlondGuysAreEvil ([[spoiler:Kaito]])

* BloodSplatteredWeddingDress (not really a wedding one but blood splattered, alright)

* ButNowIMustGo ([[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Surprisingly enough]], ''not'' Falis. The only opportunity to reverse the FreakyFridayFlip is used up saving the world, and in the end Falis decides to stay on, at least until another solution is found.]])
* [[ClarkesThirdLaw Clarke's Third Law]] (It is eventually revealed that [[spoiler:every "magical" thing in the entire series]] is actually sufficiently advanced technology from the distant past.)
* CrashIntoHello (well, more like "falling off a cliff, hugging each other hello")
* CuteBruiser (Ana)

* DoomedHometown (Falis hails from one.)

* DualWielding (Falis/Alita pulls off some of the most beautifully animated katana+wakizashi action sequences in recent years)

* EvilChancellor (Dr. Akamashi)
* [[spoiler:TheEvilPrince (Kaito)]] Seriously, does it even have to be marked as a spoiler?

** {{The Hero}}ine (Falis/Alita, obviously)
** TheLancer (Jodu Entolasia, the old butler... but no, he is not a BattleButler)
** TheBigGuy (Pete)
** TheSmartGuy (Dominikov)
** TheChick (Alita/Milano)
* ForTheEvulz (Cecilia's stated reason for [[spoiler:killing Falis's whole village]].)

* GentleGiant (Pete Armstrong -- Maybe "gentle" isn't the word, 'cause he never hesitates to crush a few skulls, but he's got plenty of compassion for his friends.)
* GratuitousEnglish ("Murder Princess" sounds a bit strange, though something like "Killer Princess" would've been rather cliché. The theme song is quite good, with the English lyrics making about as much sense as the Japanese.)
* HeroicSacrifice (the original Milano, Alita's handmaiden and decoy double, whose persona Alita assumes after her death)

* HeyItsThatVoice (You might recognize Dominokov as KazukiYao, basically [[OnePiece Franky, Mr. 2, Jango]], and [[FullmetalAlchemist Yoki]].)

* HumansAreBastards (More so in the manga than the anime.)
* KarmaHoudini ([[spoiler:Ana, despite being an adorable RobotGirl, is initially presented as an AxCrazy psycho who delights in slaughtering anyone and everyone, from soldiers to defenseless staff. After her creator is killed, she joins the good guys, no questions asked. Perhaps, the author remembered that machines are generally designed reprogrammable...]])

* KillerRabbit (Ana and Yuni)
* TheKingdom (Forland)
* LesYay (either that, or both Falis and Alita suffer from acute narcissism; maybe both)
* LostTechnology (Ana and Yuna... among others)
* MadScientist (Doctor Akamashi)
* {{Meido}} (both Milanos)
* MrExposition (Dominikov)

* NonIndicativeFirstEpisode (The first episode of the OVA is noticeably darker than the rest of the series, with a few genuinely disturbing moments. For a second, one might wonder if putting Falis on the throne is actually ''worse'' than letting the usurpers have it. By the second episode, her character is affirmed to be unambiguously good and the general tone of the show lightens up to resemble most fantasy anime.)

* TheQuietOne (Doctor Akamashi. He speaks precisely two lines aloud...[[spoiler:and doesn't get to finish the second one]].)
* RedEyesTakeWarning (Alita, though it's her actual physical ''body'' that has them, and they only really fit this trope after the FreakyFridayFlip incident swaps her with Falis)

* ReverseGrip (Alita/Falis does this. A lot.)
* RobotGirl (Ana and Yuna)

* SchizoTech (Teoria)
* {{Shinigami}} (Dominikov)
* SinisterScythe (Dominikov's)

* SpellMyNameWithAnS (At least one source spelled Alita's name "Akita" until this was corrected)

* TechnoBabble (in the later episodes)

* TookALevelInBadass (Well, ''we'' know better, but this is what it looks like to Alita's subjects.)

* WhamEpisode (Episode 4)
* WhatMeasureIsAMook (Averted once [[spoiler:Kaito]] turns the Forland army against Falis and Alita. The heroes realize that the guards are only serving their country, and go out of their way not to kill them. On the other hand...)
* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: (The above does not apply to Doctor Akamashi's monsters. Possibly justified, in that they appear to be {{Mecha-Mooks}}. Although being robots doesn't stop Ana and Yuni from [[WhatMeasureIsANonCute being treated as human beings]]...)
* AWizardDidIt (How exactly the soul transfer happened is basically {{Handwave}}d away. Dominikov gives a brief explanation that doesn't really explain anything, followed by Falis pointing out that his explanation can't necessarily be trusted anyway.)
* {{Yandere}} (Yuna)
* YouKilledMyFather (Falis, to [[spoiler:Cecilia]].)

* [[TalkingToHimself Talking To Herself]] (Bloodthirsty Ana and ([[BewareTheNiceOnes usually]]) sweet Yuna the [[RobotGirl Robot Girls]] are both voiced by the same actress: ChiwaSaitou in Japanese and CarrieSavage in English.)

* [[TalkingToHimself Talking To Herself]] (Bloodthirsty Ana and ([[BewareTheNiceOnes usually]]) sweet Yuna the [[RobotGirl Robot Girls]] are both voiced by the same actress: ChiwaSaitou in Japanese and Carrie Savage in English.)