Princess Principal 11 Reaction: Xanatos Gambit Pile-up

I was planning to make a review post for Episode 2 but seeing the newest episode made me change my mind. Not that it is bad; Episode 11 does a good job of setting up things up for the Finale. But, like the first part of a detective/mystery novel, I believe said episode cannot be judged on its merit until we see the solution/key to the mystery.

Until now, the cases are episodic; we were presented the problem, the clues and the solution within the same episode. This time though, what we have are problems and some of the clues – the resolution still lies next week unaired.

This does provide a unique opportunity to truly guess and not rely on hindsight. Let us see how much we’ll get right on the next episode!

For those who are reading this post, here is a simple legend:

Normal text= Fact or something that I believe is 100% true

Italic text = Speculation/Guesses/Wishful thinking 

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Princess Principal Episode 1 – Ange, The Magnificent Liar

As of episode 10, there are only two episodes to come.

Unless they massively flubbed the ending its safe to say that  Princess Principal is the sleeper hit of this season.  Surprisingly, “Cute Girl James Bond Spy Action in Steampunk Alternate Past!London with bonus yuri-subtext,” is the anime that I didn’t know I have been missing.

The show took its cues from Haruhi and airing the episodes in anachronistic order. Since the episodes are mostly self-contained stories it is not bad plotwise.  Astute viewers though who pay attention to the chronology may find themselves a bit spoiled at certain points.

Episode 1 itself is one of Princess Principal strongest cases and do a good job of establishing our protagonist so I don’t mind them using it as an opener.

In any case, let the analyzing begin. <Warning spoilers below until episode 10>

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