is a

Japanese television drama , also called , are television programs that are a staple of Japanese television and are broadcast daily. All major TV networks in Japan produce a variety of drama series including romance, comedy, detective stories, horror, jidaigeki, thrill ...

originally aired by

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Com ...

from June to September 2006. The series centers on three high school students involved in their school's cross-dressing ''princess'' system, and was loosely based on the manga '' Princess Princess'' by

Mikiyo Tsuda __NOTOC__ is a Japanese manga writer and illustrator from Fukui Prefecture who has been writing manga since 1998. This name is one of her two pen names that she writes under when drawing manga, the other being .Afterword section in the Digital M ...

Plot

Fujimori Academy is an elite all-boys boarding school with a unique ''Princess'' system: each year three freshmen are chosen to become the school princesses, attending school functions and cheering the clubs and teams dressed as girls to the spirits of the students, who are not able to regularly see girls in the school grounds. Mikoto Yutaka is one of the chosen for Princess duty in his junior year, along with students Yujiro Shihoudani and Tooru Kouno. At first very contrary to joining the Princess system, Mikoto is eventually convinced by the other Princesses. But just as Mikoto is reluctantly accepting his role, the mysterious Otoya Hanazono transfers into the school. Dissatisfied with the current Princesses' half-hearted efforts and accusing the Student Council of being neglectful of the students' wishes, Otoya creates his own team (the ''Dark Princesses'') to rival the Princesses, and nominates himself candidate for the New School Council. Mikoto is caught in the fight between Otoya and the current Student Council, unsure of which side to stand for. He also has to deal with his conflicting feelings towards Otoya, and how they affect both his friendship with Yujiro and Tooru and his loyalty to the Princess system. In this process, he comes to understand the true meaning of being a Princess, and finally embraces his role, putting his man's pride aside in favor of the Princesses' pride.

Cast

Kenta Kamakari is a Japanese actor, voice actor and singer, famous for his role as Ryo Shishido in the '' Prince of Tennis Musical''s. He was hospitalized on April 21, 2007 and was unable to play the role of Minami Itsuki in '' Musical Air Gear'' vs. Bacchus S ...

as Mikoto Yutaka * Ray Fujita as Yuujirou Shihoudani * Takeru Satoh as Touru Kouno * Yuichi Nakamura as Otoya Hanazono *

Kento Shibuya Kento (written: , , , , , , , or ) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese footballer *, Japanese actor *, Japanese actor *, Japanese footballer *, Japanese footballer *, Japanese actor *, Japanese fo ...

as Kurou Minamoto *

Kazuma Kazuma (written: , , , , , , , , or in katakana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: * Kazuma Eekman, Dutch-Japanese artist *, Japanese voice actor *, Japanese chief executive *, Japanese footballer *, Japa ...

as Ranta Mori * Takumi Saito as Shuuya Arisada *

Osamu Adachi is a Japanese actor and a former member of the acting group D-BOYS. He is best known for his role as Eiji Kikumaru in ''The Prince of Tennis'' musical series, Tenimyu, and in the live film adaptation. Career In October 2004, Adachi joined ...

as Akira Sakamoto * Hideo Ishiguro as Haruka Kujouin *

Shota Minami Shota may refer to: * Shota (dance), a traditional dance from Kosovo * Shota (Georgian given name), a Georgian given name * Shōta, a Japanese given name * Shota (wrestler), Japanese professional wrestler * Shotacon, a childlike male character ...

as Masayuki Koshino * Haruhiko Sato as Wataru Harue * Hiroshi Yoshihara as Takahiro Tadasu * Kohei Yamamoto as Kaoru Natashou

Adaptations

The live action version of the ''Princess Princess'' series differs in many points from its manga and anime counterparts, the most significant changes being the main character and the Black Princesses. In the manga and anime versions, Tooru is the protagonist, while in the drama series the focus is on Mikoto. The Black Princesses were original characters created by the manga author exclusively for the drama version. The drama also excluded all female characters, including Mikoto's girlfriend. That relationship was exchanged for one heavy on

boys love ''Yaoi'' (; ja, やおい ), also known by the '' wasei-eigo'' construction and its abbreviation , is a genre of fictional media originating in Japan that features homoerotic relationships between male characters. It is typically created ...

overtones between Mikoto and Otoya.

Episodes

Media

A series of character-related merchandise items was released through the series' original run, including theme songs performed by the actors.

Visual

* Official Photo Album Princess Princess D : Released August 2006, * Princess Princess D Making Book : Released October 2006,

Music

* Princess Princess D Character Song Series Vol.1: Treasure - Hime (

, Ray Fujita & Takeru Satoh) : 1. Treasure : 2. * Princess Princess D Character Song Series Vol.2: Shiawase no Yokan - Kurohime ( Yuichi Nakamura,

& Kazuma) : 1. : 2. * Princess Princess D Character Song Series Vol.3: Hateshinaku sumiwataru sora no mukou mezashite -

: 1. : 2. * Princess Princess D Character Song Series Vol.4: Raindrops - Ray Fujita : 1. : 2. * Princess Princess D Character Song Series Vol.5: YES! - Takeru Satoh : 1. : 2. {{Nihongo, Susume! ~Hime no theme ·Tooru version~, ススメ!〜姫のテーマ·亨バージョン〜, ''Improve! ~Princesses theme ·Tooru version~''

External links

Pony Canyon release website
* Japanese Wikipedia article on プリンセス・プリンセス Japanese drama television series Japanese high school television series Japanese LGBT-related television shows TV Asahi television dramas 2006 Japanese television series debuts 2006 Japanese television series endings Television series about teenagers ja:プリンセス・プリンセス (漫画)