Brighter Than the Dawning Blue: Complete Collection

When Feena Fam Earthlight, princess of the moon's Sphere Kingdom, decides a visit to Earth would improve relations between the two once-warring worlds, she winds up in the home of Asagiri Tatsuya, teenage son of the assistant to the Earth leader. As in many anime series, Tatsuya is surrounded by female characters, but in this case, most are family and friends, making Feena the only serious candidate for a potential girlfriend. Although based on an adult video game, Brighter Than the Dawning Blue has toned down the lecherous source material to focus chiefly on the sweet romance between the commoner Tatsuya and the royal Feena, who—it turns out—is unhappily betrothed to someone else back home. The first six episodes explore Feena's experiences on Earth while introducing the characters; the last half finds Feena's evil moon fiancé agitating for war with Earth as the new lovers cement their feelings. Although the melodrama escalates as the climactic (if also happy and predictable) ending approaches, the series still feels somewhat overlong. Appealingly animated, with a solid message about good relationships, this show ultimately lacks the originality needed to transcend its shopworn narrative trappings. Compiling all 12 episodes originally aired in 2006 in a two-disc set in Japanese with English subtitles, rated TV-PG, this is a strong optional purchase. Aud: P. (L. Martincik)