Many excellent anime and manga out there could easily be considered medieval fantasy stories. None of these series, however, hold a candle to the originality of the Murder Princess anime and manga.

Murder Princess is an underrated franchise full of medieval aesthetics, excellent female characters, and more action than fans could hope for. For those who love medieval fantasy stories, badass ladies and incredible fight scenes, this may be the perfect series to check out – here’s how to get started with the Murder Princess anime and manga.

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The Plot of Murder Princess

Alita (left) and Milano (right) from the anime Murder Princess.

Murder Princess is a medieval fantasy series set in a fictional universe with multiple kingdoms, primarily focusing on the Forland kingdom. The story begins with the antagonist, an ex-government scientist named Doctor Akamashi, overthrowing King Forland. On the verge of death, the king sends his daughter, Princess Alita, to find her brother, Prince Kaito, who has gone abroad. Alita flees the castle, running into the forest. She barely reaches the country’s border when she stumbles down a cliff, calling to her death. Before landing, however, Alita collides with a female bounty hunter named Fallis, knocking them both to the ground.

This is where the story takes an unexpected twist and switches the two women’s souls. When Alita and Fallis wake up, they find they are stuck in each other’s bodies. In Murder Princess, the concept of body-swapping is called “spiritual commutation” or “spiritual transmigration". After Fallis defeats the forest guardian, Alita begs her to save the Forland kingdom, offering her body and soul in return. Fallis reluctantly agrees and adopts the role of Princess Alita Forland.

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The Main Characters in Murder Princess

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Despite Alita and Fallis clearly being marked as the story's heroines, they aren’t alone. Before meeting Alita, Fallis travels with her two companions, Pete Armstrong and Dominikov. They are both bounty hunters working under Fallis, but they are more like partners rather than underlings -- although they do call her "boss".

In the Princess Murder manga, Dominikov is a shinigami (death god) -- like Ryuk from the famed series Death Note -- while in the anime he’s referred to as a cyborg. He takes down bounty heads with a large scythe. While Pete seems big and ferocious at first sight, he is anything but -- as long as there's no bounty involved. Like Dominikov, Pete is also a cyborg in the anime, though he fights using brute strength and force.

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Two more important characters in Murder Princess come from the Forland castle: Jodo Entolasia and Milano Entolasia. Jodo, a butler working under the Forland family, is a very serious and humorless person -- especially when it comes to training Princess Alita. Even after Alita and Fallis switch bodies, he continues as her mentor, helping Fallis play the part of the princess.

Milano is Jodo's granddaughter who works as a maid for the Forland family. During the coup, she pretends to be princess Alita so the real princess can escape and find her brother. After Milano’s death, Alita (in Fallis’ body) adopts Milano’s name, along with her title as Jodo’s granddaughter and maid.

Where to Watch the Murder Princess Anime

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The Princess Murder anime was written by Tatsuhiko Urahata, directed by Tomoyuki Kurokawa and was produced by Marvelous Entertainment, running from March-August 2007. The anime spans a simple six episodes and is actually considered an original video animation (OVA). These are Japanese animated series and films made to be directly released as home videos.

The anime can be viewed, subbed and dubbed, on the official Funimation website. All six individual episodes are also available for purchase on Prime Video. For those who love to own physical copies, the series is also available on DVD and can be found at Right Stuf Anime or Amazon.

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Where to Read the Murder Princess Manga

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The Princess Murder manga was written by Sekihiko Inui and published by Mediaworks, while Broccoli Books handled the English publication. The demographic for the manga is marked as seinen, and it ran from 2005-2007 with two volumes. The first volume of Murder Princess is available for purchase on Amazon. ThriftBooks is another solid place to find a relatively cheaper used copy of the manga. Both stores only seem to have paperback copies available at this time.