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Puppet Princess of Marl Kingdom 2 Original Soundtrack :: Review by Chris
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Album Title: | Little Princess ~ Puppet Princess of Marl Kingdom 2 Original Soundtrack |
| Record Label: | Toshiba EMI | |
| Catalog No.: | TYCY-10031 | |
| Release Date: | March 8, 2000 | |
| Purchase: | Buy at eBay |
Overview
Following the moderate success of Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure, Nippon Ichi Software developed a sequel, entitled Little Princess: Puppet Princess of Marl Kingdom 2. Once again, the game blended role-playing elements with storytelling inspired by musicals; as a result, returnee Tenpei Sato was expected to compose both instrumental and vocal themes for the title. The game remained exclusive to Japan, meaning much of its storyline and lyrical content remains mysterious to English speakers, though it is possible to enjoy it as an independent musical experience nevertheless.
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Little Princess: Puppet Princess of Marl Kingdom 2 features both instrumental and vocal themes. While the vocal themes are the main intended highlights — given the soundtrack is a musical, after all — there are several highlights among the instrumental tracks. The main theme is one such example, a gushing and elegant fantasy orchestration that captures the little princess' character and journey. While entirely synthetic, the production values are significantly improved from its predecessors and the dashing piano work at the conclusion is the icing on the cake. Sato elaborates on this style on a range of other scores, ranging from the adventurous "Starting Over" to the spiritual "Daydream" to the sentimental "Kururu's Memories", each time blending conventional RPG influences with a feathery aura reminiscent of Disney soundtracks.
There are 14 songs featured across the soundtrack. The majority feature Maria Kawamura, who portrays the character Kururu, though a number of other seiyuus are also featured. "Wonderful World" exemplifies the type of sound to expect from most of the songs on the soundtrack. The vocals and instrumentation alike sound simultaneously romantic, yet naive, which is entirely appropriate given the nature of the character. There are plenty of other ballads such as this, for example "Let's Go Walking" and "Because We Are Together", that will be delightful for those who enjoy this style of music. However, some tracks such as "Princess Kururu", "A Tomboy Princess", and "The Karkanskys and the Baknekoffs" are best reserved for the contextual experience. Sato packs a large number of voies and instruments into these often short tracks; the result is impacting in context, but rather bombastic and discomforting outside it.
Although the first half of the score is almost entirely light-hearted and fantastical, there are a number of dark and dramatic tracks thereafter to diversify the experience and bring it towards the climax. Tracks such as "It's... the Front of the Back?" and "Puppet Crisis" are entirely effective pieces of dark cinematic underscore, comparable to similar themes on the Disgaea soundtrack. The portrayal of the antagonist in "Evil Queen" is also well done, with misleading soprano vocals and turbulent piano-supported orchestration, though will be too much of a rip-off of similar Disney themes for some people's tastes. Certainly the most important track for establishing the darker mood in the latter half of the game is "Sky-Palace of the Witches", which blends Sato's trademark fantasy orchestrations with a range of gothic elements. The final dungeon, at least, is clearly no light-hearted matter.
Some of the most emotional songs on the entire score are featured towards the conclusion. "First Love" is a fairly typical love ballad featuring the gentle vocals from Maria Kawamura. The instrumentation definitely feels subsidiary here, but the acoustic guitar nevertheless provides a pleasant and mellow vibe throughout. "Under the Rule of the Soldier" subsequently ups the pace with a mixture of rock and orchestra segments. The vocals are especially rousing and Tenpei Sato himself even receives the opportunity to sing here. Overall, an energetic climax for the score. The final contribution, "The Little Princess' Decision", beautifully rounds off Cornet and Kururu's story by blending the soft youthful vocals featured elsewhere on the score with more colourful fantasy orchestration. It is rather derivative, but nevertheless entirely effective given the game was intended to be a conventional 'musical meets RPG' experience.
Summary
When analysed in its own right, the Puppet Princess of Marl Kingdom 2 soundtrack is quite satisfying. It is impressive how Tenpei Sato managed to blend high quality fantasy orchestrations with sentimental romantic songs all in one title. The result works delightfully as an accompaniment to the role-playing and musical scenes in the game and is quite stimulating as an independent listen. That said, this soundtrack is probably Sato's weakest soundtrack for a musical. It doesn't have quite the same flair or originality as Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure, or the same refinement and maturity as Princess Antiphona's Hymn, so newcomers to Sato's musical works would be advised to try these instead. However, the Puppet Princess of Marl Kingdom 2 will still be a satisfying listen for Sato's fans.
