You stand upon the pitcher’s mound in a stadium, the noise of thousands echo from its walls as golden sunshine reveal the seats filled by the owners of those voices. Next to home plate is a batter, readying himself for your pitch as your catcher gives you the sign. You are waiting for a statement by the umpire and it came, “PLAY BALL!” This is what you want, a chance to prove your worth, even if it is a sport where only boys are suppose to play in and you are a girl. You are one of nine princesses.

I don’t know if Princess Nine is based on any manga (usually the credits acknowledge if they are), yet this is a great series. The basic premise is its female chairmen, Keiko Himuro (Ryoko Sakakibara/Kelly Manson) force an all girls’ finishing school, to form girls’ baseball team that will compete in the boy’s baseball league, all the way to the championship at Koshien. But Keiko has another reason for this decision besides breaking into an male-dominated sport, she wants to give her former lover’s daughter, Ryo Hayakawa (Miki Nagasawa/Hilary Haag), a chance to reach her full potential as a fantastic baseball pitcher. Along with Ryo are nine other princess each with a dream: Hikaru Yoshimoto (Naomi Nagasawa/Cyuthia Martinez), Yuki Azuma (Ayako Kawasumi/Margeaux Baulch), Seira Morimura (Kyoto Hikami/Kelli Cousins), Nene Mori (Taeko Kawada/Jennifer K. Earhart), Koharu Hotta (Akiko Yajima/Kira), Yoko Tokashiki (Mayumi Iizuka/Tiffany Grant), Mao Daidouji (Kokoro Shindo/Shelly Callene Black), Kanako Mitu/Tami Kanaka (Rumi Kasahara/Aninda Praptiningtyas) and Isumi Himuro (Mami Kingetsu/Monica Rial). Supporting these princesses of the diamond are Hiroki Takasugi (Taketo Koyasu/Vic Mignogan), Shino Hayakawa (Sumi Shimamoto/Christine M. Auten), Shinaku Kido (Sumi Shimamoto/Andy McAvin) and Seishiro Natsume (Tetsuya Iwanaga/Chris Patton).

Original Story by Kensei Date, character designs by Yoshimi Hashimoto, original character designs by Akihiko Yamashita, music by Masamichi Amano, music performed by the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra (giving the soundtrack a really nice Big Band Swing sound), opening theme/closing theme (Princess Nine/Passionate Days) were composed by Shoujou, opening theme performed by Miki Nagasawa and Mami Kingetsu, executive producer was Yasuhito Yamaki, and director was Tomomi Mochizuki (ADR director/translator/writer for the dubb version was done by veteran Matt Greenfield). The animation is well done, character design makes each character stand out and the special effects are excellent. The voice acting for both the subtitled and the dubb are great (WARNING: adult language is used (including slang), adult situations are shown (no nudity) and ADR gave the series a 12+ rating). If other sports anime series are as good as Princess Nine, I hope more are released here in the US.

The DVD is really loaded with extras with player statistics, both English and Nihongo actors’ background, a short history of baseball in Nihon and even a short documentary on cooking oden.