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, thriller ...

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 Compan ...

from June to September 2006. The series centers on three high school students involved in their school's

cross-dressing Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes usually worn by a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and self-express oneself. Cross-dressing has play ...

''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 Ma ...

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 , is a Japanese actor and musician from Tokyo. His mother is Japanese and his father is French. His most notable roles to date are as Kitazaki/Dragon Orphnoch in the 2003 series ''Kamen Rider 555'' and Rei Suzumura/ZERO the Silver Fanged Knigh ...

as Yuujirou Shihoudani *

Takeru Satoh is a Japanese actor. He is best known for his leading role as Ryotaro Nogami in the ''Kamen Rider Den-O'' franchise, and as Himura Kenshin in the live-action ''Rurouni Kenshin'' film and its sequels. Satoh was born on 21 March 1989 in Iwatsuki ...

as Touru Kouno * Yuichi Nakamura as Otoya Hanazono * Kento Shibuya as Kurou Minamoto * Kazuma as Ranta Mori *

Takumi Saito is a Japanese actor and filmmaker. He directs films under his birthname, , spelled differently in Kanji but pronounced the same. Early life and work Saitoh was born on August 22, 1981, in Minato, Tokyo. Saitoh's father worked in the film in ...

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 The Prince of Tennis (film), live film adaptation. Career In O ...

as Akira Sakamoto *

Hideo Ishiguro is a Japanese actor who is noted for his roles as Kai in the 2007 ''Kamen Rider Den-O'' and as Gai Kurenai in the 2016 ''Ultraman Orb''. Filmography Drama Series *2005: '' Brother Beat'' (TBS) *2005: ''Gokusen 2'' (TV Asahi) *2006: ''Princess ...

as Haruka Kujouin * Shota Minami as Masayuki Koshino *

Haruhiko Sato is a former Japanese football player. Playing career Sato was born in Tokyo on 27 June 1978. After graduating from high school, he joined J1 League club Kyoto Purple Sanga in 1997. However he could not play at all in the match until 1998. In ...

as Wataru Harue *

Hiroshi Yoshihara is a common masculine Japanese given name. It can also be transliterated as Hirosi. Possible writings Hiroshi can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *浩, "meaning" *汎 *弘, *宏, *寛, *洋, *博, *博一, *博司, ...

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 b ...

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 (

) : 1. Treasure : 2. * Princess Princess D Character Song Series Vol.2: Shiawase no Yokan - Kurohime ( Yuichi Nakamura, Kento Shibuya & 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 -

: 1. : 2. * Princess Princess D Character Song Series Vol.5: YES! -

: 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)