Twin Princess of Wonder Planet (Fushigiboshi no☆Futagohime) is a Shoujo Magical Girl series from the director of Sailor Moon, Junichi Sato. Initially a concept with its own interactive webpage by BIRTHDAY (also known for their Daikaijuu Monogatari games), Hal Film Maker took the idea and adapted it into an anime, which began in April of 2005.
Fine and Rein are fraternal twins who are also princesses of the Sunny Kingdom, one of the seven kingdoms of the Wonder Planet, a hollow planet with a floating sun in the middle. They also happen to be "the most un-Princesslike Princesses ever". Fine (the red-haired one) is a Tomboy Princess with a love of sweet things while Rein (the blue-haired one) is a Genki Girl who loves cute things but gets a little insane when it comes to romance.
Unfortunately, the floating sun is starting to lose its power. As the Princesses of the kingdom that looks after the sun, Fine and Rein are secretly tasked by Princess Grace — the legendary hero of the Sunny Kingdom — to investigate the source of the sun's troubles. And to do so, they get the power to change into super poofy dresses. Don't question it, just run with it. Later takes a decidedly dark turn.
It later got a second series, Twin Princess of Wonder Planet Gyu!, in which Fine and Rein get sent to Princess School in order to receive a certification that will allow them to become Queens. During the orientation of new students, they are presented with a legendary bell that will only ring when a certain person, destined to become the "Universal Princess" touches it. Until this time, the bell has never rung until Fine and Rein touch it, transforming them into newer, frillier, poofier dresses. Meanwhile, a strange dark entity has begun to possess people all over campus, causing them to descend into irreversible depression. Unlike the previous series, it follows a standard Monster of the Week format and delves into Magical Girl Warrior themes instead of the Cute Witch style it originally had (presumably due to the success of a similar format in the second half of the original series). Part of the reason of why it was different was because Junichi Sato left in the beginning of its run, most likely due to Creative Differences. Some cite the sequel as something that should have never existed.
This series is notable for its extremely high level of sugary sweetness and for the most impractically poofy princess dresses ever, where the amount of frills is directly proportional to magical power.
This series provides examples of:
- Academy of Evil: The Black Planet Academy from Gyu!. Its students are encouraged to disrupt Royal Wonder Academy and make it look bad by any means necessary.
- Adaptation Expansion: There's a lot of this, but for starters, contrary to the original concept's solid seven, the anime went out of its way to introduce a secret eighth kingdom on the Wonder Planet, known as the Ocean Kingdom, guarded by Princess Pearl.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Fine, at least, really prefers Eclipse/Prince Shade over Prince Bright.
- All There in the Manual: The character fanbooks and BIRTHDAY's original webpage gives small details to the characters that aren't revealed in the show. For example, Fine and Rein are both eight years old, Bright received Ruby on his tenth birthday, and Shade received Regina (a desert lizard) at the age of five.
- Almost Kiss: Rein and Eclipse nearly share one in the manga... only to be cockblocked by Milky!
- Alpha Bitch: Altezza, in the earlier episodes. She grows into a Lovable Alpha Bitch as the series progresses.
- As Long as There Is Evil: The Black Crystal.
- Battle Theme Music: FLIP-FLAP's "Miracle Gemini Gyu" becomes the battle theme for Fine and Rein in Gyu!
- Beach Episode: Episode 21, in Gyu!
- "Blind Idiot" Translation: The show's official title in English is Twin Princess of Wonder Planet, which is shown on the first Eye Catch as well as TV Tokyo's English website. "Twin Princesses" is the grammatically correct term. Since Japanese doesn't have any plural markers for its nouns, you'd let them off for that and expect the title to be corrected later on — but nope! Be it the manga licensed in English by Chuang Yi, or licensed in European countries, the same title was still kept!
- Break the Haughty: Altezza in the earlier episodes.
- Butt-Monkey: Tio, and to a lesser extent, Altezza.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Naginyo, in the first series, proves to be a stock character who just shows up at random parts in Once per Episode just to sing random songs on his harp while charming the ladies. Then, 20 episodes later, it turns out he was a messenger sent by Princess Grace THE WHOLE TIME.
- Clap Your Hands If You Believe: This is essentially how Fine and Rein defeat the Big Bad in both series.
- Contrived Coincidence: The Prominence in the earlier part of Season 1 seems to cause these whenever it's used.
- For example, when Fine and Rein were trying to get some sugar for Lione when she spilled the last of hers (and getting a bag of salt when they ask Altezza), the twin princesses used the Prominence to try and conjure up some. Instead, it conjured a mound of soil. They are about to give up when a traveling sumo group arrived and decided to accept the soil. One of the just so happened to confuse sugar with salt and the three princesses traded the salt they received from Altezza to score the sugar Lione needed. How those events could possibly occur with that level of precision is anyone's guess barring A Wizard Did It (and that could very well be the case, given the Prominence's nature in this world).
- Dancing Theme: The first opening theme, "Princess wa Akiramenai", had a little bit of dancing and the twin vocalists of the song, FLIP-FLAP, also did the same dance in a live-action music video version. Similarly, the first ending theme, "Oshare Fantasy", had a little dance sequence and there was a segment in one of the DVD extras that taught the dance.
- Disappeared Dad: All the families in Wonder Planet are nuclear families... except for the Moon Kingdom, where there is a queen, but not a king. In fact, we don't even know who and if Shade and Milky ever had a father...
- Dogged Nice Guy: Auler... not because of the Unusual Ears he has, of course!
- Eldritch Abomination: The Black Crystal. It takes the form of an otherwise inconspicuous crystal, but it has a will of its own and it's real form is largely incomprehensible. Finally, As Long as There Is Evil, the Black Crystal will keep coming back!
- Emotion Eater: The Black Crystal is this in that it feeds off of negative emotions, particularly unhappiness and despair. Anger will suffice, as Shade found out, but unhappiness seems to be what it prefers given that it has its thralls spread unhappiness and misery around.
- Ermine Cape Effect: One reason why Fine and Rein are considered "un-princesslike" is because they wear casual clothes almost all the time.
- Evil Costume Switch: Bright, when he is possessed by the Black Crystal.
- Every Episode Ending: In the first series, after the episode preview, every episode ended with a "lucky item" segment where Fine and Rein tell the little girls watching the show which item to carry around for good luck.
- Everything's Better with Rainbows: The opening scene of every episode in the first season shows a rainbow in space.
- Finishing Each Other's Sentences: Fine and Rein tend to do this, though not as often as they Speak in Unison.
- Fire-Breathing Diner: An earlier episode of the first season involved Fine and Rein wanting to try "Flame Fried Rice" and finding that the spice needed wasn't present. A newer, even stronger spice was found and "Ultimate Flame Fried Rice" was born. As thanks, the chef cooking the stuff let Fine and Rein be the first to taste it. Their faces turned red for a few seconds...and then they breathed fire.
- Floating Continent: The entire Sunny Kingdom is this. Played with in that it lies in the very center of the Wonder Planet despite it being completely airborne.
- Forced Transformation: Fine suffers this when she fails to understand why the lack of rain in the Seed Kingdom is a bad thing.
- Frills of Justice: Fine and Rein's power levels are typically measured by how pimped out their dresses are.
- Genki Girl: Fine and Rein both.
- Gratuitous English: One episode had a one-shot male character using this as his Character Tic. Other characters use this too but never to his degree.
- Gratuitous Princess: About eighteen of them in the first series alone.
- Happily Ever After: Of course.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Poomo, in the final episode of the first series, though not that it lasts.
- Hollow World: The outside is a barren world with spike-like mountains dotting it and a star-shaped hole. Inside is a bright and cheery Sugar Bowl.
- Hostage for MacGuffin: Chancellor Roman captures Bright and forces Fine and Rein to exchange the Prominence for his life.
- "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: This happens during a lot of confrontations with Bright near the end of the first series.
- Impractically Fancy Outfit: Look at the dresses Fine and Rein wear while transformed. They may make them look cute, but they look nothing like something you'd see someone fight in.
- Inherently Funny Words: In-Universe. Gabin, a word once said by Altezza. It's the only thing that makes the Bo Dragon laugh.
- Involuntary Dance: The Feather Myuugram. Point it at a person(s), press a few buttons in a specific order, and the target(s) will dance uncontrollably. It's effective against everything but fast creatures.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Eclipse/Prince Shade. He is cold and distant, but he legitimately cares for those he trusts.
- Late-Arrival Spoiler: It's pretty obvious Eclipse is Prince Shade from the Moon Kingdom once Shade is formally introduced in the series. On the official website, Eclipse was listed in the section for characters with an unspecified region as a separate character than Prince Shade. Once The Reveal happened, Eclipse's profile explicitly states that he is Shade.
- Loser Protagonist: The majority of the princesses win Princess Parties because of Fine and Rein's help, but the two have never won one, though they never actually bother with their loser status. This was averted in the manga, where they win the final Princess Party.
- Lucky Charms Title: A star is present in the show's title.
- MacGuffin: The whole Grace Stones ordeal.
- Magic by Any Other Name: The Prominence. It is never called magic anywhere in the series. The closest its ever come to being called that is courtesy of Altezza, and she only ever refers to it as Fine and Rein's "weird power".
- Oddly Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo: Futago Hime Gyu!, with "gyu" being a Japanese onomatopoeia for squeezing (often used for hand squeezing or tight hugs).
- Official Couple: Fine/Shade, Rein/Bright, Altezza/Auler, Elizabeta/Fango, Calorie/Tauri, Milro/Pastel... and that's not even including the kings and queens! Even Milky and Nalro got some Ship Tease before they even learned how to speak!
- One-Person Birthday Party: Though not a birthday but used in a similar context, in Bright spends an entire episode preparing for a lavish party to celebrate becoming the king after taking over the Wonder Planet. While decorating, he imagines his Love Interest Fine showing up. Fine does show up to talk some sense into him but is repulsed by his Brainwashed and Crazy nature. She's later saved by her friends, including Rein, a Fangirl of Bright, and Bright's sister, Altezza, both who are shocked at his behavior as well. They leave him all alone while he celebrates sadly to himself.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Eclipse as "Shade."
- Peacock Girl: Altezza's original outfit looked like this. Lione's samba outfit is this (with more Fanservice).
- Pimped-Out Dress: The base dresses that the princesses (aside from Fine and Rein) tend to wear most of the time. Fine and Rein get dolled up when going to most Princess Parties. Both of their dresses while transformed out-pimp all of these...and that's just the first series!
- Power Trio: Fine, Rein, and Poomo act as a trio throughout the series, although you can substitute Poomo for Lione if you want a more human counterpart. In the second half of the series, Altezza replaces Lione in the role. The trio formation becomes crucial to Gyu! to the point where the students must create teams of three, hence Team Gemini (Fine, Rein, Chiffon), Team Celeb (Elizabeta, Sasha, Carla), Team Jewel (Altezza, Sophie, Lemon), Team Samba (Lione, Calorie, Asuri), etc.
- Prince Charming: Bright. He is kind, charming, and very popular with the girls of the Wonder Planet.
- Princess Classic: Fine, Rein, Lione, Milro, Sophie, and the eleven Seed Princesses. Milky is very young but fits too. Altezza eventually grows into this as well.
- Princesses Prefer Pink: Fine, if her color theme is anything to go by.
- Put on a Bus: The writers of Gyu! use this trope immensely. The show introduces new princesses and princes while ignoring even the royal families of the Wonder Planet. In other words, if you're looking for anyone who is not Fine, Rein, Poomo, Chiffon, Elizabeta, Fango, and Bibin, prepare to be massively disappointed. Even Auler doesn't show up as much as he should have. Alongside that, even the new princesses and princes are basically ignored after having one episode to themselves — Thomas gets this the worst, as shortly after his Heel–Face Turn, he disappears for about 20 episodes, and when he finally returns to the Academy, he is Demoted to Extra.
- Rebellious Princess: Fine and Rein, to the point of being labeled the "most un-princesslike princesses in the history of the Wonder Planet".
- Requisite Royal Regalia: The princesses all get tiaras, High-Class Gloves, and a Pimped-Out Dress. Fine and Rein gain sceptres when they transform and their dresses out pimp all other dresses. Bright, Shade, and Tio get crowns in addition to swords and capes.
- Royal Blood: The main characters and many of the supporting characters are princesses and princes. Gyu! adds more.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Princesses Fine and Rein, for starters. Prince Bright tries but ends up making things worse. Prince Shade after he was revealed to be Eclipse. Princess Lione during most of her appearances. Prince Tio makes every attempt to play it straight and ultimately succeeds. Princess Altezza when she joins the Fine and Rein in finding a way to free Bright from the Black Crystal's influence. In fact, every Prince and Princess does a lot more than their parents.
- The Kings and Queens almost always subvert this. An exception is the Hot-Blooded King Wohl, who personally leads his troops in stopping whatever troubles his kingdom, even if he doesn't understand what the problem is.
- Running Gag: The twins' "I hate it" dance, Tio trying (and failing) to help out, Poomo muttering about his situation, to name a few.
- Serious Business: Altezza takes the "Best Food Princess" competition a little too seriously... Heck, episode 22 reveals that she trained more diligently for the previous parties than all the other princesses combined.
- Sibling Team: Fine and Rein. Bright and Altezza to a far lesser extent.
- Speak in Unison: Fine and Rein frequently do this. Justified since they're nigh-inseparable twins.
- Spell My Name With An S: Rein's name was written as "Rain" in the first eyecatch of the series, but producer Junichi Sato decided to stick with calling her "Rein" because he didn't want her to be associated with the weather rain.
- Milro has an interesting case since her name was spelled "Mirlo" in the first character fanbook, but "Milro" in episode 19 and in the second character fanbook. One has to wonder if "Mirlo" was a typo. Last, some fansubs write her name out by her literal Japanese pronunciation, "Miruro", but it's not Word of God so it has less validity than her other names. The fansubs romanized Truth's name as "Toulouse" and Altezza's as "Altessa" before the character fanbook came out with the official romanizations. Some people still refer to the characters by their fansub names.
- Sugar Bowl: The Wonder Planet is very cute and friendly.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: In Gyu!, the vice principal of the Royal Wonder Academy resembles Chancellor Roman from the first series, from the character design to even his voice actors. The same treatment is given to Rarau and Yayan, the vice principal's assistants, who seem to be Expies of Rau and Yan, Roman's mooks, in the first series.
- Swiss-Army Tears: When Fine and Rein lose their hearts permanently after defeating the Black Crystal.
- Theme Music Power-Up: A theme is sounded every time fine and Rein transforms. New ones are sounded as they get new levels of power, and the theme that sounds when they use the Prominence gets remixed. Gyu! has this as well, complete with a battle theme.
- Transformation Is a Free Action: On a number of times, Fine and Rein transform right when something bad is on the verge of happening. Said bad thing, if happening in real time, would've caused damage by the time they finished transforming...
- Transformation Sequence: Several as the series goes on. The first one uses the Prominence. When that is stolen, the Fortulet princess sequence appears. When Bright's powers finally allow him to No-Sell their powers, the girls gain the Eternal Solar form. Then Gyu! gives them the Universal and Grand Universal Princess forms, which requires Kyukyu and Pyupyu to initiate.
- Transformation Trinket: The Sunny Luches
- True Blue Femininity: Rein, if her color them is anything to go by.
- Weight Woe: In the Best Sports Princess chapter in the manga, Rein becomes worried about participating due to her recent weight gain.
- What the Hell, Hero?: During the Best Sweets Princess Party, Fine and Rein inadvertently destroy Altezza's entry while helping Lione. When they go to apologize to Altezza, Altezza becomes rather pissed instead of remorseful at what they have to say. Fine and Rein end up yelling at her, prompting her to call them out on their own behavior. This ultimately results in Fine and Rein losing all of their princess ranks.
- Wheel o' Feet: Something of a running gag. To give an idea of how often it happens, take a drink every time someone demonstrates this trope.
- Wonder Twin Powers: Although Fine and Rein can use the Prominence and the Feather Mewgram by themselves, they need each other to transform and use their most powerful magic. This is also prevalent in Gyu!, where their twin angel mascots, Pyupyu and Kyukyu, are needed to help them transform.
- Zeppelins from Another World: More like hot-air balloons, but it still fits the bill. Each kingdom has one, all looking very different. All are used to get to Sunny Kingdom.