Princess Diana: now in moe form.
Niji no Kanata e! Shoujo Diana Monogatari (虹のかなたへ! 少女ダイアナ妃物語) is a 1986 Anime biopic about Diana Frances Spencer, aka Diana, Princess of Wales (Sumi Shimamoto). The anime was a 24-minute special and broadcast on May 1, 1986 on TV Asahi.Set in the 60s, it focuses on Diana's early life to her teen years, as she grew up as British nobility in London. After her parent's divorce, Diana moves to London to attend a boarding school, while navigating her familial issues and her many new friendships. At the same time she tries to be a Proper Lady and pursue a budding romance with Prince Charles.
The supporting cast includes Miyuki Ueda as her mother Frances Roche Spencer, Miyoko Aso as Lady Fermoy, Kenyuu Horiochi as Prince Charles and Kan Tokumaru as Earl John Spencer. Motoaki Suzukawa served as the storyboarder while Yutaka Arai created the character designs. The anime had two directors: Hideki Kubo and Yuji Takefuji, while Seiji Matsuoka wrote the script.
Niji no Kanata e! Shoujo Diana Monogatari has examples of:
- Adaptational Dye-Job: Princess Diana in real life had blonde hair, but the anime depicts it as light brown.
- Adaptational Personality Change: As a child, Diana is portrayed as shy and prone to apologizing. In real life, within the Spencer family was known informally as "Duch", a reference to her duchess-like attitude - they even signed it
on Christmas cards and the like. - Ambiguously Christian: The "ambiguous" bit is averted as Diana explicitly attends church and prays for her family members.
- Animal Companion: Diana has a cute little guinea pig, Peanuts, who loves sticking his head in food wrappers.
- Artistic License – History:
- No, Princess Diana did not own a guinea pig as a child, nor did she bring it to school where it won a "pet contest".note
- No, Princess Diana did not have a Character Tic of biting her thumb when anxious.
- It is true that Diana attended Riddlesworth Hall School, but in actuality she was first educated at home by a governess, and then attended Silfield Private School.
- Birthday Episode: Near the end of the short, the school surprises Diana by planning a surprise party for her 7th birthday.
- Bunnies for Cuteness: Diana is excited to see that Riddlesworth has bunnies and many girls keep them as pets.
- Canon Foreigner: Peanuts, the farmer, Noah and most of the extended cast.
- Cuteness Proximity: Diana's first reaction to seeing bunnies is her eyes going as wide as saucers and exclaiming the following:Diana:' "Kawaii!!"
- DreamWorks Face: Yes, even Princess Diana can make a Dreamworks Face.
- Friend to All Living Things: Diana coos at seeing a bunny, befriends a dog, adores Woodland Creatures, and is shown to be close to nature.
- Historical Domain Character: The entire Spencer family, and Prince Charles. Though a lot of Diana's characterization is exaggerated for Rule of Cute effect.
- Icy Blue Eyes: Diana's eyes are frosty, but she's a sweet girl who loves all sorts of animals and is ready to befriend anyone.
- Innocent Blue Eyes: Diana Spencer, and they run in the family. Her sister also has a pair of these.
- Lighter and Softer: The anime omits some of the more....grisly bits of Diana's life, such as the death of her brother John and Camillagate.
- Limited Animation: The anime was made on short noticenote , hence the animation being very choppy and noticably low-quality.
- Ojou: The entire Spencer family, who are descended from aristocracy and have a daughter that marries the Prince.
- Phenotype Stereotype: As this is set in The '60s UK, characters either have light or dark brown hair, or blue eyes.
- Princess Protagonist: Subverted as she married Prince Charles later in life, but Diana was born into an aristocratic family.
- Rainbow Motif:
- The anime's title literally translates to "Beyond the rainbow! The story of Princess Diana".
- The anime ends with Diana running towards the rainbow, telling her grandmother to watch over her and that she won't cry anymore.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: Princess Diana visited Japan in 1986, hence the creation of this anime.
- Shoujo: It's essentially your average '80s Shoujo schoolgirl's story except it has the "British Royal Family" filter slapped on.
- Shown Their Work:
- The anime correctly portrays Diana being born in Park House and attending Riddlesworth Hall School.
- The anime correctly portrays the Spencers as wanting a son instead, to carry the family name.
- Sweet Sheep: The anime begins by Park House being observed by a farmer and his apprentice. They are both tending to cute fluffy sheep that require a lot of attention.
- Token Minority: Noah, the farmer's apprentice, is the only black character in the entirely-white cast.
- Trademark Favourite Food: Diana loves cream puffs, and her caretaker at the boarding school cheers her up with some.
- True Blue Femininity: In her childhood, Diana wore a blue sweater with a red skirt.
- Wanted a Son Instead: When Diana was born, her father bemoaned that he wanted a boy instead. He was then told off by rest of his family, to which he apologized and proclaimed that Diana was a part of the Spencers.
