TV-Series
Description
The character most commonly referred to simply as the Princess in Kemono Michi: Rise Up is Altena, the princess of the kingdom of Elgard and a holy shrine maiden. Her defining act is performing the summoning ritual that brings the professional wrestler Genzo Shibata from Earth into her world, intending for him to serve as the hero who would defeat the Demon King and rid the kingdom of the beasts terrorizing it. The plan fails immediately: Genzo is a devoted animal lover, and when she commands him to kill beasts, he responds by German-suplexing her in front of the royal court, knocking her out and exposing her undergarments. The incident leaves her traumatized and earns her the humiliating nickname Shirihime, meaning Princess Buttocks, which spreads throughout the kingdom.
Altena is an earnest and duty-conscious royal who sincerely wants to protect her realm, but she is repeatedly placed in undignified situations beyond her control. Much of her personality is defined by the gap between her formal authority and her constant loss of composure. She spends most of the series struggling to maintain her dignity and to convince Genzo to complete the mission she summoned him for, remaining perpetually frustrated by his refusal to follow orders and by his habit of befriending and taming the very monsters she wanted eliminated. Over time she learns to tolerate his unpredictable behavior, though she never fully stops being wary of him.
Her role in the story is that of the royal figure who sets the plot in motion and later serves as a recurring source of reaction to the protagonist's antics. After the failed summoning, much of her presence involves dealing with the political and personal fallout: she is often accompanied by knights and advisors who try to manage the consequences, and she repeatedly attempts to regain control over her kingdom's destiny. She also has a rivalry with the noblewoman Joanna, who mocks her for her failures and for the indignities she suffers because of Genzo, and who summons her own champion, the wrestler MAO, as a counter to him.
In terms of development, Altena's arc is one of repeated misfortune and gradual adjustment. She moves from confident royal composure through a series of embarrassing setbacks, becoming increasingly resigned to the chaos around her, until she eventually reaches a degree of acceptance of Genzo's presence. A later development sees her take part in wrestling events herself, and after being humiliated in one of those matches, she develops a masochistic tendency. Her notable abilities are tied to her position as a holy shrine maiden and princess: she is able to perform the summoning magic that calls heroes from another world, which is the ability that defines her role in the narrative.
Altena is an earnest and duty-conscious royal who sincerely wants to protect her realm, but she is repeatedly placed in undignified situations beyond her control. Much of her personality is defined by the gap between her formal authority and her constant loss of composure. She spends most of the series struggling to maintain her dignity and to convince Genzo to complete the mission she summoned him for, remaining perpetually frustrated by his refusal to follow orders and by his habit of befriending and taming the very monsters she wanted eliminated. Over time she learns to tolerate his unpredictable behavior, though she never fully stops being wary of him.
Her role in the story is that of the royal figure who sets the plot in motion and later serves as a recurring source of reaction to the protagonist's antics. After the failed summoning, much of her presence involves dealing with the political and personal fallout: she is often accompanied by knights and advisors who try to manage the consequences, and she repeatedly attempts to regain control over her kingdom's destiny. She also has a rivalry with the noblewoman Joanna, who mocks her for her failures and for the indignities she suffers because of Genzo, and who summons her own champion, the wrestler MAO, as a counter to him.
In terms of development, Altena's arc is one of repeated misfortune and gradual adjustment. She moves from confident royal composure through a series of embarrassing setbacks, becoming increasingly resigned to the chaos around her, until she eventually reaches a degree of acceptance of Genzo's presence. A later development sees her take part in wrestling events herself, and after being humiliated in one of those matches, she develops a masochistic tendency. Her notable abilities are tied to her position as a holy shrine maiden and princess: she is able to perform the summoning magic that calls heroes from another world, which is the ability that defines her role in the narrative.