WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Fena: Pirate Princess Episode 12, "The Chosen Maiden," now streaming on Crunchyroll and Adult Swim.
There are certain expectations with a title like Fena: Pirate Princess. At the very least, you'd expect there to be pirates and princesses because it's in the very title. And from there, it makes sense for Fena to be an adventure story where the characters sail across the seven seas, perhaps in search of treasure. It's also perfectly acceptable for the storyline to deviate into unexpected directions as long as it still makes sense within the premise -- but that's not what happened in Fena: Pirate Princess.
For some reason, the very concept of swash-buckling pirates was abandoned after the first few episodes in favor of other lore. Similarly, the titular character is seriously lacking in the pirate department, with much of her characterization favoring the 'princess' side. The anime somehow forgot its own title and all we're left with is... Fena.
Legends and Religion Over Pirates
Fena suffered from overloading the story with too many unrelated references that ultimately went nowhere. The anime first drew a connection between Fena and Joan of Arc. However, besides the reference to being burned at the stake, there isn't any connection to Joan of Arc's historical feats, making it feel like her name was dropped in simply to pique people's interest.
Things really started to unravel from there. The anime began throwing in mentions of other legends like El Dorado (which turned out to be a red herring) and the Japanese sword Kusanagi, the history of which was never elaborated upon further. Up until the last episode, the sword felt mostly like a gimmick used to create conflict between Shitan and Yukimaru just for the sake of it.
Granted, when you have a destination called 'Eden,' it's not that far of a stretch to make a connection to the Garden of Eden. There are references to the Bible such as Abel, which is fitting to a certain extent since Abel goes to Eden which, in the Bible, is where Adam and Eve, Abel and Cain's parents, first resided before being banished. At this point, the anime was throwing in everything but the kitchen sink -- the kitchen sink being the pirates.
Fena Is More Princess Than Pirate
It's a shame that Fena gradually became more and more of the stereotypical damsel in distress. When she was first introduced, Fena had a brightness and effervescence that made her a fearless protagonist. She showed gradually less of that spark as the series went on. Because she was leading the quest to Eden, she was granted the title of 'Captain,' but she didn't actually do anything to merit that title. She never demonstrated much leadership other than telling the crew where to go.
It's also hard to blame Shitan for his dislike of Fena when she seemed to always get herself into dangerous situations and scream for Yukimaru. The only times she stood up for herself was when Abel tried to kill Yukimaru twice -- and even then, all she really did was use her body as a shield. Fena tried to learn how to use a weapon but was deemed a failure. She had no magical powers to speak of except an uncanny ability to know how to get to Eden, which turned out to be thanks to years and years of ancestors before her who did, not actually Fena herself.
The final episode of Season 1 of Fena: Pirate Princess tried to salvage the pirate princess by wiping all of her memories and turning her back into a normal girl. In Episode 12, she has forgone the more princess-ware and is now wearing more traditionally styled pirate clothing. There are hints that she may be going on a greater adventure in the future, but given that this happens at the very end of a series where the majority of it was dedicated to making Fena out to be a princess rather than a pirate princess, it's too little, too late.
Where Did the Pirates Go?
What's unfortunate is that it seems like Fena had wanted to bring in more pirate lore into the show. There are references to real-life pirates like Grace O'Malley, Ching Shih and Mary Read, who are part of the Rumble Rose crew hired by Abel. O'Malley was built up to be a threat, only for her and her entire crew to be blasted into non-existence, dying far too easily. Two characters from Rumble Rose did make a short cameo at the end, but it gives off the impression that it was done out of fanservice. The way the Rumble Rose crew was introduced felt cheap: they were used to check off a box about pirates. Just as how Abel treated O'Malley with indifference, the anime so treated this cast of characters.
The Samurai Seven were also built up to be samurai pirates, but they can hardly be called such. The only thing they've done close to being pirates is being on a submarine ship and discovering the cavern full of gold at the finale. The crew has also long ditched the armored outfits they donned in the first episode, which was the only other connection they had to being pirates. When the Fena: Pirate Princess trailers were first released, there was a lot of anticipation centered around the unique concept of pirates and samurai, but unfortunately, the series failed to live up to that promise.
