REVIEW: ‘Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle,’ Episode 5 – “The Princess and Female Warriors”

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle is one of many Fall 2020 anime adaptations beefing up the roster this year. Billed as a slice of life, high fantasy comedy, Sleepy Princess mixes episodic antics with an overarching story of a damsel in distress that upends every trope, all while barely keeping its protagonist princess in check. With a princess that can’t be stopped and a cast of incredibly likable demons, Sleepy Princess Episode 5 is likely to follow its predecessor and be incredibly funny.

What’s the Princess going to battle against in episode 5? Well, it’s an interesting surprise!

Sleepy Princess episode 5, “The Princess and Female Warriors” introduces just that: female warriors. Namely, a female unit of demon warriors. Thus far, Princess Syalis has been the sole female inhabitant in the Demon King’s castle, something that viewers may or may not have noticed. Now with the return of his female warriors, it looks like she’ll have some teenage companions to keep her company as she continues to dwell within the castle. Except honestly…she doesn’t care: she’s more concerned about finding a nice comforter. 

Yet female warrior Harpy isn’t deterred by Syalis blatant indifference: she’s way interested in human culture and is going to try her hardest to win the Princess over. At first, Harpy attempts some general conversation, which goes over poorly: Syalis quickly covers Harpy’s head with her homemade pillowcase. When Harpy tries to engage her on the topic of the crushes Syalis walls her off with a bunch of Teddy demons. Too bad she’s not a comforter: that’s all Syalis really wants.

Yet all Harpy wants is to have some fun girl talk with a human who doesn’t hate demons. Moreso, she wants to just have a friend, especially if she’s human. For a moment, it seems like Harpy’s gotten through to Princess Syalis with her feelings. Then her wings pop out and Syalis sees gold: rather, she sees Harpy’s feather. Feathers, all of which can be used as down for a very nice comforter. Feathers, which Syalis can use to maybe even make that nice comforter herself.

Syalis is quick to ask if Harpy can remove her wings, and when Harpy tells her otherwise, Syalis quickly declares herself and Harpy to be best friends…all for the sake of her feathers. To inaugurate their newfound friendship, Syalis demands that they have a pajama party…only to hog Harpy’s wings on her bed and instantly fall asleep. That’s Princess Syalis though, and by episode five, you don’t expect her to be any different.

Having accomplished that task, Princess Syalis turns her gaze to yet another problem: the smallness of her bed. It’s too darn narrow, and she must have a bigger bed. However, this time, she’s not alone in her quest: she’s got her new “best friend” Harpy to help her out. Harpy’s solution to Syalis’ problems is to unintentionally reveal a well-known castle secret. The winged demons used to sleep atop the castle’s symbolic horns, which are actually a magically solidified cloud. That sounds softer than Harpy’s feathers to Princess Syalis and she instantly gloms onto the idea as her new bed.

With a makeshift sling tied on Harpy’s poor ankles, they take off into the demonic night sky with Harpy screeching into the night at her poor quads getting the workout of a lifetime. Yet as soon as they land, Syalis relieves her of her burden and gets to work on her new bed. In the background, Harpy laments Syalis’ treatment of her: she’s basically been used as a beast of burden, which isn’t friendship in the least. However, in a surprising twist, Syalis finally notices Harpy’s dismay. Finally, we see a bit of a sweet side of Princess Syalis: while she can come off as rather blunt and somewhat cold, she does indeed care about the Demon Castle’s denizens, including poor Harpy, who’s wings are still used as a comforter. Now, however, it’s sweet and hints that maybe Harpy and Syalis really will be friends.

The third “quest” of this episode involves a welcome return to the heroes. Viewers watch them fight the Sand Dragon in their ongoing plight to rescue Syalis. Luckily, Sir Dawner and his companions are able to crush the beast. Naturally, this is a major loss for the Demon King. Worse, this defeat has the Demon King’s council of Ten Elders rather concerned. The elders expected the Sand Dragon would defeat Sir Dawner’s party. Somehow, Sir Dawner has persevered. Yet, right as they’re figuring out how to attack, their meeting is rather rudely disrupted. By who? By Princess Syalis, of course. Only this time, she’s got a vuvuzela.

Despite being older than she looks, Princess Syalis continues to be a somewhat childish thorn in Demon King Twilight’s side. However, her growing boredom is starting to disrupt their nefarious plans. Great Red Syberian, one of the Demon King’s elders, is quick to scold the princess. His harsh words result in her sulkily leaving the room.

The reminder is clear: Syalis is a captive, no matter how much the demons have come to like her. They can’t be nice to her no matter what. Yet the rest of the council doesn’t feel the same, especially Neo Alraune, yet another new female character making a first appearance in this episode. She pities Syalis, who -from her point of view- is just a young girl. Yet the male demons in the castle know her for her brutality, especially if they get in her way.

Quickly, Alraune sees that Syalis is a thorn in all their sides and is more than willing to cut down any and all demons in her way when it comes to getting the best sleep possible. Syalis won’t hesitate to utterly wreck a demon if it serves her purpose. Worse, she won’t hesitate to utterly destroy Alraune’s own brother, just so she can have a log bed.

Syalis still remains a hilarious character by the end of Sleepy Princess episode 5. With the addition of some new female faces, the cast becomes a lot more dynamic and diverse in terms of personalities. One can only imagine what will happen as more female characters make their way into Syalis’ life. It seems that her time at the Demon Castle and her on-going residence as their human captive will be filled with lots of new characters!

New episodes of Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle stream on Funimation every Tuesday.