REVIEW: ‘Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle,’ Episode 6 – “The Princess’ Unwavering Choice”

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 the plight of a sleepless Princess with slapstick antics in a demon castle. Tropes abound in this hilarious series that, so far, has been the Fall 2020 anime season’s darkhorse. Episode 5 introduced more female characters, as well as showing us more of the Demon King’s aides and council. What will Sleepy Princess episode 6 include? Well, Sleepy Princess episode 6 opens with a very brief Sir Dawner and his companions, a welcome return to the B-plot of this comedic series. Naturally, he and his party are facing more challenges as they attempt to rescue Syalis from the dastardly demon king!

Meanwhile, Princess Syalis faces yet another challenge: doing laundry! Why, you might ask? Well…she spilled her goblet of grape juice all over her super soft, handmade comforter, once more thwarting her desire for a peaceful sleep. Such is the hubris of man. Er…Princess.

The hubris of the world’s most destructive Princess.

Yet Princess Syalias won’t be stopped. If anything, she’s dog-determined to get her sheets clean just in time for bed! Thus we have the focus for the first third of this episode, all with the promise of Syalis causing a heck of a lot of trouble. It’s paired with cuts to Demon King Twilight and his Ten Elder’s having a meeting that takes the backseat to Syalis’ antics.  And the council’s topic of choice? Sir Dawner and his on-going quest to reach the Demon Keep.

Truth be told, the Demon King and his council are actually worried about Dawner, in large part because the hero keeps encountering monsters that are dramatically stronger than he is. By and large, the demons fear that eventually, Sir Dawner will be bested which means he’ll never reach the cast. While Syalis might be a major thorn in Twilight’s side, Sir Dawner’s an even bigger threat as he has the potential to topple the Demon King. And you can bet that Twilight doesn’t want the hero to get too hurt until he gets to enact every step of his totally evil plans…even though he kind of cares about the hero’s safety.

It’s at this time that viewers learn of a hero support item: the Fountain of Purity. This fountain is famed for its ability to purity anything and everything with its ever-flowing waters.

This quickly becomes entangled as Syalis instantly finds the Fountain of Purity and decides that it’s the perfect washbasin for her comforter. Drawn to the fountain like a moth to a flame, she quickly dunks her comforter into the fountain and gets to washing. In a scene that’s comedically ruthless, Syalis snatches a bubble demon from the air and tosses it into the fountain like a tide pod, and gets to scrubbing. Said bubble demon is now one with the fountain’s purifying waters.

Without hesitation, Syalis scopes out her next goal: getting a good spin cycle. Thankfully, there’s a Mini Tornado Bomb just laying around in a pile of treasure. Unfortunately, that’s a one-of-a-kind item the council had been saving to use against particularly pesky heroes. Safe to say there’s no more bomb.

Back in the council room, the ten elders and the Demon King are quite excited. Finally, they have a way to slow Sir Dawner and simultaneously protect him from getting KO’d too soon. Yet there’s one more item necessary to slowing Sir Dawner’s progress: the Magnespear. The Magnespear is a unique item keyed to the hero. It also has the ability to guide him to specific destinations, including towards a safer path. When paired with the electric demon created to fight against Sir Dawner, it’ll provide an easily felled foe versus the radically difficult creatures the hero and his party have faced before. Truly, the Demon King and the demons in his council have thought of everything! But experienced viewers know how this is going to go. 

Princess Syalis is quick to haul that spear up from its pedestal. Of course, she also ends up bring the spear into contact with the artificial electricity demon. Almost instantly, the demon activates, which hilariously results in a spin-dry “setting” that fluffs up her comforter, returning it to a state of glory. Alls well that ends well…at least for Princess Syalis, right?

The next chunk of Sleepy Princess episode 6 returns us back to Sir Dawner and his party as they continue to make their way towards the Demon Castle. Their path remains perilous, but with teamwork -and guidance from the ten elders and the Demon King- Sir Dawner may survive yet. On the other hand, Princess Syalis’ monster of the week is the autumn chill coming through her window. The solution to her problems? Make some nice, warm underwear! Naturally, what ensues is a pretty fun segment focused on Syalis’ desire for some royal longjohns to fight off the fiendish chill. It’s all backset with another rampage through the castle and some slightly routine antics.

Hilariously, the demonic denizens of the keep think that Syalis is ready to fight them, which kicks off the “conflict”  for this chunk of the episode. All the demons think Syalis is ready to get rough when really, as she wants to do is get warm. This ultimately grows into them thinking she can communicate with the stars and ultimately,

Communication really is key in every situation. Missteps and miscommunication aside, Syalis ultimately makes her warm underwear, thus protecting her from the crisp autumn breeze. It’s a fairly…lackluster segment. Funny enough that you might crack a wan smile, ultimately brought down by one too many panty shots right at the end.

Thankfully, our final third of Sleepy Princess episode 6 is a solid entry into our sleepy princess’s castle questing. 

Once more, Twilight the Demon King and Princess Syalis encounter each other, only this time Twilight collapses from exhaustion right before her prison. Syalis very quickly pokes him. By poke, I mean she stabs him with some scissors in an attempt to “help”. When that fails, Syalis decides to actually put that royal noggin to work. This time, she decides to use some tricks of the trade to help Twilight relax.

Starting with the world’s most cursed lullaby. Naturally, this quickly spirals into Syalis trying every single whimsical idea that pops into her head. From Twilight’s perspective, it’s practically torture. Honestly, the viewer might feel the same, though it’s still pretty entertaining. Once again, Syalis proves herself a tiny terror in the Demon King’s castle. That is until she gives the Demon King some head pats.

The scene that follows is incredibly genuine and touching as Syalis pats the Demon King into calmness and ultimately, soothes him into sleep. All the while, Syalis thinks of her mother doing the same, and slowly feels sleep creep back into her veins. By the end of this segment, Princess Syalis ends up right next to the “fearsome” demon king himself. In a sugary sweet gesture, the Teddy Demons who have quickly become her friends carry her back to bed. It’s all so wonderfully light and really, really cute. Sleepy Princess episode 6 shows that some gags just don’t get old. Princess Syalis is just as funny as she was in episode 1 and just as ruthless. That being said, the series is starting to grow its beard a bit more. Viewers get more glimpses of Sir Dawner and more context into how the Demon King plans to deal with him.

Sleepy Princess episode 6 has a lot of hits and some really noticeable misses. After all, the cour is only halfway. There’s still a lot of episodes left for the series to continue growing in. Still, Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle continues to be a delightful show and might potentially be this season’s darkhorse series. Time -and six more episodes- will tell!

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle is streaming now on Funimation.