Nobara hime

In case anybody is wondering or confused, 'Briar Rose' is actually 'Grimm Masterpiece Theater's' version of 'Sleeping Beauty'. With the episode taking its title from the original Brothers Grimm title rather than the more famous title 'Sleeping Beauty' of the Charles Perrault version. The title made more popular by the Disney film, one of my favourites and for me one of Disney's best, and Tchaikovsky's timeless ballet.

While liking 'Grimm Masterpiece Theater' (known to others as 'Grimm Fairy Tale Classics') as a show (love some of the episodes in fact), though not a die hard fan, their version of 'Briar Rose'/'Sleeping Beauty' is not one of their best while still not being a bad episode at all. Find other episodes to have a little more charm and heart, with better quality of voice acting (though that is an asset that has more often than not been inconsistent on 'Grimm Masterpiece Theater'), but as indicated there is a good deal right done here.

Beginning with the short-comings, some 'Grimm Masterpiece Theater' episodes do decently on the music front. 'Briar Rose' is one of the ones where that aspect falls short on that front. Didn't find myself remembering much of it, that it sometimes intruded and overbeared the dialogue and not all of it fitted. That is other than the intro and outro songs and the titular character's song which was pleasant

Although the show was inconsistent, as indicated already, when it came to the voice acting, there were episodes that did a pretty respectable job in this aspect. 'Briar Rose' was one of the inconsistently voiced ones, with the narrator and wicked fairy coming off best, the former soothing and inviting one to listen along and the latter suitably sinister. But the king's voice acting, the same voice it sounds used for all authority figures throughout the show, was better suited to a villainous character and should have been more sympathetic and the titular character was at times whiny (although the sound of her voice for the character was not inappropriate).

On the other hand, the animation is fine. The colours are vibrant, the backgrounds detailed and more meticulous than some other episodes of the series and the character designs are some of the series' most expressive. The intro and outro songs are very charming and the princess' song was pleasant. The characters are decently handled mostly, the relationships relatable today. The narration doesn't over-explain and is not over-used.

Maturity and entertainment value can be heard in the writing, with enough for both children, without dumbing down or being too juvenile, and adults, without being too complicated. The story is slight but never felt padded or too rushed.

Pretty good on the whole but not great. 7/10