Princess Nine DVD

Ryo Hayakawa is fifteen years old, the daughter of a legendary pitcher who was banned from professional baseball under a cloud of scandal, and she can throw a fastball that leaves seasoned players speechless. When the icy, calculating chairwoman of Kisaragi Girls' High School — Keiko Himuro — recruits Ryo as the foundation of Japan's first all-girl high school baseball team, Ryo accepts, even though it means entering a world that has never taken the idea seriously. What follows is the gradual assembly of eight more players from wildly different backgrounds: Izumi Himuro, the chairwoman's own daughter, a former tennis prodigy who becomes Ryo's fiercest rival and most complicated teammate; Seira Morimura, a red-haired school dropout with a sprinter's legs who had to be tricked into joining; Yuki Azuma, quiet and otherworldly, who may or may not be entirely of this earth; Mao Daidoji, a former sumo wrestler's daughter with power to spare; and five others, each with her own story, her own skill, and her own reason to prove something. Their goal is nothing less than Koshien — the national high school baseball championship, historically an all-male stage. The hardest battles, it turns out, are not on the field.

Princess Nine is a 26-episode sports drama produced by Phoenix Entertainment and directed by Tomoyoshi Sogabe, originally broadcast on NHK from April to October 1998. It is one of the rare anime sports series built around a genuinely ensemble cast — all nine players receive substantial development over the course of the series — and one of the rarer still that grounds its underdog sports plot in a serious examination of institutional prejudice, family legacy, and what it costs a young woman to compete in a space that was never designed to include her. 

Originally released in North America across six DVD volumes by ADV Films between October 2001 and October 2002; the user's listing is for this original 6-disc complete collection release. 

Notable Staff & Voice Talent

Director: Tomoyoshi Sogabe
Original Story: Kensei Date
Studio: Phoenix Entertainment
Music: Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra

Japanese Cast:
• Miki Nagasawa as Ryo Hayakawa (éX-Driver, Vampire Princess Miyu TV)
• Mami Kingetsu as Izumi Himuro (Gokudo, Knights of Ramune)
• Yoshiko Sakakibara as Keiko Himuro (Sol Bianca: The Legacy, Black Magic M-66)
• Sumi Shimamoto as Shino Hayakawa (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Jin-Roh)

English Dub Cast (ADV Films / Seraphim Digital):
• Hilary Haag as Ryo Hayakawa
• Monica Rial as Izumi Himuro (Ghost Sweeper Mikami, Pilot Candidate)
• Vic Mignogna as Hiroki Takasugi (Full Metal Alchemist, éX-Driver)
• Tiffany Grant as Yoko Tokashiki (Neon Genesis Evangelion, Nadesico)
• Kelly Manison as Keiko Himuro
• Andy McAvin as Coach Shinsaku Kido
• Kelli Cousins as Seira Morimura
• Chris Patton as Seishiro Natsume
• John Swasey as Principal Mita (El-Hazard: The Alternative World)

DVD Features

• Clean Opening & Closing Animations
• ADV Films Previews

Spoken Languages: English & Japanese Audio, English Subtitles

Edition Details

Japanese Title: プリンセスナイン如月女子高野球部 (Purinsesu Nain: Kisaragi Joshikō Yakyū-bu)
Runtime: ~650 Minutes (Complete Series, 26 Episodes)
Director: Tomoyoshi Sogabe
DVD Release Year: 2001–2002 (U.S. Release, ADV Films, 6 Volumes)
Original Broadcast Date (Japan): April 3 – October 2, 1998 (NHK)
Publisher: ADV Films
Rating: 13+
Region: Region 1 (U.S. / Canada)
Genre: Sports, Drama, Romance
Themes: All-Girl Baseball Team, Koshien Championship, Institutional Prejudice, Ensemble Cast, Father's Legacy

Media assumed VG+ unless otherwise noted.