An obscure show from 2002 whose status in the genre is somewhat debated, this show was a creation of Gainax, with Hideaki Anno as the producer.

I'll let MAL's synopsis explain it, since it does a better job than I do.

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Petite Princess Yucie follows the adventures of country-girl Yucie as she is admitted by chance to the prestigious Princess Academy, where the daughters of royalty and nobles attend to learn magic, dance, etiquette, defense, art and music. 

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There, she experiences many things in her quest to collect the "fragments" of the Eternal Tiara in hopes that she may become the legendary Platinum Princess, who is chosen every 1,000 years. 

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Yucie, along with the four other Princess candidates who are initially her rivals but are won over by her offer of friendship, must grow in heart--if not in height--to become worthy of the Tiara. 

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Yucie is a spunky heroine who is a genius of smiles, and who, despite her common lifestyle, is actually the daughter of a noble and former hero who has retreated from courtly life and lives in the countryside.

I remembered seeing this show's picture in an old site called "Anime Intro Archive" and always being curious about it. It wasn't until over ten years later that I finally watched it, and I have to say... it was alright.

The show suffers from a criminal amount of filler for just being 26 episodes, but it manages to make all of the characters likable and interesting, even the ones I was sure I would dislike. 

One thing MAL fails to mention is that each of the five platinum princess candidates is actually around sixteen years old, but for whatever reason they are unable to physically age past ten years old. And unlike moetan, it actually has some significance to the plot, and not just a flimsy pretext to have a ten year old dress like this.



It is Gainax after all.

I have heard of Petite Princess Yucie, but I haven't seen it and I am planning on watching it. I remembered that ADV films dubbed this series along with Pretear and Princess Tutu.