'Tis Time for "Torture," Princess

'Tis Time for "Torture," Princess
First volume cover
姫様"拷問"の時間です (Hime-sama "Gōmon" no Jikan desu)
Genre	Fantasy comedy[1]
Manga
Written by	Robinson Haruhara
Illustrated by	Hirakei
Published by	Shueisha
Imprint	Jump Comics+
Magazine	Shōnen Jump+
Demographic	Shōnen
Original run	April 4, 2019 – present
Volumes	16
Anime television series
Directed by	Yōko Kanemori
Written by	Kazuyuki Fudeyasu
Music by	Masaru Yokoyama
Studio	Pine Jam
Licensed by	Crunchyroll SA/SEA: Medialink
Original network	Tokyo MX, BS11, Kansai TV, AT-X, NBC, TVh
Original run	January 9, 2024 – present
Episodes	12

'Tis Time for "Torture," Princess (Japanese: 姫様"拷問"の時間です, Hepburn: Hime-sama "Gōmon" no Jikan desu) is a Japanese manga series written by Robinson Haruhara and illustrated by Hirakei. It started serialization on the Shōnen Jump+ manga website in April 2019. It has been published in sixteen tankōbon volumes as of October 2024. An anime television series adaptation produced by Pine Jam aired from January to March 2024. A second season has been announced.

Premise

In an ongoing battle between the humanity's Imperial Army and the demonic Hell-hordes, the princess from the army has been captured along with her holy sword Ex. Since regular torture is prohibited by the prisoner of war treaty between the two parties, the grand inquisitor, Torture Tortura, employs unusual "torture" (in air quotes) techniques, usually in the form of tempting foods and snacks from Japanese culture. The princess relents, but gives information that is usually trivial in nature, and the few times she does give useful information, the Hell-Lord does not take advantage of it.

Characters

Main characters

Princess (姫様, Hime-sama)

Voiced by: Haruka Shiraishi^[2]

The commander of the Third Order of the Imperial Army, and the princess of the Human World's kingdom. She is a formidable fighter but a food lover, thus is highly susceptible to the "torture" tactics employed by Tortura.

Excalibur (エクスカリバー, Ekusukaribaa)

Voiced by: Chikahiro Kobayashi^[2]

Nicknamed "Ex", he is the legendary holy sword belongs to the Princess, who acts as a straight man. He often tries to advise the Princess not to submit to the Hellhorde's tortures to avoid her from sharing the imperial secrets, but just as often his attempts fails as Princess ends up giving in anyway.

Torture Tortura (トーチャー・トルチュール, Tōchā Toruchūru)

Voiced by: Shizuka Itō^[2]

The Hellhorde's Grand Inquisitor (the highest-ranking chief interrogator), and the Princess' main torturer. She specializes in food type "torture", utilizing the appetizing, irresistible aspects of foods and snacks to entice her interrogation target into spilling their secrets.

Torturers

Datama (ダターマ, Datāma)

The primary assistant of Torture Tortura who is depicted with a hand-painted star on his face and an intimidating stature. He usually helps with the cooking and presentation aspects of her food-based "torture".

Youki (陽鬼, Yōki) and Inki (陰鬼, Inki)

Voiced by: Anna Nagase (Youki), Honoka Inoue (Inki)^[3]

Two-horned Youki and one-horned Inki are the Oni sisters (actually cousins) that hold the rank of "Lieutorments" (the intermediate-level torturers). They are good in friendship-bonding activity "torture", and seems to be genuinely interested in making friends with the Princess.

Krall (クロル, Kuroru)

Voiced by: Aya Yamane^[4]

Top combatant and senior torturer, Beast Tamer Krall specializes in zoo-type "torture", employing many ferocious beasts and cute type animals in her possessions as her interrogation methods.

Giant (ジャイアント, Jaianto)

Voiced by: Ai Kayano^[4]

A gentle giantess, who the Princess called "Master Mama". She seems more interested in the relaxing activity and moderate leisure rather than tortures.

Mao-Mao (マオマオちゃん, Maomao-chan)

Voiced by: Rina Hidaka^[4]

The Hell-Lord's cute and pure young daughter, who employs innocent and childish "torture" methods to tempt Princess into sharing her secrets, but she usually submit mostly because of Maomao-chan's adorability.

Gilga (ギルガ, Giruga)

Voiced by: Sayaka Senbongi^[5]

The Hell-hordes' weaponsmith, and Tortura's close friend. Although she's not an official torturer, she does help in a few of the Princess' torture sessions.

Vanilla Peschutz (バニラ・ペシュッツ, Banira Peshuttsu)

Voiced by: Miyu Tomita^[5]

A prideful yet immature young vampire of the Hellholm's noble clan "Peschutz". She holds the rank of the "Harm-Marshal" (the advanced-level torturers), but she is still inexperienced in tortures. Despite her repeating failures, she is able to bond with the Princess.

Hell-Hordes

Hell-Lord (魔王, Maō)

Voiced by: Tesshō Genda^[6]

The king of the Hell-hordes. A demon conqueror who wishes to subjugate the human world, he employs various torturers to interrogate the Princess and gain secrets of the Human World's kingdom for his army's invasion. However, oftentimes he ended up not using it due to his selfish excuses. He is also a family man, and he enjoys Japanese culture as well.

Lulune (ルルン, Rurun)

Voiced by: Mai Nakahara^[4]

The Hell-Lord's wife, and the queen of the Hell-Hordes. Even though she holds the position of the queen in the Hellholm, she lives a modest life alongside the Hell-Lord and her daughter, Maomao. She is mature, smart and beautiful.

Canadge (カナッジ, Kanajji)

Voiced by: Jun Fukushima^[5]

A dwarf humanoid pig who acts as the Hell-Lord's assistant.

Humans

Louch Brittan (ルーシュ・ブリタン, Rūshu Buritan)

A Holy White Knight employed by the imperial army to save Princess from the Hellhorde's captivity, he is a powerful combatant but is quite unattractive.

Jimochi (ジモチ)

Voiced by: Hōchū Ōtsuka^[5]

The imperial's honored former knight turned Princess' imperial butler who always appeared in her flashbacks. He was a strict supervisor of the Princess' training regimens, but he secretly treated her with the commoner's cheap snacks and Chinese restaurant foods after her trainings.

Media

Manga

The series is written by Robinson Haruhara and illustrated by Hirakei. It started serialization on the Shōnen Jump+ manga website on April 4, 2019.^[7] The first tankōbon volume was released on September 4, 2019.^[8] As of October 2024, sixteen volumes have been released.^[9]

In October 2019, Manga Plus announced they would start publishing the series on their app and website.^[7]

Volumes

No.	Japanese release date	Japanese ISBN
1	September 4, 2019[10]	978-4-08-882045-3
2	February 4, 2020[11]	978-4-08-882221-1
3	August 4, 2020[12]	978-4-08-882398-0
4	November 4, 2020[13]	978-4-08-882524-3
5	January 4, 2021[14]	978-4-08-882535-9
6	July 2, 2021[15]	978-4-08-882719-3
7	September 3, 2021[16]	978-4-08-882765-0
8	January 4, 2022[17]	978-4-08-882886-2
9	May 2, 2022[18]	978-4-08-883122-0
10	October 4, 2022[19]	978-4-08-883277-7
11	March 3, 2023[20]	978-4-08-883444-3
12	July 4, 2023[21]	978-4-08-883622-5
13	January 4, 2024[22]	978-4-08-883843-4
14	March 4, 2024[23]	978-4-08-883869-4
15	May 2, 2024[24]	978-4-08-884067-3
16	October 4, 2024[9]	978-4-08-884283-7
17	May 2, 2025[25]	978-4-08-884550-0

Anime

An anime television series adaptation was announced on June 27, 2023. It was produced by Pine Jam and directed by Yōko Kanemori, with scripts written by Kazuyuki Fudeyasu, character designs handled by Toshiya Kōno and Satoshi Furuhashi, and music composed by Masaru Yokoyama.^[2] The series aired from January 9 to March 26, 2024, on Tokyo MX and other networks.^[26][a] The opening theme song is "Massakasa Magic!" (まっさかさマジック！), performed by Shallm, while the ending theme song is "Ashita wa Ashita no Kaze ga Fuku" (明日は明日の風が吹く), performed by Leevelles.^[28] Crunchyroll streamed the series outside of East Asia.^[29] Medialink licensed the series in South and Southeast Asia, and is streaming on its Ani-One Asia ULTRA YouTube channel.^[30]

After the airing of the twelfth and final episode, a second season was announced.^[31]

Episodes

No.	Title [b]	Directed by [c]	Written by [c]	Storyboard by [c]	Food Animation Directed by [c]	Original release date [a]
1	"Episode 1"	Yōko Kanamori	Kazuyuki Fudeyasu	Yōko Kanamori	Yasuho Tamura	January 9, 2024 (2024-01-09)
Princess, and her intelligent weapon Excalibur (Ex) are captured and imprisoned together in a cell. Tortura and Damura goad the princess with freshly-baked toast. Ex proudly goes on a lengthy diatribe about how she would never confess. After some dawdling, the princess confesses, and receives the toast. The gag is then repeated with takoyaki and ramen.
2	"Episode 2"	Kenji Takahashi	Momoko Murakami	Kenji Takahashi	Yasuho Tamura	January 16, 2024 (2024-01-16)
Youki and Inki play a game reminiscent of Super Smash Bros. inside of Princess's cell, in full view of where she is sitting. She is handed a controller, then confesses. Krall withholds a ball from a baby polar bear, but returns the bear's ball out of guilt. Giant "tortures" Princess by taking her to a hot spring, and Tortura eats cookies with animal prints without looking at them, all causing Princess to confess.
3	"Episode 3"	Ryō Takei	Konomi Shugo [ja]	Kazuhiro Yoneda	Yasuho Tamura	January 23, 2024 (2024-01-23)
Youki and Inki invite Princess along to go to a theme park. At first reluctant, Tortura allows her to go, in exchange for a secret. The Hell-Lord's daughter, Mao-Mao, attempts to entice her using bubble wrap, but accidentally expends it all, Tortura shows her the proper way to eat xiaolongbao, both causing Princess to confess. The white knight Louch Brittan breaks in and attempts to teleport her and him to safety. She breaks off due to his unattractive appearance, and he accidentally teleports off without her.
4	"Episode 4"	Tetsuya Wakano	Kazuyuki Fudeyasu	Tetsuya Wakano	Yasuho Tamura	January 30, 2024 (2024-01-30)
The Hell-Lord has Tortura "torture" him to prove that she's still capable, due to not getting "useful" information. She shows him the "proper way" to pour a canned beer into a glass, causing him to confess in exchange for the freshly-poured beer. Ex is given a sanding and a coarse sharpening while screaming out in pleasure the whole time. In exchange for a full finish, Ex confesses. Krall temps the princess using the "soft" paw pads of a tame giant wolf. At first the princess complains that it stinks like an animal. After Krall confesses a secret to princess, she tries it again, and likes it. Mao-Mao plays in a playground, both causing princess to confess so she can play with her.
5	"Episode 5"	Komawo Yukihiro	Momoko Murakami	Yume Miho	Yasuho Tamura	February 6, 2024 (2024-02-06)
Tortura takes Princess by a river and entices her with toasted marshmallows. She confesses, and plays in the river. Tortura is ordered to "torture" her for a second time in the same day. The princess, taking pity, confesses a secret to her "in passing". Youki and Inki are invited over, and they along with Tortura, Datama, Ex, and Princess play in the river together. Giant brings her to a spa after. Youki sets up a haunted house, but cannot be there due to illness. The princess confesses to end the "torture", so she can visit her.
6	"Episode 6"	Yoshiyuki Asai	Konomi Shugo	Yoshiyuki Asai	Yasuho Tamura	February 13, 2024 (2024-02-13)
The Hell-Lord promotes his daughter for her performance, and as a reward, he plays games with her. Princess realizes the nature of the "torture" so far, before Tortura walks in with a smoldering hot iron. After some suspense, she uses to melt raclette cheese onto meat. Tortura enters to draw some blood for a medical checkup, the princess, being afraid of needles, receives an anesthetic patch in exchange for a secret. Louch Brittan returns to rescue her, however, this time he begins teleporting their clothes first, causing the princess to again, break off, and he teleports off without her, again.
7	"Episode 7"	Kazuhiro Yoneda	Kazuyuki Fudeyasu	Kazuhiro Yoneda	Yasuho Tamura	February 20, 2024 (2024-02-20)
Krall "tortures" the princess by placing a sleeping cat on the Princess's lap, and her legs fall asleep. She confesses to have the cat removed, without awakening the cat. The princess gets invited to watch the school Mao-Mao's attends field day, and sits outside the field alongside Tortura, Datama, Youki, Inki and Ex. The Hell-Lord participates in some of the games with Mao-Mao, along with her mother. Princess cannot believe that the threatening figure playing with Mao-Mao is the Hell-Lord, who she knows as the greatest enemy of humanity. After the Hell-Lord delivers the closing speech, the princess begins returning back with everyone else.
8	"Episode 8"	Ryō Takei	Momoko Murakami	Yōko Kanamori	—	February 27, 2024 (2024-02-27)
The episode begins with a flashback to Youki and Inki in high school talking about careers. Inki decides she wants to make people happy, and Youki decides she wants to continue being friends with Inki, so the two become torturers. It then cuts back to the present day where the two attempt to "torture" the king as a promotion requirement using a dance game. They fail the first time, then on the advice of Princess "torture" the king again adding Mao-Mao to the dance game, and all three get promotions. Giant and Princess walk back from the onsen, walk to the store to get snacks and talk about the stars. A new torturer, Vanilla Peschutz, "tortures" princess with a roller coast ride, but winds up confessing instead.
9	"Episode 9"	Komawo Yukihiro	Momoko Murakami	Kotomi Deari	Yasuho Tamura	March 5, 2024 (2024-03-05)
Tortura goes on a business trip, and eats microwave foods and buffet food. Mao-Mao, Lulune and the Hell-Lord make cookies together. Lulune almost drops the tray while removing it from the oven, but the Hell-Lord catches tray with the cookies on it, injuring his hand, with his soldiers terrified of who the culprit could be. Tortura gives Princess some cookies from Mao-Mao, and tortures the princess with freshly brewed black tea. The princess confesses, and Tortura and Princess enjoy tea and cookies together. Vanilla Peschutz tortures princess with a cake she made from scratch, with her limited cooking experience, and winds up gifting her the cake. The Hell-Lord attends his daughter's parent child luncheon at her school.
10	"Episode 10"	Yoshiyuki Asai	Konomi Shugo	Yoshiyuki Asai	Yasuho Tamura	March 12, 2024 (2024-03-12)
Princess fights Youki and Inki on the beach with toy swords to pop the balloons on their heads, in exchange for any request on victory or divulging a secret on defeat. Inki is eliminated, and just before Youki is eliminated, Tortura brings in the rest of the cast to prevent her from "unexpectedly" winning, which she does anyway. Louch Brittan is caught outside the castle by the Hell-Lord while returning from an idol release event. The Brittan attacks the Hell-Lord who is unfazed, falls off a cliff, is saved, and the two talk about anime. Vanilla Peschutz wants to play cards, so she decides to "torture" princess with the temptation of playing cards. Princess picks up on this, tells her she wants friends too as her "secret", and the two play cards together.
11	"Episode 11"	Kenji Takahashi	Kazuyuki Fudeyasu	Kenji Takahashi	Yasuho Tamura	March 19, 2024 (2024-03-19)
Krall "tortures" princess with a small dog, who Princess plays catch with and gives belly rubs to, causing her to draw a map of the secret passageways in the empire. However, the Hell-Horde's expert infiltrator who would make use of the maps resigns to become a children's author, with the Hell-Lord's blessing and encouragement. Princess is in a lucid dream and confesses in her dream to eat the foods, thinking it won't matter because it is a dream. However, Tortura is standing over her while she's confessing, and hears all the secrets. A spell backfires in a lab that turns everyone but the princess into children, and Tortura uses Mao-Mao style torture on her. Ex realizes it's a chance to escape, but the cast comes into play with princess, and she accepts. The spell starts wearing off on Tortura, though not yet back to her normal self yet, who tortures princess with beef stew, though with the spell's effect she lost some of her cooking skills as well. Princess encourages her, tries it, and confesses. The spell is now fully worn off on Tortura, and "tortures" the princess by letting her order a pizza with different toppings on each quarter.
12	"Episode 12"	Yōko Kanamori	Kazuyuki Fudeyasu	Yoshiyuki Asai	Yasuho Tamura	March 26, 2024 (2024-03-26)
Vanilla Peschutz reminisces on how the Princess is her first friend, and wants to do something with her. Princess watches a video of her and Jimochi and her ice skating on her phone. Vanilla sees this, and invites her to a skating rink. Princess mistakes this as torture, but later realizes it isn't, and teaches Vanilla how to skate. The princess catches a cold. Tortura calls off torture, and gives princess a futon, udon, pudding and a TV. Tortura tells Princess there's going to be position shuffles in the Hell-Horde, so the Princess indirectly asks her to call in everyone else before they're possibly swapped out. Although, everyone remains together. Princess and the Hell-Lord are teleported to an alternate world after being hit by lightning during a basketball game, and the Hell-Lord explains how he saved the parallel world in the two hours Princess was still asleep.

Other media

The Princess is featured as one of the playable characters in the video game Captain Velvet Meteor: The Jump+ Dimensions that was released on the Nintendo Switch on July 28, 2022.^[33]

Reception

In 2020, the series ranked second in the Next Manga Award in the web manga category.^[34] Makoto Yukimura, author of Vinland Saga, recommended the series, calling it his "favorite manga these days".^[1]

In a review for the anime adaptation, Kevin Cormack of Anime News Network was slightly more critical of the series. He considered the show's central premise to be too repetitive despite some attempts to shake up the formula and compared the Princess to the protagonist of Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, finding the former a significantly less interesting lead. Cormack did, however, found the other characters, such as Tortura and the Hell-Lord, to be more varied and was more positive of some "wholesome" moments in the show.^[35]

See also

• Senyu, another manga series by the same author

Notes

1. Tokyo MX and BS11 list the series premiere on January 8 at 24:00, which is effectively January 9 at midnight JST.^[27]
2. All English titles are taken from Crunchyroll.^[32]
3. Information is taken from the ending credits of each episode.

References

Works cited

• ^ "Ch." is shortened form for chapter and refers to a chapter number of the Tis Time for Torture, Princess manga, as published in English by Manga Plus

Other references

1. Morrissy, Kim (July 8, 2020). "Vinland Saga Creator Recommends 'Tis Time for "Torture," Princess Manga". Anime News Network. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
2. Loo, Egan (June 26, 2023). "'Tis Time for "Torture," Princess Manga Gets TV Anime Next January". Anime News Network. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
3. Mateo, Alex (November 13, 2023). "'Tis Time for "Torture," Princess TV Anime Casts Anna Nagase, Honoka Inoue". Anime News Network. Retrieved November 13, 2023.
4. Loo, Egan (November 20, 2023). "'Tis Time for "Torture," Princess' TV Anime Adds 4 More Cast Members". Anime News Network. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
5. Chapman, Paul (December 22, 2023). "'Tis Time for "Torture," Princess Anime Reveals Four New Fiendish Cast Members". Crunchyroll. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
6. Mateo, Alex (October 30, 2023). "'Tis Time for "Torture," Princess TV Anime Reveals 1st Promo Video, Key Visual, Additional Cast". Anime News Network. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
7. Pineda, Rafael Antonio (October 10, 2019). "Manga Plus Adds 'Tis Time for "Torture," Princess Manga". Anime News Network. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
8. 恐ろしくない拷問にチョロい姫が屈し続ける、春原ロビンソン原作のファンタジー. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. September 4, 2019. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
9. 姫様"拷問"の時間です 16 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
10. 姫様"拷問"の時間です 1 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
11. 姫様"拷問"の時間です 2 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
12. 姫様"拷問"の時間です 3 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
13. 姫様"拷問"の時間です 4 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
14. 姫様"拷問"の時間です 5 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
15. 姫様"拷問"の時間です 6 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
16. 姫様"拷問"の時間です 7 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
17. 姫様"拷問"の時間です 8 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
18. 姫様"拷問"の時間です 9 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
19. 姫様"拷問"の時間です 10 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved September 23, 2022.
20. 姫様"拷問"の時間です 11 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
21. 姫様"拷問"の時間です 12 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
22. 姫様"拷問"の時間です 13 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
23. 姫様"拷問"の時間です 14 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
24. 姫様"拷問"の時間です 15 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
25. 姫様"拷問"の時間です 17 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved March 17, 2025.
26. 『姫様"拷問"の時間です』第1弾PV公開 魔王役は玄田哲章. Oricon (in Japanese). October 31, 2023. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
27. 「姫様"拷問"の時間です」初回放送日は1月8日、shallmのOP聴ける30秒CMが公開. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. November 28, 2023. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
28. Loo, Egan (November 27, 2023). "'Tis Time for "Torture," Princess' Anime's Ad Unveils shallm's Opening Song, January 8 Debut". Anime News Network. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
29. Mateo, Alex (January 3, 2024). "Crunchyroll to Stream Blue Exorcist - Shimane Illuminati Saga, Kingdom Season 5, The Strongest Tank's Labyrinth Raids, More Anime (Updated)". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
30. "☃️Medialink January 2024 New Anime Line-Up☃️ ☃️羚邦2024一月新番代理公告☃️ 🍩 'Tis Time for "Torture", Princess（公主殿下，「拷問」的時間到了）is arriving on Ani-One Asia ULTRA!!". Ani-One Asia via YouTube. January 8, 2024. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
31. Loo, Egan (March 25, 2024). "'Tis Time for "Torture," Princess' Anime Gets 2nd Season". Anime News Network. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
32. "Watch 'Tis Time for "Torture," Princess - Crunchyroll". Crunchyroll. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
33. Bonthuys, Darryn (June 29, 2022). "Spy X Family And Other Shonen Jump Characters Are Coming To New Switch RPG In July". GameSpot. Archived from the original on May 15, 2023. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
34. Loveridge, Lynzee (August 19, 2020). "Norio Sakurai's The Dangers in My Heart Wins Tsugi ni Kuru Web Manga 2020 Awards". Anime News Network. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
35. Cormack, Kevin (March 30, 2024). "Tis Time for "Torture," Princess Anime Series Review". Anime News Network. Retrieved April 2, 2024.

External links

• 'Tis Time for "Torture," Princess at Shōnen Jump+ (in Japanese)
• 'Tis Time for "Torture," Princess at Manga Plus
• 'Tis Time for "Torture," Princess official anime website (in Japanese)
• 'Tis Time for "Torture," Princess (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia