In an era riddled with isekai with boring power fantasies, overpowered characters, and poor production, this anime was a gem of its genre, although this show is more disconnected from the isekai aspect, and more on the fantasy aspect. I will admit, when I saw this show announced, I thought it would be yet another generic isekai, but just with yuri. Seeing that Studio Diomedéa at the helm, and with their recent anime such as Futsal Boys, and Domestic Girlfriend, I wrote this one off entirely. I eventually did try it out, and following a premiere that stumbled out of the gates, it improved into something quite special, with impressive animation, characters, and thought-provoking themes.
Stories surrounding royalty always fall into the age old trope of in-fighting inside the palace, and a thirst for the throne and power. Instead, our main protagonist, Anisphia “Anis” Wynn Palletia, is one that seemingly does not care for ascending to the throne, despite being in the royal bloodline. One reason why that might be the case is that in a world filled with magic users, at least among royalty, she is incapable of using magic. Instead, she engages in research called “magicology”, using the world’s resources and her knowledge from her previous life. As she seemingly neglects her place in the royal scheme of things, she is seen as a heretic, and therefore, her brother, Algard, assumes the duties of royalty. At the outset, Algard is in a forced political marriage with Euphyllia Magenta, whom he barely knows.
With that, the theme of rebellion is presented for the first time in the show, as Algard spends time with another girl rather than his fiancée, and eventually denounces her in front of a huge crowd, calling off their marriage. This all happens in the first episode, and I’m sure that if you haven’t watched this show yet, you’re thinking to yourself how this is even good. It all seems like contrived drama, doesn’t it?
But then, Anisphia comes in, all carefree, to sweep Euphyllia off her feet, in more ways than one, as she flies away from the terrible scene with her on a broom, and gives her the role of being Anisphia’s assistant, which she agrees to.
Anisphia and Euphyllia have personalities that can be seen as polar opposites. Anisphia is a very happy go lucky girl who has excellent ideals around magic, whereas Euphyllia is struggling to fit into this casual atmosphere where no one is forced to be polite and ladylike, and can just have fun. In a way, the theme of rebellion shows itself yet again, as Euphyllia is rebelling against the very nature of her world, to change herself into finding her own purpose, to do the things that she wants, just like Anisphia. There’s a parallel to another anime, Lycoris Recoil, that I can sort of see here, with Anisphia resembling Chisato and Euphyllia resembling Takina, as the former breaks the latter out of her shell to push her to act and do things that she wants to do, not just following orders, like she’s done her whole life. Their dynamic was wonderful to see throughout the anime, as they go through the toughest of battles and emotions together.
To continue the discussion on rebellion, Algard, as polarizing and divisive as he was, ended up being quite a good character, and a villain who had some depth, and someone who allowed us to sympathize with. The world and its politics aren’t great. Its systems of prioritizing magic for the nobility is corrupt and was fully deserving to be broken down. Algard’s actions during this anime make him look like the villain, but he believed he was doing what needed to be done, which was overthrow the power dynamic in this world. He attempts to use his strength rather than change the policies slowly, and he’ll stop at nothing to achieve this goal. The ends justify the means for him, even if that means people need to be sacrificed to do so. Isekai series struggle with villain writing all the time, and while Algard, as decent of a character he was, he wasn’t exceptionally written in my opinion, but it’s most definitely a step in the right direction.
The side cast also added a lot to the cast as well. Tilty and Ilia were amazing characters who kept the main duo true to themselves, and pushed them towards a better relationship with each other.
Now, to the production side of things, the animation was generally very well done, with the fight scenes being exemplary, and the cinematography being amazing even outside of the fight choreography. The soundtrack was also very overlooked, and complimented the emotional and epic scenes very well. Studio Diomedéa was really punching above their weight here, and I never expected this studio to pull off something quite like this.
The main issue I did see with this show was the pacing, but it’s nothing too egregious, as the story was still generally quite decent overall. It felt a little fast at times, as it doesn’t feel like the world was really fleshed out to its fullest. While there was some world building aspects, it didn’t feel as intriguing as it could have been, in its political world building, or the monarchy in general. That said, the adaptation did what it had to, and I wasn’t disappointed at all.
Overall, this show has been quite a joy to watch, with its exemplary cast, solid animation, soundtrack, and themes. It’s a show I never expected to enjoy this much, and while there were some shortcomings, it was a great experience to watch and a great show to discuss about. The second half was quite polarizing among the anime community, but I came out with quite a positive view of it. I assure you, it’s more than just a plain old yuri anime, there was a lot of heart put into this adaptation, so if there’s anything to take away from this anime season, this would be a good choice to watch. I implore you, do give it a fair chance.
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