LoopNana aired in the Winter 2024-season as an adaption of the light novel by Touko Amekawa. It is a Shoujo series related to the booming Fantasy-Isekai/Iyashikei genre, but with a rather new premise. The animation series consists of the classic 12 episodes à ~24 minutes and is animated by the studios HORNETS and KAI, both being rather small and young studios but having some experience in the genre. The director Kazuya Iwata contributed to popular series such as Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso, Naruto Shippuuden, or Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai.
In case you want a short recommendation of whether the anime is worth to be seen, feel free to skip the "Analysis" chapter and directly jump to the "Conclusion". In my opinion, there are no big spoilers possible for this kind of series - of course I will elaborate the premise and have to cover the content of the first episode.
The protagonist Rishe Irmgard Weltzner is a noble lady trapped in a loop of dying and being reincarnated as her five year younger self. The starting point of each loop is the cancellation of her marriage with the crown prince of her home country, so she decides to not waste her life on marriage but professions herself in different careers. As she enters the 7th loop, however, she is determined to prevent the huge war which ended her life six times, yet. She catches the attention of Arnold Hein, the crown prince of a foreign empire who will start the aforementioned war and killed Rishe in the sixth loop. As he proposes to Rishe, she uses the closeness to this fascinating and goodlooking man for her plans. She puts everything she learned in her previous lives to action in order to survive this loop and to help the people around her.
format(webp))The world of LoopNana is designed similar to all the other Isekai-related series out there and based on the european late medieval / early modern epoch. Aristocracy rules over peasants, merchants, and craftsmen; wars are fought by knights using swords; people travel on horses and carriages. We know this setting from series as LasTame, Kanojo ga Koushaku-tei ni Itta Riyuu, or Mushikaburi-hime. The only noteworthy difference to several similar series is that there are no fantasy-elements like magic, elves or demons apart from the reincarnation. As the series does not explain it at all, us viewers are left alon speculating.
The start of the time loop highly ressembles AkuLast which also reincarnates the protagonist into the prince cancelling the engagement. While AkuLast takes its protagonist from another modern world just like a classic Isekai, LoopNana equips Rishe with knowledge of the world by reincarnating her in her former self. Time looping is not a groundbreakingly new concept, yet it is a refreshingly alternative premise which allows Truck-kun to take some well-deserved vacation. Furthermore, it changes the dynamics of the encounters as Rishe already has a certain relationship to most of the main characters, while they have never actually met Rishe before.
Episode 1 shows Rishes previous lives in flashbacks, sketching the mechanics of this world and introducing a lot of characters which make their reappearance throughout the series. Thus, the viewer gets a thorough understanding of the world, as well as Rishe's skillset. After that however, the story totally lacks a plot and only illustrates the abilities of the characters.
The series illustrates Rishe as the picture-perfect protagonist overcoming every challenge with ease. She has a smile for everyone, cares about the poor and weak, and tries to violate the norm for young ladies whereever possible. She wraps her former teachers around her fingers by playing at their weak points or by selling herself as the version they would like her to be. This not only removes nearly all tension from the plot, neither does it leave any room for character development which is completed within the first episode. I guess a standalone season covering Rishes previous lives could really have potential on that matter, though. All in all, her character is too perfect to add some value to the story.
Arnold Hein matches Rishe in terms of expertise, as he is considered to be the strongest swordsman in the world. Furthermore, he is intelligent and capable to manage the official duties at his palace - the perfect requirements for him becoming the heir of his father who does not make a single appearance throughout the series. Yet, Arnold's character is far more interesting than Rishe's. He opposes charity unless there is an economical profit for the country involved, playing the heartless antagonist he has been throughout Rishe's previous lives. There are also some sadistic vibes every now and then. Still, he worries about Rishe when she puts herself in danger. This paradox illustrates some traumata overlaying the good heart of the prince, most probably caused by the hatred between him and his father, or the old wound shown as scars on his body. The mysteries revolving around Arnold's personality are a major driver of the series and keep the viewer engaged. Furtheremore, the main love interest being the villain adds a fresh touch to the series. Sadly, this is left completely open for future seasons to possibly come.
The remaining characters are basically just support characters required to make Rishe shine. This also accounts for the antagonists, which indeed is a pity as they had considerable potential for a real development. The series however decides to have Rishe convince them immediately such that they overcome their trauma, express their sorrow and be forgiven. No development, no real punishment, no depth. Moreover, their actions where quite foreseeable. Particularly, I already knew how Rishe would convince the last "villain" two episodes before the final.
I would like to wrap up the analysis by listing things absent in this anime. The first is the aforementioned aspect of reincarnation via time loop instead of being transported from another world. Viewers of Kanojo ga Koushaku-tei ni Itta Riyuu or Mushikaburi-hime will particularly notice the decently low level of romance between the main characters, where related Romance-animes regularly lay it on so thick you might get diabetes. As a main contrast to LasTame and several other related shows, LoopNana abstains from a harem of love interests of either genre, although Rishe's former teachers are all good-looking men. All in all, LoopNana employs all its features decently without overdoing, which makes it stand out among similar series.
The opening song "Another Birthday" by Shunichi Toki is very calm which normally is the directions endings would go for. The animation shows Rishe in younger years long before the actual plot of the anime, introducing her as the happy sunshine she also enacts throughout the episodes. The soothingly happy notes support the visuals nicely. Towards the end of the song, the rhythm picks up a faster pace, emphasizing the dynamics Arnold brougth into Rishe's life - or maybe the other way around.
The ending "Kienai" by THE BINARY takes up on this direction, showing drawings of an alternative life of Rishe and Arnold meeting as children and growing up happily together. Paired with a rather düster/traurig/longing music, this song seems to tell of Arnolds traumata and how everything could have worked out much more happy.
A really noteworthy aspect of this anime is the graphical design. While other Iyashikei often lack good animation, this series really does a nice job on the visuals. You should not expect fireworks such as in popular fighting animes, but in my opinion we get some very decent and flawless work here.
LoopNana illustrates a typical aristocracy world romance known from countless other series. The source of power for the protagonist and the role of the main love interest add a fresh touch to the dusty genre, although it is sad that none of them is really explored in this season. Especially the picture-perfect protagonist renders the whole storyline flat and dull. Still, the interaction with other characters, her violating the norms and getting scolded by the prince makes for a decent and enjoyable Other-World-Iyashikei. The visuals, particularly the animations, outshine those of similar series although being nothing spectacular compared with fighting based anime series. The main point the series has going for it, is that it uses all its means with measures, not overdoing it on sweet romance or explicitly including harem dynamics.
Therefore, LoopNana is a series fans of light Iyashikeis should be able to enjoy. I particularly recommend it to anime fans not familiar with Other-World-Romance, who want a light but representative entry to the genre.
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