©餅月望・TOブックス/ティアムーン帝国物語製作委員会2023
Do you enjoy the long-term pursuit of an essentially selfish (but ultimately pro-social) goal? -The long-term goal of “Not being publicly beheaded for violent revolution” leaves you helpless. establishing a government-subsidized disaster relief system and affordable public education for the masses? I know I do. Princess Karen and I are very similar. She really resembles me.
If there’s one thing to take away from the final two episodes of Tearmoon Empire—it has to be the warm, fuzzy feeling of hearing a story that reminds you what the world would be like if world leaders had may be persuaded that seeking *their* best interests and seeking *our* best interests need not be mutually exclusive goals. And what better learning tool is there than an adorable little Japanese anime about a girl who just wants to rest her head on her shoulder if not for the Tearmoon Empire? Then there is always the real Madame Guillotine to turn to in times of crisis…
(Before I get any pedantic history buffs coming here to “Well, actually…” me about real world history, I’m well aware that the actual guillotine of the French Revolution was used to against the poor and disenfranchised rather than worthy targets of public outrage. I’m just saying it’s never too late to reclaim this symbol.)
If these two episodes of Tearmoon Empire have anything else in common, it’s that they’re a bit lacking when it comes to delivering any big laughs or surprises. Episode 7 in particular feels stuck having to go through a lot of exposition to establish the new characters (Viscount Berman and Commander Dion of the Tearmoon army), the conflict in the Forest of Silence, and role of the brewing conflict with the Lulu people. the Empire’s increasingly unstable political situation. While it ultimately leads to some important developments in the story — including Karen founding an entire bizarre city on the Viscount’s territory on the border of the Quiet Forest — I wish that the path leading up to all these developments will be more interesting.
That said, I enjoyed the final scene, which sees Karen recruit Tiona’s nerdy younger brother Cyril to her new public school, and appoint their family as official administrators for the Empire’s new food distribution program. Even if Karen herself is too stupid to realize how radically she is changing the lives of the people in her kingdom simply by treating them as human beings worthy of respect, safety and dignity, it is clear that her followers and citizens will remember what she did for them. a very long time to come. She is the perfect king. She has all the power and innate selfishness that comes with the job, but her keen understanding of the consequences of failure ensures that even her most Machiavellian plans come undone. comes from how to keep large crowds as happy and healthy as possible.
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Tearmoon Empire is now streaming on Crunchyroll.
James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop culture, which you can also find on Twitter his blog and his podcast.