This week How a royalist hero rebuilt the kingdom The episode returns us to the head-scratching decisions of the previous episodes.
There’s really no getting around it – I found the first half of this episode to be weird and boring. Excel Walter giving wife classes to the ladies is an idea that seems to come completely out of nowhere. We spent several plot-heavy episodes engaging in tense political maneuvering, so I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad idea to explore more character-focused threads for a bit, but at the same time there’s no attempt to help us in. transition here. We just broke up handcuff classes. I almost wondered if I had accidentally missed an episode in the last week.
Also, we have not been given any indication that there is anything wrong with any of Souma’s various relationships up to this point. My general apprehension with harem stories aside, what exactly do ladies need to learn? We haven’t seen any of them make many mistakes that have bothered Souma and of course they are delighted with him. There is a sense that this lesson is supposed to be the kind of proper etiquette instruction royals historically received (the echoes of which are still present today). But the framing here is more like a big class session with everyone reading Souma’s mental journal together, which feels…strange.
In fact, who wants this? I know it’s a dangerous thought experiment to ask for meaning here, but I really have to wonder who would want to sit in a room and have someone’s darkest thoughts read to them in front of their romantic rivals (or romantic partners?). Regardless of how invasive an act it is, I can’t imagine wanting someone’s deepest, most hidden thoughts about me to be read out loud in front of an audience. It just seems like something that would be terribly awkward for everyone involved (and not to mention the little black books they can also peruse…)
On a more positive note, we at least get some lovely reaction faces from the ladies in the cast. They get to be a bit more cartoonish and goofy and generally more expressive than usual. That’s fun if nothing else. Also, the scene where Poncho comes back and has perfected the sauce that will make yakisoba squid is very funny. There is a fabulous energy in the seiyu‘s performances that makes it feel like a real triumph. Lastly, Liscia and Souma just sitting together and doing nothing but sharing some fruit and warmth is a genuinely sweet scene that stands in stark contrast to the arbitrariness of the weird school of wives segment. This, to me, felt real. Love can make even doing nothing together feel very special.
With all that said, the pacing of the show is starting to get to me. Hopefully we can get a little more tension and a lot on the line in the next few episodes to break the slow pace we’ve had for a few weeks.
Classification:
Grant is the co-host of the Blade Licking Thieves podcast and the Super Senpai Podcast.
How a royalist hero rebuilt the kingdom It is currently streaming on Funimation.