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「聖女」 (Seijo)
“Saint”
Damn I wasn’t expecting all of that to happen this week. Well, alright, Sei being cute and throwing around smiles like candy sure, but actually dealing with the saintly elephant in the room? Not at all on the cards. Guess it goes to show the best moments are often the most surprising.
While I’ve harped on it before, one of things I like most about Seijo no Maryoku is how laid back and mature it is at heart. Moments of conflict, no matter how serious or intentionally playful they may be, are dealt with in a rational manner without any of the drama you might expect. Stuff like the Yuri-induced multiparty showdown Sei, Kyle, the king, and Liz would’ve quickly gone out of control elsewhere, but here was succinctly tempered and dealt with reasonably. Kyle acted out, yet managed to get his ultimate goal across; Liz faced down her fiancé’s bullheadedness and got more than she bargained for (in a good way); and Aira was finally freed from the pressure she was more than likely feeling. Indeed the only thing not dealt with was Kyle failing to provide Sei with an apology she is fully deserving of (and that he knows is deservedly due), but I expect that will be coming at some point. After all, the guy will want to get out from house arrest at some point.
And if happy endings to nagging issues weren’t enough, we also have that promised grand expedition in the cards. While surprises aren’t to be expected here (we saw how well the previous trip went last week), it’s a double treat knowing we’ll get Sei strutting her stuff again and doing it because she wants to. It was pretty obvious that Sei was going to be called on to do such duties after all, but it wasn’t as likely Sei would just up and decide to go for the sake of going, especially given her understandable desire to try and stay inconspicuous – though watching the decision making in practice was pretty damn funny (in an adorable way).
This upcoming expedition can be expected to be just as wholesome and no more troublesome than the rest, and I personally wouldn’t have it any other way.
Preview
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According to the author’s afterwords in the LN version, she had originally planned for Aira to conspire together with Kyle so that she’d be recognized as the saint; and get punished alongside him in the end. (The author was apparently trying to use the currently-popular otome-isekai twist of the 2ndary female lead being evil/scheming.)
Her readers successfully convinced her otherwise though, which led to this current outcome.
In a previous episode, Kyle was saying he’s going to have to keep on “playing the fool” etc, is that an anime-only thing or was this in the LN? I’ve only been reading the manga and there has yet been any mention/hints of this and it only seemed he came to the realization he was being a dumb dumb when daddy dearest spelted it out for him during the scene in this episode.
Or maybe I just missed it since I’m reading it in Japanese…
Ugh didn’t mean to post that as a reply to your comment but can’t delete it and repost D:
I think it came out better that way than “wicked antagonist” route would.
It is nice to see author reacting to reader’s suggestions…
Oh that’s really interesting to find out, a very good choice on her part IMO. I could see such a twist working here, but it would’ve needed Aira to have a different personality from the start, otherwise she would’ve come off incredibly weird.
While I’m not a fan of her hair† (not the bulky part of it anyway), otherwise Liz has a really good design. It comes out here in her magnificent scowl. Also, I like how the animators used shadow to enhance her expression.
https://randomc.net/image/Seijo%20no%20Maryoku%20wa%20Bannou%20Desu/Seijo%20no%20Maryoku%20wa%20Bannou%20Desu%20-%2009%20-%20Large%2013.jpg
†While super drill hair is a popular style amongst anime elites, I find it is rarely done well and usually diminishes the character’s appearance. An exception to that would be Bozes from Gate but the artists in that show seemed to make her hair fine rather than going for volume.
The scowl was perfection, such a nice highlight of the anger she had. Don’t disagree either with the drills, I find it an offsetting hairstyle a lot of the time, particularly given it’s usually paired with headstrong or domineering character types. At least Liz breaks the mold on that latter front 😛
As to this episode’s prime drama, I wasn’t a fan of it and feel that it was mostly forced. There are other ways that Kyle could have handled Aira’s situation and the one they went with was purely about manufacturing drama.
Generally, royalty don’t like this type of drama, or any such thing that diminishes them in the eyes of their subjects or peers. A term for this is [i]lèse-majesté[/i] and it was often a crime when committed by commoners. Modern monarchies tend to wash their dirty laundry behind closed doors (at least to the best of their ability). In practice, this means that if the crown prince needs dressing down, the king would do it privately, not in a manner where spreading the foolishness as widely as possible is the goal.
If Kyle is gonna be king one day, why would anyone want his reputation diminished or for people to gossip about his failings. If he’s a stubborn and incompetent prince, what will he be like when he’s king with no one to check him? And if he’s being advised by an idiot (Damian), why would the current king want that idiot advising Kyle in the future?
Now that Aira has been set free, I’m hopeful that they can finally put this drivel behind them.
I agree it is forced, but I also think it’s tolerable drama given the lack of tail on it. This series hasn’t once dragged such things out or made a huge deal of them, every conflict has been dealt with quickly and effectively and with reasonable explanations to boot. Too many writers would’ve taken Kyle’s scheming and made a dramatic fuss out of it, or drawn it out far past its best before date. Having it all tied up like this is honestly a breath of fresh air.
The the concern I have though is what replaces it next. Not really a big deal anime-wise (with only 3 episodes remaining), but Sei does need some sort of antagonist to keep giving reason for her growth. How that’s built up next will be interesting to see.
Aria is finally free!
Even with all that drama, they managed to make it a feel good episode. What I really liked was how they showed the difference on how these guys protected each saint. One group cocooned her while the other let their saint be free. The first group will probably be missed, but the second group got a heartfelt thanks. Would’ve been great if Kyle managed to learn from those two friends instead of going down the path of ruin. Alas it as not to be.
Have to say, Liz here was great. Clearly the most expressive character of the entire series. All that in good faith while trying to work around her block headed fiancée. She probably won’t be queen, but it looks like she’ll have an exciting and eventful future.
Given Liz is Kyle’s fiance and Kyle hasn’t been removed from the line of succession she’ll be queen. Seems it’ll take more than this plot to sideline Kyle in favour of his brother.