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「空のない街に降る星」 (Sora no Nai Machi ni Furu Hoshi)
“Starfall in a City Without a Sky”
I love stoic episodes like this one. I think it’s because the true nature of ACCA really is ‘stoicism’. It seems like the only things people ever freak out about in this show are sweets. News about internal affairs secretly out to get someone? Ho hum. But popcorn?! Caramel and cheese! Wowzers!
In seriousness, the atmosphere is very much in the setting of the episode, in the blasted wastelands of Planetta. I’m a sucker for quiet tragedies like that of Planetta and its people—and this is in a series full of quiet tragedies. The thought of these folks who have nothing, who will probably never have anything, who despite all that just keep digging, fills one with a peculiar melancholy. There’s also rich metaphor to be had here—a people forced to live underground, having no entertainment but television, unable to see the sky most of the day. Having to borrow a cigarette before being able to offer one. Perhaps I just miss Mushishi; the quiet contemplation really spoke to me.
It’s a good opportunity for Jean to do some self-reflection too, which is notable because a key feature of his character for much of ACCA is that he doesn’t do much of that. Compare Jean of episode 01, the Jean who didn’t put thought into any of his personal circumstances, to the Jean of today. Jean has been receiving cigarettes for a long time, but I get the impression that it’s only now that he’s considering their significance. His trips around the country are, ostensibly, to get a read on what each district feels about him, but in reality it’s more that he needs to get a read on what he feels about himself. Without that, how was he supposed to understand what he meant to other people? And, in turn, what they meant to him?
So, is Jean going to support the coup? The coup meant to put him on the throne? Even Mauve is turned, with the ‘do what has to be done’ argument. And is Jean not shown, in each district, that peace is not to be taken for granted, that some things are worth fighting for, and that ACCA is needed? What will he do with all this support he has? Next episode should be a moment of truth. ACCA has been pretty good at keeping the audience one step ahead (we should have more or less figured out the importance of the cigarettes last week, so it lays out the entire game this week). I don’t think there can be much mystery left unplumbed. All that’s left, really, is Lilium. When discussing the coup, Grossular, and many like him, always talk of duty. But Lilium talks of ambition. What is his agenda? The answer, surely, lies in Furawau
Just saying, “Furawao” is actually spelled as “Furawau.”
Pitching in with a few tidbits about Yakkara and Pranetta from the manga (and a little from the spinoff series) that couldn’t fit in the anime. If one looks at a map of Dowa Kingdom, it can be observed that Yakkara is a small district completely surrounded by Pranetta. While Yakkara is small geographically, it has a highly dense population, with a particularly high male population and many tourists come to visit. This is a detail from the spinoff but Yakkara district was founded and formed by Pranetta residents so many current Yakkara residents are descendents of Pranetta residents.
Pranetta is vast in size but given its geography and climate, there aren’t as many people who live there. Unlike the more elaborate and detailed ACCA uniforms of the other district branches, Pranetta’s ACCA uniform is very plain and simple not only because of the climate but because the branch has a low budget compared to other district branches and chooses to use money for other areas instead of more expensive uniforms. During the episode, Pranetta’s district chief initially mentioned the daily lives of those in Pranetta would not change regardless of the coup’s success or failure. Part of his initial reasoning is because Pranetta has no roads, rails, and large scale hospitals. Even if the occasional crime pops up, the scale is so small that the district police can immediately clear the problem and higher up ACCA intervention isn’t needed. The only major inconvenience Pranetta would have without ACCA would be mail/postage services.
I’ll just point out that surely the reason for Jean’s travels to each district isn’t just to let him determine how they each feel about him; it also exposes him to them. If he ends up ruling, he’ll be the first ruler to have actually travelled to all of the districts and is unlikely to hide in the capital.
It would probably be fulfillment of a wish dating back to before the princess left the ruling family: that their biggest weakness, being both invisible and blind to the people, could be solved and thus more securely ensure stability.
I also hesitate to suggest Jean would be “king”; seeing as the movement is for ACCA, the citizens’ group, to take power. It feels like the movement is less to make Jean king but to make him a leader chosen by the people. He has a familiar, comforting marker suggesting he should rule instead of others: royal blood. But he was raised as a regular citizen, worked and lived among them in ignorance of himself, has met them and seen their plights and perspectives.
Jean, placed by ACCA and likely with the King’s blessing, could be a hybrid ruler allowing the nation time transition from forced bloodline rulership to a form of democracy. A royal president?
I just wanted to add that another reason to favor Jean as national ruler is that he could quite likely dismantle the entrenched rulership in each district, the mini-kingdoms as it were. Since Jean’s travels were via ACCA, he saw from the citizens’ view and, in some districts, the local ruler’s view is not respected or desired by the people. Jean as a democratic ruler, not a king, would probably push for greater citizen power.
This has the potential to be a very massive, impactful coup completed in a very quiet, mellow, nearly bloodless way.
But each district is very proud of their individual identity. But I think they also recognise that ACCA’s existence helps them maintain those, and that even an independent district can be part of something greater.
I’m not sure what their appetite will be for great upheaval, because that’s Schwan’s platform. Many of the coup conspirators seem to be in it to maintain the status quo. Indeed, the reason why Jean’s mother was not allowed to travel was because the royal family cannot be seen as active, for the sake of the status quo. But we’ll have to see if and how Jean changes that.
From the way it sounds the government is already at least half way to a constitutional monarchy. There is a elected national assembly that we have been shown little of. Also the lack of power over the districts has already made the King have little power. Some of the ACCA plotters might actually want a more powerful King at least on paper to support a greater ACCA central control. But as a constitutional King Jean would in effect serve the same role a countries President serves when the President is week in that system with all power in parliament, same role the British royalty serves for Great Britain, Canada, Australia and of the commonwealth of nations. But here I would hope Jean would be a more active voice of the people in the role.
Not really sure what this lady wants.
https://randomc.net/image/ACCA%2013-ku%20Kansatsu-ka/ACCA%2013-ku%20Kansatsu-ka%20-%2010%20-%2033.jpg
Doesn’t seem too pleased with Schwan taking the throne, but also wants to get rid of her late sister’s children. Unless she just wants stability and Schwan puts strange ideas in her head, I really don’t get her. She hardly knows him too.
Lilium seems to want to increase his family’s power. His family probably has full control of Furawau. His eldest brother is the distric chief, he’s part of the five ACCA chief officers while his little brother is the Furawau branch ACCA chief. Unless his plan is to stay in control. If the ACCA is abolished, it would actually reduce his family’s control of the area quite a bit.
Jean’s aunt is placing hopes on chances that her daughter’s upcoming child will be a boy so that he can vie for the throne since the lineage is passed strictly through the males in the family. If the grandchild is male, then the ones in line for the throne before him are considered a necessity to erase if she wants him to succeed. Presumably, neither she nor Schwan knows that Jean “officially” has no claim to the throne so the current line of succession in their eyes reflect as Jean (as the oldest male), Schwan, and then possibly the grandchild. Lotta is being targeted as well because if she ever bears male children, they might also get included in the line of succession.
Also, as for why she aims at Jean and Lotta first it would be because Jean might be closer to succession and his identity is not yet widely and publicly known so it’s easier to quietly wipe him out first. Schwan is probably a more difficult case to handle at the moment because he is known publicly as the next in line and he lives in the castle with personal protection which would require more time and prep to handle.
It seems that privy president Council Qualm chose the wrong royal family member or two to get rid of. The other two competing royal descendants for the crown are worse than Jean’s mom could have been.
I still don’t know if Jean is the late to fully understand the game person he seams to be. Jean actually could have started his own personal loyal coup attempt before the start of the show as the cigarette gifts he gets as symbols of loyalty to him and Jean does not seam to be communicating the cigarette reception to the coup plotters.