Oh no. Not another isekai. But wait. This isn’t another one of those isekai genres whereby the main character dies and reincarnates in the other world with unlimited God-like powers or gains such abilities reliving his/her new life. Instead, Genjitsu Shugi Yuusha No Oukoku Saikenki just as its title suggests, tells of our main character who has been summoned to another fantasy world (phew, at least he didn’t die in an accident) and is somewhat made to help rebuild a failing kingdom. This means instead of expecting super powers and epic level Super Saiyan-like fights, this time we’re using our brains instead of brawns to help make a better country! Oh yeah. But oh no for me. So this has got to be one of those ‘brainy’ series that needs to use a lot of brain cells, huh? Hey, I can prove I can learn a thing or two too! Just don’t make it too boring or draggy…
Episode 1
Kazuya Souma was told by his grandpa to start a family. Basically, a family is to stem that loneliness, right? He lost his son and his wife too early and when he is gone, Souma will be alone. And soon that day comes. Yup, Souma all alone. I guess he cleared the qualifications of being whisked away to another world since he won’t have relatives to care if he has gone missing! HAHAHA!!! Speaking of which, looks like a kingdom in an alternate world has become desperate. So desperate that they resort to their last resort to summon a hero. And guess who? Yup, Souma just comes flying in. Heck, even the priests are shocked the summoning was successful! Souma is brought before King Albert. Time to explain. About 10 years ago, some demons appeared in the northernmost continent of Landia and wreak havoc. A punitive force from nations tried to subdue it but they failed. Now this territory known as Demon Lord’s Domain has occupied 1/3 of Landia. The battle rages on and so far they have barely been able to keep them in check. The catch is that Souma is not summoned to fight them. But rather, he is to be given and sold off to the Gran Chaos Empire who has the longest border with Demon Lord’s Domain and mainly keeping them at bay. As their kingdom of Elfrieden has been paying tributes to Gran Chaos, they are running out of money. As of now, they are facing food problems. Souma realizes he is stuck here so he asks how successful the summoning rate. This is to determine if they can summon more heroes. Well, the first time in 500 years! So if the requests keep coming, they have to summon more heroes, right? So in order to save his own skin, Souma comes up with a plan. Instead of selling him, they are going to review the nation’s finance and grow strong enough to reject Gran Chaos. Hey, he is the hero who will bring some revolutionary changes, right?
So for 3 days, Souma learns the financial situation of every sector in Elfrieden with the Prime Minster Marx and of course Albert. After that, Albert decides to abdicate his throne and let Souma succeed. Plus as added bonus, he will betrothed his daughter, Liscia to him! This abdication sends shockwaves to nearby duchies. Liscia comes rushing home and thought the throne was usurp. Albert tells what happened and although she understands, but engaging her without her consent? Well, for that she needs to talk with Souma. It’s her life. Wasn’t papa the one who screwed it?! So she confronts Souma. He tells what has happened and is just trying to reorganize this kingdom’s finances. If she is find with it, she can cancel this engagement. Funny, she didn’t accept it outright but changes the topic about his claim to quit as king in 5 years. Is that enough time to change the country? As a matter of fact, he already secured some funding! Basically he sold some national treasures to the Principality of Amidonia! Hey, they are national treasures to be used for the country, right? Of course he doesn’t sell all of them. Only those with no historic or cultural value. Those that have are put up on display. For those that can’t be grouped, he thinks those are dangerous and shouldn’t be sold or displayed. Souma hasn’t tell Gran Chaos of this and is planning to hold out till the last day. Liscia suggests diverting the funds to the military since he wants to build a stronger nation. That is only short term. Doing so won’t solve their domestic problems and they’ll continue to lose the people’s support. A revolt will then happen. Even though the people love this country, can they still feel the same with empty stomachs? You can’t show concern for others if you have no breathing room yourself.
Episode 2
Souma takes a magic aptitude test to see what kind of magic he has. Uhm, he can clone his consciousness into objects and freely control them? Yeah, going to be convenient with all the paperwork he has right now. He and some of the men are trying to check if there are underused or abused funds. Even if they secured funding from selling national treasures, it won’t last forever. The same can be said for manpower. Speaking of which, since Liscia is here, care to help with the paperwork? Yeah, took all night. Next morning, Souma brings her to the vast cotton fields. This is the underlying problem why this kingdom has food shortages. Previously, the land now occupied by Demon Lord’s Domain produced them. But ever since the invasion, this country took over its production. Farmers gave up producing food because of its price. But when other countries try to cash in and do the same thing, food production fell. Supply outgrows demand. Price crash. So if food is the main issue now, shouldn’t farmers be back in producing them? Maybe it’s not easy growing food? Liscia feels ashamed as she doesn’t know about this problem. But Souma doesn’t want her to be. That’s why he is showing her this so that when he is gone, she can manage this country well. Why does that sound like a bad omen?
As they talk about doing something about the agriculture stuffs, Ludwin Arcs, captain of the royal guard joins in and asks Souma’s opinion about his reforms. Souma points out straight that human resource is a big issue. Except for Marx, everyone else is basically useless and somewhat played a part in the downfall of this kingdom. What he needs is a trustworthy retainer who is willing to work on things he wants them to work on. Basically he wants to recruit people but learning how it is done in this country and considering its not very encouraging literacy rate, this means there are those that are already left out even before it begins. This also means shunning out those that have real hidden talents. Seeking Liscia’s advice on how to use the national broadcast system, Souma then relays his speech to all his subjects and people over his kingdom. He starts off on why he was chosen by the former king because in trying times, a tenacious survivor is needed. Then he starts his recruitment drive. As long as you have a talent that you think you are better than everyone else, come down here to the capital. And if you aren’t sure if you’re good at it, he’ll judge it. If many parties claim to be better, they’ll have a competition to gauge it. He also announces some monetary incentives like introducing other talents. So are you ready to be part of his dream team? The people are highly motivated after hearing this. We see those potential people making their way towards the capital.
Episode 3
Here’s your lazy explanation why Souma is able to understand the language of this world, as well as read and write (and auto translate!) with ease! Isn’t it a good thing everybody in this world speaks only 1 language? Yeah. How realistic is that! Anyway, today is the day Souma meets those talented people. So I see 5 are only shortlisted, huh? First up is Aisha Udgard who is a dark elf and is good in the fighting arts as well as military prowess. Aisha claims that she doesn’t want his reward but instead wants his wisdom as her forest home is dying. The trees are thinning and no young ones are growing. Souma wonders if the trees are being thinned right. Because otherwise it’ll block out too much sun for the young ones to grow and leaving only old trees will lead to natural disaster. Aisha is so enlightened that she pledges her loyalty to him and wants him to come to her forest right now! Well, we’ll have to wait till this over first, right? Next is Juna Doma, a lorelei (mermaid?). The best singer on land. She has him sing a song that will energize the nation. Unsure what kind of song is that, he lets her hear a sample. Just hearing once, she can repeat the whole thing and amazes everyone with her voice. Then there is Poncho Panacotta. He looks very nervous as he reveals his true talent for being a glutton. He has travelled everywhere and eaten everything! Surprisingly but not surprisingly, Souma is elated and has been waiting for a guy like him. He believes his gluttony can save the nation. This spurs everyone watching to now think twice that maybe their talents can actually be worth it. Next is Hakuya Kwonmin. He is an intellect with unrivalled knowledge and memory. At first he might sound suited for the library but he changes his stance that he wants to serve in the military section. This is after he witnessed Souma’s actions. He was using Poncho as a measuring to see if he is worthy. Had he rejected to fatty, he would’ve deemed him unworthy. Souma invites him to talk in his chambers to determine if he is as talented as he claims to be. Lastly, Tomoe Inui. Noticing she is of the wolf tribe that is from the northern lands, it could be that she is a refugee. Other than her talent of speaking to animals, she has something else to say but is too shy. So Souma lets her whisper into his ear.
Episode 4
Souma narrates this world’s classification of living things. So the beastfolks are considered humans too, huh? And then there are monsters whose intelligence are nothing higher than beasts, huh? Anyway, after Souma hears Tomoe’s whisper, he tries not to look shaken. He needs to find a way to put her abilities to good use. Later with his trusted aides, he lets Tomoe reveal that big ability of hers: She can understand and converse with demons! What separates demons from beastfolks is their language. Nobody understands them. Tomoe recalls a short incident whereby she stumbled upon a demon scout. He told her to run because a massacre is coming. While it seems likely to use Tomoe to negotiate with demons to take back their land, it is not very likely as mankind is made up of many races. Imagine what they’ll do if they find out they have one who can converse with the enemy. Viewing Tomoe as important, he wants the highest security on her. However to do it too soon may arouse suspicions. Marx suggests a few options like making her a noble or adopting her but because Souma is not married, so that may be a hindrance. Why not let the previous king and queen adopt her then? Great idea. But Tomoe claims she has a family at the refugee camp. Souma assures her this is all for expediency to keep her protected. In time, she and her family can come live at the castle. But Souma wants Marx to hold on announcing it soon and let some time pass first to avoid suspicions. When Poncho returns from his food gathering trip, a special broadcast is made throughout the kingdom. This is to help the people resolve food shortage by introducing foods the people are not accustomed in eating. Oh, Souma going to cook before them? So this is just a nationalized cooking show, huh? First up, octopus! Taste testers Liscia, Aisha and Tomoe squirming at how he slices up the octopus and all! But when the fried octopus balls are ready, it’s a different story. Yum! Tasty! Next is some roots followed by grasshoppers? Basically Poncho used some ingredient that is similar to soy sauce. Souma tastes it and it brings him to tears! Taste of his homeland! Missed it so much, eh? If you think you’ve seen it all, wait till you see the next dish.
Episode 5
Now it’s Souma’s turn to be a guinea pig as Poncho introduces this gelin food. Uhm, slime + jelly? Because of its fluids, its corpse can never remain neat and tidy. But thankfully Poncho learnt a trick from the locals on how to kill it without making a mess all over. And then you leave the carcass for a couple of hours to solidify all the liquid. Then he cuts it up like noodles that looks kinda familiar… And of course if everyone else is still putting up that sceptical face, Souma eats and finds it delicious. Scepticism gone. With the popularity of this show, looks like there needs to be a follow up. Have to find ways to satiate the people’s hunger. But first, Souma is called for an urgent meeting with Marx. He would like to step down to follow Albert’s footsteps after guiding Souma as long as he could. He has deemed Hakuya as his suitable replacement. Souma agrees but this official appointment will have to come at another date. Speaking of date, Hakuya suggests Souma take a break and hence date Liscia. If he is worried about security, he can have Aisha tag along. Killing 2 birds with a stone? Speaking of them, Souma sees them sparring and goes to talk to them about this before they bring damage to the castle. Where to go on this date? Since today is his only day off, sorry Aisha, can’t visit your forest. But she hopes he could one day go there himself as there are still stubborn brethren who disagree with Souma’s suggestion. The trio disguise themselves as military academy students as they walk around town. They also need some moniker to call themselves. This is when the ladies realize Souma is his surname and not his first name. And Souma realizing he made the biggest blunder because now all the official documents have his name in reverse. Yup, western style, surname at the back. Then they stop at Juna’s shop for lunch. Their conversation has Souma realizing that polygamy is allowed in this world. Not just a husband with many wives but the reverse is also true. But what about Liscia’s mom? Souma has never seen Albert’s other consorts. Her mom is actually the daughter of the previous king so Albert married into the royal family and assumed the royal duties. That’s why he never took any other consorts. Liscia might not like it but isn’t opposed to Souma having multiple wives either. 8 of them?! Oh, this world has 8 days per week, huh? Souma’s mind starting to wander. Harem is so possible now, right?
Episode 6
We hear Souma narrating about Elfrieden’s military might that is ruled by the Three Dukedoms of Duke Georg Carmine, Duchess Excel Walter and Duke Castor Vargas. Then there’s some Forbidden Army and some mercenary state of Zem and some system between the races that keeps each other in balance and check. Not that I get it at this point. Souma and co hear the nearby table’s argument between Halbert Magna and Kaede Foxia. From what I understand, this guy wants to go side with Georg and go to his domain. But Kaede is against this because she knows Georg is at odds with the current king and there are other issues from neighbouring countries that might seize the opportunity to invade Elfrieden if a civil war breaks out. And so we have Souma remembering Hakuya’s lecture about their neighbouring countries like the Union of Eastern Nations in the north, Principality of Amidonia in the west, Republic of Turgis to the southwest, the Nine Headed Dragon Archipelago Union in the east and of course Zem. Though Elfrieden isn’t hostile with any of them but none are on friendly terms either. There might be some conspiracy theory of these countries working with the Three Dukedoms to overthrow Souma. As Halbert remain defiant that he knows Georg, Kaede throws more caution. As part of the Forbidden Army, she knows what is going on and she believes he is too naïve to think it will go his way. Souma has heard too much so he summons them to talk privately. Because Halbert continues to mouth off, it is cue for Souma to reveal himself. Yup, you just being rude to the king! Learning that they are childhood friends, Souma doesn’t stop Halbert if he wants to side with Georg but he also warns him that he will find himself fighting opposite of Kaede and that someone from his side might kill her and he won’t be able to protect her. So I guess this guy cools down and starts to think a bit. Later, a bit of Souma and Liscia time. She wonders if he doesn’t want to be engaged to her. Well, he rather marry for love. Talk interrupted because it gets awkward with Aisha can’t pretend to sleep any longer. Soon, Glaive who is Halbert’s father, seeks an audience with Souma to forgive his son’s rudeness. Yeah, Halbert’s face has been messed up. We know why. Of course will not exact any punishment. Souma also takes this chance to transfer Kaede to the royal guard under Ludwin since it would be a waste of her talents to be just a mere mage. As for Halbert, he is to be transferred to the Forbidden Army and be Kaede’s assistant. Glaive has something he needs to tell Souma but cannot let many know. After clearing the room, Souma hears him out and is deeply concerned now.
Episode 7
Souma narrates about the different elemental magic properties and how they are divided in the military. And of course there is this dark magic but it is just an umbrella category for any magic that doesn’t fit in the other elements. Like his cloning technique. A mascot ninja joins a group of adventurers to explore the underground ruins. When confronted with a salamander, they run because its spit is acidic. Ninja dude trips and gets spitted by some but luckily all manage to get out alive. As you would’ve expected, this ninja mascot is controlled by Souma. Is this some sort of substitute for him to go adventuring as he is stuck in office? Souma congratulates his men for their tireless and hard work in making Project Venetinova a success. They’ve secured funding, cut losses and every other aspect to make this port town a reality. Yeah, they get 5 days of rest and some fine wine. Good enough. Although Elfrieden already has a port town under Walter, this isn’t to pick a fight with him. Souma explains the economics of supply and demand and hence Venetinova will be the heart of the kingdom since it will smooth distribution of goods, thus levelling prices to goods across Elfrieden. As food is the most demanded good here, this means people will have to set aside money if prices are high. This will lead to stagnation of the economy if they can’t buy other things. As Souma takes a rest, Liscia comes to peck his cheek since she would prefer to have him around rather than summoning another hero. It wouldn’t be another Souma then. As Souma visits the construction site of Venetinova, Ludwin tells of a problem. An old man named Urup is opposed to the construction because he fears the Kaijin god will unleash its wrath by devouring houses that are built on its sacred land. Souma visits him to find out more. Back at the capita, he discusses with the rest. Of course this Kaijin is just superstitious. He knows this is a tsunami and its interval in between is long. There’s more explanation about undersea quakes and all but I guess these people won’t get it. He won’t cancel the project but shift it to another location. He also makes plans to make the place with higher elevation and to provide for evacuation shelters.
Episode 8
We hear the narration of the strange mix of magic and technology in this world. For example, gunpowder exists in this world but guns were never invented thanks to magic. Halbert and Kaede are part of the Forbidden Army building a network of roads. Thanks to that, supplies for the food they eat are much tastier. Then there are other explanations of other stuffs like natural street lamps and some trees to ward off animals but the roads are still kept open so as not to completely trap and isolate animals who might then start to attack humans of farmlands when their food source is cut off. Aisha then receives a message from her father, Wodan. Her village just experienced a landslide. Many are dead and missing. After learning the men they have now, Souma initiates a rescue team to Aisha’s village. But time is of essence and the fastest they’ll get there is in 2 days. Too bad, teleportation doesn’t exist in this world. Otherwise, why build roads! Souma then has a eureka moment. Uhm, using beasts to drag the carriage through the mountains? Not sure how fast they got there but just in time for Wodan to explain the situation. It’s very dire. So they go around to look for survivors and corpses. Souma seems to be able to know where the buried are thanks to a little wooden mice he created. That cloning technique came in handy. Too bad he also has the misfortune to find dead bodies and it is not a lovely sight. Many are saved but many are also dead. Despite Liscia just arriving with reinforcements, Robthor who is Wodan’s brother thinks it is futile because it won’t bring the dead back. His wife is dead and his daughter in coma. Later Souma and Aisha talk about what if they listened to Souma’s advice about thinning, would all this have been avoided. Souma is realistic by saying it won’t if this place is constantly raining and the likes. But taking such actions means they have time to plan and take measures. He cautions that nature isn’t so weak that it needs people to protect. It is just arrogance to assume that since it is natural for nature to go through the cycle of destruction and rebirth. Humans can only tweak that to suit its state to them. On the way back, Souma blames himself the most for not doing anything. Because it is not a king’s job to direct onsite during emergencies. He should’ve prepared it to prevent it all. He realizes he has fallen short in many other areas because he was obsessed in trying to solve the food shortage.
Episode 9
Souma can’t sleep well so he summons Juna. No funny ideas. She just pats his head and just like that he dozes off. Effective. The 3 dukes are meeting and it seems they are torn about Souma. Excel is against the duo’s plan to rebel against the king. Georg believes he is not fit to be one as he has casted aside too many without any second thought despite his achievements. Their goal is of course to overthrow him and reinstate Albert. Georg sends a request letter to Amidonia for reinforcements and Gaius VIII is happy to oblige. Hakuya talks to Souma about their food problems almost solved but the next worry is about acts of cruelty which may bring harmful effects in times of peace. Hence Souma commences the next step of subjugation. As Gaius rallies his men to war, his minster Colbert advises him against it for fear the people will starve. Gaius kicks his face as he disagrees. Colbert reminds him of the treaty they signed. When the countries signed the Mankind Declaration, one of the conditions is any change in borders via war among mankind will not be recognized. Doing so will earn the wrath of Gran Chaos. Julius (Gaius’ son) then notes that Elfrieden didn’t sign the treaty and that’s the end of that. Gaius strips him of his title. Colbert leaves but stumbles into the princess, Roroa who has already made preparations to lie low for now.
Souma and Lsicia has a Zoom meeting with the 3 dukes. He gives them the ultimatum that if they continue to disobey, they will be recognized as traitors. Souma threatens to overthrow the system that they had in place for generations for social equality and even absorbing their units into other parts of the military. Souma further adds that if he grows corrupt from all that power, then they can come for his head. Because Souma guarantees that the new port will be for trade and tourism, and that Excel’s Lagoon City will be maintained as a naval base, Excel pledges her loyalty to him. However Castor cannot accept him as his king because he still cannot accept the fact Albert whom he served for years just gave it up to a mere outsider. Castor will be doing this on his own will and only 100 of his men will fight alongside him. The rest remain neutral. A decision in consideration of his own future defeat? As for Georg, Souma already knows his stance after accepting corrupted nobles after he released them. The reason he is doing this is because of his pride as a warrior. He wants to judge Elfrieden’s fate by his own hands. It is a foolish way of thinking but this is to show him how he as a warrior lives. Souma accepts they will go to war but adds a condition to not burden the innocent citizens. So if their forces fall, the command will automatically switch to the enemy’s. Liscia also shows her determination by cutting her hair. This is her resolve to stay by Souma. Souma has Juna to thank for to have Excel on his side. Juna is her granddaughter and she was initially sent to see if Souma is fit to be king.
Episode 10
Gaius leads his men to occupy the southwestern city of Altomura. The mayor, Weist Garreau makes a plea for him not to attack first because currently the city is split into factions of whether to surrender or die fighting. He promises to go back and convince the rebels to let the troops to occupy without fighting. Julius advises to give this task some time since it will be wasteful to have some of their soldiers dying for this simple occupation. Meanwhile the Forbidden Army is holding down their fort well from the land invasion from Georg’s troops. Thanks to Souma’s modern design of the fort of course. Until they bring out the cannons! Luckily, Sur a dark elf comes to their aid as thanks for saving his village. Uhm, so just 1 dark elf? No other reinforcements? Must be one helluva magic arrow to destroy those cannonballs. The nobles are mad that Georg’s forces are not making any advance but he tells them off that their rushed idea was what made their forces routed in the first place. He knows Souma is not in this fort and will use the soldiers there as bait to draw him out. Gaius is not impressed with Weist coming back and pleading more time. Because now the rebels have gotten more motivation and their battle cry roars can be heard outside the city. He pleads until tomorrow noon to convince them. Gaius will take up his magnanimity offer and if it is not done by then, he’ll take the city by force. Turns out this is all a ploy to buy time as Weist returns to Excel who is waiting in this city. She was sent here by Souma ahead via his foresight on the matter. Of course they only have until tomorrow noon to wait until Souma makes a move. Otherwise they’ll all die like heroes they claim to be. Night falls and it seems Castor may have changed his mind about Souma but it is too late to back out now because of his pride. Although he has no qualms fighting alongside Georg, he will not stand for those corrupted nobles he sheltered. Carla (his daughter and wyvern commander) then reports the sighting of Souma’s troops. Just a single ship headed this way. Using a giant beast and putting the giant warship on wheels, dragging it all the way this far inland! With a few cannons fired at the castle, Souma contacts Castor and gives him one last chance but of course we all know his pride. Carla and her men fly out to stop the warship. They are thrown off balance since Souma manages to turn some defensive magic into offensive firepower. In the end, they aim for the makeshift wheels and bring the warship to a halt. But when they search the ship, no signs of anybody. Only puppets. Carla realizes too late that this is a distraction to lure them away and that Souma has gone to the castle himself.
Episode 11
Since Souma can’t fight himself, he has Aisha fight on his behalf. Castor loses when Liscia does a surprise attack. Hey, all is fair in war, right? With Castor admitting defeat, Carla arrives too late as her father has been given a slave collar. Disobey orders and his head will roll. Yeah, she gets one too. Souma then assigns Tolman who serves directly under Castor to be lead the air force that will be absorbed into the Forbidden Army. Liscia tries to save Carla’s life by suggesting she becomes Souma’s concubine but he declines since doing that might make the people lose trust in him. Now they make their way to the fort and the air force bombards the enemy. Mission complete. When Georg learns of this, he considers he has lost the war. The nobles aren’t happy about this and thinks of using their subjects as shields while they hide. Georg scoffs at this cowardice and puts slave collars on them all. Then he puts one on himself too and will accept full responsibility for this. With the civil war over, Souma doesn’t need to go over to fight him. Since Carla looks confused and all, Souma begins his explanation. Actually this civil war was all a setup and Souma was in cohorts with them. Thanks to Juna, Souma knows Excel was already on her side but he wasn’t sure about Castor and Georg especially the latter started harbouring corrupt nobles. Then Glaive told him about Georg’s reason to do all this. Knowing doing so will cause trouble, he became confrontational to Souma so as to draw dissents to his side. Souma was understandably mad but Glaive also pointed out that even if so, their relations will beg for mercy and he’ll have to let the matters stand. That is why it is better to look at them as insurrectionists against the state.
When Souma seized their assets, that was only the scratch of the surface. Prove that they have more hidden assets was that they used it to hire mercenaries from Zem. Georg might want them to use up their funds but this could be used as ransom money. While capturing corrupt nobles, all hired mercenaries will also be taken prisoner. And after the ransom is recovered, everything will be kept contained. Souma doesn’t like it how Georg is sacrificing himself but Glaive told him Georg is entrusting the future to him. For more info, see him in person and ask him himself. Had many others know about this plan, it would certainly not have gone well. Gaius is about to attack Altomura but he sees Excel. Julius realizes this is a trap and they should retreat. Souma then announces to all of Elfrieden that the civil war is over. However the war is not done yet as Amidonia has invaded their land claiming to take back what it is stolen from them. He views it as using the chaos of the civil war to infringe upon their land so Souma declares war on Amidonia. His will target their capital, Van. Gaius calls for a quick retreat back to Van. But he played into Souma’s hands because the quickest way back is via some valley. Souma’s men are waiting and ambush them, trimming down their 30,000 strong troops to just half. Predictably, Gaius forcefully rounded up more men from nearby villages to march back to Van and this is only making the people turn against him and inviting a rebellion. Even so, his efforts are futile because by the time he reaches Van, Elfrieden banners are everywhere. Van has fallen.
Episode 12
All is not lost because the castle still flies Amidonia’s flag. Time for the final head on battle. As both sides clash, Souma suddenly realizes something. He realizes he isn’t the real king and because of that, he has no right to send soldiers into the battlefield. He is just conducting himself as one to save the most lives and select a policy that is beneficial. In other words, he is a coward who doesn’t want to see others get hurt or die. Is that a bad thing? But because of the war, he has no choice but to become a full king. HUH?! STOP CONFUSING THE HELL OUT OF ME!!! Gaius realizes he has lost the war and wants Julius to take some men to flee. Julius insists he wants to fight along with him but Gaius says Souma is out for his head. If Julius also falls, their royalty is over. Roroa? That girl doesn’t concern herself with the kingdom’s future. Reluctantly, Julius follows his father’s wishes. Gaius and his few elites make a final charge towards Souma. Ludwin thought he killed Gaius but he was just a body double. Carla fights the real Gaius and he is formidable. So much so Souma had to come out to the battlefield. Is this distraction? Even latching his ninja puppet on to him and blowing it up, Gaius is still alive! But it all ends when archers fire all into him. The end. Souma is impressed by his bravery and will tell of it for generations to come. Souma occupies the throne of Van as he reveals to Liscia why he didn’t evacuate the people at Altomura. Upon Hakuya’s advice, it was to avoid Gaius from suspecting they know about their plans. Also it is to protect the people because there have been reports of some dangerous monsters lurking in the woods. Souma will not attack anymore in Amidonia. Because Amidonia signed the declaration, Gran Chaos will not let this slide. Worst case scenario, it will not stop at military sanctions. Although Souma could have signed the declaration, he couldn’t because he saw a clause that would cause the breakup of Elfrieden. Noting the Amidonia people still harbour deep hatred for Elfrieden, Souma begins his next phase. He has a special singing programme broadcast throughout the nation. A few singers including Juna belt out their piece before the final surprise guest singer who turns out to be Amidonia’s lieutenant general, Margarita Wonder. She sings out the national anthem. Why does it sound like a final boss soundtrack?! After she is done, she is not happy that Souma will not remove her head as this song is also a demand to return Amidonia’s stolen lands from Elfrieden. Souma says there is no law to not stop anybody from singing a country’s national anthem. Although there is no correct answer in what makes a good country, a country that can freely sing the songs of others is a good country. HUH?!
Episode 13
Maria Euphoria who is ruling Gran Chaos is dubbed the Saint because of how she united mankind and all fronts to fight against the Demon Lord’s Domain. She talks to her sister, Jeanne who will be departing to Van to negotiate for its return due to the treaty. They know it is Amidonia’s fault but I guess they have to uphold the declaration or it would affect the nation’s prestige. Maria believes Souma is a brilliant king so he can be reasonable at times. However Jeanne points out that they are both like oil and water. While Souma is a realist, Maria is more of an idealist. With Souma’s occupation of Amidonia, it seems he has also opened Pandora’s Box because now everyone has the freedom to do what they want. Okay, but why the heck must he approve permits for shows, performances, etc?! Is it his job?! Nobody else?! Roroa and Colbert walk around a lively Van incognito. Because Gaius took their freedom, Souma gave it back to them with no cost. Even if Julius tries to make a comeback, will he be able to do anything while they have their freedom? They have to do their part too as they won’t let Souma get ahead of them. Hakuya warns Souma about the main force from Gran Chaos. It will take days but the advancing party should arrive shortly. Poncho talks to Souma about some flower. It has hallucinating effects but if you eat the bulb right, it is delicious. He managed to get this from the Gran Chaos region since they have the system to harvest it effectively. Souma orders the negotiation for those flowers since it will solve the principality’s food shortage.
Souma along with Juna and Tomoe are incognito as they visit the town. I’m sure this is the only way they can get souvenirs. Once they are done and resting, Jeanne comes to talk to them. She is here to see for herself the kind of man Souma is. She also heard of rumours of him gathering his own consorts. Of course Souma denies that. Well, this means an option less for Gran Chaos as they can’t use a lecherous king to easily accept their demands. Jeanne notes that Souma’s kingdom is stable because of his closeness to his subjects. It is the opposite for Maria. Although beloved by everyone, they still keep their distance. Jeanne then apologizes for the ritual of summoning him to this world. However Souma says it is already done. Besides, he fully knows the reason behind this. It is Gran Chaos’ consideration towards a kingdom that can’t come up with any aid for the war. As Elfrieden is not a signatory of the declaration and is located far away from the Demon Lord’s Domain, they enjoy the benefits of being protected. Hence this hero summoning is just to create the appearance that they are providing some support. Whether successful or not, it doesn’t matter as long as they can show the members of the declaration that some effort was made. And hence Souma’s summoning was unexpected as Gran Chaos didn’t think they could do it. Souma doesn’t blame them since he has a family here to protect. It is the same for Jeanne. Looks like negotiations will be tough. Souma returns to give Aisha and Liscia their souvenirs. Lovely. Souma vowing to protect this family of his. Is it me or do I see it as protecting his harem?! Because all those in his room now are just females…
Get Real! Isekai Isn’t Even Realistic!
Obviously, one cour is definitely not enough to flesh out all the potential developments that we have seen so far. After all, you know what they say about Rome not built in a day. Or at night! This means that if we are truly going to see how Souma makes Elfrieden a better country (and perhaps trickling its effects to make other countries better), we are going to need a lot more episodes and several seasons. That is why it is unfair for me to just simply label that whatever has been shown here is incomplete and rushed. Although yes, it does feel incomplete and rushed, it is partly because the series didn’t get enough episodes to deal with all these issues. You know, it takes time for things to be resolved and it’s not like magic that Souma can solve them with the snap of his finger, right? Therefore if I look at the context of strictly on this anime alone and nothing more, I would say that it would be disappointing, confusing, rushed and more could have been done to make it better. Otherwise looking at the bigger picture, that is the ongoing light novel that is based on, it is still early to call or make any conclusive judgment. Oh by the way, did I not mention this is getting a second season?! Oh yeah. And so the rebuilding effort continues.
So I’m going to further nit-pick and b*tch on how effective Souma’s policies are in this world because if it was so damn effective, why the f*ck could it not work in his own original world? Oh right. He was whisked away before he could even start his life in society. So if Souma ever goes back, I’m sure I’ll support him in become the leader of the world because he definitely knows the kinds of decisions to make for the betterment of the people, right? Yeah, if only corrupt politicians and corporate bigwigs could have their way. So I guess Earth is a pretty much a more ruthless place than this other fantasy world that is ruled by monsters and magic, huh? Maybe it is this backwater thinking and the not so hi-tech science that allows Souma to put his policies in place. After all, most of them are just common sense, right? Heck. To think that he was just finishing reading a book on Machiavellianism right before he got spirited away. Oh wow. How realistic is that?! I don’t want to question Souma’s intelligence because he is definitely way smarter than me. But I just can’t shake off this feeling that he just knows what to do right after arriving and just listening to the problems once. Did the script of this anime get summoned with him too? Hence Souma being from another world makes it easier for his policies to be implemented because it sounds so alien to this people or rather they’ve never at least thought about it. Hey, there are no such colleges about business and economics in Landia, are there?!
And of course as you might have guessed it, I fail to learn anything from this series because a lot of these stuffs just felt confusing although I believe they tried explaining it in the simplest form that perhaps general viewers might try to understand. Don’t want to turn off your viewers for being a very complicated anime, huh? So while I won’t say that the policies are really that perplexing, thanks to my simpleton brain, I can’t fathom most of them. Hence why you hear me blame this series for being unrealistic, especially Souma easily calling the shots and implementing his policies that do not have a high rate of failure! Elfrieden being an independent nation of its own, there are certainly many areas that the head of state needs to juggle. And just not the food shortages or the military tactics as we have only seen so far as covered by the anime. Even those few subjects touched upon and tried to be tackled by Souma, I’m already having confusion, what more if they introduce more issues down the road! At the end of the day, I’m glad I’m not in Souma’s position because my brain cells will all wither the moment I arrive here if I start to think of any viable solution. Might as well sell me off to Gran Chaos in the first place.
It is also unfair for me to say that this series did not flesh out more about the other countries of Landia and hence the main issue of driving back the Demon Lord’s Domain. Maybe I got the order wrong. Perhaps the series wasn’t supposed to focus about all that but I just thought it would be more interesting to know more about them. Ah, here I go again wishing for something and if I got that wish, I would have complained about spamming me with so many details that isn’t related to the main issue at him because it’s all about Souma saving Elfrieden, right? Anyway, with the focus on this, hence it feels like a minor side story (if I should call it) about the Gran Chaos Empire taking their fight against the Demon Lord’s Domain. The main character is Souma and the main location is Elfrieden. Everything else is secondary and not important. Gran Chaos vs Demon Lord’s Domain? Not our problem. Yet. Although the mid-intermission does have small details about the countries and some characters, but that’s just touching the surface. Like, only need to know basis? Because like at the beginning of most episodes, Souma does narrate some of the peculiarities of Landia. Although interesting, too bad that’s all we get to know.
Souma as the new king of Elfrieden, you can look at this from both ways. Good and bad because even if a multi-cultural kingdom like Elfrieden, suddenly it is alright for the previous king to secede his throne? So f*ck tradition, right? And like I have pointed out, Souma being from another world allows a lot of leeway for him to make different strides. His unconventional ways (at least to this world) earns him the approval of many especially his people. Not bad considering an outsider taking the throne and doing all the important decisions that benefit the nation that the predecessors cannot! I’m surprised there isn’t any uprising from nobles or corrupted people who want to keep all the wealth to themselves. There are but they are so far and few in between. Does this even sound realistic? Imagine if Souma had to battle this issue, he wouldn’t have had it so easy in making developments to where he is now. So yeah, how lucky for him. Of course the rebellion by the dukedoms were staged so that doesn’t count. And even after turning Elfrieden’s fortunes around, there are other countries Souma might have to deal with because you know, they’ll get jealous of this kingdom suddenly being prosperous. And thus a king’s job is never done… So is Souma the realist that can save the nation and eventually the world? Well, even the term realist is relative. It may be realistic to Souma but to us, they aren’t. But we know he can because it’s fantasy. So that’s our realism. Damn I’m confused… Also, his success rate may not be 100% but it is not totally a disaster (the rescue mission at Aisha’s village) but to show he has weakness, hence his conscious of why he views himself as weak. Oooohh. Character development. Hey, gotta remind him he is human and not God although his role feels like one.
It also feels a lot like convenience because Souma has no relatives in his original world. Because if he did, he would have had some sort of attachments and his mind would be wanting to go back there to say, his girlfriend, rather than putting his mind, heart and soul in solving Elfrieden’s issues, which eventually is to save his own skin – but we forgot about that, haven’t we? Yeah, that slowly evolved to protecting Souma’s new family in this isekai. That’s why even if his tenure is up, I don’t see him actually giving up his throne. Not because he is a dictator or anything. Or at least he needs to hold some sort of considerable power if he wants to continue protecting his family the way he is now. Sure, I mean he would give up his role and post as the king to someone more capable later on but with the influence he has earned throughout his years of selfless service, that in my opinion is still power. And it’s not a bad thing as long as he isn’t corrupted by it.
Another convenience for Souma because late grandpa talked to him about family. So when Liscia is betrothed to him, don’t expect to see him freak out like a kid because, remember grandpa’s words. So instead of being just the king, we also see his soft side as he ponders about being a family man. Eventually one day he is going to settle down even after when he resolves Elfrieden’s issues. Whether he goes back or not. Hence Liscia as his future wife might be here to troll us for now that there may be some sort of budding romance between them. Sorry to disappoint you that if you are really hoping for something as seen in romance focused animes. We can see Liscia slowly falling for him because of the noble guy he is. The kind of guy whose actions match his words. Ah Souma, by the end of his term, he might become the kingdom’s most eligible bachelor! That will be another problem for him to figure out another day! Even trolling us with some possible harem with Aisha and Juna but don’t get your hopes up. Don’t even discount Tomoe for you lolicons. Or even ladies from other nations, Roroa, Jeanne and even the big Saint Maria herself. Polygamy is allowed in this world so it dilutes the worth of a harem. Heh. Isn’t that realistic enough?
While Souma mainly uses his brains to figure things out, the only magic that he has is that cloning one. While it may seem weak on its own, I can’t help view it as some sort of plot convenience. Because he is able to control it and each clone has its own conscience and also directly connected to Souma, damn, doesn’t this make him an overpowered character?! Doesn’t this make him like close to God?! Well I mean, that’s how he is able to know a lot of things as well as get so many things done at the same time. Thanks to this convenience ability of his. It’s not like magic is even some sort of superior firepower in this world because we see the fights here mainly going back to the primitive and ancient style of humans attacking with handheld weapons, melee combat style.
It is no surprise that with a series dealing about a kingdom, there are many other characters too. But I feel that many of them are underutilized and like I said, this anime has very limited episodes and it is not possible to flesh all of them out. For instance, the recruitment drive that only net him 5 specialized people (ONLY 5?! NO MORE AFTER THAT?!), I feel that some of them are side-lined. Like Tomoe who just feels unimportant right now. Because of her ability and the direction of this season, she is not much use of now and is mostly forgettable. The same I can say for Poncho and Hakuya. They serve Souma greatly but I just can’t feel their impact. Aisha and Juna got more coverage since Aisha is made to be Souma’s bodyguard so she has to be close to him (why does their role feel like Rimuru and Shion?) and Juna is only so because of the final mini arc that relates her to Excel, so she’s got a mini role to play. A minor trivia to ponder: If Poncho loves food and assuming he experiments with new ways to come up with new food combinations to eat, damn this fatty is lucky not to have died from food poisoning from all his food discovery travels!
Otherwise, a lot of these characters feel like introductory and just biding their time until later arcs. So once again, it is unfair for me to label them as insignificant since it is not yet their time to shine. So we’ve seen a bit on Kaede and Halbert but that’s much about it. Same for Ludwin. Loyal leader of the guards. Georg, Castor and Excel have shown their loyalty to Souma after the civil war but they’ve been around for so long that they might let some new blood take over to serve the new king. Speaking of the old king, what about Albert? He’s enjoying his wife digging his ears so let him be. Yeah, retiring and handing his throne to a responsible Japanese guy was probably the best decision he made in his life. What about characters from other nations? Julius and Roroa? They look like they have potential. They might have fled for the time being but my guts tell me that they will make their return. And we’ve not even seen the Gran Chaos characters save for very short cameos at the very end of this season. These are important people, right?
Art and animation are pretty standard although there are some scenes where I thought there was a dip in quality like those fast action scenes. But otherwise largely acceptable. Of course some character designs looking a bit familiar like Liscia I thought look like Fate/Stay Night’s Saber but in red. I’m too lazy to think about the rest because Aisha looks like some typical dark elf and Tomoe like some typical furry animal eared loli and Hakuya some sort of Shinto/onmyouji priest or something. This anime is done by veteran J.C. Staff who did One Punch Man, DanMachi, Shokugeki No Souma, Bakuman and the To Aru series. So if you see some familiar trademarks in the art style, now you know why.
As we already know, there is a hell lot of characters here for a short series but luckily I recognized some of them: Yui Horie as Excel, Jun Fukuyama as Castor, Kikuko Inoue as Albert’s wife and the ex-queen… Oh wow. That’s it?! Oh well then… The rest are Yuusuke Kobayashi as Souma (Subaru in Re: Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu), Inori Minase as Liscia (Hestia in DanMachi), Ikumi Hasegawa as Aisha (Mimimi in Jaku-chara Tomozaki-kun), Taiten Kusunoki as Georg (Bach in ClassicaLoid), Hisako Kanemoto as Maria (titular character in Shinryaku! Ika Musume), Yui Ishikawa as Jeanne (Mikasa in Shingeki No Kyojin), Kazuyuki Okitsu as Hakuya (Nagare in K), Aimi Terakawa as Carla (Kasumi in BanG Dream), Makoto Furukawa as Ludwin (Shirogane in Kaguya-sama Wa Kokurasetai), Reina Ueda as Juna (Rika in Wake Up Girls), Marika Kouno as Kaede (Suzuka in Uma Musume: Pretty Derby), Taku Yashiro as Halbert (Ryuuji in Darwin’s Game), Masaaki Mizunaka as Poncho (Diablo in Isekai Maou To Shoukan Shoujo No Dorei Majutsu), Moeka Kishimoto as Tomoe, Mao Ichimichi as Roroa (Bada in ClassicaLoid), Kenji Nojima as Julius (Yuuto in High School DxD), Tetsu Inada as Gaius (Gamagoori in Kill La Kill), Kanehira Yamato as Glaive (Rigurd in Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken) and Mugihito as Albert (Wombat in Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu Love).
The opening theme, Hello Horizon by Inori Minase is nothing but a generic anime pop. But what got my attention was the opening frantic and chaotic piano pounding that made it sound like something dramatic and ominous is about to happen. But all that dissipated when the song proper begins. Just like when you see dark clouds with thunder and lightning over the horizon, thinking it will reach here but then everything dissolves. Yeah. That kind of feeling. Kazania by Aimi Terakawa as the ending theme is another one of those dramatic rock pieces. Not that bad but not really to my liking either. With Juna being a songstress, there are a few insert songs here but not really my liking. Yeah, just to showcase her powerful voice. There’s an insert song, Genya No Kaze by Miho Okasaki. If she sounds familiar, it’s because she is Rimuru from Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken. Yeah, she made a cameo here as one of the idols for Amidonia’s singing programme. I can’t get it out of my head that the slime is singing a children-like song…
Overall, this anime isn’t for everyone especially those who aren’t into the concept of nation building. Also not for impatient people because as we can see, things take time to develop so the plot might be a little slow here for those who are expecting the pace to pick up. We’ll see what the next season brings us. Even the characters are pretty so-so because there are too many of them and none get a lot more prominence except the new king himself. No one making a great impact yet for us to root for yet. So yeah, there are a lot of factors at play here if this series needs to be seen in a different light and so far the light novel only has the answers. Too bad for those who don’t read like yours truly. Just in case I happen to be put in Souma’s shoes, I’m going to prepare myself by not reading the light novel materials. I’ll be better off practising playing SimCity or even Sid Meier’s Civilization series! Oh sh*t, I just unwittingly killed all my people and made Gandhi nuke my nation!!!!!
Chua Tek Ming~*Anime Power*~ !LiVe FoR AnImE, aNiMe FoR LiFe! 