This looks almost pretty similar to Genjitsu Shugi Yuusha No Oukoku Saikenki. Uh huh. Another anime that needs one to put on the thinking cap (at least that is how I feel) because we’re going to have all that outsmarting manoeuvring. However Tensai Ouji No Akaji Kokka Saisei Jutsu has its difference. For one, the main character who will save the kingdom is a prince of his country (phew! Not isekai!) and that he actually wants to sell off his nation so that he doesn’t have to deal with all the responsibilities of being a ruler! Wait. I thought he was supposed to save his kingdom? Ah yes. But in order to sell it off to whoever wants it, he has got to make his kingdom look attractive from every perspective. And that is why he is going to work hard to raise his kingdom’s value. Early retirement and simple life in sight. But his plan often backfires in the sense that he makes himself and the country look way better and this earns him even more respect as a ruler! Oh, retirement put on hold. More work piled on. Uhm, is this supposed to be comedy gold?
Episode 1
Crown Prince Wein Salema Arbalest of the Natra Kingdom tells his subjects how to deal with the sudden passing of Earthwold’s Emperor. They praise him for his intelligence and all. Once they’re gone, Wein throws a tantrum he wants to sell off this kingdom! He complains to his aide, Ninym Ralei about how poor Natra is. Just a tiny mountainous nation at the north with long winter and with hardly any resources for capital. His father has fallen ill and now he has to take over his job. Yeah, he can’t wait to sell it and disappear. But for that to happen, he needs to increase Natra’s value so he can retire comfortably. Of course Ninym rubbishes all that. His sister, Princess Falanya Elk Arbalest visits to update about father’s condition. He is doing well but they’ll have to hold off their family matters because he can foresee the neighbouring Marden is going to attack them. With their unpopular and corrupt king, he is going to attack Natra as easy win to distract his people. Falanya has hope in her brother to win this war although his true intention is to fight this half-heartedly and then sue for peace! At the battlefield, Wein is just winging in to raise his soldiers’ morale. But when the battle fight, both sides are surprised. Marden’s general, Urgio is shocked that his side is being pushed back. Wein is equally shock that Marden is weak and that they are kicking ass! He remembers speaking to Fisch Brandel, the ambassador for Earthwold and requested her side to provide funding and expertise to Natra’s army. She gladly accepted it. Now it is paying off.
But this won’t last long as the Natra’s side becomes weary and scared from too much bloodshed. Urgio notices this and has his side flank Natra while he joins the main force to charge directly for Wein’s head. But Wein is seen running away. They give chase but soon realize it is a trap as Ninym’s unit ambushes them in the narrow valley. She gives Urgio a chance to surrender and since he won’t have that shame, she decapitates him. Putting Urgio’s head on a pole drives the enemy to retreat. A great victory for Natra. Now that they have momentum, the subjects want Wein to continue their advance and take some Marden territory. Wein knows that this all risky but he can’t back down now for fear his subjects will view him as weak and a traitor. A coup d’etat. So he suggests to capture the Jilaat gold mind. With the subjects debating, Wein’s plan is to have them think that all other areas will be unsuitable to capture. And since capturing Jilaat is risky without any planning, they’ll give up on their advancement. Guess what? They call him a genius and love this plan! They’ll go with it! Later Wein complains to Ninym about his plans going awry. They talk about sending scouts for intel on Jilaat’s defence and reassessing their supplies. If they do take the mine, it’ll be back to back battles after Polta Highlands. How troublesome. He hopes they’ll stumble along the way just enough for their side to withdraw. But what do you know? Natra actually captured Jilaat!
Episode 2
Wein dreads another battle with Marden when Perint who is the leader of the miners, shows him a report that the gold in the mine is almost empty. Yeah, it’s pretty worthless now. Meanwhile Marden’s king is angry with this humiliation. Hence Holonuie who is the finance minister suggests a full offensive that uses up many of their border troops and leaving their borders weakened. Wein’s plan is not to tell Marden that Jilaat is exhausted and will instead try to negotiate for them to buy back their mine. But looks like for now, Drawood who is the new commander who is leading the expedition to take back Jilaat, he is confident his 30,000 strong men will be enough against Natra’s meagre 5,000. But after a few days, Marden is not making any progress! The big part in giving Natra the advantage is the terrain. With the narrow roads up, surely they can’t send all their 30,000 men at once, right? Of course all this is part of Wein’s plan for Natra to hold out for a month to make Marden lose their fighting spirit, enough to start negotiations. When an escape mine shaft is found, Marden quickly send its men to ambush. All is going well until they realize chasing Natra through the narrow corridors with bulky armour and weapon is really tiring. And then they realize too late it’s a trap. Mine collapses. All part of the plan to demoralize Drawood slowly because his pride is on the line. Drawood tries to stay positive since that they’ve blown up the only exit, they have nowhere else to escape. Drawood gets some good news when one of the mine’s stations is captured. One night, Natra’s forces suddenly ambush Marden’s camp. WTF?! Marden got no guards on duty?! And what’s this?! The ground is rumbling?! Natra making a full charge towards their camp?! Drawood believes Wein is using this confusion to charge through their camp and take his head. He orders all the defence near his camp. When morning comes, he sees that the paths to the mines have been covered with rubbles and logs (hence the earthquake) and that Natra has retaken their station. You mad now?
2 weeks have passed. Natra’s supplies are still sufficient. Wein knows it is only a matter of time since Marden has lost almost everything and nothing to show for. Drawood then sends Logan to negotiate. Of course Wein rejects his terms because those are not peaceful terms but unconditional surrender. But when Logan badmouths Ninym as a lowly caste and that it will taint his noble lineage, it looks like Wein is going to explode but manages to keep his composure. When Drawood launches an all for nothing invasion, suddenly his troops report about Logan’s head. But these troops are Wein and Natra in disguise. They kill the guards and wound Drawood. Wein reveals that the mine shaft collapse wasn’t a trap but to make them forget about it. Because he has Perint dig another path in advance. This allows them to get down the mountain without being seen. Drawood tries to grab a sword to kill him but Wein is faster. He has no qualms in killing off this bastard because all those who badmouth Ninym, he will kill them personally. Evil. We see Brandel in shock when she discovers that Wein is a top graduate of the empire’s military school. The empire hid it because it felt shame that he bested all their own candidates. She fears this will haunt them in the future. While Wein celebrates this victory with his men, Ninym brings some bad news. The capital of Marden has fallen and the king has died. Because most of their troops were used to retake Jilaat, their borders were left open and the neighbouring Cavarin took advantage of it to invade. This means their peace negotiations with Marden goes up in smokes. Can’t negotiate when the country doesn’t exist, right? But for some good news: Perint has discover a new gold streak. Not enough to return it to its glory days but enough to get them out of the red. Wein thought he could take his foot off the pedal but Ninym reminds him of all the responsibilities he needs to tend to. Can’t wait to sell this kingdom, huh?
Episode 3
Wein is surprised that Lowellmina, the princess of Earthwold is here to see him and offer herself her hand in marriage to him. But what could be more surprising than that? She was his fellow classmate in the military academy who went by the name, Lowa. Wein is cursing she hid her royalty lineage during their time there but is he the one to say? Anyway, this reminds Wein and Ninym of all the troubles they barely escaped from ever since Lowa became their friend. Yeah, skating on thin ice whatever things they did. So as they have a formal dinner, Wein can tell that she is using this marriage thing as a cover up and there is something more than meets the eye. He’ll get to the bottom of this. So that night he sends huge chests to her room. But Lowa can tell Wein and Ninym are hiding inside it. There goes his surprise. They talk about old times before getting down to business. Basically, Lowa wants Wein’s help to seize Earthwold. Wein knows his limits and will not attempt something so dangerous because Earthwold could just snuff out Natra if they put their mind to it. So Lowa explains that her 3 older brothers are fighting for the throne. Everyone is picking sides with one of them while she is ignored simply because she is a woman. So to end that chaos, she must ascend the throne. Of course still, he won’t easily accept that. Later he believes that there is something even more to this as it is not Lowa’s habit to ask for help directly. It could be her calling her bluff but Wein has noticed suspicious weapons being distributed around Natra lately.
Later Ninym talks to a worried Falanya as she voices out her concern that Wein has have a lot on his hands lately and now he is going to get married. She always thought Ninym would be the one he would marry but Ninym dismisses that because of her Flahm race. Ninym is happy that Wein has given her the position of his heart. When Wein ends his long journey, he will allow her only to be his heart. Then we see Wein tutoring Falanya especially about the country of Antgatal. Long story short, long ago when various countries saw the empire as a threat, they formed an alliance to fight it. But Antgatal betrayed that alliance by using clever diplomacy to stall for time and this allowed the empire to fight back and defeat them. These countries fell and all came under the empire’s rule. Their rulers punished except for Antgatal’s king who was made a marquis and given his own land to govern. He has passed on and now his son is ruling the land. But rumours have it that the grandson is brutish, tyrannical and militarily inept. A subject reports to Wein that he has found those suspicious weapons. They are new and not made from Natra. Wein believes Lowa has made her move. Flashback during their time at the military academy, Wein can tell that she wants his advice for something so he just tells her straight to go start a war. So if she wants her ideology strengthened throughout her land, she must wage a war or risk submitting to social norms and lead a dead life (oh, the irony). In that case, she wants him to join her fight. She is not happy when he refused. So he puts it in a way that if she really wants his help, why not just drag him in. He’ll try to get out but if he can’t make a clean escape, he might help out a bit.
Episode 4
So will Lowa be going home since she failed to seize the throne with his help? Wein furthers exposes Lowa about those illegal weapons and she is using Natra as a transit point to distribute them back home for the civil war. He knows because of the ledger of large movements of weapons. Had the quantity be small, he couldn’t have detected it. Also, the weapons will be distributed equally to the 3 factions and prolonging their struggle. This leaves more time for rebellions to spark across the empire as nations conquered by Earthwold will surely arise. He knows she has warned her brothers but being a girl and with no political influence, they ignored her. Hence she took matters into her own hands by having 1 of the rebel factions revolt before the others as evidence. She set the stage for that in Natra and Antgatal, expecting them to butt heads over this if she comes here. As for Wein handing her over to Antgatal, Lowa is sure he will not do that because of Ninym. Unlike the east, the west still treats Flahms like slaves. By doing so and letting the rebellion succeed will make Natra be caught between a rock and a hard place. With Antgatal attacking Natra to claim Lowa, her plan is to have Wein help her thwart them so she can save the empire. But Wein is sure Antgatal will not invade because he sent a letter to them inviting them here. There won’t be any attack if he comes to get her. Don’t look now because they’re really here! Oh sh*t. Gerard who is the marquis Grenache’s son is here to claim Lowa as his wife as per Wein’s letter. Now Wein is mad and ruing Gerard really came. But not as mad as Ninym because Gerard showed disrespect to Wein. The duo discuss what will happen so Wein foresees this as how Lowa would play this out. Despite Natra has no power to intervene, Lowa can show her home that she has political backing from Natra. Doing so, Antgatal will have no reason to invade Natra. Which is why he believes she will do the opposite by using Gerard to put down his father’s rebellion. Gerard after getting close to Lowa might learn about his father’s rebellion and with Lowa’s help, put it down. Since Lowa has not enough military troops, they plan to borrow from Natra. So it boils down to this: Lowa wants to get Wein to lend his troops. Doing so she wins. Otherwise, Wein wins if he does not. This same plan is being thought up by Lowa as she tells Brandel about it. Both think they will outsmart each other.
During dinner, Wein and Lowa try to make the other yield but they’re both stubborn so it’s at a deadlock. When Gerard learns that Wein can do swordplay, he wants to do a mock swordfight to impress Lowa. I guess Wein is forced to. Now, he is in a dilemma because he doesn’t want to make Gerard look bad but at the same time he has his own pride to protect. He thinks of going for a draw by knocking the sword out of his hand and then pretend to drop his. Yeah, that ugly fatty thinks he really got a chance to win! Due to an accident, Wein knocks Gerard’s sword off. While it is obvious that Wein has won, he still drops it in hopes to make it look like a draw. But it gets worse. Gerard shows his sore loser side as he charges straight at Wein. Knowing he can’t protect himself, Wein can only avoid it and tries to make it look like a natural accident. He bends down to pick up his sword but Gerard continues charging and rams straight through the window and falls off several floors! OMG! HE’S DEAD!!! OH SH*T!!! When Grenache receives word of his son’s death, he is in disbelief. Worse, the squire who returned, reported all the retainers have been taken captive by Natra. This leads Grenache to believe his son was murdered and thus a reason to invade Natra. To add fuel to the fire, that letter although was written by Wein, it could be that Lowa is also involved in the assassination and that she might have caught wind of the rebellion plot. Brandel talks to Lowa about remaining here further would endanger her life. She admits ascending the throne is no longer important and in the grander scheme of things, protecting her homeland is now utmost priority. Wein is ruing this complication. The letter sounds pretty much like an assassination trap now. Even more so, Natra has to face possible wars with Antgatal and Earthwold. And he was just trying to get Gerard engaged to Lowa so they’d go home! Then a surprise visit by Lowa as she claims she has given up the throne. Now she is focusing on crushing the rebellion and wants Wein’s help. So as they strategize Natra’s troops, it seems Wein can only expend 500 troops against Antgatal’s 4000 strong army. This is to show they don’t intend to have war. But Wein has further plans. Instead of just defeated Grenache, he wants to make him confess about the rebellion so a mass uprising never happens.
Episode 5
Grenache barges into Wein’s territory seeking revenge. But the smooth operator prince manages to convince him to sit down and talk and not spill more blood before his dead son’s corpse. Grenache is shock when Wein talks about the rebellion plot and even more so, trying to pin it on Gerard that he is the ringleader behind it. Because of Gerard’s unpopularity, it is more feasible to think that this prince would abandon the allegiance to the empire and take his own father captive. Of course as his father, he will be held for treason but if he can present the evidence, Lowa may just give a slap on the wrist. Grenache takes the bait to accept Wein’s plan and will leave. As Wein and his men walk down the street, they are ambushed by Antgatal soldiers. Wein can tell these aren’t Grenache’s men and are possibly the real rebels. Led by Owl, Wein shocks him by revealing he knows their plan of assassinating Grenache and then burning down his manor to destroy all rebellion evidence. Because of this foresight, he has sent Nanaki Ralei (a Flahm servant-cum-bodyguard for Falanya) to kill the assassins who are just about to break into the manor. Wein uses a tricky move to slice off one of Owl’s arms. This forces him to make a real retreat. When the cavalry is heard, Wein can tell it is not that of Natra but Grenache has broken his promise and is leading his men to try and capture him. What’s Wein’s next plan? Run! As Grenache and his men chase after an escaping Wein, they are shocked to see a huge Natra army before them. Wein knows in his bid to chase him, he will focus on speed and only have a few men taken with him. With a smaller size, this allows Natra to defeat them easier. Grenache is then further stumped when Lowa’s forces are coming up from behind and she wants an audience with him.
As he meets the princess, he is shocked to see Wein here too. So he demands to know why he is here because with Natra’s large forces here, it is enough proof that he intends to invade. Of course this is Grenache’s plan to prove Wein has no business here so Lowa will not pass judgment on him. But has he not heard? Natra and Earthwold are doing a joint military exercise so he has every right to be here! Grenache realizes he has been dancing in Wein’s palm all the time and knows he can never win. With Lowa having him make a choice between life and death, he of course has no choice but to beg for her mercy. Later, Lowa and Ninym talk about the former’s proposed marriage being called off. Lowa doesn’t really mind about it until Ninym points out she knows that she actually likes Wein as a woman. Lowa trying hard not to panic but her body reaction shows it all. Lowa admits she does have feelings for him ever since the military school. Later Lowa asks Wein about how much easier it would’ve been had he capture Grenache and torture him till he confessed. Sure, he thought about that but realized if he could break him, he would be easier for Lowa to control. I mean, you remember the promise they made back in military school? Now he has done all he can so he is hoping she’ll take the throne next. You bet she will try to do that so she can proudly stand alongside him one day.
Episode 6
Ninym dyed her hair black?! Before you think it is to attract Wein (I partly feel it is), the reason is that Wein has been invited to participate in a Spirit Festival held by Cavarin. And you know, they don’t take lightly the Flahm people and hence this dyeing is for disguise. They stop by Jilaat as they talk about General Hagal’s retirement because of his age. This is worrisome because with his absence, the nobles are showing signs of rebellion. Speaking of which, a group shady hooded people are plotting to kill Wein. They attack his entourage but Wein manages to flee enough to enter and be saved by the remnants of Marden’s army. He is taken to their base to talk to Prince Helmut. However he is unwell so his aide, Zeno talks to Wein instead. Learning about the festival he is to attend, she draws her sword and threatens to strike him down. But next thing we see, they’re best friends?! You see, after she threatened him, Wein has her think that killing him might prevent the Natra-Cavarin alliance. But Marden has not enough troops to fight Cavarin and once winter is over, Cavarin will send its full force to wipe them out. Hence Wein suggests Zeno accompanies them to Cavarin. Those rebels who attacked them are likely from Cavarin. He doesn’t understand why they want him dead so it is his best interest to align with Marden and having someone from there will send a loud and clear message especially to the influential Holy Elites who will be attending the festival. The place will be heavily guarded but if they go as special delegates, they can enter easily. Zeno puts her trust in him and agrees to his plan. Together they head to Tristoria, Cavarin’s capital. As Wein is ushered into the palace, along the way he passes Levert who is Cavarin’s army general. The latter making some sarcastic greetings but Wein maintains his composure because he notices his companion could be one of the attackers as he remembered his face and wound.
Meanwhile Zeno spots Holonuie stepping out of a carriage and wants to kill him but only held back by Ninym. Zeno blames this guy for betraying Marden and causing her family’s death. She takes up Ninym’s advice to gather more info and hold off his assassination. Wein meets King Ordalasse who introduces him to the Holy Elites. Not only that, Ordalasse proposes Wein to join them! Wein is lamenting about this as he rues the Natra royal family can be traced back to Caleus, one of the disciples of Levetia, the founder of this faith. No use complaining about it at this point so he intends to make a courtesy call for each of them. Ninym advises to bring Zeno to help with her cause. First up is Mamiko Noto Caldmellia. Wein starts off by praising her high position and even joining this group since male chauvinism is rife in her country. Caldmellia would recognize him as a candidate but with a condition that he must eliminate all the remnants of the Marden sinners. This is to restore peace to the hearts of the faithful and then display their corpses in public. Wein and Zeno maintain their composure but soon leave. We then see this was ‘payback’ for Owl’s arm and they are in cohorts. Meanwhile Ninym has been given a task by Wein to spy on Levert and his inner circle. Her lip reading has her learn they are planning to defeat Natra with Wein out of the way. Speaking of which, those shady hooded people have taken over Jilaat.
Episode 7
With Ninym’s report, Wein can figure out Ordalasse’s goal. Knowing his popularity has gone down, he tried to seek unity by taking Jilaat during the confusion between Natra and Marden. His plan fell through when Natra defeated Marden and took Jilaat. Hence now he sets his sights on Wein as nominating him to be part of Holy Elite will put him in his debt and strengthen his faction. Zeno wants to accompany Wein to seek an audience with Ordalasse. This is not to assassinate him but for Marden to form an alliance with Natra. Wein has no reason to trust her and although she cannot provide anything trustworthy, she quotes on him an earlier quote about treachery and trust value. Basically, take a gamble on her. We know Wein always wins, right? He agrees and they go talk to Ordalasse who has Holonuie by his side. Wein starts to sum him up that he is very unpopular seeing he has an outsider as an aide. Ordalasse then continues to brag about killing his wife for not giving him a prodigal heir. This is all fine until Ordalasse asks for the impossible. Wein thought he would be asking for Jilaat but shockingly, he wants Wein to loan some of his Flahm so as to kill them as sport! Wein manages to keep his cool and gives Ordalasse the option to decide now or later. Since he says now, Wein kills him! He doesn’t care about his lineage and is just a scumbag. As for Holonuie, he lets Zeno decide. After all, he and Levert plotted to kill him. Holonuie pleads for his life and claims he was threatened by Levert but Zeno finishes him off. So now they flee after setting the palace on fire. Wow. I’m sure Wein has got the next step planned out, right?! He figures that an alliance with Marden and Natra is inevitable since Cavarin will be going to war with them. Caldmellia is secretly aiding by inciting riot in Cavarin. She spreads rumours that Levert killed Ordalasse to usurp the throne. Then there is the issue of Natra rebels sealing the body in hopes of taking Wein’s head when he arrives.
Levert leads his men to chase down Wein’s side. Noting they dropped their belongings along the way, he also learns because of the avalanche at the pass which is the shortest route back to Natra, they have been taking a detour. He also thinks this is a ruse and will be taking the other detour. When Levert’s forces arrive at the end of the detour, they are shocked to see some renegade force (Natra rebels). Ambushing them from behind is Marden’s forces. Levert gives the orders to fight their way through the rebels. This has all been planned out by Wein. They were hiding at the avalanche and once Levert’s side passed, they followed them from behind. But can their small numbers take out both sides? It seems Wein has also called Hagal and his forces to route the rebels at once. Unfortunately Levert and his forces get caught and they all die. Later Wein meets with Helmut who is actually Princess Zenovia. He isn’t surprised. Yeah, I’m wondering how she hide those boobs! She explains when Cavarin attacked Marden, she is the only royal who survived because as a woman, she was casted away in another castle. You could say it was a blessing in disguise. Wein expects Marden to be their shield in the west but to his surprise, Zenovia wants Marden to become a vassal state of Natra. She knows nothing about ruling despite being a royalty. With both Natra and Marden sides agreeing to this and Zenovia pleading to him as their only hope, once again Wein gets the short end of the stick. Not even Ninym can help. You brought this upon yourself…
Episode 8
Lowa talks to Mayor Cosimo of Mealtars for an arrangement to hold a summit for Earthwold’s heirs. Lowa has also invited Natra to join this and while this might show others that Natra backs Earthwold, Lowa relishes to see Wein’s sour face. But the joke is on her because Falanya is here on her brother’s behalf. Back at Natra, we see Wein being a worrywart about his sister. In a meeting with his subjects, Wein didn’t want to go because he knew Lowa will try to drag him into her faction and this caused a debate about their alliance and relationship with Earthwold. That was when Falanya offered to attend the ceremony. Now Falanya is at the party as Lowa introduces her to her 3 older princely brothers: Manfred (the youngest who is most handsome but also cunning), Bardloche (middle prince who is in the military) and Demetrio (oldest guy who looks typically evil and yes, useless jerk). From the start, the princes try to get Falanya to align with them. Being the smart girl she is, she knows she can’t further get dragged into their trap so she manages to excuse herself about the non-existent promise she made to Lowa. As Falanya stays at the party to observe whom she can control (she’s trying to be Wein v2?), Lowa talks to Ninym outside and wants to make a deal about info of the summit. Of course Ninym is not impressed as she has already been told by Wein who foresaw this. Basically she turns down her offer because all this is just a stepping stone for Lowa. Wein cares more about Falanya instead so if she wants Wein to care more, hurry up and become the next emperor. Otherwise no matter how lively she puts it, he will not care. That sure hit a nerve.
While Lowa and her brothers are engaging in the summit, Cosimo takes Falanya on a personal tour around Mealtars. This city is famed for its trading and merchants. In the town hall, Falanya witnesses a group of merchants in a heated debate over the city’s affairs. She is enlightened by Cosimo’s words how a city run by merchants should be ruled by them. This is why everyone is so passionate and interested in this decision making process. She wants to stay and listen more. As the summit ends, Demetrio is not happy his younger siblings are trying to take his rightful throne. But of course, that sleazy evil face means he has come up with a dastardly plan. And that plan is to summon an audience with Falanya right now. He cuts to the chase and wants to take her as his bride. Of course she knows there is an ulterior motive behind this aside his reason to forge a close alliance between both nations. She thanks him for the proposal and will convey this message back to Natra. However Demetrio wants her answer now! Since Wein is not here, she must decide. We learn his true ulterior motive is when Falanya is his bride, she is deemed her property and he will torture her to his heart’s content and nobody can object to it. This is to make Wein regret sending a child here. Falanya may be pressured but she keeps calm and claims she is young and inexperienced. Hence she cannot decide on her own matters pertaining to royal marriages and state affairs. Thanks for that merchant assembly lesson, eh? This angers Demetrio so he threatens when he becomes emperor, he will no longer treat Natra is it is now. He thinks she is regretting her decision but he will be the one who will regret it because Wein is here! The hero has arrived! See how bright the girls’ faces light up!
Episode 9
Wein is as surprised as he can get when he learns about Demetrio’s proposal. Since Wein is here, Demetrio believes Falanya will have no objection should her brother decides. And surprise! He agrees to it! Then he talks about being happy that there is double marriage for both parties. What? Have you not heard? Wein’s engagement to Lowa! Lowa gets the hint as she puts up an act to agree to this ploy to help save Falanya. Seems Demetrio objects to this and so with Wein’s suggestion, he agrees to put this matter on hold and further discuss it tomorrow. And with that, Falanya’s future is saved since Wein won’t hand his sister to scumbag like him. Those who wants to marry her must unify the continent! I guess she’ll be a spinster for life then… I know Wein could do it but what did Ninym said about Natra’s traditions forbidding royals marrying the same blood? Later Wein goes to talk to Lowa and he knows she wants the princes to decide who the next emperor is. The summit is just a show to parade their influence but no decision can be made. Even the princes themselves believe they won’t come to a decision. With Lowa not even announcing herself as a throne candidate, he fears the empire may have already abandoned the princes and trying to make Lowa to become the empress. Lowa chose to ignore such fears and waited for her moment to shine. She has pondered for a long time until she decided to place all her hopes on the summit. Meanwhile Manfred can tell Wein is an exceptional and dangerous man. He orders for his assassination during his talks with Demetrio because he wants all those opposing him swiftly eliminated after he becomes emperor. As Falanya continues to join the assembly and even gets the honour to take part, Wein and Ninym go continue their talks with Demetrio. When a servant pours tea for Wein, he wants her to drink it after ascertaining she made it. She gives excuses but Demetrio thinks the coward thinks it is poisoned and proves it himself by drinking it. He gets poisoned!!!
Although Demetrio survives the poisoning, he is quickly taken to his recuperate in his domain. Manfred and Bardloche prepare to siege Mealtars and have surrounded the city with their troops. Wein has been held for questioning but knows he needs to escape back to Natra before this sh*t gets any deeper. To add fuel to fire, Levetia’s army is also making camp outside the city walls of Mealtars on grounds that they are here to free the city from imperial oppression. Wein is worried that this means there will be riots as it is impossible for city guards to keep the peace. Wein so stressed up he faints! OMG! It’s real! While he is out, Falanya does what she does best. She returns to the assembly which has descended into some fracas. They are divided of joining Levetia or lose their self-rule if they bow down to the empire. Falanya’s calm voice manages to have everyone listen to her. Looking like a real leader now. When Wein wakes up, Ninym is overcome with emotion. She regrets not noticing he was really tired. Well, the way you’re working him to death and if he cuts some slack, you don’t like. HOW?! Anyway, with Wein back in his groove, they will use this momentum to get out of here. Falanya once again uses her exemplary leadership to rally the Mealtars people. The entire 30,000 popular march out of the city in solidarity and head towards Levetia’s camp. This shocks Caldmellia and King Gruyere of Soljest because certainly their camp isn’t equip to take in 30,000 people. Didn’t expect this turn of events, eh? But don’t worry. Wein can offer his advice if they care to listen.
Episode 10
Wein expresses his gratitude and suggests that Mealtars take back their city by their own hands. This means Wein is willing to buy all their supplies and weapons at 3 times the price! Caldmellia is truly amaze with Wein for surpassing her expectations and she really wants to toy with him more and hence she wants to reject his proposal. Because she spends too much time on this thought, Gruyere accepts his proposal. Caldmellia reminds him that she is the one who makes the decisions but Gruyere believes that a militia will be created from the people of Mealtars and after the princes are worn down by battle, they could get Mealtars to fight alongside them. Gruyere warns he is not interested in getting caught in her whims. Caldmellia only agrees to sell their supplies but their army will stay put. Seeing Mealtars taking up arms and marching to retake their city, the princes panic and Wein and Lowa hatch the next part of their plan to have a meeting with Bardloche and Manfred. Wein starts off by claiming the mastermind of it all is Demetrio. Of course everyone knows that this is a ploy for to pin the blame on him. Wein further explains after both brothers worn each other down, Demetrio is likely to return to attack them and take the throne. Both princes think if they reject, the other will accept. They’ll still end up fighting each other for the throne in which Demetrio will usurp. Hence they dance into Wein’s palm as they both accept to go along with his plan. With this a success, later Wein and Ninym talk about the growing trade in Marden. Thanks to their allegiance to Natra, now they get to trade goods freely from east to west. Although western nations will not accept goods from Earthwold, that is why Wein has a plan for Marden to falsify its land of origin. That is, it’s like they’re exporting goods from Natra. Technically, not a lie. Ninym brings up the possibility that Marden may be doing so well, they might end up calling for independence and Natra may have to find another trading partner.
Wein is then to visit Marden as Zenovia talks to her aide, Jiva about their chance to show their allegiance to Natra. One of the concessions is for her to marry Wein and this will boost Marden’s standing in Natra. Of course Wein heard about this proposal and he wants to reject it because he still wants to stay single. He also wants to see if Marden is cooperative and if so, they are most likely to ask him to marry Zenovia. In which of course, he’ll still reject her. During the visit, Zenovia talks about the kingdom of Delunio sent a complaint letter about the trading goods. Natra also received one too. Delunio is a very conservative nation and everything is handled by their PM, Sirgis who is also a fervent follower of Levetia. They will purge any outside influence to preserve their own culture. Wein wants her to ignore the letter and continue the trading. The discussion ends and this shocks Wein as she doesn’t bring up any marriage discussion. I guess there goes his chance to coolly reject her! Later Zeno gives the duo a tour around the city. Wein hinting options for Marden to call for independence as they grow stronger but Zeno claims they are happy to be Natra’s vassal. Wein takes this as they want to maintain their relations with Natra. Then Wein talks about bloodlines and venerability because even as royalty of his own country, he is wary of his own people. As his bloodlines can be traced back to Caleus, he too was a commoner and so his parents. Only through hard work and the likes that his bloodline became royalty. This means all royalties can be traced back to once as being commoners and that all commoners have a chance to become royalty. That is why royalties tend to create exaggerated mythologies surrounding their family. Zeno is so awed by this enlightenment that her shock in her face is obvious. Since she too didn’t bring up the marriage proposal, I guess Wein does. While Zeno agrees that it would lift a lot of burden for Zenovia, it is most likely that she won’t accept the marriage is that Wein’s face is not her type! OMG! That’s got to be a joke, right?! Well, for the first time, WEIN IS DEFEATED!!! We hear from Zenovia that Wein looks more like a respected hero to her, a reminder that she can never be a queen to such a great man. But is her heart still for him? She gets news that Sirgis is at her doorstep.
Episode 11
Sirgis is accusing of Marden of distributing fraudulent goods through Delunio. If she cannot help him out, he will talk to Wein. Zenovia can tell this means he is looking down on her. Good for him, Wein is here to hear him out. As he pours out his woes and tying this to their Levetia faith, Wein just tells him off that he is just overstepping his bounds by presuming to speak for all under the faith. Sirgis leave disappointed and will discuss this on another time. Wein and Ninym then head to Soljest to have an audience with Gruyere. Wein thinks Gruyere wants to form a loose friendship to stop Natra’s expansion and work with Delunio. But Wein’s intention is to turn this into a Natra-Soljest alliance to defeat Delunio. Once Delunio is defeated, they can divide the land among themselves. Wein also meets Tolcheila who is Gruyere’s daughter. Wein gets too engrossed in the great food that he is served. Yeah, did he eat too much? Meanwhile Zenovia receives another letter from Sirgis. He claims that since Marden is no more, he wants back a region that Delunio lent to the royalty. Of course her answer is no although the letter further states that declining means war. Next day, Wein tries to talk to Gruyere but it seems he is busy attending to his own stuffs, leaving Wein looking for him all over. Hence at the end of the day, he thinks Gruyere is avoiding him and the only reason he is doing so is to assassinate him. But why wait this long? There were many chances Gruyere could’ve finished him off. Unless something is happening back at Natra. He wants to prepare for home right away but such great timing, Gruyere can now have a private audience with Wein.
As the duo go see Gruyere, they need to make this quick and know if he intends to side with Natra. Otherwise, they’ll kidnap him and head for home. First, Gruyere allows Ninym to sit alongside them. Although he knows she is of the Flahm race, he believes they are to be treated equally. Heck, even as king, he believes equality among his people. While treating Flahm as equals is against the Levetia teachings because the holy scriptures say they are of a demonic race, he rubbishes the scriptures as pieces of paper. He claims that the most important thing is what they do in life and whether or not God will forgive them only happens in the afterlife after they die. We’ll cross the bridge when we get to it. Wein is enlightened by his wisdom and so he gets to the point to seek an alliance between their countries. Gruyere agrees. Wow. That shock on Wein’s face. You mean he didn’t expect him to say yes?! Knowing that Wein needs to leave for him, he lets him go. But after they’ve left, we see that this is all just an act. In fact, he is in cohorts with Sirgis and can’t wait to see how his charade plays out. As Wein is back in Natra and is still in disbelief nothing happened back here while he was away, looks like hell is going to start now as he receives report that Delunio just attacked the Marden border and Soljest is backing them with military power. We hear Soljest wanting to defeat Wein as he views him as a rare beast. Wein realizes he has been played out because now Soljest has declared war on Natra. Too late to realize that Gruyere was lying with his empty promises because after all, their talk was all verbal. Zenovia wants to take responsibility as she has sent her vassals to go negotiate with Sirgis. If Delunio backs down, Soljest will not see a threat to their ally and also pull back. This is the same exact thoughts that Wein wanted Zenovia to do. He doesn’t blame her for the events leading up to this but if she can pull this off, her punishment will be lighter.
Episode 12
Gruyere feels this war is boring since he won’t be fighting Wein head on. But he still feels the thrill of the battle as the Natra side ambushes him. Meanwhile Wein and Zenovia go to negotiate with Sirgis. He is reluctant to deal further with her since the agreement is that after Soljest takes over the land, he has arranged for them to give it back to them. Hence Zenovia makes a bold decision to surrender twice the size of the land if the invasion is stopped. However Sirgis won’t buy that too. His goal is to look good in front of the Levetia faith and become part of the Holy Elites. I guess this is cue for Wein to intervene. He suggests they kill Gruyere. He tries to paint that Soljest will only grow stronger and start conquering other nations. Although Sirgis still won’t agree to that, he will agree to take it some of Natra’s refugees should they get caught in the war. Wein agrees to that and will have all 800,000 Natra citizens enter Delunio! Of course this shocks Sirgis as his nation cannot handle this number. Then Wein goes on to mention about the recent trend in Delunio of wearing some yellow scarf. It is actually laced with some toxic flower and slowly the people will die. While this is obviously a lie, Wein further adds when the people are confused, they will start targeting the authority. Delunio’s soldiers will not be able to hold back that mob. That time, Wein will unleash his refugees into Delunio. Due to shortage of everything, both sides will start to fight each other and once Delunio is in a weakened state, other nations will take this advantage and invade Delunio! Sirgis cannot believe he would sacrifice his own people like that but seeing he had a hand in moving those from Mealtars, this is not impossible. News of Natra’s army being routed by Soljest reach them. At this rate, Soljest will conquer Natra. Of course this is all part of Wein’s plan. Because of the delay in sending messengers during war, Wein has taken account of that timing (because right now Natra’s forces are regrouping in a stronger fort). With Sirgis desperate in making his goal come true, Wein then nails the clincher and needs his help for Delunio to help attack Soljest from behind.
Gruyere thinks it is going to be another boring war as his Soljest side slowly makes strides in taking down the fort. But then the tide changes. Delunio’s army is seen charging from behind and this revs up Gruyere. Knowing that Soljest will be pincer between both armies, Gruyere will not run but instead barge through the Delunio army. Once they’ve done so, they’ll use Delunio as a wall while they regroup. They will then return and rout the confused sides. As Gruyere makes his move, he is distracted by the sight of Wein. This allows Ninym to jump in and take down Gruyere. WTF, so easy?! With that, Natra wins. In the aftermath, Gruyere is a prisoner in Natra. He is expecting to be executed by Wein will not allow that and would prefer negotiations between the nations. Gruyere understands this is for Natra to prevent an all-out war with Levetia. As for Sirgis, he destroyed his own political career. Because it was him who made an alliance with Soljest but last minute he forged a deal with Natra. No more trustworthy. Wein wants him to sign some form so that he could be returned to Soljest. However Gruyere wishes to die here. Yeah, he is willing to let Natra get into war with Levetia! He’ll be dead so what does he care! But there is a condition if Wein wants him to return in one piece. That is, he wants to know the beast within him. What are his desires that feeds that beast of his. Well, this part is inaudible and it leaves Gruyere with utmost shock and flabbergast. Hence Wein has the last laugh because if he dies, he will not find out if it’s true or not. Gruyere laughs hard and admits his defeat. And with that, he will live on. Later Ninym reports how the reparations covered the costs of war and also bought back the surrendered land. But that bad news is that the conflict with Gruyere has Levetia giving them the cold shoulder. This means their pilgrims do not pass through Marden on Natra and their economic takes a tumble. This means Wein can give up on his early retirement. So wake up and get back to work!!! Selling Natra won’t happen. You can only retire 10 years after you die, AHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Wein’s World: How A Scheming Prince Saved The Kingdom Out Of Trouble
Well, there’s a lot of speculation about that inaudible part that Wein said to Gruyere about what drives his inner beast. My own personal guess is that he is actually the son of the Demon Lord and he needs to take over this continent as proof to be worthy of succeeding the throne of the demon realm!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!! More realistically, it could be reuniting the Flahm race and restoring their reputation and perhaps the more shocking one is that Wein’s real identity could be a Flahm race?! Oh well, whatever it is, looks like Wein has to start cracking his brains even more. While it may look like his dreams of selling the kingdom has gone up in smoke, do not worry because I am very sure that in the near future there will be more chances for him to do so again. Given the conflicting state the nations on this continent, I am very certain that there will be disputes and differences will arise. What are the chances Wein will be thrown into the midst of the chaos and try to make a profit out of it? Yup. You bet he will. As long as he doesn’t give up the early retirement dream of his.
It is one of those shows where once again I have mixed feelings about the overall story. On one hand, it sounds interesting because of all the political strategies and military manoeuvres but on the other hand, it all sounds confusing to me because you should know me by now, I’m still a simpleton after all these years. Just like Genjitsu Shugi Yuusha No Oukoku Saikenki, this anime needs to use some of your grey matter to think and digest to make sense of what the characters are doing. I am not saying that it is as mindf*ck like Sonny Boy, but the charm and main factor of this series are those strategies. So you’ve got to put on your thinking cap and not doze off halfway if you want to appreciate and understand all that is happening right here. Which is also very true because as a person of Wein’s position, he can’t afford to be lax in so many areas and he must pay attention to everything around him and play his diplomatic cards right if he is to stay a step, if not many steps ahead of his rivals. And so it also feels like they deceived the anime title to us because it doesn’t feel like Wein is raising funds to raise Natra out of debt. Heck, don’t even see how Natra is in debt either and to whom. Should rename this anime into How The Genius Prince Outmanoeuvres His Enemies And Earns A Few Waifus… Hah!
Aside from Wein being the main character, all his strategies, schemes, tactics and plans more often turn out in his favour even though at first he finds them troublesome. Being the genius he is (thanks to the military school training background to help back up why he is such a genius), he is able to come up with counter strategies in such a short span of time. What I want to say from all this is that, from my simpleton point of view, everything just looks majestic and impressive. Because I am not really apt in reading into political strategies and military manoeuvres, hence the reason why Wein’s actions seem to really look inspiring. Every time Wein seemingly pulls off a miracle move, I would be going wow and giving him some due praises of how awesome this royal prodigy is. Hence making his enemies look dumb as they dance right into the palm of his hands. Brainier people or those who are more articulate in this area may find them pretty normal. After all, the anime can’t be too complicated with its twists and turns in the plot if they want to retain its viewership, right? I mean, this isn’t the kind of anime that caters to a very specific demographic, right? I believe on the overall, it is not that hard to understand the whole picture but if you truly want to appreciate and go into details about the moves these characters make, that will take a bit of thinking.
This series seems to have a few similarities with Genjitsu Shugi Yuusha No Oukoku Saikenki because heck, even here we have a single huge continent divided into many nations. Good thing that there are no foreign invading demons. So they fight among themselves. Not to say that the kingdoms in Genjitsu Shugi Yuusha No Oukoku Saikenki are all united either since there’s some in-fighting too. It could have been interesting to hear some of the lore and setting of this world but I guess for now, the primary focus is on Wein as we see him navigate through the political waters whose allegiance and shaky relationships are like shifting sand. One false move and you could find yourself pulled from under your own rug. And the other big difference is that this anime has got no magic! Sure, the technologies are still ancient with no internet or even airplanes. People ride across the next region on their horses and send handwritten letters! The irony that this show is even more realistic than that realist one. Heh.
So for Wein as the main character, I think they pulled the wool over our eyes when they made us think of him as per the synopsis as someone who is sleazy and traitorous. I think most of us like yours truly have been duped. Wein is definitely not a bad guy at all. Each time you see him brag about wanting to sell his kingdom and quickly take the easy life route, I assure you that could just be his way of joking. I mean, if he really wanted to do that, he could have done so by running away and go into hiding. That is so much easier than going through all the trouble of making Natra look good. Besides, do you not see that all his actions have been for the good of Natra? Don’t let that selling-the-kingdom narrative fool you again. He is truly doing everything he can to push up Natra’s reputation. It would be dumb for him to put in all the hard work to make Natra have such a high value and then giving it all away to the highest bidder. But then again, it’s Wein we’re talking here so he might actually do that and pull the rug under our feet again. But I digress this would happen. Because that won’t be Wein at all.
So the other reason I can explain about Wein’s smug attitude is not him being arrogant or haughty at all. There is a saying that to hide one’s cleverness is clever. This guy is just putting up his act so as to fool his enemies. Don’t be fooled by his monologue in his head as he sounds excited and all while narrating to us how his plan will work out. I mean, when you’re the new prince regent who has been thrust into that position and has no past credentials to prove yet, this means he could be behind other established players in the field. So by being this polite and accommodating instead of being uptight, stuck up or overly serious, this will make his enemies let their guard down because it might lead them to think that they’re just dealing with a foolish prince and make them more prone in making the first mistake. The most important point is to maintain being cool because at time as seen, his gamble actually pays off and you could hear the relief in his inner voice. Lady luck is sure smiling on him. Otherwise, Wein’s occasional childish rants and his wittiness are part of his charm to be funny and confuse us at the same time. Funny? Cute? That’s Wein for you.
By now you should know that Wein is a man of his principles and there are some things that he will never budge about. Compared to Souma from Genjitsu Shugi Yuusha No Oukoku Saikenki, Wein is slightly different than him in the sense that Wein has no qualms, not even a moment of hesitancy to actually dirty his own hands and kill those who even verbally belittle the ones close to him. Especially Ninym or the Flahm race. I don’t remember if Souma actually having killed anybody with his own hands directly but for Wein, it is a no-brainer and that this is a topic that is non-negotiable. Death to all who speaks ill of his beloved! In view of this, it makes Wein actually a much more terrifying character and someone whom you would not want to really mess with. Note that I have not watched the second season of Genjitsu Shugi Yuusha No Oukoku Saikenki at this point and things might change regarding Souma keeping his hands clean. Although Wein even dares use his own people as a trump card for his own advantage, it could be just a big bluff but it’s no joke to think that he is a person of such calibre and knowing Wein, he might just actually do it just to surprise his enemies.
At this point, there is not much and very little known about the Flahm race, the supposed ‘demons’ of the series. My guess that they could be one of those factors that divide the continent and flimsy excuses to go to war with each other. It would be very interesting to know why Wein keeps one by his side and goes all out to defend them and especially his own personal aide Ninym, when half of the continent actually despises this race. Even more so the Levetia faith that Wein’s ancestors that are believed to be originated from. More light could be shed on the duo and how they became a pair fit for each other. It could be some lifesaving event when they’re young and they made some promise together. But for now, everything is up in the air and only speculation. For Ninym to serve her master well and to even know what he is thinking and they put their full trust in each other (notice how often they can read each other’s minds?), this shows how deep their relationship goes and if not for their public positions, they could’ve gone deeper down that road.
Keeping Wein on his toes is also another brilliant strategist, Lowa. Both came from the same military school and class so it is no surprise that they somewhat think alike. Sometimes it feels like the battle of the sexes to see who outsmarts who in some 4D chess game of their own but of course we all know that Wein being the main character somehow holds the upper hand. My guess that the only reason that Lowa will not best Wein is because she loves him. Ah yes, that love sounds like a weakness, no? At this point I’m wondering if this is going to be a harem series because Wein is such an eligible bachelor and he’s got a few princesses from neighbouring countries interested in him. Other and Ninym and Lowa, we’ve also got Zenovia who wants to prove herself to be useful to him. Trying to fool us that he is not her type is just a roundabout way of saying that she isn’t good enough for him but essentially it means that she likes him. Is it not like that?! I won’t even discount Zeno but with Zenovia back in the picture, she is now reduced to playing a supporting role. And what are the chances are for Tolcheila? The continent’s most eligible bachelor is up for grabs! Place your bets! This kind of fight is definitely way tougher and more brutal than kingdoms fighting each other if it really comes down to that! Last but not least, Falanya. We might not see much of her in action but from the Mealtars incident, it looks like she is showing promise of following Wein in his footsteps. It all runs in the family.
While this series has got some action scenes, they are not the main draw. But those fight scenes may get really violent and bloody. Okay, by my standards not enough to shock me and make me have sleepless nights. Yeah, I’ve seen way worse shows with extreme violence and gore so this is just mild compared to that.
Art and animation are pretty good. The sceneries and backgrounds are quite picturesque and even the cities of the different nations give off this old European feeling. The character designs are of course your typical and standard anime bishoujo and bishonen looks. There’s this typical and clichéd look for bad guys too. One look at characters such as Demetrio, Holonuie and the rest, you can tell they have that stereotypical villain looks. Except some good looking guys like Manfred that can be deceiving while those looking ugly like Gerard are more of the dumb kind. On a trivial note, is it me or does Gruyere look like Obelix from the Asterix comics?! Just that he has gotten a bit older. And for some reason I can’t help think that Lowa is a more feminine version of Youjo Senki’s Tanya. This anime is done by Yokohama Animation Lab who did Miru Tights, Lapis Re:Lights and Magatsu Wahrheit: Zuerst.
Once again it is a delight to find my favourite Mamiko Noto as the cunning nun, Caldmellia. How long has it been have I heard her voice an antagonistic role? Elsa from Re: Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu? Valkyria in Gokukoku No Brynhildr? Well, looks like she sounds like she’s having an awful lot of fun in this one too. Other recognizable seiyuus include Youko Hikasa as Brandel, Nao Touyama as Lowa and Rie Kugimiya as Tolcheila. Rie Takahashi as Ninym, she sounds so much like the titular character in Karakai Jouzu No Takagi-san. No pranks here. The other casts are Souma Saitou as Wein (Ray in Infinite Dendrogram), Sayaka Senbongi as Falanya (Shuna in Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken), Yuki Nakashima as Zenovia and Zeno (Lisa in BanG Dream), Akio Ohtsuka as Gruyere (titular character in Black Jack), Ryuuichi Kijima as Demetrio (Lenka in God Eater), Kenichirou Matsuda as Bardloche (Gordon in Black Clover), Kengo Kawanishi as Manfred (Rei in 3-gatsu No Lion), Fumiya Imai as Owl (Hiiragi Kashima in Given) and Yuki Sakakihara as Nanaki. The opening theme is Level by Nagi Yanagi and The Sixth Lie. Sounds okay as an anime rock but did not impress me. The ending theme is Hitori To Kimi To by Yoshino Nanjou. Feels a bit weird with the trumpet fanfare in some parts of this upbeat pop piece.
Overall, this is quite an interesting anime. In view of the deluge of isekai and trapped-in-video-games tropes these days, this offers something different. Not the most confusing or complicated series out there, but it’s still manageable even within my means. Unlike Genjitsu Shugi Yuusha No Oukoku Saikenki which leans more towards rebuilding a world, this one feels more like a cat and mouse game. The one with the better brains stays on top and it is a never ending game to see who outmanoeuvres who. Might sound far-fetched for a main character to have things always go his way but hey, seen the word ‘realist’ in this title anywhere? Thought so. Truth to be told, Wein could be more of a realist than Souma only because we attached the genius label onto him. He’s just a normal kid who just wants the best for his nation and taking the most realistic action to achieve that, right? I guess selling oneself to the world still sounds way better than selling out your country to your enemies. Now, if somebody can introduce the concept of NFTs to Wein…
Chua Tek Ming~*Anime Power*~ !LiVe FoR AnImE, aNiMe FoR LiFe! 