Sacrificial Princess & the King of Beasts

Episodes 13-14

If you doubted that there was a metaphor lurking within Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts, episode fourteen should disabuse you of that notion. Technically, in both of these episodes, Lanteveldte's entrance into the story does a very nice, albeit unsubtle, job of showing us that it's not just Sariphi as a human who faces discrimination in Leonhart's kingdom. Sari may be making major strides in terms of being accepted by people who aren't Anubis, but Lante's got an equally tough row to hoe, and it's one he's spent his entire life laboring under.

We've seen other beasts denigrated for their race before. Poor Amit was looked down upon as “less than” because she's Reptilian rather than one of the more traditionally beautiful furred peoples, and the fishmen had more than a few snide remarks directed their way. But Lante faces the most overt racism since Sari's role change from sacrifice to acting queen consort. Like with her, it's entirely due to his heritage: he's a Hyenian, and because at one point in history, the hyenas rebelled against the throne, they've been all but run out of society and treated as persona non grata ever since. And you'd better believe that Lante feels that very keenly.

It's hard to blame him – this week's flashback about his attempts to save his sick mother's life only to be thwarted by assholes who thought it was okay to torment a child because of his race is both infuriating and heartbreaking. The prejudice against Hyenians caused Lante's mother's death, and Lante has had to live with that for many years. By the time he's accused of attacking Braun, the newly-minted governor of Maasya, he's upset but resigned. If you've ever been on the receiving end of that kind of bias, his reaction will be very familiar because while it never stops hurting, it does become something you expect.

That's what makes Sariphi such a good person. She may have had that same reaction when Anubis' “reveal” of the candidates for the Queen's Guard Captain position revealed a big empty courtyard, but she's delighted when Lante jumps down as the only candidate. (And I was delighted he did so via Anubis' head.) She's been in a version of his position since she and Leonhart got involved, and before that, she spent her life knowing that she was unwanted by her parents and destined for sacrifice. If anyone is predisposed to understand where Lante is coming from, it's Sari, and she more than demonstrates that over these two episodes.

What makes this work is Lante's reactions. We expect Sari to go above and beyond by now, but he's continually surprised by her kindnesses – she doesn't reprimand him too harshly for the whole desert “shortcut” thing, and she asks him not to endanger others again. She jumps to his defense when he's falsely accused and even before then when others denigrate him for being a hyena. By the time she starts running around town to prove his innocence, Lante is starting to let himself believe in her; when she succeeds, he knows that his plans now have the unexpected wrinkle of finding someone he can believe in. It's almost too bad that Sari and Leon are perfect for each other because otherwise, I'd be tempted to root for Sari and Lante.

Many fantasy stories have underlying themes that we can see are making points about the real world. (Right, Terry Pratchett?) The good ones make it clear without feeling preachy or too obvious. Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts is steadily proving itself to be one of them, and I hope that if that giraffe does lose his job, he can find a new one as a member of Sariphi's guard.

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Sacrificial Princess & the King of Beasts is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.