Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Bibliophile Princess
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Saeryen
 Posts: 897 |
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Oh yes, Episode 3 was simply heartwarming. And I loved seeing the flashbacks and how Elianna used to be spoiler[more outspoken], and probably, due to having interests different than was expected of noblewomen at the time, she was kind of spoiler[forced to suppress herself and be a lot more soft-spoken].
The bit where Christopher and Elianna spoiler[confessed to one another] was so sweeeet. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11366 |
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I'm just having a really hard time getting past her complete lack of affect except for the occasional tears. No matter what's going on or what's being said around her, she gives no outward indication that she's comprehending any of it. Just a dazed, doped-to-the-gills botox face, and a passive "hai." As they say, the lights are on, but nobody seems to be home. This isn't shyness, or introversion, it's anesthesia*.
Episode 3 almost made it worse, seeing how assertive and vibrant she was as a child defending her books. Maybe there'll be a story there, of how she came to be so disconnected from the world around her, and how Chris's love will bring her back to her old self, but I'm not really seeing any signs that that's where this is going. Then again, that practically felt like a finale, so I have no idea where it's going anyway. 
*When I watch this, my mind keeps playing the lyrics of Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb." Hello? (Hello? Hello? Hello?) Is there anybody in there? Just nod if you can hear me Is there anyone at home? ... You are only coming through in waves Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying ... I can't explain you would not understand This is not how I am I have become comfortably numb |
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Leviathonlx1
Posts: 197 |
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There's a bit of a translation error in this with them translating the families rank as baron. They're actually a Marquis family which is quite a bit higher ranked than baron which makes her a bit more acceptable as a future Queen.
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ab2143
Posts: 710 |
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The flashback in episode 3 was a bit disappointing as we didn’t get to see a young Eli slap Chris (as mentioned in the LN)
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer
 Posts: 2610 Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City |
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I completely forgot to mention that! Yes, Eli's the daughter of a marquis, which is substantially higher up the nobility ranks than a baron - baron is one of the lowest titles. |
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MFrontier
Posts: 11272 |
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It's nice to have such a classic, Shojo-esque, period piece romance again. Eli and Christopher are utterly adorable and sweet together, especially after that flashback.
Also it was kind of refreshing to get a classic Villainess plot carried out and foiled because I was getting used to those being the premise of the Villainess taking over as the Heroine. Elianna's continued lack of understanding of everything because she's been too busy reading books is hilarious. Also that is one of the most picturesque, Shojo, kisses I have ever seen. They even had flowers!
Although her reading him the riot act was pretty memorable because we've never seen her really angry before this. |
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CrowLia
 Posts: 5505 Location: Mexico |
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Agreed, and honestly I'm not sure I'm gonna keep watching. This episode was very frustrating because a lot of important stuff was being explained -not very gracefully, narrative-wise, for that matter- and Elianna didn't seem to have any thoughts or reactions about any of it other than mild surprise. My main issue is that I just don't buy Elianna and Christopher as a couple. While this episode provided some context as to why Christopher fell in love with her -and I second Gina's dismay at seeing that Eli did have a personality at some point and lost it along the way-, we really have no basis as to why Elianna loves him, other than he gave her that rare book that one time. I really think the first episode was a complete misfire, wasting time that could be used establishing their relationship over their 4-year-long engagement and giving us little romantic moments between them, with pretty much nothing but a bad montage of Eli just sitting there and reading in silence. I'm a sucker for romances with a lot of pining and misunderstandings and the premise here lent itself so easily for such a thing, but they gave us nothing. When they kissed at the end of the episode, instead of feeling like the climax of an intense and emotional journey, it left me almost unfazed. It doesn't help that Christopher himself feels very run-of-the-mill. There's nothing unique about him, not in his design nor his character, he seems pretty much copy-pasted from every other prince/ main love interest for this kind of victorian/19th century inspired fantasy romance otome anime/game. Heck, if you placed him, the prince from HameFura and the prince from this season's Villainess show in the same room, I'm not confident I could distinguish them from each other I think I'll check out next episode to see where they'll take the story now that the so-far main "plot" has been resolved, but so far this has been the most disappointing premiere of the season, especially with how much I was looking forward to it |
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Thesarum
Posts: 407 |
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I was going to skip this (my season watch list is long enough) but the discussions on the preview thread and the review got me intrigued enough (if only to see which side of the fence I fell myself) to watch eps 1-3 in one sitting. And maybe it works better that way.
Ep1 I think is best viewed as unreliable narration. This is how Eli sees herself. Bookish, boring, disposable. Someone who contributes nothing to the world around her as all she does is read. So we don't see everything she's doing, because she doesn't see it herself. We don't know the things the others know, because Eli doesn't know them either. In fact, it doesn't even occur to her to ask, she's so convinced of her own interpretation. It's an interesting approach. It just doesn't make for very good viewing. (And maybe it's a slightly different read on Eli's character to the one presented in the books, I don't know) Eps 2 and 3 flesh things out, and recontextualize the events of ep1 (and the first part of 2) for us and Eli at the same time. The realization that the whole thing was an elaborate sting, that Chris was entirely serious and had been a long time, and that Eli was contributing, was respected and valued, is entirely overwhelming for her. It seems to pass her by even as it hits us as viewers. So we just get a cliche "eeehh-and-blush" reaction to everything out of Eli. Which again.. just isn't that interesting. I kinda like the ideas here... I don't know if the execution quite lands. A bit like the art style, it ends up all being a little washed out and pastel colours. And a bit too pink. |
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ab2143
Posts: 710 |
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I did get a chuckle out of Eli not recognising poor Alan
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MFrontier
Posts: 11272 |
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Jeez, Christopher is not letting up on the flirting!
Poor Alan. Eli just keeps forgetting about him... I hope Eli can grow more confident and assertive as a lover. |
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Aerodynamic41
Posts: 226 |
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Man, they cut the part where Glen kept calling out the inaccuracies of Chris' story when Chris was reciting the story to Rene. That was hilarious because Chris got more and more annoyed until he internally threatened to wrench Glen's jaw shut.
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Saeryen
Posts: 897 |
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Episode 4
The fact that Chris knows he has a high position and is willing to use it to help the marginalized really makes me love his character. I also like that Eli wanted to do something, though she doesn’t know what she can do. I think Rebecca hit the nail on the head as to why Eli’s so soft-spoken now, and it was refreshing to see her shed some of those societal expectations and express herself more. |
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memeguy
Posts: 5 |
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There is definitely a tension between Christopher and Theodore that colors a lot of interactions between the two. I believe Chris's comment was mostly directed toward Theodore's attention to Eli.
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Saeryen
Posts: 897 |
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Elianna = a Pretty Cure. Proved it in Episode 5.
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Cryten
 Posts: 987 |
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Eliana certainly seems to be accidentally responsible for a whole bunch of noble endeavours from idealistic off comments. Of course public hospitals of that era where often quite gruesome but I doubt such things would intrude on this frictionless love affair. I think the show would be improved to no end if Eliana was shown having some of her analytical moments that provoke these changes in a society. Rather then a half remembered distracted comment from when she was briefly roused from her reading.
Chris reminds me of the Automatic love interest of more male orientated romance shows. All pure eternal love that never doubts or wavers. Somewhat like Rit/Ruti from Expelled from the Hero's party. A nice comfortable romance. Last thought: It sure was convenient that the mole baron was an evil weapons profiteer who had foolishly bankrupted himself. We almost veered into the possibilities of court intrigue, grey levels of culpability and dealing with nobles using their privileges to abuse their position. But the show managed to avoid that by making the object of Eliana's derision an evil fool. Almost had a difficulty to overcome there. |
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