How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom Part 2

Episode 7

How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom delivers a mixed bag of an episode this week, but at least that means there were more than a few positive elements in that bag to speak of.

The opening scene felt strangely dull. The mech dragon and the laboratory should have been interesting concepts, but the scene itself failed to be engaging in any way.

The best parts of the episode were definitely the consequences of Souma's actions. Finally, the show demonstrates that a ruler's actions have consequences! I feel bad for Prince Julius, not as a character, but for having to deal with blowback from decisions. Souma has basically gotten off scot-free with every choice he has made up until this point, so Julius having to deal with the unintended outcomes feels kind of cruel in that sense. Nevertheless, he definitely deserved them, so him goofing up and fleeing the scene was welcome.

More encouraging was that Souma was actually struggling for once. It turns out this show does have a solid premise and plenty to work with so long as it – wait for it – presents a legitimate challenge to the main character from time to time. Shocking, right? The decision to add Amidonia into the kingdom through peaceful annexation comes with a lot of baggage, from widening the borders and political complexity of future negotiations to straining the nation's food resources (even if the raw material benefits make it a net good). As it turns out, having a situation where Souma has to weigh his options, lean on his advisors, and make a decision that isn't 100% clear-cut correct with zero fallout is pretty great!

The ending with Roroa was… a thing. At this point you all know how I feel about the harem elements of the show, so suffice to say that having a wife quite literally delivered to him on a silver wooly platter is not my favorite plot development, to put it mildly. That said, Roroa's voice actress doing the “ba ba-bum!” was a great line delivery, so it wasn't all bad.

Rating:

Grant is the cohost on the Blade Licking Thieves podcast and Super Senpai Podcast.

How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom is currently streaming on Funimation.