Tearmoon Empire

Episode 11

This is going to sound super condescending, but I promise I'm only a teensy bit sarcastic when I say that it's almost adorable how badly Tearmoon Empire wants us to be invested in this Remno Revolution plotline that Mia and Co. have gotten tangled up in. This week's episode is chock-full of tense political standoffs, ponderous inner monologues, grand speeches, and even a dramatic swordfight between two rival princes. The show is so concerned with selling the intense drama between Prince Abel and Prince Sion's showdown that it almost forgets to include any jokes, save for some of Mia's usual misunderstandings and one fairly funny reveal about the origin of the Princess' luxurious shampoo.

Now, to be fair to Tearmoon Empire, it isn't like the show hasn't put in the work to bring us to this surprisingly serious penultimate episode of the season. There has been plenty of foreshadowing about the puppetmasters who are working to stoke the flames of war and rebellion throughout the kingdoms of this land, which Mia herself begins to figure out by the end of the episode, and we have also gotten no shortage of time to build up Abel and Sion's clashing personalities and leadership styles. Between all of the stuff we've seen the cast get up to as kids and the flashbacks (or would it be flashforwards?) to the days of Mia's execution, you can't say that the series hasn't established why it makes perfect sense for Abel and Sion to end up clashing the way they do this week.

Yet, for all that work—and here is where that teensy bit of sarcasm comes in—I cannot help but feel that Tearmoon Empire is getting in over its head whenever it drops the jokes in favor of straightforward fantasy drama. In all likelihood, this is a problem that is far less significant in the original light novels because my chief issues have to do with the anime's presentation skills. Put simply, the crew at Studio Silver Link is not up to portraying this story's more serious elements with the weight and drama being asked for. The absolute best this episode looks is during the Princes' swordfight, which is…perfectly functional for the most part. There are cuts just before and after this fight, though, that go beyond looking mediocre and fall into the territory of being straight-up laughably terrible (I'm thinking specifically of the moment where Dion jumps in to stop the boys from killing each other, though there are other examples I could easily cite).

I'm sure I've said before that I don't need Tearmoon Empire to have the production levels of an ufotable joint or anything, but that also means that it becomes that much harder to ignore when the show doesn't live up to its standards, given that we've had to set the bar for those standards relatively low. This isn't a terrible episode by any means. Still, it sure is an underwhelming one, and it's a shame that such a promising series as this will be concluding its season with what has easily been its weakest material to date.

Rating:

Tearmoon Empire is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.