Tearmoon Empire

Episode 4

Every season needs its champion of “Girls Who Make the Best Faces When They're Acting Like Adorable Little Gremlins”, and Her Majesty Mia Luna Tearmoon will be taking the crown this time around. I mean, come on, how in the hell is someone not supposed to root for this tiny idiot princess as she constantly manages to bungle her way into being a legitimately good person and all-around tolerable aristocrat? Plus, did you all even see those sick dance moves? This girl has got a bright future ahead of her, I'll tell you what, and it might even end with her getting to keep her head attached to the rest of her body, too!

In other words, this is another fun episode of Tearmoon Empire that delivers our weekly helping of comedic shenanigans, seasoned with a healthy dash of simmering young love, and just a hint of political melodrama for good measure. Prince Abel is the kind of awkward little dork that you can't help but cheer on as he discovers that he, too, might be worthy of love and affection; it's not hard to see why Mia might take a liking to him. The other side characters fare well as Mia tries her best to make her date into the A-belle of the Ball, with Anne earning yet another Best Maid in the Land trophy for her willingness to help when a bunch of haughty nobles destroy Tiona's dress in an attempt to bully her out of her social standing yet again.

There's also Sion, who steals the show when he obliges his nervous rival Abel and lights the dancefloor on fire with Mia, who is both infuriated at losing out on the opportunity to show off Abel and delighted at the opportunity to embarrass Sion with her moves (which she fails spectacularly at, naturally). It's a great scene that is well-animated and choreographed, for the most part, though a few cuts do include some very noticeable (and not especially well-done) CG animation. It's especially strange because most of the dance is traditionally animated, so I'm not sure what would compel the production to toss in a scant few shots of the distractingly incongruent 3D word.

It's no great shame or anything, though, and the night still ends as a grand success for our selfish little tyrant-in-recovery. Without having so much as an ounce of self-awareness, the princess still somehow ends up securing Abel's affections, and that's in addition to punishing the nasty brats who ruined Tiona's dress, convincing Sion of her utterly selfless nature, andmaking a real friend out of Rafina. And to think, this whole thing started with Mia getting covered in a gallon of horse snot. If she can keep this up, then Mia is sure to earn her place amongst the list of “History's Most Beloved and Un-decapitated Monarchs.”

Rating:

Tearmoon Empire is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop culture, which can also be found on Twitter, his blog, and his podcast.