Tearmoon Empire

Episode 5

”Princess Mia Swoons” is the kind of Tearmoon Empire episode that I hope will serve as the bottom rung for the low end of the spectrum so far as the show's quality is concerned. That makes it sound like I actively disliked this episode, which I did not—it's perfectly fine! There's just not a whole lot to talk about. The sluggish pacing made the whole thing feel sleepy and unfocused in a manner that I would not describe the episodes we've gotten so far. Still, if “Princess Mia Swoons” goes down as Tearmoon Empire's least enjoyable episode, then we won't have a whole lot to complain about, because things could be so much worse.

The first half is the stronger part of the story, mostly because it focuses on a single event that has Mia interacting with just a couple of key characters, and therefore gives itself the most opportunity to capitalize on its jokes and cheesy romantic banter. The rider from the Equestrian Kingdom is an interesting fellow in his own right, though the joke about him misreading Mia's self-centered intentions is less of a highlight than the Princess' lovey-dovey horseback ride with Abel. I like these kids, and it's very heartwarming to see Mia bumble her way into a genuinely sweet relationship after everything she's been through. I can't decide how I feel about the script lampshading the mental age gap between the two characters, though. On the one hand, you rarely see a reincarnation story like this even address this obvious wrinkle in the protagonists' whole psychological makeup, so kudos to Tearmoon Empire for that. On the other hand, I'm not sure how much we needed to be reminded that Mia is technically a 20-year-old woman who is actively flirting with multiple preteens, no matter how mentally and emotionally stunted she may be on account of her upbringing. Maybe it's the kind of thing we're better off just not thinking too hard about?

(I almost forgot to mention that Mia makes a cute new friend and book buddy named Chloe Forkroad, but the episode doesn't do much with her after spending the whole first scene introducing the kid, so…I hope she has more to do in future episodes.)

It's the second half of the episode that starts to lose me, unfortunately. It's all about Mia trying to figure out how to cook a homemade bento lunch for one of the boys competing in the upcoming Fencing Tournament, only to be reminded of the absurd amount of social and political impact that her choice of bento recipient will have. It's a decent enough premise for an aristocratically themed sitcom plot, but Tearmoon Empire doesn't make much of it. We don't get any funny cooking scenes or even very many jokes of any kind; there's just a lot of walking and talking and pensive fencing training between Sion and Abel. It could be that the show is saving the really fun material for next week, which is hardly a crime, but it also makes half of this episode feel like a setup for a much better story that we haven't gotten to see yet.

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.