I've previously heaped praised on My Otome Hime, and having reached the end of the dystopian second season and the series, I can confirm that it only gets better (though the extras include some silly pandering just to make sure we don't all take it too seriously).

In episode 18 ("Whiteout"), the insufferable Princess Mashiro is shown to have been the pawn of the Schwartz and the equally insufferable Grand Duke Nagi. What follows is a close approximation of the Shoukei chapters at the beginning of A Thousand Leagues of Wind. The back and forth between lowbrow comedy and stark drama can give you a whiplash though.

And in the wickedly comedic "By the Red Sky" bonus episode, Akane and Kazuya, having run off in the Harlequin conclusion to "In the Crimson Sky," are about to bed down in what (hilariously) looks for all the world like a seedy Motel 6 when they are tracked down by the Secret Service so Kazuya can become king after his father dies.

This also means they can't consummate the relationship. The moral of the story: primogeniture sucks and sometimes love conquers nothing and just creates problems instead. I appreciate a Y/A series with 100 percent comic book values, but sporting the message that while utopian ideals have their place, trying to run the world by them is ruinous.

Labels: anime reviews