Welcome all to the penultimate week of Twelve Kingdoms! It feels weird to be here, especially after how final that last arc was. But we have 3 more episodes to get through this week, this time featuring Shoryu and Enki! So without further ado, lets dive in.
My initial impressions of this arc are… ones of familiarity. Coming off of the previous arc, it feels like we have seen this all before. A troubled Kingdom, a rebellion, a disrespected Ruler. There are some changed details that make me curious of course. Such as Shoryu’s character, or how the rebellion is against the Ruler this time. But overall it largely feels like a retreading of the prior arc, at least on first impression. I would wager that Twelve Kingdoms is going to use this as a sort of commentary on the previous arc. To show us how such a thing could be resolved from the Rulers position, rather than participating in it. Unlike the last arc though, this one only has 6 episodes to gets message across and I cant help but fear it will feel… rushed. That concern aside though, there is a lot still to discuss!
Starting off, lets talk Atsuyu, since he seems to be the catalyst for this whole thing. Atsuyu appears to be this arcs Shoukou, the cause of everything. He is defying the Heavens in the same way Shoukou did, questioning their existence and testing them. Unlike Shoukou however it appears as if Atsuyu’s reasons might actually be well founded. He is doing it out of compassion for his people, to be able to govern better and to fix their lands. To repair the riversides, better his crops, etc. So far he appears like a well meaning Lord. My hope is that Twelve Kingdoms uses this to contrast the last arcs rebellion in some way. A righteous lord against an inconsiderate Ruler, something to teach Shoryu that he must take a more active hand in events. So far though we haven’t really got that, instead getting more of the same.
We can also see cracks beginning to appear in Atsuyu’s image, that maybe he isn’t as good as he seems. Sure his words are pretty, but his actions? He kidnapped a Kirin, holding them hostage with another persons life. They threatened him with a child, threatening to kill it if he didn’t come along. You could make the argument that these were necessary, the only ways to stop him from fleeing. But that doesn’t change that Atsuyu is threatening children and innocents to get what he wants. However noble the end goal might be, he clearly has no qualms about how he gets there, and that’s concerning. My fear is that he is going to be revealed to be even more similar to Shoukou. That his noble words are all lies, used to mask some kind of greed or great evil..
I hope that Twelve Kingdoms doesn’t go down that route though. Up until now it has done a pretty fantastic job with its characterization and moral grey areas. It has turned a selfish princess into a compassionate young woman, whining child into a revolutionist and a high school student into a Queen. We know that Twelve Kingdoms can pull off complex and interesting characters, I don’t see why it cant do the same here. Let Atsuyu be torn between his ideals and what he knows must be done. Have him be the one to inspire Shoryu to take a more active hand in his kingdom. After all, he has already called Atsuyu his “other half”. Just please, give us anything other than a standard “I am evil and want the throne because I am evil”. King Kou worked in the introduction. He won’t work now.
Speaking of Shoryu, he was a bit of a shit this episode huh? It’s roughly 480 years ago as I understand it, back when he first became King, so it makes sense. He hasn’t grown into the wise, if a bit silly, Ruler of En. We do see bits of this wisdom here and there, such as when he uses this opportunity to restructure the whole court. Kicking people out of their positions, assigning new ones, etc etc. How he recognizes the threats of the other provinces that he hasn’t totally taken control of. But he also fails to inspire much confidence as we see him go galivanting around. He leaves his guards to suffer the consequences of losing him, or goes gambling. Sure he is gathering information, but he is the King, he needs to be seen! I’m looking forward to what this arc does with him.
This brings me to the episodic bits, as this was a pretty straight forward week content wise. First up, 40! Of the three episodes this week, this is by far the most interesting as we check back in with Hou. We get to see how the Kingdom is doing and how Lord Kei continues to refuse to rule. Shoukei has a letter delivered and generally just raises spirits there with her words. My favorite part of this though was learning why he doesn’t want to rule. Partly out of duty, but also partly to prove to himself that he killed his friend for good reason. He doesn’t want to taint that action with personal gain, and it was all rather somber. My hope is this is used in conjunction with Shoryu’s story, as a commentary on what it means to be Ruler, because it really was good.
Following that we have episode 41, and to be frank not much happened here. We mostly get a check in with the Kingdom of En 480 years ago. We see how the Kingdom is doing, meet Kouya the kid who rides Youma and generally learn the situation at hand. As far as setup goes it isn’t the best, not even within Twelve Kingdom’s own run. But it is serviceable and it is sort of nice to see Shoryu and Enki’s relationship before they got comfortable with it. Perhaps the most interesting part of this episode for me was near the end, when they kidnapped Enki. Threatening him with the kid, along with his Kirin tendencies of disliking blood and violence, made for a decent scene. It’s a shame everything else leading up to that wasn’t particularly engaging though.
Finally we come to episode 42, the last for the week. Unlike 41, a lot happened here, though I can’t say it was all perfect. Here we finally meet Atsuyu as well as learn his plan for the province. In general its good, though I worry about his focus on being “above the King”. It feels like a setup to turn him into a power hungry villain rather than the caring Lord. Still, by far the most engaging portion of the episode for me was the ending. Ribi’s conversation with Enki about doubting Shoryu, along with her sacrifice, we very well done. It’s always engaging to see a character with that kind of conviction, even if we haven’t known them for very long. It’s scenes like this that actually give me hope for the remaining three episodes. It just feels like a lot to wrap up in that time though.
So all in all though, how were this weeks episodes? Obviously they weren’t as compelling as last weeks, but then again what would be? It really didn’t matter what this arc was about, following up the last was going to be a tough act. I do think repeating effectively the same story in regards to the rebellion was a poor idea, but hopefully Twelve Kingdoms can make it work. It’s not like the series hasn’t proven similar concerns as this wrong every other arc. So long as it can land the relationship/theming between Shoryu and Atsuyu then I am sure it will come out fine.
That all said, this is it for me! It’s been a long and busy year, the first on this new site. I want to thank all our readers, old and new, for sticking with us. I have some plans for some more interesting content next year along similar lines to my Black Clover post so stay tuned! And if you have any ideas for the kinds of posts you would like to see, or just something you want to hear my thoughts on, let me know. I enjoy writing these and am always down for interesting ideas. Until then, have a happy new year!
Well, there’s a reason why these particular final episodes are a sore spot for Twelve Kingdoms fans. Originally, the series was going to have about 60-ish episodes, but something made Pierrot cancel it at 45 episodes, which is why the final arc turned out the way it did.
Yeah, I think I read it didn’t get great ratings or something, which is too bad, because I really love fantasy series with strong female characters and great world-building. I’ve been reading the novels in Japanese lately, and I’m surprised at just how faithful the anime adaptation was to the novels. Yes, they changed some things, none of Youko’s classmates came with her, and there was less internal dialogue (which is why the anime brought her classmates, so she wouldn’t be talking to herself), but overall it was really well done, and the changes were mostly justified.
Enki was my favorite character, so I liked these last episodes, even if the ending felt abrupt.
Ah thats a damn shame. I think it could have done some incredible things with another 15 episodes, because Nakajima’s last big arc really was fantastic and that arc alone was enough that I am going to recommend the series to people in the final review.