Another week, another three episodes of Twelve Kingdoms. I want to say we are starting to get into a groove, but this week marks Twelve Kingdom’s first stumble for me. Nothing major, certainly nothing that can undo the fantastic time that was its first 6. But a stumble nonetheless. Still, we will get to that in time. For now, lets go ahead and dive into this weeks episodes!
Starting off, this week in our little production section I want to talk about color palettes. Many of you have already noticed via the screenshots how brightly colored Twelve Kingdoms is. It’s impressive, for as war-torn a setting as Kou is, how many colors were worked in. Between the blues of the night shadow, the oranges of the rising or setting sun and browns of midday, Twelve Kingdoms doesn’t lack for color. The background artists have done a fantastic job of incorporating various greens and blues in the plants, water and sky to break up the brownish landscape. Additionally, Twelve Kingdoms has us traveling from town to town to break up the colors as well. With Nakajima’s striking red hair always giving us something bright to look at in the occasionally dark landscape. The series has done a great job bringing tasteful color to an otherwise bleak Kingdom.
As far as actual story content goes, as I said, this was the first week I had some issues. And all of them revolve around Twelve Kingdom’s pacing in some way. I’ll get into specifics in a moment, but it feels like we burned through multiple storylines in 3 episodes. Things that could have, and should have, taken much more time to resolve. And because of that, the resolutions we did get didn’t feel particularly meaningful. It’s this weird place where the episodic short-term stories needed more time, because the larger character arcs weren’t willing to resolve themselves this quickly. A bit of a contradictory statement, I know. But follow along with me as we explore the wonderful world of “Sugimoto and her lost potential that might still come later, but failed to come when we needed it”. Don’t mind the name, I’m workshopping it.
Over the course of these three episodes, Sugimoto seems to go through 3 stages without any real reason to them. In the 7th episode, it all makes sense. She is raging at being stuck where she is, gets visited and left for Nakajima again, and generally gets stuck in the same position she was in in our world. In the 8th episode we see her get brought back by the King, transformed to look different, and sent on a ship to hunt Nakajima. Only for them to come into conflict, strike a… tentative truce, then continue on their way with Nakajima just ignoring Sugimoto once the boat reaches En. Finally we come to the 9th episode where she regresses back to tattling on Nakajima to the King of Kou. This one makes perfect sense with what we learn, but the manner in which we got here felt… lacking?
There is simply a lot of missed opportunity here that Twelve Kingdoms sped right through. In episode 8, Sugimoto could have spent more time with the peasants. Either coming down off her high horse in a Zuko style arc or bringing it to new heights and raising a rebellion. Barring that, the 8th episode resolves the Nakajima hunt far to quickly. Twelve Kingdoms could have done so much more with Sugimoto here. Letting her experience life in this world with her new face, or allowing her to meet and get to know Nakajima as someone new. Unfettered by their old relationships in our world, letting her carve a new identity and become more than the Sugimoto she was before. But because of Twelve Kingdom’s pacing in these three episodes, we just sort of burn through all these plot points for a rather dull repeat of an arc Sugimoto already had.
These sorts of pacing issue’s aren’t unique to Sugimoto either, Nakajima had them as well. Don’t get me wrong, some parts were great. I absolutely loved the start of episode 7, as she struggles with herself. Eventually deciding that she can survive without becoming a beast. Survive without giving up what makes her human, rather than a Youma. The accompanying visuals worked really well here as Nakajima must literally overcome the sword, cutting through its masks/lies/surface level evaluations. Prompting her to finally look back into our world of her own volition. Finally seeing more than just what the sword spirit was showing her. This was all fantastic, and while I wish it took a bit longer to occur, I can’t argue with the results. Similarly her time with the Shusei was everything I wanted from Sugimoto, spending time and living with the locals of Twelve Kingdoms.
Sadly however, her arc does still have problems. The being one being how Twelve Kingdoms handles Rakushun. By removing him so quickly, with barely any screen time, it really hamstrings his reintroduction in episode 9. I think had the arc taken place over more time, letting Rakushun and Nakajima talk more and experience the world a bit before separating them, it would have hit a lot harder. It also would have allowed Twelve Kingdoms to explore this now fully realized Nakajima. Allowing them more direct comparisons between the beastial and serene versions of her character. As it is, Twelve Kingdoms burns through this content and we barely get any time for these arcs/story beats to sink in. In Avatar: The Last Airbender Zuko’s similar arc of self-realization was an entire season. It was a momentous event by the end. In Twelve Kingdoms it just feels… fast.
In general though, even with the pacing missteps and quickly resolved arcs, I do still think Twelve Kingdoms is going strong. There were a number of great climaxes or scenes spread throughout these episodes. Small building blocks that can very easily become more later on. From the Cat person on the boat who befriended Sugimoto to Sugimoto falling once again now that Nakajima is Queen. The reoccurring Shusei badge and troupe to Rakushun and others new treatment of Nakajima. Really, this whole “Queen” thing opens up a lot of doors. It was expected of course, but that doesn’t make it any less effective. Tying the Kei Kingdom rebellion, the Kou King’s real reasons for wanting Nakajima dead and the En Kingdom’s stake in the whole thing together. So long as Twelve Kingdoms can execute on it well, should be a good time.
Moving on, we come to the actual episodes, starting with episode 7. I thought Twelve Kingdoms did a largely good job with this. The quick abandoning of Rakushun is a shame, but everything else more than makes up for it. From Nakajima’s opening sequence with the sword Spirit to her travels with the Shusei, it was some good character work for her. I like how she continues to connect with those outside of this worlds society. From the beastmen to the Shusei, outsiders connecting with common experiences, regardless of where they are from. In particular I like how Nakajima grew to find her place with them, grew to enjoy traveling with them and admitting her past actions to them. It made their parting bittersweet, as we knew both sides cared for the other. And since they weren’t killed off, we have a decent chance of seeing them in the future!
Next up is episode 8, which looking back is actually where most of my problems lie. Here we see Sugimoto get a face lift, get on a boat with Nakajima and arrive in En. I’ve already gone over a lot of my issues above, such as Sugimoto not getting much time in this new face or the weird setback of taking her language/powers from her. It feels like Twelve Kingdoms can’t decide if Sugimoto is going to be a legitimate threat or not. Can she fight Nakajima? Can she threaten her emotionally, by forcing her to confront a friend from our world? Apparently not, as Twelve Kingdoms keeps granting and then taking these things away. I think had this journey been spread out a bit more, letting them get to know each other again, we could have had some serious character drama.
Finally we come to episode 9, which was once again largely alright. The Rakushun meetup didn’t hit as hard as it could have, but everything else was fine. In particular I enjoyed the explanation about Taika, how Nakajima actually belongs in this world rather than our own. In a way does that make Twelve Kingdoms a… reverse Isekai? Regardless, the Queen bit adds a whole new facet to the show. Now not only does Nakajima have to continue to prove herself to herself, but to the people of this world as well. I am fully expecting some sort of “War of the Three Kingdoms” level stuff to come as conflict between Kei and Kou increases. Its obvious that the Kou King wants to rule Kei after all, enslaving Keiki and such. I can only hope that Twelve Kingdoms pulls it off in the episodes to come.
So all in all, how was Twelve Kingdoms this week? Aside from a bit of a misstep pacing wise, I still enjoyed it. The broad strokes are all there, even if they aren’t always executed well. And when Twelve Kingdoms does pull it off, its fantastic. The opening of Episode 7 and Sugimoto’s reaction to Nakajima’s rank being two prime examples. I am a little bit concerned about the pacing still though. We have 36 more episodes and it feels like we are moving at a breakneck pace. There is without a doubt room for 36 episodes of content, its a massive world with a lot of story potential. I just worry about whether or not Twelve Kingdoms can pull it off, or if the transitions will be as rough as Episode 8’s. Regardless, it was a decent week and I am looking forward to more!
