Tearmoon Teikoku Monogatari: Dantoudai kara Hajimaru, Hime no Tensei Gyakuten Story

Due to poor finances, an epidemic, and famine, the once prosperous Tearmoon Empire ultimately falls to a revolution instigated by its citizens and supported by neighboring nations. The rebellion also brings dire consequences for Mia Luna Tearmoon, the empire's extremely spoiled princess, who endures three years in the dungeons before facing execution.

By some miracle, Mia finds herself reincarnated as her 12-year-old self, retaining full memories of everything that had transpired. With the pain of the guillotine blade freshly imprinted on her neck, Mia is determined to use this second chance at life to avoid the grim fate that awaits her. She utilizes all her knowledge to improve the state of the kingdom and gather personal allies, inadvertently winning over the people's hearts and becoming beloved as a saint.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Tearmoon, Mia Luna Main

Uesaka, Sumire Japanese

Remno, Abel Supporting

Matsuoka, Yoshitsugu Japanese

Littstein, Anne Supporting

Kusunoki, Tomori Japanese

Sunkland, Sion Sol Supporting

Horie, Shun Japanese

Belluga, Rafina Orca Supporting

Touyama, Nao Japanese

Keithwood Supporting

Masuda, Toshiki Japanese

Hewitt, Ludwig Supporting

Umehara, Yuuichirou Japanese

Forkroad, Chloe Supporting

Takahashi, Rie Japanese

Buendia, Monica Supporting

Hasegawa, Ikumi Japanese

Lambert Supporting

Katou, Wataru Japanese

Oowada, Tomoyuki Producer

Aoi, Hiroyuki Producer

Kaneko, Hayato Producer

Sotokawa, Akihiro Producer

Reviews

Dec 23, 2023

KANLen09

Recommended

Tearmoon Empire - Simply put, Princess Mia Luna Tearmoon is a supporting MVP, and her VA, Sumire Uesaka, is a riot who guillotines the show with absolute precision!

I have heard of novelist Nozomu Mochitsuki's Tearmoon Teikoku Monogatari a.k.a Tearmoon Empire, but like with all things related to real life, I just didn't get the time proper to actually sit down and read the LN, much less the manga adaptation of it. That is, until Silver Link's adaptation this year came around this season, which gave me the perfect chance to experience the LN/manga in anime form, and I have to say that despite the clash ... of similar themed works, it delivered on so many levels, that this is hands down one of the best non-attention-grabbing low-key shows of Fall 2023.

The one thing that you should be aware of about Tearmoon Empire is that it's very inspired by the French Revolution and medieval Europe, on top of the already near-guillotine-executing "I must reverse time and undo all my mistakes!" premise that combines so many genres to a near-flawless execution, being a time-travelling fantasy comedy with a villainess MC that likes to get into the political drama, all in a venture to restore that which is lost: the reputation of the Tearmoon Empire and its proclaimed princess: Mia Luna Tearmoon. Having already driven her empire to the ground, a revolution sees the 20-year-old being captured and tortured by the servants that the selfish princess once belittled, as time counts down till her public execution. And when that time came, there was no hope for Mia to ever see the light of her day...that is, until said execution mysteriously brought her 8 years back to her 12-year-old self. Free from the constraints of the execution, along with the "Death Note" diary that logs each and every account of her misdemeanors towards the people close to her that leads to the execution, Mia hopes to resettle her empire by restoring her relations with her offenders with her "Mia First" policy, on top of her already selfish nature that turns people's heads towards her, giving her a precious second chance to make things right...by turning things into the 3rd person perspective, along with the narrator to play with her expressions.

If you understand the expression "The enemy of my enemy is my friend," then you'll understand Mia to a T. Mia's role as the frenemy — it's not an easy task trying to recruit those whom she simply shrugged off to one side in her previous life. Mia constantly has to weigh her options and act against those specified in the diary that could lead to her downfall, the simplest actions of which would determine her distance to the fated guillotine (who always likes to play with Mia if she is on the cusp of doing something wrong to cheer her to it, that's a hilarious recurring gag). Besides, given Mia's previous epitaph as "The Selfish Princess who Ruined Tearmoon," which is eventually replaced as "The Great Sage of the Empire," they couldn't be more different from each other, being one and the same at her very core, with her hilarity point being the delusions surrounding an arrogant, cowardly, and slightly selfish persona that hides a lovable idiot even further below, despite her flaws that she tries to hide to the best of her abilities.

Over the course of her renewed tenure, Mia wins and gains her once-frenemies, and here are a few examples:
- Mia's personal maid-in-waiting, Anne Littstein, who previously served her as one of her most loyal subjects during her execution phase, was thankful for her loyalty. Alongside her sick and frail sister Eris to complete her self-written novel and serve as the official author of her documented biography;
- Mia's finance head, Ludwig Hewitt, who once worked as a government official trying to resolve the old Tearmoon Empire's economic collapse, being thankful that he spared her life;
- Mia's friends of princes Abel Remno and Sion Sol Sunkland, and the lesser noble Tiona Rudolvon. Speaking of Abel first, his former life was not so great, being a playboy and gambler, one who always hides in the shadows of his brother Gain. But in the new timeline, after meeting Mia, he humbles his heart and gets his act together to have a relationship with her. As for Sion, he's linked with Tiona; both were the leaders of the revolution that took Mia down, and with the subtlety changes, he now protects Mia as one of their beloved friends. Tiona especially, since Mia's time at Saint Noel Academy wasn't the best, and she would become the princess's best ally.
- Mia's BIGGEST enemy is Rafina Orca Belluga, the daughter of Duke Belluga, which is where Saint Noel Academy is located. Rafina's functionally princess position basically equals and rivals that of Mia, since she helped both Sion and Tiona bring the old Mia down, and she remains the threat that the new Mia must avoid...though with some misinterpretations, Rafina begins to clear things up, which solidifies their friendship.

Of all of the frenemies that Mia reconciled, Rafina is definitely the most unkempt friendship sequence, considering her reputation and power enough that Mia could edge closer to the guilotine. But still, you've gotta do what you've gotta do, and the Tearmoon princess eventually did her forgiving deed, all in the plight to run away from the knife's edge as far as possible. That said, the story itself has a few timelines, so if that rouses your interest, have fun navigating through the many events surrounding each timeline.

Out of all the roles that the fan favourite VA Sumire Uesaka has performed this year, she continues to dominate the VA anime scene with returning favourites like Ijiranaide, Nagatoro-san, Isekai wa Smartphone to Tomo ni. and ToniKawa, to new favourites like 100 Girlfriends' with Hahari Hanazono, and now with this show serving as Mia's VA, which she aced perfectly. Needless to say, if you're not stoked for the anime adaptation of RoshiDere coming Spring next year with the titular main girl, Alisa Mikhailovna Kujo (because Sumipe actually learned the Russian language enough to score the role), then I don't know what to say as a convincing measure.

For Silver Link, 2023 has been somewhat of a mediocre year, from subpar sequel follow-ups to last season's Lv1 Maou to One Room Yuusha a.k.a Level 1 Demon Lord and One Room Hero, which is a decent chunk of change. However, this Fall, this show, and Ragna Crimson, apart from being directed by people who've been trained in assistant roles to be promoted to full-on directorialship, certainly looked like Silver Link was taking a rather long rest while waiting for their Fall shows to come out guns blazing. For his debut directorial role, Yushi Ibe might not have come out strong, but the quality of his staff team has been kept very consistent, so well done. And for the sum of the entire show as a whole, the studio finally delivered with great production and vibrant colours, definitely A+++ quality.

For the music, Sumipe's OP song is great. It's full of Mia's infused personalities and idiosyncrasies that make for a bopping song. KanoeRana's ED song, on the other hand, is decently mellow but by no means bad.

I've really enjoyed Tearmoon Empire for what it is and its themes, which work so well together, and it should emit the same level of magical energy to you for its brilliance. Wonderful.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Dec 29, 2023

ShonerSul

Mixed Feelings

Summary: recommended only if you have not read novel.

It was one of my highly expected show this season, after Frieren, Apothecary, and Shangfron. Unlike other time slip stories, MC does not try to be good but behaves selfish to avoid beheading. However it is perfectly misunderstood by other characters to bring the best result. Narration and personified guillotine (from comicalized one) gives more fun to those situations.

The show itself is funny enough, above average. However referring to original novel, animated part is only beginning and more chapters are coming. Animation rushed too much to finish it within one cour, so we're missing more serious stories ... behind the curtain. Also some of heroine's selfish thoughts and actions were omitted. So if you want to see the full story, I strongly recommend original novel. (Comics is slower than animation now.)

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jan 8, 2024

neonat

Not Recommended

The show is really a mixed bag. From the get-go I found it quite hard to believe Mia should be behaving in such a childish and immature way when she returned back to her 12 year-old self. She went through 3 years of horrible suffering imprisoned in horrible conditions before getting killed, yet she still acts like a kid who seems to be trying to avoid death by guillotine the same way a kid tries to avoid eating his vegetables. There is no intense fear or trauma, or anything that would really be ingrained in someone after such long suffering. I’ve been personally told that ... in the story (light novel?) she has selective memory or slight amnesia after going back in time, but not only does the anime not explain that in any way, it’s very hard to believe that kind of setting when she clearly can remember faces, voices, names, smells and conversations (word for word even) from that timeline. Being a pampered princess who knew no better isn’t an excuse, not with such a long period of hardship.

Honestly, the background story doesn’t have to be deep, nor does it really need to be detailed when the main highlight of this show is for the gags and funny situations that happen where Mia’s intentions and thoughts differ from the people around her. It’s the classic misinterpreting someone’s actions to be grander than it actually is and everyone but the main character are aware, thus the reason behind things happening isn’t as important as just letting those things actually happen for the sake of showing this gag. But if you start with such a strong and serious setting, it is very hard to brush off the expected maturity of the character. If the setting was just a 12 year-old finding a book that foretold her demise that would sound more believable; she would not have the experience of having so many years of suffering and the hardships of trying to run away. Her acting like a childish kid (which she does here) would fit as she is just someone who has some extra information obtained from a book and not someone who actually has lived through it and she would only be able to try and resolve it through trial and error. As to why I am so bothered by the setting, it’s really just because it set the wrong mood right from the start and made it frustrating to see how ridiculously immature she acted as at times, she even goes as far as to boast about her maturity and being older because of those years she lived in that timeline, with nothing to show for it. Why would you avoid people who played a part in going against you instead of trying to get them to know a good side of you? That's a risky way to try to avoid death when it is more unclear what they would do if you leave them to their own devices. Sounds like something a child would do, instead of a princess who suffered 3 years in prison if you asked me. Where are the strong emotions or attachments that would develop in those hard times? There is none to show off, which is really disappointing.

Ignoring all that, poor Mia though, even after all the suffering she is still dumb after returning back in time. She is lucky for some reason people come to conclusions way off the actual mark. In the end I wish her all the best, but that setting was just not it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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	About the opening RudeRedis - Nov 1	6 replies	by Greentreefrog »» Nov 2, 3:22 PM
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	Poll: Tearmoon Teikoku Monogatari: Dantoudai kara Hajimaru, Hime no Tensei Gyakuten Story Episode 9 Discussion Stark700 - Dec 2, 2023	38 replies	by Sugram22 »» Oct 13, 9:12 AM
	Poll: Tearmoon Teikoku Monogatari: Dantoudai kara Hajimaru, Hime no Tensei Gyakuten Story Episode 8 Discussion Stark700 - Nov 25, 2023	44 replies	by Sugram22 »» Oct 13, 8:36 AM