Hoshifuru Oukoku no Nina Episode 2 Discussion

Nina my beloved 😩 been waiting on this episode all week I just fell in love with her from the jump last week. Manga fans might be angry but I’m enjoying this so much and it’s kinda filling that Niehime hole in my life. Always good to get peak josei. It’s just a shame the animation doesn’t match how good I’m sure the story will be :/ some scenes are very rough.

Did enjoy learning about Azure and his brother relationship. It’s interesting that while Mushulum mother hates Azure, the boy himself looks up to Azure and idolises him. He and Nina getting stuck in the well together was too funny, poor thing just been eating good his whole life it ain’t his fault he a lil heavy to carry lmao.

Ugh I can tell every time the queen shows up on screen I’m gonna wanna vomit and the fact the king doesn’t detect anything wrong.. and azure won’t tell him anything naturally.. shitty situation.

Not surprised we got Nina sneaking out of the castle, only surprised it happened so quickly. But living in the castle can be so stuffy and even though life on the streets was hard, there’s a certain beauty to it that I’m sure she missed. Also it just feels like changing her name in the castle and becoming a princess is like erasing her actual parents. But that reveal that azure was adopted too?!! Lot of questions now. What’s up with the royals adopting so many kids. Could the previous queen not conceive and that’s why the younger prince gets the throne or what?

Need the next ep!

What did she think she was running back too? The one friend she thought she sold her off! And his Brother died. There is literally nothing out there now.

This adapted chapters 3 and 4. Cut brief jump forward to later in the chapter oppening to 3 and used the opening to 4 before adapting 3 Lol. It works though to set up the star festival and I think it's less awkward then having it in the middle.

And I was right. They are going to rush it. They covered 10 pages in about a minute and half not counting the op. They skipped build up of Alisha and Muhulum spying on Azure through a window and Alisha growing to understand how much work Azure actually does, which is important to her understanding of something in the next episode or 2. Also he immediately turns towards the window sensing them watching. And it includes some nice bonding between Alisha and Muhulum allowing her to understand his character

Also their investigation takes place over several days! And Azure calls her out for sneaking around multiple times since he knew the whole time. And Muhulum and him bickering a little with Muhulum saying he was simply giving her a tour.

This is honestly such a weird adaptation. It's pacing is off and if they were more stable with it they probably could have included that scene no problem. Or they could have easily cut the brief recap on why Alisha was chosen to be the princess. The characters are not even half as expressive or animated as they are in the manga. The castle feels empty. The only character who feels like a semi fully realized version of their manga self is Nina

Also really unimpressed with this studio. They don't animate most of Azure's facial expressions. They put so much emphasis on drawing his mouth for some reason and don't even let him frown, looked surprised or anything even when he's interacting with Nina they are doing a terrible job of actually showing their oppinions of eachother. They also refuse to make the palace look as luxurious and detailed as the manga in anyNina. Didn't even bother making nina and Muhulum's chase look like it took them too an abandoned part of the castle and instead made their little incident look like it took place just outside Azure's room. Also Muhulum didn't climb onto covered wood but the bricks of the uncovered well. Which does a way better job of showing his mental state in the manga.

Also Alisha was supposed to be locked out from their fall, having shielded Muhulum from the impact and then holds him to keep him safe after she wakes and finds him crying over her, since nobody could hear him calling for help while she was unconcious. Also just gloss over his insecurities and the public oppinion amd gossip about him. Also skipping Nina's keen insight into his every move over their Azure spying sessions.

Glad too see Azure isn't the only one they won't animate facial expressions for. Muhulum isn't getting his done either. But at least animate Azures during the outright romantic moments like the well amd their chat about his weakness. That's the bare minimum and they're failing at showing them growing closer. I want to see his interest in her growing alongside his total exasperation with her like in the manga. Anime should be more expressive, not less then still panels are

This studio really sucks. And that's just my complaints for chapter 3. Now to chapter 4 which is longer then 3, but again what the chose to cut vs some moments they adapted from 3 is just bad planning.

Skipped Nina demonstrating her increased skill at being Alisha. Skipped more of their bickering and denial at being close as well as Azure having a face with more then one expression yet again. But oh look Azure actually has something close to his manga expression when telling Nina to be careful since the world isn't made of just simple people like her. And then they go back to treating him like a expressionless doll while animating her expression instead of properly showing their comedic dynamic.

Skipped foreshadowing for the reveal on why someone is trying to out Nina by having the mastermind order the servant. Skipped more of Azures facial expressions. More still frames that are just worse versions of manga panels. Skipped foreshadowing with her parents by misunderstanding the subtext of the scene smh.SMH. and not including their wish for her

Finally Azure has another look on his face when he catches her, but still not as expressive as his manga self in that scene. What does everyone knew to the series think of the Azure reveal? This is what really solidifies their connection and significance to each other.

Glad to see they really put effort into animating that fight. Glad to see instead of showing Azure's anger he looks like an expressionless sociopath during it /s. Didn't show his concern over Nina's fear or his expression at telling her she can leave. Or his shock at her telling him shell die for him and how it affects him, or his gentle expression as he hugs her and calls her nina.

This is gonna be an adaptation where their only concern is getting as far into the story as they can with the episode count and not the actual content of the story.

Also the dub script is way too awkward for anyone but nina. But still the biggest problem with that is the king. How is Chris Rager acting so poorly? And so completely off the mark for how the king should sound.

If anyone is curious about how much more expressive Azure is in the manga over been adding pages to my Tumblr that's linked on my page. I'll have the episode 2 manga pages in want to share uploaded fully sometime today.

@KursedArcana Thanks for this. You put all my feelings into words so perfectly. The manga is so gorgeous (seriously the artwork can be absolutely stunning, especially when it counts), it's so incredibly expressive, and it's what really made me fall in love with Nina and Azure from the first few chapters. They're skipping so much, and I feel like it's really going to affect the show's emotional pull when it really counts, later down the line. It just breaks my heart, knowing what the manga looks like in certain scenes, compared to this wooden, plastic rendition that we get from this studio. I was so excited to see Azure in motion, and we got... this, instead.

I try really hard not to outright badmouth studios unless they deserve it, but seriously... go look at the vibrancy of the manga artwork, the facial expressions that say so much with a glance, the detailed palace backgrounds that make all the palace intrigue feel real, that make Fortna and Galgada feel like real places, and then come back and compare them to the adaption. Azure's nuanced emotions through glances and stares are just gone now, it's so sad... And it's only going to get worse if they're just rushing to the latest chapter they possibly can, like you mentioned. Nina and Muhulum's fall was like, actually a nice chunk of character development, and it felt like the anime made it happen in the blink of an eye, with none of the important thoughts and feelings from when before Azure arrives. The scene where Nina declares "I'll die for you" to Azure gave me chills and made my heart ache in the manga, here, it's just... not the same.

It's especially frustrating because, like you said, there's so much missing from the gradual build-up of Nina and Azure's relationship now; and it's missing all the emotions that the manga made me feel. So much of Nina's emotional conflict hinges on this, so I worry it'll just fall flat for anime-only viewers, when it comes time for... things... to happen, later. I'm just ranting here, but like, wow. It really deserved so much better than this. And I just know they could have done better in adapting this. I'm almost sad that I read a lot of the manga first (I stopped at Volume 9 before the air date-), in anticipation of the anime adaption. I kind of wish that I didn't know everything that they're missing. There's so much romance that should be here already (considering where we are in the adaption), but feels like the studio is just trying to hit the major story beats as quickly as possible, disregarding any potential emotional buildup and subtle romantic feelings to do so. Azure's banter with Nina, their snarky back and forth is an absolute treasure, and it's all but missing, now.

I'm not saying I could do a better job than an anime studio (I'm one person after all), and I don't mean to be one of those obnoxious "the source material is sooo much better" people (actually that's exactly what I'm doing, whoops~) but: This is bordering on being an "abridged summary" version of the story. I hope it won't get as bad as that, but it's starting to feel that way already, and we're only on episode 2.

Also, I'd like to echo what you said, to also encourage anyone who is even remotely interested in this story, beyond a casual seasonal anime checklist-watch, to read the manga from the start. It does these characters so much more justice, and I promise if you care even a little about them, you'll love the proper depth, expression, immersion, and emotional pacing, in literally every aspect, that the manga gives in comparison to this.

I'll stop here and I probably won't write anything more for the rest of the season, or it'll just be me ranting about my frustrations in differences with the manga, so... anyway.