Now, I loved the first half of the show adaptation-wise, but I did have quite a few issues with how the studio handled things in the second half that I’ll touch on later. The anime on its own is very good. Not only does it give us that healthy relationship between Anis and Euphie, but the Diomedea make the world feel so alive. You can really feel the political and social tension in every episode. Having Anis navigate a sexist and status obsessed world as both a woman and as someone without magic is really interesting. The show handles very mature topics in respectful and mature ways without making a lot of jokes like in other anime series.
Of course, at the core of the series is the relationship between the two female leads, and I love how it’s given so much care and dedication. Their gradual romantic developments don’t feel forced or random. It really does feel like watching two people genuinely fall in love which is the highest level of praise you can give to a romance story. Their relationship isn’t perfect, though. They both have their insecurities and doubts, and that feels very real because no relationship is perfect. It’s so satisfying seeing them grapple with these issues on top of the already tense situation within the kingdom. The character drama in this show is just top notch.
Now, I mentioned earlier some issues I had with the adaptation made it hard to enjoy the second half of the show as much as the first. I think if you’re anime only you won’t have any problems on that front, but given this is one of my favourite Light Novel series it’s impossible to overlook some of the omissions from the story. Characters were written out, world-building omitted and several chapters were either skipped or cut down substantially. Most Light Novels suffer from things like this, but the things they cut out for me were some of my favourite scenes so it was pretty disappointing. There was a lot of time given to volume 1, I believe 5-6 episodes, compared to 3 or so for the other volumes. That pace shift is noticeable to me as you can tell they were rushing to get to the end of volume 3. The second half felt way faster than the first. But, it is what is.
Quality wise, Diomedea did an awesome job. I did not know they had this type of quality in their bag. The big fight scenes were wonderfully done, well choreographed and featured great voice acting. The general art style of the show is really pleasing, I love the colour palette they went with. Episode 11 in particular will probably go down as one of my favourite directed episodes of the year.
Just a really good job overall of bringing this series to life and even with the omissions, it’s a must watch for any yuri or fantasy fan. Unfortunately because I am LN biased, adaptation quality plays a big role for me so I can’t give it the full score I’d like to.
Tenten Kakumei gets 8 out of 10.
