Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: The Warrior Princess and the Barbaric King
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IronWish
 Posts: 231 Location: Ukraine |
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Could it be that knighthood career path for women in Sera's home country is frowned upon not just because "mah sexism" but also because prominent lady knights of yore usually ended up being kidnapped by "barbarians"? Cause it if was frequent enough for Veorg to treat it as tradition, then in means at some point lady knights were pretty common there.
I also smell a not-so-subtle hints on Japanese nationalism in the entire setup of the "West" country which considers itself more civilized, but in actuality is culturally backwards, falling apart economically, and doesn't know how to bath properly vs the "Barbarians" who are in tune with nature, have well organized social structure built on mutual respect, and overall are much nicer people. Hard to tell how deliberate this was so far. People joked about it being "It's time for marriage, princess" but ironically structural similarities go well beyond just the story setup, with all Sera's posturing how she's not gonna fall for barbarian's trick to win her over, then immediately folding every time. I'm also glad that Veorg's beard has come back quickly. Cleanly shaved he looks like nondescript buff ikemen from Temu. |
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TJ_Kat
Posts: 868 Location: Saskatoon, Canada |
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How long until Sera realizes she was the bad guy?
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Aerdra
Posts: 551 |
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Philville
 Posts: 186 |
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Probably pretty deliberate, although I'm not sure how much this is Japanese nationalism per se. It's a common enough historical trope; the Romans were still considering outsiders "barbarians" (with beards being one of the distinctive hallmarks of supposedly less civilized people) when their own empire was in political and arguably moral decline (although they certainly knew how to bathe!). There's definitely some social commentary on arrogant notions of the West and its nobles thinking that they're more "civilized" than the East, which plays into the humor. The paradox kind of reminds me of how the rugged gaijin are considered uncultured by the Japanese, despite initially thinking they're more civilized themselves, in the recent remake of Shogun (the live action series). Then again, during the Meiji era, samurai were encouraged to cut their hair short by removing their traditional top-knot to reflect Western norms, so it cuts both ways. Not sure whether there's a polemical, hidden colonial (or anti-colonial) agenda here of the type that was debated with Ranking of Kings though -- but it definitely contributes in a humorous way to subverting expectations. |
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Blanchimont
 Posts: 3838 Location: Finland |
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And trousers. There's a reason there's practically no depictions of Romans wearing pants. 
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Gina Szanboti
 Posts: 12724 |
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My main problem with this so far, aside from the ridiculous outfit for Sera (looks like she has a lobster attached to her torso) and Veor's glued on beard, is Sera herself. Rather than a battle-tested commander who I'd expect to be at least somewhat composed in a difficult and unfamiliar situation, she's instead almost constantly hysterical, both inwardly and outwardly. If not freaking out at everything she encounters, she's demanding to be killed or giving up prepared to die. That's neither the mindset nor the demeanor of the knight she's advertised to be. And her shrill over-reactions make me want someone to just slap her upside the head to shut her up. I won't last if she doesn't tone it down a few notches and soon.
I didn't notice the frozen fish-chopper, but I did think that women's work in this village consisted of smoothing all the things.  I also appreciated this week's dragon's lovely peaches and cream feathers.
Afaik, it's always been Veor. I've been wondering where "Veorg" came from ever since the Preview Guide, and assumed you got it from the source material. But now I see in the Fall '24 Manga Guide, Jean-Karlo went with "Raisei" (aka "Thundering Voice") while Caitlin used "Veor," and the thumbnail backs her up. So I still don't know where it came from.
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TJ_Kat
Posts: 868 Location: Saskatoon, Canada |
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...and Sera's prestige in the village will only grow once word gets around that she held off a dragon with a set of tongs.
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Aerdra
Posts: 551 |
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The barbarians treat Sera as a person, while her homeland treats her as a marriage prospect. The show backs up its social commentary in a meta way by giving her a chance to show off her battle skills, instead of reducing her role to captive princess.
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 19131 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Much as I like the series so far, I do feel it leans a bit too much in a "barbarian culture is superior" vs. "different" angle. The only real negative shown so far about them has been the "kidnapping lady knights for bribes" thing (which was played more for laughs), and I'm not sure how seriously we can take Veor's suggestion that it's a common practice among them. The complete lack of a language barrier has also bothered me a bit.
That said, I do like that Serafina did finally get to show her mettle among the barbarian people and hope this won't be the last time. (The end of this episode marks the extent to which I've followed the source material.) |
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Eilavel
Posts: 475 |
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Absolutely. I guess you could take the attitude to death as a negative? But really its less of a mutual cultural exchange and more, basically, a superior civilization teaching her the right way of things (that just happens to be the less urbanised one). Its not only got its own tropey problems, it just makes the whole thing less interesting that it should be. |
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TJ_Kat
Posts: 868 Location: Saskatoon, Canada |
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Veor being 18 makes a lot of his behavior make a lot more sense. He's still just a dumb teenager with a dumb teenager's outlook on life.
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Covnam
 Posts: 4366 |
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Yeah, I can definitely agree that subtlety isn't this series strong suit. Last weeks episode also came off a bit more stockholm syndrome-y than usual.
While watching I was wondering how long Sera has been there (it doesn't feel like more than a few days to a couple of weeks at most) as it does seem fast for her to be so hesitant about returning already. I also thought Sera should have stood up more to her (former?) comrades during their encounter. She was the commander, she should have been up front and in Malcius's face telling her to stand down. (of course then the fiend wouldn't have appeared...) |
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Thesarum
 SubscriberPosts: 775 |
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Feels a bit out of character, doesn't it? She a woman of action (and excessive screeching). A former battlefield commander, and therefore entirely used to making snap judgements on limited information. Presumably trained to assess a hostile situation and take the necessary actions to gain control of it first, and then figure out what the hell is going on afterwards. Her understandable shock and surprise shouldn't inhibit that. So I thought the same, Crystal Helmet should have been in Malcius's face, taking control and trying to diffuse the situation. That doesn't need for the story to commit to Sera being on one side or the other. And the plot demand for a fiend to show up could still have meant that this didn't work, and that the situation could not be rescued. The passivity just doesn't fit. |
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 19131 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Honestly, it would have been a twist if this hadn't proved to be the case. The point I actually found most interesting in episode 6 was the revelation that the concept of marriage in the eastern society wasn't intrinsic to barbarian culture; it was ported in from the west via captured female knights. But yeah, I'm also curious about that core, too. |
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TJ_Kat
Posts: 868 Location: Saskatoon, Canada |
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I'm curious why you've decided that strong women can't want children and a family? Why does it have to be an 'either-or' situation? Wysterisia is clearly carrying a pair of swords and thus presumably hasn't stopped being a warrior. Sera was gifted a sword and has been encouraged to use it, and I doubt that or her sparring with the other warriors would stop if she and Veor got married and had a few kids. Yes, Nyreia appears to be more "domestic", however she is *checks notes* currently pregnant - and probably fairly far along considering how much she is showing. It would be incredibly reckless for her to be out dragon hunting at this point in time, but I don't think there's any reason to assume she has given up on being a warrior.
Especially the little narrowing of it's eye as Sera defeats it. That suggests it's not just some mindless beast, but that there is a conscious will directing it's actions. |
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