How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom Part 2

Episode 10

I never thought I'd see the day, but here we are at last: I actually agreed with Souma on basically all counts this week. For once, How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom approached a situation in what I consider to be a realistic manner!

I'll give you all a moment to compose yourselves.

This week's issue of housing is an important one. This is an area where I felt like the amount of practical detail, philosophical forward thinking, and broad-strokes coverage necessary to tackle the issue is just enough to fit within the space of a single weekly anime episode. Providing people with housing is, in my opinion, unequivocally a social good that improves everyone's lives and well-being. It's also a smart move for a ruler who wishes to garner support from the populace (particularly those who have gone through recent trauma like wars or natural disasters), as it keeps people off the streets and gives them a direct tangible good that they can asscoiate with Souma's rule. At the end of the day, governance should at the very least address essential needs like food and shelter before anything else.

There's the question of cost and upkeep of course, but even those are addressed. For one thing, a modern person would likely know the multitude of societal ills associated with issues like homelessness – especially one as well-read as Souma allegedly is. Time and again, the cheapest (or at least one of the cheapest) solutions is often to just… give people homes! And it solves a whole host of other problems while giving people safety and dignity. Furthermore, Souma leaves the tasks of upkeep and sanitation to the people themselves, which gives them something to do and can foster a sense of ownership/community around these housing units. It's all-in-all an elegant solution, in my estimation.

There's also a lot of discussion around medicine and the application of antibiotics. It's all a bit wishy-washy in terms of the time frame, but it's pretty clear that magical production techniques are making up for any needed leaps in logic. I'm honestly not as concerned with that as I am enamored with Souma pushing these modern medicinal treatments purely to help people. One of my big problems with many other actions he takes in the series is that the motivation and outcomes all seem incredibly self-serving and self-aggrandizing, which makes the unrealistic aspects stick out more to me. But here Souma is trying to use his greater knowledge to directly improve the lives and well-being of his people. That's something that actually endears him to me as a character and makes me cheer for him and his successes despite any unrealistic bits happening at the periphery.

Funny thing, that. It's almost like it's better for a ruler to be loved…

Rating:

Grant is the cohost on the Blade Licking Thieves podcast and Super Senpai Podcast.

How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom is currently streaming on Funimation.