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.
 Alternative Titles Synonyms: Tearmoon Empire Story Japanese: ティアムーン帝国物語～断頭台から始まる、姫の転生逆転ストーリー～ Information Type: TV Episodes: 12 Status: Finished Airing Aired: Oct 8, 2023 to Dec 24, 2023 Premiered: Fall 2023 Broadcast: Sundays at 01:00 (JST) Licensors: None found, add some Studios: SILVER LINK. Source: Light novel Theme: Time Travel Duration: 23 min. per ep. Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older Statistics Score: 7.251 (scored by 32,409 users) 1 indicates a . Ranked: #33042 2 based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded. Popularity: #2627 Members: 68,842 Favorites: 249 Available AtResources |
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