The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess

Episode 5

Up until this point, The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady has been primarily focused on Euphie's psychological damage and how she's trying to learn how to cope with it. As such, while important things have been happening, we've had minimal action since the series' opening scene. This episode, on the other hand, is almost entirely one prolonged battle—starting with the fight against the monsters and continuing with the slaying of the dragon. However, that doesn't mean that the show isn't all about Euphie's character growth.

Last episode ended with Euphie taking her first true step toward being a free and confident woman by expressing that she wanted to go with Anis to fight the dragon despite no one expecting her to. But while this is a solid first step, the second step can be just as hard. Until this point, Euphie has simply been doing as she has been told. And while Anis has been careful about not ordering her to do anything, things are slightly different on the battlefield.

As powerful as Euphie is, Anis has both the experience and the rank to do anything she wants and give legal orders to everyone else—she is, after all, both a gold-ranked adventurer and second in line to the throne. So, when Anis tells Euphie to stand back and let her solo the dragon, everything Euphie's ever been taught and believed makes her primed to follow that order. However, what she actually wants—i.e., to fight by Anis' side and protect the magicless princess—is in direct conflict with this. And so, once she sees the battle going poorly for Anis, she leaves the soldiers and adventurers to fend for themselves to help her.

Not only does this turn out to be the correct choice, but it is also a concrete example that Euphie can make her own judgments and act on them. She doesn't need to follow the expectations of others blindly to have both personal and societal worth. However, her extreme focus on Anis might be a problem in and of itself going forward. She may have just traded one unhealthy relationship for another—i.e., from living obsessively for Algard's sake to living obsessively for Anis.

Though this episode is the climax to Euphie's character growth so far, there is also a sizable focus on Anis. It was established early on that Anis is obsessed with magic. However, in this episode, we see that it's more than that. It's not just magic but the idealized identity she has built around those who use it. Simply put, Anis doesn't want to be a sorceress or a mage: she wants to be a magical girl. While both use magic, they are incredibly different in a metatextual sense. Mages are intrinsically linked to the tropes and settings of medieval fantasy. Magical girls are modern-day superheroes.

Anis has modeled her way of life on magical girl tropes—she wears a frilly dress into battle, flies on a broom, and uses a magic tool to fight. But more than that, she has a superhero's sense of justice. She feels it is her responsibility as an aspiring magical girl to protect others physically and emotionally—to bring smiles to those who need them most. So, we have a new twist on the isekai genre with Anis: “What if a magical girl was reincarnated in a fantasy world?”

This is a great concept, and we can already see how the people of this world react to it. To the adventurers, she is the “Marauder Princess;” to Euphie, she is freedom incarnate; to the people at large, she is a hero; and to her brother, she is a spotlight hog and the cause of all his troubles.

Moreover, on a personal level, we see how self-destructive her ideals have made her. While her sense of purpose gives her strength, she also risks her health with largely untested drugs and equipment. Authentically, Anis needs Euphie as much as Euphie needs Anis. She needs a stabilizing hand to rein her in when she goes too far into her obsession—and someone to cover her back when leaning into her fixation is the only way to save the day. It's a tightrope, to be sure. Still, one thing is for certain: Without Euphie, Anis would have died in this episode, and without Anis, Euphie would be either a psychologically broken young woman or a true villainess out for revenge on the man who wronged her. If nothing else, these two have already made each other better people—we can only hope they continue to do so.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• I don't think Anis realized that the Dragon was an intelligent being capable of reason before she struck it down.

• Anis' guilt over killing the dragon for selfish reasons makes her think she deserves a punishment. So, the dragon gives her what she wants: a curse.

• How would Algard have defeated the dragon? Almost certainly, he would have thrown an army at it. He wouldn't have been able to win with zero losses or face it alone like Euphie and Anis.

• I love that Euphie is so much taller than Anis in her ball gown. It makes sense with their personalities that Anis wouldn't wear heels while Euphie absolutely would.

• I'm not surprised that Euphie feels uncomfortable with men in a social setting. Hell, I'm shocked she'd even be willing to go to another ball after what happened at the last one.

The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Richard is an anime and video game journalist with over a decade of experience living and working in Japan. For more of his writings, check out his Twitter and blog.

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