English Dub Review: Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina “The Princess Without Subjects”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

On her journey, Elaina encounters a kingdom in ruins, and she decides to stay in the only building standing. In the castle, she meets the princess of the kingdom, Mirarose, and finds out that she has amnesia. The only reason why Mirarose knows her name is because of a letter. Once the sun sets Elaina sees the monster responsible for the destruction, Javalier a monster that can’t enter the castle. When Mirarose asks for her help Elaina says no because she doesn’t get anything out of it. Mirarose offers her a room and dinner for the night. In turn, Elaina agrees to help Mirarose with her simple plan.

The next day Elaina helps Mirarose by digging a large hole for the monster as part of Mirarose’s plan. When night falls Mirarose goes out to lure the monster into the trap as Elaina goes there concerned about Mirarose. During the battle, Javalier falls in the hole as Mirarose recovers her memories. Elaina sees how experienced Mirarose is in combat, and defends herself from Javalier’s fire breath. At the castle, she explains to Elaina how she lost her memories and the true identity of Javalier: her father. She cursed her father because he killed her lover and her child. Elaina leaves Mirarose in her castle without subjects.

Our Take:

This week’s episode continues the dark mood of Elaina’s journey with the twisted tale of the princess without subjects, Mirarose. The sound effects for this episode in time with Mirarose’s magic were cool. I enjoyed how Mirarose’s voice actor delivered her lines like when Mirarose reveals that she regained her memories before killing Javalier.

The beginning did work in setting up Mirarose’s backstory with her story of falling in love with the cook. There were subtle hints throughout the episode like the fact that Mirarose could bake despite being a princess. It goes back to the beginning with the story as her lover was a cook. Then there’s her comment about feeling hatred towards the monster that devoured the citizens of her kingdom. Furthermore, Mirarose first awoke with her memory wiped last week which explains why Elaina never heard of the news. Even though she has the option to not fight the beast she considers her duty for the people that perished.

There’s also the fact that Mirarose is a witch, a very powerful witch that even Elaina acknowledges seeing the battle with Javalier. I did enjoy that subtle detail of Javalier’s blood being blue which foreshadows his real identity as the king. The twist that she cursed her father as revenge for killing her lover and child was good. The fact that she made the king aware of his identity as he ate his citizens a part of her revenge worked well to display her cruelty. Then there’s her apathy towards the rest of the citizens of the kingdom who from her perspective were used as a means to get back at her father. The music that accompanied her tale worked to emphasize the horror of the situation. Her love story ending a tragedy she created was chilling.

Then there’s Elaina who helps Mirarose with her plan as gratitude for the comfy bed and food. As a bystander to this story like last week’s episode, she continues to expand the world of the series. Her comment on the destruction of the kingdom when she first arrives as a small detail to foreshadow the events of the kingdom. Her desire to help Mirarose despite her initial refusal was alright, but it was really vague.

Overall this was a good episode about how love can drive people to do the unthinkable. I wonder where Elaina’s next stop will be next week.