English Dub Review: Requiem of the Rose King “After all, this body is just a prison of the soul…”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Memories of war fade as Edward IV celebrates his prosperous reign, but all is not well. Between the king’s mysterious new mistress and George’s open dissatisfaction, Richard may be forced to act once more.

Our Take:

It didn’t take us too long to return to the dreary Shakespearean world of Richard III. Following the unnecessary recap episode last week, Requiem of the Rose King is kickstarting the season’s second half with another set of problems in the York household. As I mentioned earlier, the war between York and Lancaster may be over, but another one still rages on.

Not counting last week’s episode, we last left off with Richard professing his love to Anne in the forest after killing Henry VI. Many years later, Richard is now a father to his son, Edward. This would’ve been the end of Richard’s internal torment, but unfortunately, that isn’t the case in this episode. Even though he has a family, Richard is still unsatisfied with his cursed appearance, and Anne is unhappy with his negligence. However, their marriage problems are interrupted when a mysterious servant curses the kingdom.

I’m going to start by saying that naming their children after the main characters was a pretty dumb idea. At least, from my perspective. The fact that we have multiple Edwards and Richards in the entire cast will undoubtedly continue to make my head spin before the show concludes. Other than that, it’s a decent start to the show’s second half that continues the arising problems introduced in the first half and introduce new ones.

Along with Richard’s own problems, the episode briefly showcases Queen Elizabeth continuing her plot to overthrow King Edward and allow one of her sons to inherit the throne. More importantly, it introduces a new character that’ll likely become the next significant threat to York: Jane Shore. Jane is a witch who places a curse on King Edward and George’s wife Isabelle, with the latter assumingly meeting her end. She later blames George for the two being consumed by the sickness. When Richard almost dies from drinking Jane’s poison, he seeks to foil her master plan with the help of Catesby and Buckingham.

This episode has a lot for me to take in, especially when keeping track of which Richard or Edward they’re referring to. However, it didn’t hinder my interest in seeing what’ll happen next. It continues to represent the compelling conflicts of Richard and the other characters as usual. Plus, it delivered a solid introduction to the second half’s antagonist and what she’s capable of regarding her mischievous ways and powers. Richard will have to stay on his toes if he wants to see another day.