English Dub Review: High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even In Another World, “It Seems Shinobu Has a Shinobi’s Intuition!”

 

 

 

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Shinobu investigates what appears to be a quaint little village within the empire. Beneath the pleasantries lies a cruel truth, which then leads to even more consequential truths. 

Our Take

It’s been a while since we’ve had an episode dedicated to one of the non-Tsukasa characters. This time around, we get to see the exploits of Shinobu, arguably the most interesting of the prodigies. I call her the most interesting because while Tsukasa is the one coming up with all of these grand plans for advancing society in this fantasy world, Shinobu is the one doing the majority of the footwork. Through her, we explore the world and learn more about it, making her exploits more interesting to watch. And she’s competent and humorous to boot. 

This time, however, she winds up in what is truly the most messed up scenario we’ve seen thus far. 

While canvassing the empire, Shinobu comes upon a village that seems kind and generous to visitors. After employing her astute investigation skills, she finds out the reason these villagers are so kind to visitors is so that they drop their guard, that they can then be killed and eaten. At first, I thought this would turn into an “escape the secret village of creepy cannibals” situation. But the truth is much worse.

The Duke who controls this village has instated a “beautification doctrine,” where the villagers must keep everything spotless, erect opulent gold statues of the emperor, and always be smiling no matter what. The issue is that all of these endeavors are being funded on the villagers’ dime. Having all of their money funneled into these tasks, they’re apparently left with so little money that they can’t even buy any food at all. Thus, they must eat anybody who walks by. 

This is so dire and depressing that it actually encroaches on being ridiculous and convoluted. It’s one thing to be an oppressive ruler that demands high taxes and levies. But even the most egregious of rulers would allow their subjects enough substance to live off of so that they can keep receiving tribute. This situation is horrible, not only because it’s morally disgusting, but also because it wouldn’t even last very long.

Well, you may rest assured, as it turns out the Duke of this region is just a completely insane despot. He actually believes the more people that die for such stupid reasons, the better. Though this one is clearly the vilest of the bunch, he’s exactly like all of the other antagonists this show has had so far. Irredeemable, shallow, wriggling masses of aggression that are just evil for the sake of being evil; greedy and small-minded goons, perfect fodder for the prodigies to overcome. 

Even the empire that employs him doesn’t even trust him. In saving an innocent villager from harsh punishment for a petty crime, Shinobu allows herself to be captured, in probably the most badass moment on the show. After she is captured, she is quickly freed by one of the lady knights of the empire, Jeanne. Jeanne is part of a faction that travels to certain regions of the empire, investigating the questionable rulers they sent there. This indicates that there may be a part of the empire that might sympathize with the prodigies’ goals in the future.

Though this deranged Duke will probably be defanged, his final actions may have some dire consequences for the prodigies. Having launched one of the magic spells that Tsukasa was afraid of, and right at their home base, the episode ends in a dramatic cliffhanger. I have no doubt the prodigies will bounce back from this setback, but we await to see just how big of a setback it is.