Winter 2022 First Impressions – The Genius Prince’s Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Light Novel

Episode Summary: Prince Wein has been handling the affairs of his small country in his sick Father’s absence. His ultimate goal is to build the value of the kingdom to the point that he can sell it off and fade away into obscurity, but he suffers from a peculiar issue – his decisions made throughout the course of his tenure as de facto leader have only proven his innate gift for leadership, meaning that those around him are unlikely to leave him alone long enough to make his plans into a reality.

When a neighboring nation starts making moves to invade, Wein would much rather put up a minimal fight in order to keep from depleting the country’s modest war funds than to launch a large-scale counterattack, but decisions he made months earlier, including one providing top-notch training to the army, means that the soldiers are raring to defend their nation to the death. One major victory later (and a secondary one to secure a valuable gold mine near the border of the two nations) and Wein finds himself even more entrenched in the country’s affairs than before.

Impressions: A while back, while reviewing the premiere episode of that other series about a genius guy fixing the tax issues of a fantasy kingdom, I mentioned that there’s something about smart characters making smart decisions that really tickles my fancy. I’m not sure if it’s because of some frustrating (and probably misremembered) moments from my childhood where I felt like being smart made me the target of low-grade bullies (in fact, the majority my school experiences were overall fairly decent aside from the occasional ass hat who occasionally ramped up their bad behavior to a fever pitch), but I still get a little bit of a thrill from seeing the smart person come out on top in the face of brute strength or attractiveness. Of course, there are caveats to that, as with any opinion. I think that this series might be one of those.

Prince Wein, the protagonist of this incarnation of the “smart guy fixes things” concept, isn’t your typical smart guy. In fact, many of his good decisions seem to be accidental and their results often run opposite to his own stated goals. Actually, he might not be that smart at all, just lucky, which I think is what’s probably leaving me cold.

There’s an element of comedy to Wein’s laziness – his hidden persona is completely distinct from the noble, mature person he pretends to be in public. That comedic contrast in anime is at least as old as His and Her Circumstances and likely much older. But there’s also something a bit tragic about it, too; royalty, while it conveys upon its members quite a bit of privilege (and I don’t want to be accused of being all “boo hoo, I’m a prince with huge amounts of political power and clout” or anything, I’m not) also dumps a burdensome set of standards onto the shoulders of people who might not necessarily want that for themselves. I can understand wanting to leave it all behind and go live like a hermit in the mountains somewhere, especially if one’s personality requires privacy and time for simple pleasures. But there’s also the fact that his decisions have ramifications for many other people, including those who wield very little power and privilege at all. It’s a difficult balance to deal with and not one that I believe this series cares to tackle.

Eh, anyway. This episode is fine; I’m not sure that there’s much to talk about other than that it was kind of mildly entertaining. But there’s simply not much about it that gives the impression of forward motion. Wein gets lucky several times, and the kingdom is saved – it’s minimally amusing, but it’s not compelling.

Pros: This episode is really nicely animated. There’s a fun sight gag of sorts in the opening scene, where an overblow reaction from Wein causes the “camera” to draw back from his office and show various other characters going about their business in the castle as the title logo appears. It’s an effective and fun way to start off the series, and kind of a rare treat for those of us who are watching the anime industry collapse before our very eyes (*sigh*).

I also like the treatment of Wein’s inner monologues, especially the little chibi version of his character who appears and thrashes in the background while he has to appear straight-faced in public. I often describe this state of existence as “hearing circus music in my head,” so this little nod to the concessions we all make to exist with others in a society is appreciated.

Cons: So… there’s a moment in this series where the leader of the neighboring country is criticized for surrounding himself with yes-men. This is considered one of the primary reasons that the country isn’t as powerful or as successful as it could or should be, and there’s even a bit of a caricature of smarmy-looking sycophants gathered around the leader shown while this information is being shared. But is that really that different from what Prince Wein is experiencing? Throughout the episode, his four main retainers blush in his presence and tell him how smart and wonderful he is – the only difference being that he can perhaps more easily pretend to believe in his own benevolence because he isn’t actively trying to grab and retain power. If this juxtaposition was meant to be comedy, it wasn’t framed obviously enough to come across that way.

I think that really sums up my main issue with this episode and more specifically this protagonist – he wields immense power that affects thousands of other people, mostly peasants, and yet he only really worries about himself (and never really is forced to confront that). This is boring to me.

Content Warnings: Violence (including a decapitation seen from a distance, and the aftermath of a large-scale battle).

Would I Watch More? – Unlike Wein’s stable of yes-men, I wasn’t particularly charmed by this premiere. I think I’ve gotten to the point in my life where I’m no longer interested in believing the “fantasy” of royalty, because there are too many wealthy folks in real-life who have zero concern for other people and I’m tired of seeing that reality spackled over in entertainment.