Last week, I thought Lucas would have no problems treating Athy during their trip outside the palace. After all, he not only tutors the princess, he is kind of like her doctor. Someone in that position must be paid pretty damn well, right? But no, he didn’t pay any of the merchants a goddamn thing; he conjured up fake gold coins that will eventually disappear. Athy and Lucas visited all sorts of places on their little excursion. I have to imagine that some (if not all) of those business were run by honest, hard-working people. Those poor folks basically got conned. So great, I have yet another reason to dislike our favorite centuries-old wizard. If he had real money, then why didn’t he pay them in the first place? Just terrible. Then to top it all off, the loser doesn’t even apologize to any of the people he scammed; he’s letting Athy do it instead. No shame whatsoever.
Athy is rich, but her wealth is all tied up in jewelry that have been stamped with the royal seal or whatever. As a result, she can’t just go selling them willy-nilly. People would know that she had left the palace without permission! But wait, wasn’t she hoarding those same baubles at the start of the season in order to fund her initial escape plan? How was she planning on liquidating her assets back then? Ah well, details, details… she was basically a baby when the show started, so she probably hadn’t thought everything through.
Ultimately, Athy has to borrow money from Felix in order to pay those poor merchants back. At least she didn’t ask any of the maids. Imagine telling your family that you couldn’t buy dinner tonight, because you couldn’t say no to the princess. In any case, it’s classic RPG quest time: monsters have been attacking farms, and apparently, only wizards can handle the problem. I’m actually surprised that Athy could convince her father to let her lend a hand. But he’s sending her to where he met her mother, so I guess he saw the chance to kill two birds with one stone. She’ll also be safe with Felix… presumably. Claude used to be so overprotective about Athy hanging around Felix, but I guess that has faded with time.
Right before Athy goes on her mission, Lucas abruptly tells her that he’s also leaving to do something important. He doesn’t know when he’ll be back, though. The audience knows what he’s up to: taking care of that black magic threat he sensed in last week’s episode. But he tells Athy nothing; he just teases her instead when she voices her concerns. Lucas also warns her to stay away from Jennette with nary an explanation. Uh-huh, I’m sure telling a teenager not to do something without a proper explanation won’t go badly at all. Athy scolds him for making her worry, but why bother? He’s just a jerk.
Luckily for the princess, she has an important job to keep her mind off of insensitive centuries-old wizards. The setup is pretty trite, though. “Argh, I have no time to entertain a princess! It’s dangerous out here!” says the big, broad-shouldered lord! Then right on cue — almost like it’s scripted! — monsters suddenly attack. Athy now has the golden opportunity to flex her magic muscles and impress everyone. Ho ho ho, don’t underestimate this teenager! She just had a debut! Jokes aside, I have a lot of questions about these monsters, but… they’re probably not worth asking. They’re just minor world-building nitpicks.
Then it’s time for a history lesson (read: exposition), but you’d hardly know it. We get scenes from before Athy was born — scenes that help us understand how Claude first met and came to fall in love with his late wife Diana. And yet, no one appears younger whatsoever. Claude and Felix look the same as they always do. The only real difference is Claude’s outfit. Even the local lord had the same haircut, beard, and fit as he does now. His bang was the same length back then too. Now that’s some real dedication! But seriously, what gives? Who Made Me a Princess isn’t even a poorly animated show. It’s no Madhouse production, but it generally looks pretty good for a TV anime. But it’s the small details that separates good animation from great animation. Plus, I would prefer an actual scene between Claude and Diana where we can listen in on their conversation, not someone drily telling Athy, “YOUR PARENTS WERE GREAT. WE LOVE YOUR PARENTS.”
Elsewhere, we see evil black magic wizard man cast what looks like a curse on Athy’s ribbon — the same ribbon her father had gifted her. Welp. How do you even protect yourself against a villain who can just magically show up inside your room when you’re not there and creep over your belongings? There’s no home security for that! But this is why I am so surprised that Claude would let Athy leave the protective grounds of the palace. I assume evil black magic wizard man can’t normally pull a stunt like this due to that magical barrier we saw way back when. At the very least, don’t let the princess go on adventures until she can properly protect herself against black magic. Maybe Claude will soon regret his decision to indulge his daughter’s whims.
Meanwhile, Lucas is doing…
…stuff.
Stray thoughts & observations:
- More sweets? Someone should check Athy’s blood sugar. Maybe that dark miasma is just a metaphor for onset diabetes.
- Kinda disappointed that we don’t get to see Athy befriend any of the other wizards. I want to see her interact with all kinds of folks. There’s no better teacher than that.
