In the land of-… whoa, three moons? Man, the tides must suck. Anyway, in this land, the noblewoman Serafina attempts to lead an army eastward in order to claim fertile territory from the barbarians. Thus begins the first episode of The Barbarian’s Bride. Basically, it’s an invasion; the barbarians have every right to defend their home. In Sera’s mind, however, this is her kingdom’s only solution to the famine that ails her people. To nobody’s surprise, the rest of the nobility are gleefully fattening their coinpurses, because war is profitable. It’s familiar if unoriginal world-building. The people starve while the fat cats party and feast (actual cats not invited). The people could probably survive this famine if the rich weren’t hoarding all the resources. Oh yeah, they’re also misogynistic! Have we painted a clear enough picture yet? Has this completely one-sided portrayal of the noblewoman’s kingdom convinced you that they deserve to be hated? Unfortunately, Sera’s hands aren’t exactly clean either. Look, I get the logic. Even if she knows that most of the spoils will end up in the ruling class’s coffers, the riches will surely “trickle down” and save the people. It will, right? It must! And thus she fights to maintain the status quo, because she sees no other option. But again, this is an invasion. She’s hoping to steal from others — others that she has deemed “barbaric.” Why is it okay in her mind to take from them? Because she’s racist.

Everything so far has been designed specifically to defy Sera’s expectations. She expects all sorts of brutal mistreatment. Will she be sacrificed in some unholy, barbarian ritual? Or will they instead brutally assault her? Maybe both! These are savages, after all. Sera’s imagination runs wild as she fears the worst. If her own country sucks, the barbarians must suck even harder! Well… I dunno. This part is kinda iffy. A servant shows up, cleans Sera’s body, rubs her down in scented oils, then sticks her in a nice-looking dress. So already, the story wants us to think, “Oh, this won’t be so bad.” But then why was Sera in rags to begin with? Who stripped her down and stuck her in that potato sack? Why not just keep her in her armor? And fine, Veor, the barbarian leader, won’t have his men assault her. He won’t sup on her organs. But don’t go crowning him just yet, because he clearly isn’t asking for Sera’s hand in marriage. Losing to him in battle is tantamount to consent, apparently. They have a history of capturing lady knights and pressing those victims into marriage. “Well, you said would do anything if you lost!!!” isn’t exactly a sterling defense. Also, Veor’s intentions aren’t exactly pure: “Not when I can think of good uses for that body.” Yes, you could do a lot worse than the nobles back home, but her current situation isn’t exactly peachy either.

On the plus side, Sera is a warrior, so she has abs. They didn’t shy away from that (although having abs doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re strong). But her arms and legs are still scrawny, and the servant makes it a point to highlight the “femininity” of her body. Groan. The morning wood joke, then, is a double groaner. I’m not expecting much from this show.

So far in A Hundred Scenes from AWAJIMA, we have two primary characters: Wakana and her roommate Kinue. Wakana is your typical lead, i.e. cheerful, forthright, and honest. It’s the kind of character no one should have a problem with, but they will. They always will. Wakana is attending Awajima because she’s easily starstruck. Like an eager and energetic hamster, she’s easily excitable over nothing. She has always wanted to pursue the performing arts, but it has never been logistically feasible until now.

Kinue, on the other hand, is her senior, and she had hopes of attending Awajima with her best friend Ryoko. Unfortunately, love can oftentimes be a double-edged sword. Ryoko’s narration reveals that she never even talked to her parents about applying to Awajima. She respected Kinue’s talents greatly, but she felt as though she would also grow to resent them one day. You could argue that she was already starting to. So instead, she put distance between herself and Kinue. You can’t help but wonder if there were other conflicting emotions involved — if perhaps she didn’t want to continue competing with someone she loved. Did Ryoko eventually come to regret her decision? Does she now wish she was at Awajima with Kinue?

Right off the bat, Scenes from Awajima (this is a simpler, more elegant title) makes it very clear that the atmosphere at the school isn’t very friendly. One girl isn’t a big fan of communal bathing. Maybe she’s mysophobic. Maybe she’s just hiding the fact that she doesn’t want to get naked around others, which would also be valid. All I’m saying is who cares? It’s none of my business what she likes or doesn’t like. But everyone is already talking behind her back as if they have nothing else to concern themselves with. Later in the episode, this same girl would have Wakana and her group spellbound from just her voice alone. She’s got the talent to be an opera singer one day. This will no doubt be another source of contention for the bullies. If you’re not talented, you suck. But if you’re talented, you suck too. Case in point, when another girl does try her best to fit in, she still gets blasted. You can’t win here.

Maybe it’s like the opening to The Shawshank Redemption. These girls’ lives are heavily restricted. Their schedules are jam-packed, and I doubt every student is interested in every single mandatory course foisted upon them. One girl mentions getting over her TV addiction, so they are clearly not allowed to have basic pleasures even in limited doses (how much can one hour of TV a day hurt?). Even their uniforms are grey and lifeless. All you get is a tiny red ribbon to add a bit of color to your wardrobe. So maybe these girls are so bored, they pick on each other just to have a little fun. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there. Wakana’s roommate frames it as uber-competitiveness, but I think it’s their general frustration boiling over in unconstructive ways.

Freedom and play are important in helping us express ourselves and explore our identity. A preparatory academy, however, has to give these kids a proper foundation. You can’t start improvising or coloring outside the lines if you don’t understand all the theory behind it. Well, you can, but it wouldn’t mean anything. It would just be random noise. The De Stijl movement means nothing without understanding the proper historical context that led up to it. But there’s a lot to learn, so these girls will need to study and study hard. Unfortunately, this sort of environment can be stifling. This sort of environment can overlook the necessity for, again, freedom and play. And I can’t help but wonder if the desire to express oneself (ironic ’cause they’re at a school for the arts) is manifesting in maladaptive behaviors such as bullying and ostracization. It’s certainly one way to defy the norms and conventions put forth by the school — one way to “color outside the lines.”

But take this all with a healthy grain of salt. I’m biased against restrictive places of learning. I also generally don’t enjoy shows where the cast is predominantly one gender. I dunno, they just strike me as less interesting. The world is full of people in all shapes and sizes, hues and genders. Limiting it to just one feels restrictive… claustrophobic. One glance at the cast, and they kinda look the same. They have slightly different heights, and different hairdos, but none of these characters really stand out. So in full transparency, I’m already going into this show with massive reservations. and m,aybe that’s coloring my interpretation of what’s happening with kid. Maybe Kinue is right. Maybe it is just uber-competitiveness.

By the way, his delivery was bad, but that Dune actor was also right: the average person does not give two shits about the opera. Hell, they can barely read a book. Should they care about the opera? Well, that’s a different debate.