The Warrior Princess and the Barbaric King Ends With a Familiar Lack of Subtlety
The review confirms that the series ends as it began, with a clear thematic point about war and prejudice that is delivered without nuance, and with persistent issues in its depiction of female characters.
Reporting from 1 sources: Anime News Network.
Anime News Network's review of episodes 11 and 12 of The Warrior Princess and the Barbaric King finds the finale unsurprising in both its romantic resolution and its heavy-handed treatment of the series' central theme about dehumanizing enemies. The reviewer notes that while the romantic plot concludes happily, the broader political conflict remains unresolved, and the show continues to struggle with how it portrays women.
The final two episodes of The Warrior Princess and the Barbaric King deliver the expected romantic conclusion-Sera decides to marry Veor-but the review at Anime News Network finds the series' broader message about the futility of war is delivered with the same lack of subtlety that has marked the show from the start. Episode twelve's dragon encounter is called emblematic of the show's problems: Veor's horror at realizing dragons are sentient beings is meant to mirror the humans' treatment of each other, but the symbolism is blunt. The reviewer also notes that the series remains unsure how to treat women, pointing to a headband with bunny ears that turns into a helmet as an example, and to a sudden crying scene from a character who has watched Veor fight dragons before. Episode twelve is judged the stronger of the two for moving the plot forward, but both episodes are described as heavy-handed.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.
Sources
- Anime News Network The Warrior Princess and the Barbaric King Episodes 11-12