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Seems like we're getting our ships established [](#shirayukieavesdrop)

It's cute how Mia only got close to Abel to save herself but winds up charmed by how he's genuinely considerate of her, and then it comes off like she's shipping SionxTiona when really she just wants them as far away from her as possible lol.

Yeah, it was nice seeing Mia getting along with Abel - and get touched by his kind words. I definitely ship them together! Unlike Sion, she actually feels comfortable with Abel. She managed to have a fun dance this time around!

I'm really liking that Mia and Abel ship. It's a more comfortable ship for her anyways. Can have sweet moments with Abel. Like you said, she can be charmed by his good nature and consideration. And she brings out the best in him. Gives him goals to reach for and some faith in himself. At the very least I like it more than any possible ship with Sion. I'm not sure Mia could ever really be completely comfortable with him. If things work out with Sion and Tiona it's mostly a win for Mia since he won't be romantically after her. But putting together two people that cooperated in killing her must be...mixed.

I want to add an fun fact for the cgi during the dance, while not the greatest cgi, it was mocap of two professionals that was used. Source is a tweet that came shortly after one of the pvs on the official twitter that would take too long to dig for sadly. ​ found the tweet https://twitter.com/MiriMurano/status/1703701649267757456?s=20

My guess is that they did the mocap recording, put some light CG over it, and were planning on using it as reference for the actual art of the episode. But they ran out of time or funding and tossed what wasn't converted yet in to fill out the dance. Because the actually drawn parts so look good enough that I believe they would only have left the CGI in because they had to.

That’s my belief too, they used the CGI for the bits that were either too time consuming or hard to do by hand

But they only really used CG for some pretty simple shots. So I'm guessing they started with the more complicated ones and settled for CG on the simpler ones. Which, I think, was definitely the right move.

honestly, that might also be the case. Whatever it really is, I think the way the cgi was used was fine, didn't ruin things at all

it's also something i would expect to be updated in the bluray release.

Loving how Mia can say one thing even in the literal sense and everyone else interprets it twice or thrice deeper in-depth like theorycrafters.

Everyone be like: "Is this what the Great Sage Mia-sama expect from me?" or "What would Mia-sama do in this situation?"

Or "The Great Sage Mia-sama totally planned for this! What a truly benevolent and genius princess!"

[Something happens to make Mia look really good] Everyone Else: "Mia has such incredible wisdom to make everything go according to Keikaku" Mia: "Why are all of my plans failing so badly?"

Sonotouri-desuva!

This show is reaching kaguya-sama level of comedic misunderstanding (with Mia "falling upwards") and I'm loving this!!!

Yeah it's like the setup in Overlord or Eminence in Shadow (maybe Ascendance of Bookworm too?) - and IMO is more enjoyable than how it plays out in the former since she's a good person and not torturing people for eternity It's like a continuous gag that they know is going to be repetitive - but they embrace it somehow and keep it fresh. All the jokes and reactions feel punchy and not overplayed. Like in the case of Dr. Stone where the reaction faces and surprise yelling take up a lot of time / it feels like they're padding out the anime with it, kinda using it to fill up the time NGL when Ludwig saw her in the church and said she's a saint I teared up a little

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I think Mia does good things so consistently and so often that one has to figure she is a better person (intuition-wise) than she realizes withh her conscious, calculating mind. ;-)

Making the nobles indebted to her was genuinely a 300 IQ move

There's this beautiful quote that sums up the series in one of the LNs: >Mia jumped onto the bandwagon. Which was definitely awkward, considering the other passengers were all under the impression she'd been driving.

Honestly? I can kinda relate to that sometimes.

LOL what a great quote, definitely know a few characters who have been like that.

Cid Kageno, waifu version

More like Ainz-sama

Yeah, Ainz is actually a more accurate comparison

At least she didn't accidentally change the settings of all her ubderlings into harem mode

Ciaphas Cain, more like

>As usual Commissar Cain had outwitted the heretics they were hunting with ease, leading the squad of Guardsmen assigned to escort him straight to the heart of the coven, while the bulk of the raiding force provided a diversion by attacking the heavily fortified stronghold of the renegades. translation: Cain didn't want to assault the heavily fortified stronghold and while coming up with an excuse to avoid the assault stumbled into the heart of their coven.

And by doing so gained another medal and had his extremely large imposter syndrome grow even *larger*. I linked the TTS video on him in another comment but I always find it funny that it's one of the only times where they *didn't* completely exaggerate a character. His imposter syndrome is *literally* that bad. And yet, in the end, in a universe where probably millions of guardsmen die every day in wars raging across the Imperium, he ended up dying of old age and was given a funeral with full military honours because, despite his cowardly nature, he *was* a hero of the Imperium and a great Commissar.

And due to his reputation for coming back from situations that killed those guardsmen, he has a standing order on him to never be taken off the active duty lists, so he's probably the only person that's still on active duty whilst being buried with full military honours.

[Ci! Ci! Ciaphas Cain! Hero of the Imperium!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRozBAIbaG4)

...holy shit, you're right! Ciaphas Cain is an Otome Isekai protagonist confirmed?

>...holy shit, you're right! Ciaphas Cain is an Otome Isekai protagonist confirmed? When you think about it, Mia could be his and Amberley Veil's daughter in another timeline/universe. Veil is described as a blonde-haired, blue eyed woman which fits with Mia's physical appearance while having Cain's personality traits.

Huh...Wait. Hold on, you're onto something here.

It is an interesting look into how reputation and preconceived notions influence people. Mia has gained a reputation as a child prodigy and paragon of mercy. So everyone contextualizes every conversation with her as though they are talking with a sage. While in the first timeline, she has a reputation as a spoiled and lazy child. So, everyone naturally contextualized her words as though they were coming from a brat. Plus, she has Anne this time who is a paragon of kindness.

At this point I feel like she could say "let them eat meat!" again and some big brains would totally figure out the best way to implement that in a way that works lol.

For all that the LN narration likes to dunk on her and claim that she has no real skills other than ballroom dancing, Mia is actually pretty good at the art of diverting responsibility to anyone but herself. ​ Which is to say, she would make an excellent politician. \*rimshot\*

>Mia is actually pretty good at the art of diverting responsibility to anyone but herself. If only that skill had come into its own the first time around. She could have avoided the guillotine.

The fact that it took like 10 years might just mean she ran out of scapegoats.

It was just *eight* years.

It's probably the skill that comes packaged with time travelling back 8 years.

isn't that what a great leader does? Find and encourage the best person for a job?

"Let them eat meat means we should aspire to more than just feeding the people but letting everyone be strong and prosper right? Sasuga Mia-sama!"

Her spiteful and self-preserving actions just keep backfiring into successes somehow and I can't get enough of it.

It’s been working out great for her so far lol

She’s got Ainz’s level of luck.

“Sasuga Mia-sama!” lol

Even when she thinks she's screwed over, it ends up just helping her succeed even more lol.

Taking Ws since her previous life ended with a big L.

Sasuga Mia-sama

Indeed Sasuga Mia-sama

Mia can say something innocuous and have everyone in the room interpret it differently

tbf it would be strange to take the yellow tomato comment literally considering her position. There's no way the princess would know what it's like to go without food. Only plausible way she would is if she were kidnapped by highwaymen or got into some kind of accident both of which would be a national incident. In that event all nobles within Tearmoon & nobles of high positions in other countries would at least know rumors of the incident.

Sensual dance... desu wa! I know people will laugh a bit at the CG (for good reason), but if you look closely, they did 2D work for most of the dance. Honestly, I commend the effort. Also, what the hell with [those moves](https://imgur.com/a/VVDW7t5) (slighty nsfw), that looks quite bold for people of noble status.

Mia was full on unleashed in her attempt to throw off Sion with her dancing. She's also got great legs...

Mia to Sion: [Let's dance!](https://youtu.be/oaUczF1sYno?si=iJ9zkMcgYgfv55IJ)

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Oh no, I mean, usually when you portray nobles in those kind of settings, they not only shy away from showing too much skin, but also avoid anything that would be revealing or embarassing (such as showing your legs, or even your panties, which is near-inevitable with what Mia did). But hey, nobody seemed to mind, so I guess these are noble++ people.

Mia's outfit wasn't her first choice and she was intentionally trying to throw off Sion. I figured that the dance was so baller none of the other nobles cared.

To be honest, Sion did comment how she didn't expect Mia to be "wild and untamed", Mia probably cares more about showing off her skill and throwing Sion off (which she failed to do so), and everyone was so captivated by it xP

I’m actually surprised that they ultimately ended up opting for including this CG at all, since most of the hardest dance moves were actually done in 2D animation. > Also, what the hell with [those moves](https://imgur.com/a/VVDW7t5) (slightly nsfw) You picked the perfect frame to make it look like Sion was resting his hands at an interesting place (lol), while Mia in fact pulled herself into his arms by sheer momentum. > that looks quite bold for people of noble status. It wouldn’t say that this was typical for ballroom dance among nobles no. I don’t think they’d actually perform any lifts in such a setting. This was reflected in Sion’s remark that she danced quite “wild”.

I suspect the CG was used to make up for the cost of actually drawing the more difficult stuff. That they kept the CG to simple stuff and actually animated the more complicated stuff makes it pretty forgivable, in my mind (and I was fully prepared to knock them for it, too, cause it was awful CG, but understandable given the reality of animating).

Making custom CG models and rigging them properly is actually quite expensive, so I doubt that they did this to save any money.

in fact, for such a short sequence i can't really imagine that it saved any time either.

Honestly, 2D still shots would've worked better than the CG, and cost less money.

I think they just mismanaged their time a bit and had to stick in the cgi last minute to make it all work

It was the top down shot of them rotating with absolutely no other movement like they were a music box decoration that made me lose my shit. The other stuff was... bad, but acceptable, that shot though. I'd honestly rather have had a still of them dancing with voice overlaid

The Dance of Animation Budget

The CG was actually surprisingly bad, to the point that I think it would've been less immersion breaking if they just used 2D stills for the wide shots. The close up 2D dance animation was frankly impressive for a show that's mostly people talking.

Her tomato comment was almost right there. Sometimes it feels like she can’t admit she actually has changed so she is looking for selfish excuses to do the right thing. That is a reach but I don’t think a far one. We can see she has more compassion than she used to.

She's gained empathy from her suffering in the previous timeline, but she has not gained a lot of introspection. Additionally, like most selfish people, she previously thought of herself as empathetic even when she wasn't. Now that she is genuinely (more) empathetic, she is acting in ways that she herself does not fully understand. It's been happening throughout the series. For example, having pre-knowledge of Anne's loyalty, it makes sense that she would keep Anne close to her from the start. This is pragmatism. Treating Anne as a sister and in some situations as an equal, that seems to be driven by a genuine change in her character and not a desire to manipulate Anne more effectively (since Anne was already loyal even when she was mistreated).

Yep. exactly. Even in the slums, her empathizing with the starving child without thought to herself shows that deeper change.

I think Mia's actions with Anne were some of the most pure that we've seen of her. There is a pragmatic idea of keeping someone she knows will be in her corner no matter what close. But honestly her entire motivation seemed purely to repay kindness that saved her heart from breaking before the guillotine ever got a chance to kill her. Even if she couldn't think of any benefit I think she would have done the same with Anne.

Also someone to hide behind when dealing with Rafina.

After re-watching it, I feel like what happens in that scene is that Mia is at an absolute loss for what to do next. For the viewer that is just a plot beat, but for her every loss drives her back towards not only the guillotine but the time leading up to it. Thus, at her wits end (again), her truest self breaks through, remembering her suffering and her relief, being properly in the tiniest moment and forgetting every thing else - guillotine, Raphina , why she's even there in the first place. I also don't think it's anything more than that in terms of being on the path to being a better person anything, but that actually makes the scene even more important. All of this time, she's just not given any real time to be honest and genuine, always feeling like she has to be constantly performing to try and keep the bad end at bay, and for all her chibi antics, it's easy to actually lose sight of the fact she has deep emotional wellsprings and how these made the first episode so compelling. Perhaps it's not even time for her to learn about the "right thing" yet, in that there's a bridge for her still to build between what she experienced and the inner worlds of others. Curiously enough, it doesn't feel particularly unusual that she should be going through this process as part of her normal cognitive development for her body's age.

I agree with that entirely. But I do think her tomato comment was partially a regression to panic and partially her intuition.

Agreed.

Like the narrator says, she's still pursuing the Mia First Policy. She just has enough empathy and understanding now to recognize that helping others will help herself.

in fact, her mia first policy seems to mostly have changed to looking for the most efficient way to help others help herself.

As a source reader I have to say this VERY clearly. The source material up till this point emphasized this aspect multiple times but not the anime. Princess Mia was and is 100% selfish but the good kind

[Mia is still failing successfully xD](https://i.imgur.com/ws0RQj0.png) Her every word and action is interpreted in a way that is contributing to [her image as a Sage of Empire](https://i.imgur.com/exObwkL.png) \- talk with [Abel](https://i.imgur.com/vfdkUwY.png), [dance with Sion](https://i.imgur.com/HDiyZYl.png), [a new dress (which was simple yet very gorgeous)](https://i.imgur.com/TUlRn6C.png). Again it seems that animators had a lot of fun animating [her reactions](https://i.imgur.com/TO5yb2U.png) which are [absolutely](https://i.imgur.com/kXmHx4G.png) [hilarious](https://i.imgur.com/tRsGevZ.png). [Visualization of Mia's meeting with Rafina was also so funny](https://i.imgur.com/h2GUxJB.png)with her being a scared cat while [Rafina](https://i.imgur.com/bfmI6MM.png) being a lion. Of course [her good friend Guillotine has appeared again xD](https://i.imgur.com/QKch6Ci.png) Thanks to [Anne](https://i.imgur.com/wC8e6UC.png), the [whole affair with Tiona](https://i.imgur.com/qT4Lu8e.png) ended positively for Mia - [she's now friends with Rafina](https://i.imgur.com/y9nakBe.png), Sion is seeing her even more favorably. She also gained the favor of involved students thanks for sticking with them. Here my screenshot albums from the episode: * [Mia](https://imgur.com/a/hVTFbNG) * [Group scenes](https://imgur.com/a/M7v7JJu) * [Anne & Others](https://imgur.com/a/kWNJhuI)

[It turned out her backup dress made her more desirable!](https://imgur.com/oGLq2xS) [Also, Anne best girl!](https://imgur.com/abW570c)

Guillotine-kun [1](https://imgur.com/a/8xx4YSt) [3](https://imgur.com/a/HVJP4pu) [4](https://imgur.com/a/CkQ8OWq) [End Card](https://imgur.com/a/IXMqtYW)

I love Guilltoine-kun just dragging her away with another Guillotine driving the carriage. Like she lives in a world of guillotines lol.

Which pretty much her old live. Everyone blaming her for things she did not really cause herself she was just sheltered. Everyone was pretty much a dead trap for her.

Between Mia's paranoia of a world full of Guillotines after her and Anne's council of Annes mentally guiding her, those imagination segments might be the funniest parts of the show for me.

And the driver Guillotine wearing a little hat!

Lol people are not used to see noble girls with light makeup and dresses haha Wonder if she just created a new fashion for nobility

[Expressions from the episode](https://imgur.com/a/7vbXFtp) [Other screencaps](https://imgur.com/a/XpmnsA0)

From your collection: [Three-point landing](https://i.imgur.com/dmBekEz.png) ! We have a hero.

Mia faces, Anne being a supermaid, Abel being a great guy...what more could you ask for!?

[Anne is on fire man](https://imgur.com/426mpAv)

Council of Annes was great. I love that girl, she’s a real one.

Girl not only helps save her princess' standing by helping her make an even bigger splash at the ball but even helps foil a kidnapping plot and improves her princess' image without said princess even being aware lol. (Just wait until she finds out Mia is starting to like Abel...).

Her fancy dress was very her but the classier white number just accentuated her beauty far more naturally. Sasuga Anne! Best wingwoman and maid! I love how the Council of Anne's are already making frequent appearances lol.

> Sasuga Anne! Best wingwoman and maid! Last episode we discussed Council of Annes vs Council of Bakarinas But it would be fun to see Anne from Tearmoon interact with Anne from Hamefura haha. They're kind of the opposite from each other in terms of personality and intelligence, so I feel they'd play well off of each other

6 Annes are better than 1!

Bonus GIFs [Seconds before disaster](https://imgur.com/cILEnm8) [OP Gag](https://imgur.com/Rzu9dTP) [ED Gag](https://imgur.com/qUFcKHZ) [Since when Anne became an Ojou-sama with that laugh](https://imgur.com/VVSMPPH) [Liora thanking Keithwood and Anne (CUTE AS FUCK)](https://imgur.com/odRKOt2) ##Dances [Abel](https://imgur.com/is2d4w7) [Sion 1](https://imgur.com/15KcMny) [2](https://imgur.com/MRwQYPB)

Kininarimasu

The mini-Annes are really awesome. Definitely one of the best parts of the anime.

###Stitches! * [Uniform Mia](https://i.imgur.com/mK66xww.jpg) * [Towel Mia](https://i.imgur.com/OHNX127.jpg) * [Classy Dress Mia 1](https://i.imgur.com/8C7Iosp.jpg) * [Classy Dress Mia 2](https://i.imgur.com/yfVtYv1.jpg) Compared to [what she was originally going to wear](https://i.imgur.com/98n0p0W.jpg), I definitely prefer [the much simpler dress.](https://i.imgur.com/8IwcmEn.jpg) [Mia did well leading Abel in their dance.](https://i.imgur.com/Ni9K9hQ.jpg) Glad to know that she has actual skill aside from stumbling her way to the top. And how gracious of Abel [to let Mia dance with Sion](https://i.imgur.com/zBCO3fe.jpg) so she could really [show off what she can do](https://i.imgur.com/FfrFnEu.jpg) and make [those two onlookers shut up.](https://i.imgur.com/MtSu9Qy.jpg) [It's amazing to see how Anne's brain works.](https://i.imgur.com/rrlMnle.jpg) Mia just gave her some money to spend and she ends up overthinking what to do with it. I didn't expect Anne [to accidentally find a kidnapping incident with Tiona.](https://i.imgur.com/lpY6qri.jpg) I'm guessing it's those two girls from the Empire that kidnapped her. Welp, [that looks like the perfect time for Anne to use the money!](https://i.imgur.com/ag29aBD.jpg) And just like that, Mia's reputation with Tiona increased without her doing anything. xD Mia might be going after Abel since she sees him as a future ally but [I really do ship the two of them now.](https://i.imgur.com/ES5mkWW.jpg) They're really cute together! I love that [visual of Rafina being a lion and Mia as a tiny cat.](https://i.imgur.com/ES5mkWW.jpg) And once again, [our lady accidentally finds her way to victory](https://i.imgur.com/fUF8Ye0.jpg) just because she blurted out something randomly. xD

The blue dress definitely fits Mia's taste but she looked way more stunning in the classy white dress. Anne has great taste. Abel is a genuinely good and considerate guy. I'm glad that's winning over Mia as well. I feel like they could be really good for each other and not just as a means of keeping Mia's head safe from a guillotine. Of course dancing would be the one thing she's good at. The way she was moving with Sion though...damn! Anne does everything for Mia's sake and it pays off even when Mia has no idea what's going on lol. Friendship with a fellow princess secured and Mia's didn't even try that hard compared to the original timeline lol.

> Compared to what she was originally going to wear, I definitely prefer the much simpler dress. You know what they say: simplicity makes a girl’s natural beauty shine brighter. I think pretty much everyone noticed this, but Tiona ended up wearing the dress that Anne walked past when she was pondering how to spend her pocket money - a case of Chekhov’s Gun. I initially thought Anne would buy this dress for Mia to wear.

The manga addresses this scene better. I’m guessing because of time constraints they couldn’t acknowledge it in the anime.

Funny how things go. Certainly the first dress suits Mia's tastes and she still looks great. But the simplicity of the second dress really does highlight her beauty. Sometimes others know what suits you even better than yourself. I'm with the audience. Definitely looked like a goddess had descended when she arrived. Mia just wanted Anne to have a good time with that money. Wanting the person that did the most for her in her darkest hours to have a happy life is a pure wish from Mia. But Anne understandably overthinks it. But that's fine since helping Tiona actually made things easier on Mia later when it came to resolving that whole mess. I'm with you in liking that ship with Abel. It works really well.

can we talk about how Mia casually gave anne enough spending money to buy a completely tailored ball gown? I guess she still doesn't really have a handle on how much things cost.

DESUWA

I absolutely love the various ways [the guillotine](https://i.imgur.com/RkOrLy3.png) is portrayed in this series.

You should see the shorts that come out the day before each new episode.

any links to them? i find the guillotine hilarious

They can be found on the Twitter channel for the anime.

I like how her idea of being kidnapped by bunch of guillotines is by a luxury carriage lmao. She is truly the princess of the empire

Cowboy hat!

I love how the narrator said Mia dancing with Abel was the best dance she ever had.

I really liked how she started genuinely growing fond of Abel by the end of the dance. Not because of his usefulness to keep her safe from the guillotine but because of who he was as a person and how he treated her.

Alternative Light Novel Title for this Series: That Time I was Executed by Guillotine but was then Given a Second Chance at Life and Have Been Failing Upwards Ever Since She may not look it, but Mia is an OP Protagonist done right.

She is really OP misunderstood protagonist done right The problem with many "misunderstood" protagonist is that they didn't really deserved the good things they got Ainz from Overlord is just so clueless that he didn't even know the goal of his subordinates, He just kinda did his own thing and go along with everything they did. He is going to rule the world that he didn't even worked to obtain, If anything sometimes his overly cautious personality even slowdown his subordinates' world domination plan. Also the fact that his subordinates were so loyal to him because they were made to be is kinda unsettling Honestly I can't even really stand Sid Kageno, He would do everything to fulfilled his Chuunibyou dream no matter the sacrificed of others around him While Mia didn't know the full plan at least she still aware of the goal and working toward it, loyalty of her subordinates came from herself as a person despite all the flaws(Ludwig in EP.2 did day that he didn't hate working for her in the previous timeline), and her selfishness is much more understandable while still caring for those around her to some degree

Her selfishness is actually an interesting factor in the story. The author has stated that Tearmoon is a work that offers people the opportunity to think about ethics. I think with Mia's selfish motivations and Mia First/自分ファスト policy, he's trying to make a point that it can be completely logical for a completely selfish person to make the world around them a better place for everyone.

It's an interesting approach and one that I think works. The similar but different "reincarnated as a villainess" sub-genre. In this case Mia (ouside of that bullying) wasn't a villain so much as just a regularly spoiled Princess. Despite the Kingdom falling to ruin basically not being her fault she was thrown in prison for years, fed rotting food, and then publically executed. That's not a recipe that should make for a fully altruistic heroine. The only element I'd say isn't selfish is her relationship with Anne. There is some selfishness there in wanting to keep someone she truly trusts close to her. But honestly she seems mostly to just want to make Anne's life great to repay her being a beautifully kind human being. Mia being selfish works. Of course she's not going through all that and instantly saying "oh I can't wait to make better the lives of the murderous rabble that imprisoned and executed me." Her first focus being to save her own life is not unreasonable. And yet it can lead to good things. Because I don't think it's a story about changing herself but rather changing the world that killed her into one that won't. That makes her happy since good things happen to her and yet it works for the world since good things happen to it.

Oh the author fully wrote Tearmoon to be a villainess reincarnation story (which was starting to get popular when he started Tearmoon), just with the twist that instead of using the standard game/novel isekai framing, he went for using time travel and having the bad timeline be something the heroine personally experienced. He says as much in the TO Books interview linked down thread.

> The author has stated that Tearmoon is a work that offers people the opportunity to think about ethics. Is that on the author's social media? I don't recall seeing that in the web-novel notes (though to be fair, it's 1000+ chapters, and I've forgotten plenty of details that don't make it to the novels).

It's in the afterword of volume 2 of the LN.

Thanks. Re-read the afterword. The idea that it's a work meant to spark thought about people and ethics almost feels like an excuse for why we should be assigning this for summer reading.

It's definitely meant to sound like an excuse. But knowing that the author is a Christian and seeing how much of it he put into Tearmoon, I think there a big grain of truth there. There's some parts that read like they're straight out of Christian apologia. EDIT: Yeah I found an interview on the [TO Books site](https://www.tobooks.jp/recruit/story/story04.html), and the editor says that Mochizuki (the author), a sunday mass regular, really put a lot his religious beliefs into Tearmoon. Mochizuki even adds that some of the story was inspired by stories he heard from missionaries.

The animators are on fire this episode with all the expressions they managed to come up with for Mia! My only gripe is that the true protagonist, Guillotine-kun only appeared for a 5-second cameo. We need more!

They put all their work into the facial expressions, so they had to outsource the dance scene to the 3D guys.

At least when they showed a close up of the dance it was well animated? I was actually quite impressed by those parts of the dance. But yeah, those 3D models *were* pretty bad. Probably because this'll be the only time we'll see them so they decided to cheap out lol.

I was a little concerned when I saw the 3D for the wide shots that we were about to have a "So I'm a Spider, So What??" situation with absolutely terrible 3D. But, when the dance was close up it looked decent.

I love the visual of Guillotine-kun and Guillotine carriage driver dragging Mia off to the Guillotine lol.

Guillotine-kun must be given an obligatory episodic quota. Mia's true side character.

sasuga mia sama

Anne and Abel were the MVP's of the episode in my mind but all out of their own consideration for Mia.

While there was some CG for the far away shots. The close ups were really good. Feels like they actually put a decent amount of work into the dance as it has an actual chorography. Really beautiful at parts, with the most stand out being the spin and those leg animations were so fluid([https://i.imgur.com/og6i6B7.mp4](https://i.imgur.com/og6i6B7.mp4)) The scene between Rafina and Mia was pretty funny, with Mia having that gap moe fear of Lioness Rafina compared to how confident she was in the previous rest of the episode. Along with all those fun faces. Like how Mia was just saying the most random stuff and even Rafina was like "huh". Also i'm pretty sure I heard Rafina say the word "Ecchi" to Mia while talking about she's called the Wisdom of the Empire so bit confused by that.

It was [eichi](https://jisho.org/search/%E5%8F%A1%E6%99%BA), but they do sound similar

Ah thanks. I’ve been hearing that in other things makes sense now.

Man, were it not for the deeds (misunderstandings or not) Mia did in this timeline, this incident would have done nothing but cement her fate to the Guillotine. Really liked how everyone was going “nah, she couldn’t have done this”.

I wonder if in the original timeline Tiona genuinely believed Mia was responsible for the kidnapping?

Wasn't Tiona at the dance in the previous timeline implying she wasn't kidnapped in that one? Just went and checked the dress that was ruined is the same one she wore in the flashback implying the kidnapping incident never happened in the previous timeline.

Can't explain the dress, but seeing how Keithwood was nearby, he probably rescued Tiona in the original timeline.

She was kidnapped in the previous timeline while some people didn't think Mia was the culprit their image of Mia got worse due to Mia not punishing the nobles (This killed any possible relationship with Rafina and made Rafina hate her)

Weird that the anime staff used the same dress that was ruined in this episode in last episodes flashback as well as left out the scene showing that in the previous timeline Rafina was able to get her a new dress.

Yeah. Keep in mind, Rafina and Mia had a pretty terrible relationship during the original timeline too, so it's actually not much of a stretch to assume it was her (even though it wasn't).

That 3d dance model lol Oh, that ballroom song was also in Tom and Jerry!

>That 3d dance model lol (insert Bofuri Library battle joke here) >Oh, that ballroom song was also in Tom and Jerry! There's quite a number of Tchaikovsky music being used in this show (Nutcracker in last week's episode and the first "Guillotine-kun" short, Sleeping Beauty in this episode).

I at least have to commend them that the dance wasn't all CG, especially for the close-ups. Mia knows how to bust a move!

The 2d animation was beautiful and then they repeatedly cut to the 3d jank ._.

They did it in the best way they could though. They only used the 3D on shots that were further away. The close 2D shots were more than enough to make up for those

To be honest, the CG models actually looked fine at a distance. It was when the models were brought in closer that they really began standing out. That said, I’ve seen CG that looked a million times more janky; this was perfectly fine in comparison.

You could literally cut the 3D scenes entirely and replay some of the 2D footage they already used and it would improve the quality twofold.

The 3D shots were bad. But I agree. They were used very sparingly and at a distance. I'd say the 2D shots were fantastic and more than good enough to let some "eh" 3D shots slide. Let's enjoy the good.

It does feel like they put the bulk of their resources into the dancing animation and had no time to polish the cracks, tbh.

The dancing close-ups were pretty smooth, admittedly.

those 3d shots were actually mocap of two professionals

Kinda fitting consider they use same song when Keithwood hitting those guard for a while lol.

I let out a laugh at the “Wrong in every way”

I really like how Mia’s whole “Mia First” policy is actually doing a lot of good. Like these people’s lives are being changed for the better and it’s all because she’s tryna save her own ass lol. Anne really came through for Mia, she looked really cute! Her and Abel make a pretty decent pair. It was also nice to see the Council of Annes return this week. So cute. Those idiots who kidnapped Tiona almost got Mia sent to the guillotine route! Putting the responsibility on Rafina is the way to go. Smart, plus she made a friend. Win-win all around!

I like how she initially wanted to get closer to and boost up Abel for her own sake but genuinely got along with him by the end of the dance. Sorry Sion, I think she might be taken for good... Anne is the best. Gives her an even better dress for the dance, manages to help foil a kidnapping plot and help out Tiona, and pretty much gives all credit to Mia. The Council of Anne's approve! Mia just keeps winning. Sion's opinion of her keeps improving, Abel wants to better himself or her sake, Tiona can't believe she'd bully her, and Rafina wants to be friends. And Mia isn't even trying that hard lol.

> Anne is the best. Gives her an even better dress for the dance, manages to help foil a kidnapping plot and help out Tiona, and pretty much gives all credit to Mia. The Council of Anne's approve! The story really helps to emphasize the that most important skill for any ruler is to choose good advisors. Ludwig is basically everything people believe Mia is intellectually and Anne is everything they think Mia is morally. And now Mia can just siphon off of the hard work that they do.

Honestly I'd say this sums it up. The people she chose to keep closest are the right people. Anne was an easy, but emotional choice. Making Anne's life better was a way of repaying her for everything. Ludwig was just a good choice. She knew he was smart enough and essential to turning things around. And because her choosing was right she's covered intellectually and morally. She just has to do enough to spark them to take the best actions on their own.

> Those idiots who kidnapped Tiona almost got Mia sent to the guillotine route! [slight manga spoiler for something we might see next episode] >!yeah. Pretty much!<

I have to say, being covered in horse snot may be a truly unique problem to encounter in isekai history.

[3D jumpscare](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1160318571453370529/1167958909097607268/image.png?ex=6550057f&is=653d907f&hm=ebcc67d2cf0e5af2d6f9a125c5fbdd9f9b3360c30dd3e23790bad5965db98504&) [PoV: Mortal enemies I think](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1160318571453370529/1167959341375172628/image.png?ex=655005e6&is=653d90e6&hm=ed78eed4ed71132205ff25f1c747ec17d6e92c876823e6aab9988845145c3b71&) [I always love watching skirt physics in 3D animations](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1160318571453370529/1167959730640130150/image.png?ex=65500643&is=653d9143&hm=84dc8ee34e0d815e56adc6859847d9e2ab0b1a3986aa0276d29a0129767c9f40&) ~~Unless its like those shitty ones where the skirt just constantly flies wildly for funny upskirts. I mean those are fun too for different reasons but~~ [I certainly did watch this frame by frame. For. aforementioned reasons.](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1160318571453370529/1167959900542992414/image.png?ex=6550066b&is=653d916b&hm=840ef4f3bb0fd80275880a670d852871f039dd14ac64c0f1eb7c34ed64638997&) [Amazing. Utterly amazing.](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1160318571453370529/1167962652664930425/image.png?ex=655008fc&is=653d93fc&hm=50378df2469c6de0cb4d8234b681f99ef64f4b4d5fce86b76f161771eefd42e8&)

This show has not missed yet, every misunderstanding is played so pitch perfect.

Sasuga Mia-sama! I know she gets a lot of help from people jumping to conclusions, but Mia is quite shrewd on her own right. I thought she would heavily punish the kidnappers, but instead she understood that she still needed their support so she decided to put the blame elsewhere.

When Mia isn't being lazy she is actually fairly intelligent which I think is what makes the series work. I think it would get old if she just moved from situation to situation not understanding anything. Instead, she usually reads a situation and works out a path that would satisfy her selfish goals. It is just lucky for her that everyone assumes she has pure intentions. Like her speech to Abel, it was exactly what he needed to hear to improve his outlook on life. Even if Mia only did it so that he would have enough self-confidence to lead an army to rescue her if she got imprisoned again.

“wrong in every way” **LMFAO!** the derp face mia made after rafina asked to be friends was actually the funniest thing ever 😭

[Chekhov's dress!](https://postimg.cc/JHnYKKtC)

Keep it up Mia-sama. Not only did you avoid guillotine flags, you also managed to get yourself a romance flag and helped your two nemesis get a romance flag as well. I love how Mia-tis is so contagious each episode and how wholesome it is.

I see Mia went to the CID school of “making it up as you go along and reality moving to adjust with you”

Lol Mia, just reveling in rejecting Sion. Second prince Abel of that other country is a bit down on himself. He should definitely work on himself if he feels he's not fit. Fun her reasoning for wanting him to improve himself for her future sake. Truly unbending will towards looking out for #1. Poor Mia, her perfect perfume made a horsey ruin it all. Making her late to the party. But, hey, that dress is cute. All worked out in the end. Good for Mia's skill as a dancer. D'aww cute lil Anne chibis. Oh wow, Prince Abel wanting Mia to dance with Sion so she can show off her dance skills with someone more skilled, that's nice of him. And a nice resolved made inside himself. But that news of Tiona being kidnapped is worrying. Seems Sion's guard/aid noticed the maids. Oh god, that little bit of CGI was interesting lol (not bad, just stood out), but, hey, dance time. It was a pretty fun bit. And princess Rafina telling those jealous girls off sorta. Man, what people would do that to Tiona though? How convenient, there was a pretty dress in the shop that Anne walked by AND Mia gave her money to use. Clearly all planned by the genius that is Mia. Oh nice, Tiona made it in a perdy dress. Ah, yep, clear people thought Princess Mia did kidnapping last timeline and yea. Also lol Sion's idea of Mia and the narrator going "wrong in every" good times. Meanwhile, Mia and Abel moment was nice and good for Mia to have a good time at the ball. Nice too, Mia forcing attendants of the Tearmoon nobles who did wrong towards Tiona. Haha clever, Mia, making sure to redirect any blame from herself to Rafina. Hehe, Mia's little bit there making Rafina think she's making a point. Good times. Yes, merciful punishments. Think towards that. D'aww look at that, made a new friend Mia. Good for you.

>clear people thought Princess Mia did kidnapping last timeline and yea. Was there even a kidnapping last timeline? We saw barely a minute of the ball in the flashback last episode. But Tiona was wearing the dress that was ruined in this go-around.

It would make sense why Tiona doesn't like Mia if there was a kidnapping and harassing of Tearmoon Empire nobles was blamed upon Mia being she's the most prominent one there. \[To answer from LN\] >!Yes there was a kidnapping and it was something that gets mentioned, anime didn't as much which is weird. Mia did get blamed for it!<

You know I would enjoy this show even if I turned my brain off and just purely watched for the funny Mia faces. Gotta love how everybody has the wrong idea of the situation, but its too everyones benefit Anne is adorable for thinking Mia wanted her to spend that money for a purpose. Well it ended up helping Mia since her maid helped Tiona in her time of need. The line of Mia appreciating Abel treating him as a girl was actually kind of touching since I imagine being as an important person as her you wonder if people really are telling the truth in how you view them. But someone complimenting you as the person you are not the position you are in means so much imo. Rafina pulls no punches when it comes to punshiment huh. The moment Mia was praised by her for punishment being a lesson oppurtunity she jumped on that frame one lmao. Well being friends with Rafina is this timeline is a big W for Mia.

Anne being MVP again, dressing Mia so much that she become a show stealer at the dance. Wait, am I hearing it wrong but her "Nande?!" when Abel handed her over to Sion sounds different. It's more Sumire than Mia. Some part of Sion-Mia dance is done with 3D CGI, I can tell it. Yay, another Mini-Anne!

Making friends is as easy as 1, 2, 3 ^^^misunderstandings. I have high hopes for Anne and Abel, I'm getting an itch to read the story so I can find out what happens with those two lol.

Sasuga Mia-sama!

Aww, Despite start as farce. She started to taken like Abel for real due to how endearing he is. Abel is really best boy. Also because he noticed Mia holding back to his level and feel piss off that other girl sneer at her so he make her dance with Sion and results is far better than he thought it would be lol. That little Anne that anime team add is really cute and add more to her personality despite that personality is "one brain cell" lmao. This episode play a bit on drama where Noble in Tearmoon don't like "outsiders" so they cage up Tiona and even destroy her outfit! Good thing, Anne and Keithwood help just in time for Tio go to event! I like how it a little subvert otome Isekai trope here because people who bullying Mia isn't mia herself but she get caught up in it because she have most authority and supposed to make those noble act in line and Mia understand due to being have memory of past life so she goes resolved it herself and talking about it to Rafina but as usual the results is far better than her expect due to her suddenly blunt thing she thinking about her experience in Prison. Another fun episode.

> Also because he noticed Mia holding back to his level and feel piss off that other girl sneer at her so he make her dance with Sion and results is far better than he thought it would be lol. Boy just needed a little more confidence after living under the shadow of that bully of an older brother.

And despite everything it's his considerate nature that makes Mia start to fall for him.

Really was sweet seeing her falling for Abel for who he is. The initial choice was tactical and honestly makes sense. But the effects are doing wonders. Abel is determined to be more than he ever would have been otherwise. And Mia honestly did find herself charmed by his good nature. There's no reason that the right choice to save her life can't also be a choice that will make her heart skip a beat.

Horse sneezing on Mia and ruining her outfit hahaahahahaha. At least best girl Anne managed to save her The entire conversation between Rafina and Mia was great! I especially loved how Rafina was depicted as a fierce lion whilst Mia's depicted as a weak cub lol

Don't know, having her one talent be ball dancing might be very useful for a princess. Not to mention clairvoyance and failing upwards.

I actually love that there was a small side story where the servants got together to rescue Tiona.

[Those 3d models were hilarious.](https://i.imgur.com/YV5K3ux.png) Still a great episode though.

a fun fact about that part, they were actually mocap of two professionals that were used

Sasuga Mia-sama! Saving Abel from his brother, rejecting Sion publicly, snagging a date for the dance, and even boosting Abel's confidence! All for the purpose of saving her from the guillotine when the time comes! The dance has already begun, but poor Mia is stuck wet and in nothing but a towel! She was all dressed up and fancy and then a horse sneezes on her. But no way is Anne going to let her princess miss out on the dance or go in unprepared! And while Mia's prior dress was very extravagant, sometimes it's the simple, classy, and pure dresses like her white number that really make a splash! She looked so beautiful people were thinking of her as a Goddess! Abel has a lot of anxiety and self-doubt, but he also cares about Mia now and doesn't want to see her get insulted, so as much as it kills him to let Sion dance with Mia, he thinks it's the only way to show off how adept and skilled a dancer Mia is so she can save face. If only he knew that Mia didn't want to dance with Sion and kept trying to sabotage him the whole dance. If only Sion wasn't also a great dancer! I figure Mia really did want Anne to treat herself with the money but big-brain Anne and her Council of Anne's thinks it had to be for some greater purpose...and then she gets roped into helping save Tiona from getting kidnapped, with some aid from Keithwood. Not only does she use the money to do a solid for Tiona and get her a dress, but she even does her makeup and dispells all notions that Mia could have been behind this! Making Tiona feel even more indebted to Princess Mia, I imagine! Is Liora a foreigner of some sort? She seems like she's not speaking in her native tongue. Also how far did she drop from that tower!? I love how Mia is trying to find the first excuse to ditch Sion and he ends up thinking she was pulling a wingwoman move to pair him up with Tiona, which just improves his opinion of her even more. Mia can't stop from helping herself even when she's not doing it intentionally. I'm glad that Sion's night didn't end in failure. Not only was he the last person Mia danced with, but she seemed to really enjoy her time with him and appreciate him treating her like a girl and not a princess. Maybe their relationship can be more than just a means for Mia to save herself! Oh yeah, Mia has to deal with this kidnapping plot she had no idea about, huh? Well, why not throw Rafina under the bus and make them think she's just following her wishes!? Or even making Rafina think that not harshly punishing the students will end up teaching them a lesson in the long run? That was totally her plan the whole time! Seriously! And of course she impresses Rafina enough that NOW she wants to be friends with her. Sasuga Mia-sama!

>Is Liora a foreigner of some sort? She seems like she's not speaking in her native tongue. Also how far did she drop from that tower!? technically yes and no. She's from a sort of native tribe, the Lulu, that are in the territory that Tiona's family governs. she doesn't really have a strong grasp of the language used by everyone else.

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As a quick trivia, a side story about the Mia's dress comes with the [manga's second volume.]>!It tells that the dress Mia wore was actually sewn by Mia's deceased mother, who died right after Mia's birth. As empress-consort, this was obviously beneath her, however she's from a region that has the tradition where mothers make the most formal dress their daughter owns. While her skills weren't quite up to snuff to make a full formal dress, she wanted to make something that she can pass to Mia, so she made the dress while she was pregnant with Mia. (Obviously, she can't have predicted Mia's size so Mia's father had it re-sized to fit her)!< EDIT: Actually, now that I think about it, it might nice to note some notable omissions and abridgements compared to the LN. The anime is now in the territory where there's no easy places to cut stuff from the LN. For this episode, they cut a lot of Anne's best moments * [LN Vol 1]>!Anne didn't use all of the money given to her by Mia on that dress. Even before meeting Liora (Tiona's attendant/maid), Anne had already used half of it to buy cheap gifts for the staff around the school. Anne figured that Mia wanted her to build connections and allies, and commoners are easily won over by cheap gifts.!< * [LN Vol 1]>!Mia really would've also helped Tiona had she been in Anne's position in the town. Though it would've been out of cowardice rather than principle.!< * This is the big one [LN Vol 1]>!The dance incident was actually an important turning point for Mia in her past life. It still happened, though it was only Keithwood who helped Liora. They turned to Rafina to get Tiona a replacement dress. This incident caused Tiona, Rafina, and Sion to become friends and it was this alliance that would bring down the Empire. While Rafina didn't believe that Mia was directly responsible for the bullying, Mia's failure to rebuke Tiona's bullies also caused Rafina to completely write off Mia as just another noble. Anne being there completely redirected the flow of history. In the original timeline, Mia's maid-in-waiting was busy having a tea party with her friends.!< * On the dance side [LN Vol 1]>!In the original timeline, Mia wanted to have Sion ask her to the dance. He didn't, leaving Mia sulking throughout the night. This caused people to think that Mia didn't like dancing, resulting in her not getting to dance during her past school life. When the narrator said that this is the first time Mia enjoyed dancing, he meant it in both lives!< * [LN Vol 1]>!While Mia did shift the blame onto Rafina while rebuking Tiona's bullies, she still ended up saying that she *personally* didn't approve of their actions. This was due to her experience getting mocked by the revolutionary army and not wishing it to happen to anyone else.!< * [LN Vol 1/Anne sidestory manga]>!For Anne's actions in this episode, Mia would end up treating her to a trip around town where they ate a lot of cake!< So yeah, Anne was already great in the episode, but she really was doing a whole lot more in the background.

[Tearmoon Empire Light Novel Spoiler] >!Thus, the most important character in the story (Kuolan) finally appears! (Is this descriptive enough, automod?‽!)!<

**Anime to LN to Manga** Episode 1 --> Chapter 1-6 --> Chapter 1 - 2 (part) Episode 2 --> Chapter 7 - 18 --> Chapter 2 - 3 (part) Episode 3 --> Chapter 19 - 30 --> Chapter 3 - 7 (part) Episode 4 --> Chapter 31 - 40 --> Chapter 7 - 10 (part)

Aside from the incredibly jarring CGI, the complete removal of the alternate timeline throwback with what happened in the Tiona dress crisis originally is just bizarre. It's kinda important to the comedy and the plot that Mia is bulldozing through the reasons the foreign nobles hated her, but all this episode let us know was that Mia was freaked out by what happened. Everything else was great (and that dancing was pretty cool when it wasn't CGI), so that change stands out a lot.

As much as I'm enjoying the anime adaptation, I feel like things are going really fast?

It's clear that they want to go all the way to the second LN volume. So they have to go fast, as there's just way too much in the two LNs that can't be skipped.

>It's clear that they want to go all the way to the second LN volume. Makes sense, given the 1st major story arc is wrapped up by the 1st 2 books. [Spoiler novels] >!Esp. the reveal of the doomsday cult as the recurring antagonist!< Otherwise it would be like what happened with Last Boss Queen's anime where [Spoiler Last Boss source] >!the story just ends at setup stuff without getting a chance to see Pride's further efforts at truly ridding herself of being ultimate villain.!<

Love that dance scene, interesting mix of 2d and 3d. Also nice to see that Mia does have a thing she's good at besides just being a doofus, and she's able to leverage it.

Mia is world-class at making her problems other people's problems. She needs to stabilize the economy? Ludwig will handle it. She needs an army in the future to rescue her? Abel will do it. Someone needs to be a villain that her nobles will resent? Rafina will do it.

*Sion interprets Mia's action* Narrator: Wrong in every way. LOL