Nerdology 101: The Defeated Warrior Princess and the Barbaric King
Hey, humans! Welcome back to Nerdology 101. This week, I’ll be sharing my thoughts on an anime titled The Defeated Warrior Princess and the Barbaric King. Let me tell you, I was expecting to like this one, but it turns out that I don’t. In the words of Timone and Pumba, “Not like, LOVE.” So, let’s get into some nerdologyy!
The Premise
This is by far where most of my praise is going to stem from. As the title implies, a powerful lady knight is defeated in battle by the next Great Chief of the Barbarians. He takes her captive. Despite all her suspicions that he plans to torture her for information, use her as a sex toy, and so on, he informs her that his intent is to court her. You see, the Barbarians have a long, established tradition of kidnapping lady knights and courting them, then eventually marrying them. Here’s where things get interesting, though: The Barbarians are actually great people. No, not in the expected ways of romance anime, but more in the real world sense. Serafina, the lady knight FMC, is from a society built on what is essentially the anime-world equivalent of a eurocentric society. It’s a patriarchal society based in obviously false religious ideology where sex and the human body are demonized.
The Barbarians have very different views and beliefs. The main reason they choose these lady knights is because they love strong women. Further, it’s completely normalized for men and women to be nude in front of each other in non-sexual ways. They bathe together and whatnot without anyone making a big deal of it. They also don’t see sex as a taboo. There’s no “women need to protect their virtue” purity culture nonsense in the Barbarian world view. What they do have, however, is a deep respect for wildlife. When they hunt and kill, they honor the loss of life, using every part of the being killed possible—which I believe the author intended to be representative of pre-colonial Indiginous practices. There's a culmination of other features in the tribe that represent other marginalized groups. Beyond the culmination of traits that reflect these groups, other aspects are that they main a true account of history, rather than one framed through a religious or patriarchal lens, have several tribes of fae, elves, etc. as allies, and don’t hold grudges or resentment in the way that was normal in Serafina’s homeland. Ultimately, she’s falling in love with him throughout the anime because he’s introducing her to a decolonized world-view and treating her as an equal partner—both things she had longed for before leaving her homeland.
This premise reminds me a lot of books like Heart of the Shadow King by Sylvia Mercedes, where what the FMC thought would be a horrific arrangement based on the things she was conditioned to believe in her homeland turn out to be life-changing experiences that allow her to claim a more true sense of freedom. All in all, this anime went a lot deeper than I’d originally expected. Starting out, I was expecting your average goofy, fun, adorable romance anime, and though it does have those elements the overall premise was a lot more meaningful than I originally expected. I found that I appreciated the thought the writers and studios put into this. I also find it amusing that they chose to do this now as the U.S. is facing such great attacks on diversity and Japan is announcing that it’s buffing up it’s DEI protections. The social commentary in here could not have come at a better moment.
The Romance
Oh, you thought you were getting out of here with out a mushy rant? Na. It’s a romance anime. While the premise added an intriguing layer to the anime, it’s definitely not the only thing I enjoyed about it. Veor, the Barbarian King, is EVERYTHING! First, let’s talk about the fact that even though they make a huge deal of him being hot as hell when he shaves his beard, I’d devour the fuck outta that man with it too. While we’re on the subject, though: Serafina—smash, Kodansha—smash, the list goes on and on.
Now that that’s out of my system…
Veor and Serafina are so cute together. They have this awesome balance of cutesy and chaos. He’s protective, but never overbearing. Thoughtful, respectful, considerate, honest, and fun. She’s curious, open-minded, willing to learn and understand his culture better, earnest, hard-working, powerful, and more. The dynamic is by far one of the healthiest relationships in anime. Even with the cultural learning, he never frames it as him thinking of things the “right way” and her thinking of them the “wrong way”. He respects choices she makes out of the beliefs she was raised in just as he does any other, but also explains the ways his culture thinks differently. Ultimately, her choice to adopt more of his beliefs is Serafina’s to make and she’s choosing to every step of the way. Ultimately, though, he gives the distinct impression that he’ll want her whether she chooses to believe what he does or not.
Overall
After all is said and done, I’d say that The Defeated Warrior Princess and the Barbaric King is a yes for me—if you couldn’t tell. I’ve enjoyed it a ton. It’s definitely going to be up there in my personal favs for the season (I know, the season is long over. I’m so behind. Between the move, the NY trip, and the editing I was toast for a while there. I’m still playing catch up.). Anyway, yeah, definitely check out the anime if you have a chance. That’s about all for this segment. Come by against next Friday at 3PM EST for another segment of Nerdology 101. Until then, have a nerdy week!
