The Do-Over Damsel Conquers the Dragon Emperor

This anime based on a light novel and manga, adapts it faithfully and animates the characters and action scenes well. A lot of the criticisms stem from one thing: The age gap. To that I say: Read a damn book. Back then in novelty and royalty, political marriages and concubines' were extremely common. We live in a more refined society where we say no because we understand the implications and disgustingness of what they used to do back then with children. But that shouldn't mean we should shun a faithful adaptation for providing an accurate historical basis on a light-hearted non-serious, funny anime.

This show is one of the most senseless I've seen, yet it takes its plot seriously! It's proven its senseless nature from the very beginning. The romance, although a bit weird, is enjoyable, considering it's fiction. Surprisingly, the comedy lands for me too!

The animation in the first couple of episodes was really good-felt like watching a high-quality production. However, as the episodes progressed, the quality declined. One thing that remained consistent was the sound design. It was magnificent to hear, making the scenes more impactful than they really are. The opening and ending songs were okay for me but somewhat fit the theme of the show.

There were some boring moments, such as exposition dumps here and there, but fortunately, they were infrequent. The plot moves at a very fast pace, almost like it's running at 1.5x speed! It was a bit surprising at first, but I got used to it as the episodes progressed.

Overall, it's a show that's heavy on exposition, tightly gripped with no sense, and full of plot holes and dumb twists. However, it has sweet sprinkles of romance here and there with hilarious situations at times. I kind of like it!

There seems to be some good backstory and lore here but I can't get over the cringe. Adult character marries underage girl and makes cringy veiled remarks that just make this uncomfortable to watch. If they cut out the attempt at "hehe" humor about their age difference this might have been much better. Good potential but even the snippets of lore that they give you really don't land as a solid world that should be cared about. The dragon character is more annoying than interesting and the other side characters don't get a good enough fleshing out. Pretty much everything looks like it's good and lands short.

This show is based on a light novel and manga, and it stays pretty true to them. It's a fun, light-hearted romance, but the age difference of the protagonists can be very off-putting. It's a little better in the manga and light novels since there they hint at the older character being able to see her as her true older self. However, the age difference is the real problem with this. The characters also seem a little overpowered with no one blinking an eye at it. Other than these two things, though, it's a good, fun anime. If you can get past the age-difference, it's well worth the watch, especially if you like the reincarnated trope.