It opens grey and red. Grey castle. Grey weaponry. Grey skies with grey rain streaking down. Slashing the blanket of grey is red. Red roses and red blood are everywhere.
Hein Arnold, the Emperor of Galkhein: He started the war. The defenders are like bunnies against him. They can't land a strike. Our narrator pierces his shoulder as s/he (is this person a woman or man?) passes into oblivion. "Next time." Next time.... Then, Irmgard Weitzner Rishe is awake in an old, but new body and an old, but new life. As if /she's/ a villainess, the crown prince is declaring her an unworthy woman and annulling their engagement. Again. (So, she's apparently engaged to the crown prince... WAS engaged; 'scuze me). As she departs with the prince drolling on in the background, she comments that she knows how this goes because it's the 7th time she's re-lived her life. SEVENTH.
The first time the CP dumped her she was upset, tbf. She demanded to know why. Her parents locked her out of the house and disowned her! That upset her /then/. None of that can upset her /now/. Not anymore. She now gives the CP's molly-rant the attention she would a TV commercial. Ho-hum. Which direction will she go this time?
Life 1: She became a traveling merchant and saw the world. She died young in the war.
Life 2: Back again? Surely, she must be dreaming! She leaves the castle before the prince can even finish. This time, she's bringing more of her possessions with her to fund her travels. But this delay caused her to miss the merchant caravan! This life will be different. She studies herbs and medicine. She died young in the war.
Life 3: She went directly to Dr. Ivan, whom she met in her previous life. She will study under him. She died young in the war.
Life 4: She is a handmaid in a Duke's house. She died young in the war.
Life 5: Hunter. The war finally hunted her down.
Life 6: After being a hunter, Knight is a logical next step. She disguised herself as a man and fought as a knight - she's the narrator at the beginning of ep1. We witness that war related death.
She liked all of her lives. Each one was fulfilling, and Hein Arnold was the cause of her death each time. He's a warmonger! Even if it's only life #6 that he personally extinguished, he caused all her deaths, nonetheless. So what's all this living done for her? She's into simply EVERYTHING. She left the hothouse environment and pampered life of a Duke's family. She hit the road. She fended for herself. She learned how to make things grow, heal things, build things: She was productive. She learned how to fight. She's /still/ interested in swordplay.
She just can't seem to stay alive. This time, Loop #7, she's determined to live. Just as she makes that determination while rounding the corner, she walks into a broad set of pecs so firm they're akin to a stack of plywood more than human skin and muscle. These pectorals are attached to a man, and she hits him so hard that her nose is red. What's worse, is that it's her killer from her 6th life, Hein Arnold. (Huh? What's he doing here?) After some awkward introductions and exchanging of words, she shocks him by jumping off the balcony onto the grass below. See Ya👋❕
Based on a manga/light novel by authors, Kino Hinoki (Art) & Amekawa Touko (Story) 7thL is a 2024 release that is rated 7.51 on MAL. It is 1 season consisting of 12 23-minute English dubbed episodes with CC available.
As she heads down the road, she has no idea that she burned an impression into Hein Arnold's brain. He is utterly smitten. Rishe runs into the Crown Prince again. He wants to fight. He didn't get the emotional satisfaction he expected when he broke up with her. In fact, she doesn't seem to care about the CP at all! There's a confrontation. A crowd forms. One of the spectators is /that/ man, her killer, and the man who started the wars that decimated the world: Hein Arnold. He asks her to marry him (😯❓). "I respectfully decline." Her response is immediate. He then starts laughing, which confuses Rishe even more. The King arrives on the scene. He clobbers his son, the crown prince, he apologizes to Rishe, and he sanctions her ⛓marriage to Prince Arnold⛓
Why would he want to marry her⁉ All she gets when she asks him is that he's 'fallen for her'. Hmpfff. A likely story. Next thing she knows, she's in the carriage on her way to his place; HIM - the man who killed her #6, the man who started a war in 1,2,3,4,5, & 6. He's her worst enemy. She's smart enough to lay down some ground rules. #1: NO TOUCHING! 2. She tells this dark prince that she wants to laze around the castle and do nothing when they get married. She's hoping to turn him off. He doesn't seem phased. That's a boldfaced lie, anyway. This gurl goes until she drops. She'll literally fall asleep on the floor, in the middle of a room, from sheer exhaustion - mid sentence! She's irrepressible. Many times, the prince says he can't wait to see what she comes up with next. How is she going to surprise (shock) him next time?
/Her/ first shock comes after their group fights the bandits. As she surveys the bloody aftermath, she realizes that none of the bandits were killed. Every one of them is still alive. Clearly, this prince is not as bloodthirsty as she'd imagined. She's able to impress him (even more) with her healing capabilities.
I have to compare this to The Reason Why Raeliana Ended up at the Duke's Mansion-8.6, which I watched back-to-back with this. Now I love Rae, but I love this heroine every bit as much, and maybe more. She is so /accomplished/, like the fabled /accomplished/ woman they discuss in Pride and Prejudice (the one who doesn't actually exist). Of course, she's lived 7 lives, which is lots of extra practice time. I like the ML in WREU@TDM more - he's a superb ML. It's hard to know where this Arnold guy is going, and he has a cold side that is unappealing, but Rishe seems to be thawing him out efficiently. WREU@TDM has a slight edge for being a total blast, but I loved both of these shows enough to pick up the manga and finish the stories - something I've never done before.
They get lots of mileage out of the no-touching rule. He gets into the habit of breaking it and then rewarding her with jewelry, or something like that, as compensation. He doesn't want to stop her antics (she even enters knight training as a new recruit!) But he wants her safe and he doesn't want to SHARE. They have distinct priorities which leads to tension between them.
She wants to nudge him into being a peacemaker, not a warmonger. She's able to stop some bad ideas and foster good ones. She's also transforming the palace and the people in it. She starts with the wait staff, moves on to his little brother, and then she focuses on the surrounding neighborhood slums.
The art is fresh and unique. People are drawn for fantasy with big eyes, big muscles, big colorful hair, and big color-palettes. Rishe's mauve-lavender hair almost glows in some scenes. Apparently, the manga was B&W, so they had full and free reign with the color for the anime, and they made a gourmet meal of it. Sometimes her hair is pink and other times it's purple, especially in low light. It always looks amazing. The backgrounds are stunning works of art. They live in opulence with ornate flowers, vases, gilded frames, crown molding, and wallpaper. It's quite beautiful. In one scene the Aurora Borealis is glowing in the background. People's eyes look like universes. They also had the task of drawing blinged out hair, costume, and jewelry. The art is absolutely top tier.
WREU@TDM is the anime that, for me, did what a 1-season anime is supposed to do: It made me want to read the manga. Most of those 1-season animes are just 12 episode commercials for the manga. That is why so few amazing animes get a second season. The door has not been shut on this one yet. We could get a S2. I hope we do! I'm almost done with WREU@TDM and I've already decided this one is the next one I'll read. I like it that much. Then I'll move on to Maid Sama-10, which I also love. How long will it take the prince to turn Rishe from NIEN-Arnold to ➿✨Hey💞Arnold✨➿? Ima find out.
IMHO〰🖍
📣8 📝7.8 🎭7.9 💓6.5 🦋7 🎨9 🎵/🔊7 🔚 ▪ 🌞6.5 ⚡5 😅2 😭2 😱2.5 😯3 🤢1 🤔5 💤0 🤗5.5
Light strings and other soft orchestra music is the usual accompaniment
Age 11+ it's romamtic but pretty tame. 1 kiss. Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older
Re-📺? W/o a doubt, but I'm hopping over to the manga/novels first
From lite&trite to heavy&serious, here's some recs ~
Ouran High School Host Club-8,,
Ao-chan Can't Study-7.8,
Special A Class 💓8.2,
Maid Sama-10,
Why Raeliana Ended up at the Duke's Mansion-8.4,
Mischievous Kiss,
True Beauty-7.5
Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun-7.7,
Colourcloud Palace-7.5,
Hakkenden,
7th Time Loop-7.9,
Honey & Clover,
My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU,
Princess Principal 8.6,
Sugar Apple Fairy Tale-7.5
Real Girl-7.5,
My Happy Marriage-8.3,
Your Lie In April-9,
Violet Evergarden-9.5.
