The 2-sentence review: What are people out there thinking? This story is wonderful!
"I just want to be special to someone. Anyone." Nina is a street kid. Steal, scrounge, beg: those are the only ways she gets to eat. She dresses as a boy - it's safer than way, and she keeps her huge indigo eyes cast down. No one else has eyes like her. She's all alone.
Then, one day, she finds out that somebody out there /does/ have eyes exactly like hers: The princess. The dead princess. Slavers came and took Nina one day. She was informed that SHE will now be the princess. Next thing she knows, she's in princess lessons. Her tutor, a golden-eyed prig, gives her no pleasure or compassion.
Based on a manga, NtSB is a 2024 release that is rated 7.37 on MAL. It is 1 season consisting of 12 24-minute English dubbed episodes with CC available. IMDb currently has it rated at 6.1, which is entirely unfair. This is a great story and I intend to read the source material - something I haven't done much of, but this is one of the handful of shows that has made me want to read manga.
Now, Nina looks nothing like the princess. But the princess was sent away to a temple for training soon after birth. Not many people have seen her. Yellow-eyes thought Nina was a BOY when he caught her, so she's even better for the job than he even dreamed of. She's much better than his wildest dreams, as it turns out. Nina's got 3 months to be trained up to meet the king and to be prepared to get engaged to the prince of Galgada. Golgotha is where the Messiah of Christendom was sacrificed, and Galgada, the big threat to the north, is where Nina will be offered up.
It didn't take 3 months for her to realize that she can't stand that cheerless golden-eyed-jerk. He happens to be a prince - 2nd in line to the throne. Nina hears the words "For (_X_) you should have been executed," on the regular. Daily. Hourly? His threats start to sound like background noise. Everyone takes them as siblings, but they are NOT related. Turns out, Nina's got a thing for guys more depressive than Eeyore. We aren't just talking about anber-eyes, Prince Fortna Azure Seth (Az, as Nina takes to calling him). Wait until you meet the red-eyed Prince Sett. Now /there's/ a bad-boy-challenge!
Az & Nina actually fall in love pretty quickly; 3 or 4 episodes. He's planning to find a way to cancel her arranged marriage to the crown prince of Galgada, the dark & threatening kingdom to the north. She knows there's a plot to kill Az. If he gets involved in her affairs, the danger to him will be exponentially worse. She leaves for the marriage early. The prince she is to marry is nasty, cruel, and sheltered. Nina is determined to forget about her past life and forge a new one by sheer willpower. She will win over this blackhearted prince, Sett, or die.
When we learn more about Sett's backstory, the way he acts and thinks makes sense. ("I must be bound by the cruel hands of fate to live in this eternal emptiness," is typical of what he would say.) Nina isn't easily daunted. He does his best to make her want to flee, but keeping her home country and Az safe motivates her to press on. Other future wives have all run away due to the prince's mal-treatment. One of these abject women tried to kill prince Sett, but he killed her. In a small way, the dynamic is similar to Khal Drogo and Khaleesi in Games of Thrones, albeit a PG one. She's sold into marriage to a monster. There is zero chance for escape, his soldiers are everywhere with nothing else for furlongs. Most women aren't able to utilize sheer force to defeat a male foe, and physical ability is not Nina's forte. Nina has strength of the heart. Her mettle is her ironclad determination. Sett almost kills Nina, but she still won't give up. Before long, he starts to rely on her. They travel to the main castle and meet his 3 horrid brothers when the supreme ruler throws a monkey wrench into the works: It's declared that whichever prince wins Nina will be the next king. Ultimately, the goal is to invade Fortna, her country. They plan to use her as a means to manufacture an excuse to pick a fight with Fortuna.
As bad as Sett is, the other princes are worse. Furthermore, Sett seems to be getting used to her, and Nina starts to feel compassion for him. She is SET on carving out an acceptable life. She will NOT think of Az. She can't /have/ Az. But if she can keep Az and her homeland safe from this monster, she will be content.
Nina continues to make steady progress until the day that news reaches Nina from home. Fortna has a new king. It is Az! The former king abdicated. Fortna has sent messengers to make the announcement and invite the Galgada Royals to the spring coronation. Az is one of the messengers...
😢She thought she'd never see him again...
😖Her mission hasn't changed, though.
I love this show. My biggest complaint is that it might be too abbreviated. They could have stretched it out into more episodes. Therefore, it brushes up with being rushed, but it isn't. The art is of standard competence. It adds to the feature and doesn't detract. They incorporate simple features, old-style round eyes and a big color-palette of varied hair and eyes. I was sufficiently caught up in the story that I stopped noticing the art, which is unusual for me.
Nina's the Bride. Who's the groom? It looks lIke she's destined for Az, but she's made lots of progress with Sett and he does seem to need her. It would be a shame to watch him get the proverbial rug pulled out from under his love-life. Before Az showed back up, love was forming between Sett and Nina. He was filling himself up with her and she had true compassion and care for him. Viewers with a sensitivity to issues of abuse (sadly, that's an ever growing throng, these days) may find this show unsettling, particularly Prince Sett. One phenomena that I've noticed is that the public decides to collectively believe lies. The trope of the girl warrior is one of them. I do believe that there's plenty of women out there that could kick butt in the theater of war. However, if women were physically equal to men, then we would see them playing in the NFL. I'm pointing this out because I'm trying to be aware of the lies that we tell ourselves and to deal in only truth. If one finds one self getting angry at the truth, one should stop and reflect on why? The anger is coming from the tension of what one wants to believe and what one actually believes. Do not underestimate the power of humans' ability to lie to themselves. Physical power is not the only tool in a woman's drawer. I want women to fight with every weapon that they have. That is what Nina does. If a woman is faced with a threat, and overpowering that threat, physically, isn't an option, she should lie, cheat, cajole, and outsmart that threat by any and every means possible. I read a story of a woman who was kidnapped by sex slavers and she just kept talking and cracking jokes. Finally one of the men looked at the other and effectively said: "We'll let her go. She's funny." Never stop fighting. Never stop fighting or improving. Be the heroine of your own story.
The show ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, with Sett believing Nina's betrayed him. Nina is nowhere to be found! S2 looks like it won't happen. There's only one place for Nina to be found, it seems, and that's the manga. I'll be picking it up soon.
IMHO〰🖍
📣8.4 📝8.5 🎭8 💓6.5 🦋6 🎨7.6 🎵/🔊6.5 🔚? ▪ 🌞5⚡6 😅2 😭4.5 😱3.5 😯3.5 🤢3 🤔5 💤0 🤗8
Age 11+ mild sexual content. Rated: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older
Re-📺? 👍🏽
💘
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,
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
My Happy Marriage-8.3,
Real Girl-7.5,
My Happy Marriage-8.3,
Your Lie In April-9,
Violet Evergarden-9.5
BELLE-8.5,
Chaika The Coffin Princess 8.4,
Doctor Elise: The Royal Lady With the Lamp-6.5
Emma-7.8,
Girls und Panzer-8,
Here Comes Miss Modern-8,
Princess Principal 8.6,
