Sorry I’m so very late on this one – I decided to space out the finales of the three shows I’m writing essays for so that I’d actually have a first draft of each done before I checked out the finale of the next, and Sekai Seifuku unfortunately drew the short straw. That’s not its fault, though – of the three (Kill la Kill, Samurai Flamenco, and Sekai Seifuku), I’d say this is easily the best show, and I’m very excited to see it end. All of its ideas and characters have bounced off each other, exposed new reflections, and finally come together, and it’s looking like everything will end with the father who spurned his family and the little girl who accepted everyone into hers. A bright spot in a very lousy season, Sekai Seifuku has always maintained a great sense of wonder and magic buoyed by both a general atmosphere of melancholy and the sharp edges of the truths it’s toying with. I’ve come to really care about this family, and though the show itself is basically a living demonstration of how often families don’t work out, I’d like to see a happy ending for these characters.
So let’s conquer the world.
Episode 12
0:28 – Welp, looks like we’ll be getting that Egret turn any minute now
0:35 – Another character with a family that values her unmasked self. Otherwise she’d be in Zvezda by now
1:42 – About as classic of a shot as you can get. Appropriate that our storybook fable is ending with the storybook confrontation with the evil king
1:53 – Wow, what a loaded choice of words. So he thinks his father is the child here?
2:08 – Ono her antenna
2:12 – Yeap. The definition of villainy here
2:17 – Excellent. Ties both into one of Kate’s overt powers, her crazy speeches, as well as her willingness to let people not be convinced
2:28 – ONO SMOKING
2:29 – Spoken like a true demeaning father. Everything he says is the opposite of what Kate would say
2:57 – Well that’s interesting
3:04 – And a straight mirror of Kate’s choice from two episodes ago. “The world’s a messed up place, Kate. Are you sure you still want to conquer it?” “Of course!” Conquering is acceptance. Conquering is love
3:19 – As Kate spreads her confidence and faith
3:23 – I feel like I’m pausing too often, but every goddamn line rings out the themes and messages of this series so fucking well. This series is this season’s saving grace
3:41 – Itsuka can’t keep up the tough girl act without her mask, and instead reverts to the girl who sleeps with a plushy of the sister she idolizes
3:46 – They’re acting like children, and so he dismisses their complaints. But does that mean their complaints aren’t valid?
4:46 – “Counter-terrorist Peacekeeping Mascot” oh my god
5:33 – That’s all any of them wanted. To live as they wished and be cared for in spite of that. That’s the very first scene of the show
5:43 – Love with conditions isn’t Zvezda’s kind of love
6:21 – Yep. And yeah, it is selfish. But that childishness, that insistence on having things your way, is a power that can change the world
8:17 – Goddamnit Roboko
10:28 – Man, so good. Getting Itsuka’s arc in right at the end here, in a way that again ties together the whole secondary family drama and Kate’s power of believing in people. You see, people? This is why series composition is important. This is why you don’t start a story without the ending in mind – everything should contribute to one beautiful, cohesive fabric
10:41 – Kate only wants her people to be happy
11:09 – So her “mask” is actually a sign of Kate’s faith in her. Also that’s adorable
12:06 – KATE’S FINAL FORM
12:08 – This family’s so great. This episode is really, really killing it
13:33 – So great
13:43 – SO GREAT
14:25 – Okay everything is great. Including this triumphant remix of the OP
14:50 – Egret is literally fighting to Protect That Smile. Ermahgerd
15:34 – Yeah, this can’t end without someone saving Jimon’s father from himself
16:16 – Kate is the best leader
16:22 – See, the difference between this and Kill la Kill’s “what the hell are you talking about” villain line is thatevery single thing in this show has built to this moment. It has absolute power, absolute weight
16:25 – In a way, yes
17:00 – Gorgeous line. This episode is killing me
17:39 – AGAINST ALL ODDS
18:39 – Why not tie in EVERYTHING! Jimon’s reluctance to commit to Zvezda, Kate’s focus on sharing family dinners, “I will share my snacks and the world with you.” Why not have just the most perfect ending possible
20:30 – And of course we end up here again
21:18 – YES CAKE MAN LIVES
21:26 – Oh my god that old man doing the salute so perfect
22:18 – Nah it looks great
23:19 – America has the tackiest villains
And Done
Oh man, what a perfect ending. What an absolutely, wonderfully, beautifully perfect ending. I don’t think this was a perfect show, but that ending was absolutely flawless, and did so much work to pull all these pieces together. I even got a little misty in the middle there, which is a pretty rare thing. Everyone’s arcs were wrapped up in a satisfying manner, all the ideas about family, childhood, and identity collided, and there were a bunch of funny, silly highlights all throughout. Sekai Seifuku was easily the best show of this winter season, and this finale exhibited the show at its best. As always when a great show ends, I’m a little sad that it’s over, but more happy that it ended so well – a great ending means this is a show I’ll be sure to come back to and enjoy again. You’ve conquered me, Sekai Seifuku. Well done.
Itsuka’s little backstory in the midst of this episode was the highlight of the episode for me. All in all, the show never goes out of its way to condemn the masks people wear. It has the capacity to allow people to believe they can be more honest, like Renge, and more fortuitous, like Itsuka. They are our personas, the different faces we show to different people based on the contexts and circumstances we find ourselves. They are what make us, the caveat being all of them. Unlike Miki initially, no one mask defines who we are absolutely. When the situation calls for it, we must be able to take them off and embrace our other facets. That’s what it means to be a person, to be multi-faceted, to be able to express our multi-faceted selves, so that when business has concluded, we are able share the table at supper with friends and family and enjoy the spices served: of food, of conversation. Of life.
That being said, I do think the show leans too heavily on its comedic conveniences to drive the narrative, even towards the end, an inconsistent watch, but an enriching watch, all the same.
Yeah, Itsuka’s mask being a symbol of Kate’s faith in her was a fantastic touch. A very nice way to drive home the ways masks can be positive forces as well.
I was totally fine with the overt narrative being resolved in silly ways, personally – this is a story about people and families, not a story about the details of world conquest. I think the show’s own priorities were resolved in a satisfying way, and so I was satisfied by the ending.
Loved how they brought back everything Kate had “conquered” over the course of the show and I found rewatching the earlier episodes quite rewarding.
So, what exactly was the smoke supposed to represent in the grand scheme of things? Fear? The past? Cynicism? Or is there no exactly and it just embodies a multitude of things? All of these things seem to have a negative connotation in comparison to Kate’s progressive way of thinking “May the light of Zvezda shine upon you!”
Smoking seemed pretty loosely defined – its most consistent significance seemed to be as an icon of simplistic antagonism tied to the role of adults in this world.
Loved where they took their ideas to in this series. They manage to tie both the family and conqueror of the world (politic) aspects of the show in a beautiful way. MC calling his dad immature was perfect and so was pretty much every line in this episode. Make me wish Zvezda would conquer our world.
Weird how some people wonder if there would be a sequel. I don’t see need for any after this.
Well, it’s based on ongoing source material, but this is basically how I feel about the Gargantia and Psycho Pass sequels. While the story is technically incomplete, it’s already said all it needed to say and any more seems unnecessary.
It’s not based on any source material, it is an anime original. I would love to see a sequel, but I don’t think it needs one. However I trust the creators of this show to onlu do a sequel if they actually have more to say, rather than a cashgrab. This is what’s happening with Psycho-Pass as Urobuchi has stated that he wanted to tell more of the story and he was waiting for a sequel to ve greenlit. Unfortunately Sekai Seifuku’s sales may not warrent a sequel even if they want to tell one, so if they do get one there is no way it will be a cashgrab
Oops, my mistake. I saw Guy at Geekorner talking about manga cover art and just assumed that was the case.
I understand that this was meant to be kickstarting a multimedia franchise with manga, VN and the such. Well, plot-wise it’s an open ending even if it wraps up thematically. So they might just want to use the same characters to tell a different story. Personally, I find those USA villains’ designs too good to be let to waste like this, my fanboy-ish side wants to see something more of them :D.
Yeah, that ending was a pretty transparent “the adventure continues!” kinda thing, not a sequel-bait. This season concluded the story pretty perfectly.
Deep behind its “nonsense nature”, Zvezda is a very good anime.
Anime nowadays are
1. non-exist perfection (moe) or
2. pretense to be smart, or
3. childish action fantasy
But Zvezda is not same as those anime. No moe, no pretense to be smart, action is not important. So what is its point?
It is “real good” vs “real evil”. Kate is the embodiment of wise and good ruler, who treats her subject as family member. Jimon, on the other hand, is our everyday politician, who become corrupted by the system. And that explain why Kate is both ancient and eternal child. Because Kate is the dream of people since ancient times, a dream that is considered childish (by people like Jimon). In short, Sekai Seifuku is the world conquest executed by good people.
It satisfied the dream of people, not of those minority people who want to escape reality, but of the majority who want to improve reality.
That’s a very interesting read of the series. Personally, I saw the distinction between good and evil more a reflection of the show’s Kate-centric worldview than its overt contrast, but I also focus on the power of dreams in my own thoughts on it. Sekai Seifuku is really damn good that way – it provides tons of evocative touchstones, and has enough core truth to support some very different but also very compelling interpretations.
This episode was fantastic and I agree with pretty much everything stated here but there is one problem I have with it. The pacing of this episode kind of sucked. Everything happened too quickly and it felt really awkward. Other than that, I’m glad I didn’t watch this while it aired and instead waited to marathon it. It was worth the wait.
It was a speedy episode, but for some reason I didn’t really have a problem with it. I’m glad you enjoyed the show overall though – I’ll hopefully have a little piece on it out next week!
I look forward to it!