The Twelve Kingdoms

Episodes 37-39

It's been a long and winding road to get here, but at last “A Great Distance in the Wind, The Sky at Dawn” has finally concluded, and concluded so hard it actually has two credits sequences just to assure us that it's over. Sitting here I'm confused as to what the remaining 6 episodes could be, but that's a question for another time. For now there's way more than enough to cover from this trio of episodes as dozens of names, characters, and plot threads are all woven together into an astonishingly affirming climax.

Ironically the big fantasy battles are the least engaging part of all this. Partially that's because there's so many moving parts and convoluted plans involving separated, off-screen forces of varying numbers that it's easy to lose track of who's attacking and why. Don't get me wrong, there are some great moments like Kaitan revealing his identity as a Bear Hanjyuu and single-handedly overturning a line of medieval horse-tanks. That's rad as fuck. But these battles are largely perfunctory in order to facilitate the overaching conflict of political corruption and civilian rebellion. So the key moment is when Youko confronts Shoukou (try saying that five times fast) and reveals herself as Queen Kei, to which the smug bastard just chuckles and assigns this whole rebellion as his long-awaited answer from the Heavens. It's pretty darn infuriating, but it shows just how disconnected this pseudo-solipsist has become from the reality of his actions. For him, there's no fear or humanity in being forced to answer for his crimes, just poetic justice, as if the world itself is a narrative built around his arc as a person. And in a less complex story that might be the case, but Twelve Kingdoms has proven time and again it's a story larger than a single person, and that becomes clear as our three heroines finally converge.

That's the central sequence of this entire conflict, really. With Youko, Suzu, and Gyokuyo finally brought together, now comrades in rebelling against Wa Province's rulers, they take a moment to reflect on the emotional journey that brought each of them here, and for such personal stories they find a surprisingly universal thread running through them. Suzu and Gyokuyo both see their past selves in the countless frightened, beleaguered people of Wa who can't find it in them to stand with the rebels. A generation of gritting their teeth and bearing the injustices of those in power has left them more willing to suffer the evil they know than risk a new one in fighting for their rights. It's a grim idea that could easily feel judgmental, but delivered through the personal stories of this cast it feels like tough but compassionate analysis. That this spurs Youko to tell them her true identity is a big part of that. She's come a long, long way from the start of her own journey, but she still holds sympathy for those who haven't, and as a show of solidarity she exemplifies exactly how much she has changed by vowing to solve the problems her inexperience allowed to fester.

Doing so turns out to be more straightforward than you'd expect, mostly thanks to Seikyou overplaying his hand and deploying the Royal Army to subdue the rebels. This both makes clear to Youko just how far up the corruption of this whole thing runs, and immediately lets her reclaim power in one move, all because the minister underestimated what type of queen she is. Considering she did claim the throne by personally killing her would-be usurper I don't get why he thought she'd shrink from a fight, but I thank him for his poor judgment, giving us the beautifully cathartic moment of Youko standing above her own generals and ordering an entire army to stand down. That is, both literally and colloquially, Queen Shit right there. There are still a few episodes left, but I already suspect this will be the true peak of Twelve Kingdoms just for how satisfying a pay-off it is.

Unfortunately such a big moment is followed up by a pretty underwhelming one. I've been critical of Asano's whole presence this arc, and that's mostly because he's felt totally ancillary to what's happening with everyone else. That's probably a consequence of being an anime-only character surrounded by source-material conflicts, but it meant any screentime spent on him felt like it was taking away focus from everyone else, and that extends to his death. I imagine in a different story it might mean something to me, but as a character he was thoroughly uninteresting and his relationship with Youko was totally underdeveloped, so his passing mostly feels like a distraction. The attempt to build up his death as a meaningful loss for Suzu or Youko is admirable, but it just doesn't work, and I'm glad this arc doesn't finish on that scene.

Instead, we wrap up on Youko's first decree as Queen, and while not the one I expected it's probably even more powerful than anything I could have come up with. She does away with the policy of prostration towards royalty, as both a physical and symbolic act of fighting the power-hungry cruelty that led to Shoukou and his collaborators in the first place. It's a call for those in power to face those they rule/serve straight-on, and forces them to earn the respect they demand for their position. More practically it means that if anyone wants to try lying to her again, they'll have to look Youko dead in the eyes while they do it, but it also directly challenges the existing power structure of Kei in a highly visible way. I said before I was interested to see what kind of kingdom Youko will build with her unique background, and this gives a very fascinating glimpse into that.

Overall, this arc proved to be a strong return to form for Twelve Kingdoms. It had its issues with pacing and some rough edges, but if this were to serve as the show's finale I'd come away pretty happy with it all. That does, however, leave me with some trepidation about the remaining episodes. With just a handful left I have no clue what they could be about or how anything they do could wrap up this story better than what we've already got. But, even if the conclusion ends up a step down, I can very gladly reminisce about what preceded it.

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The Twelve Kingdoms is currently streaming on Crunchyroll and Amazon Prime Video.