The Genius Prince's Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt

Episode 5

Writing a convincing genius character is tricky—doubly so if that character is the protagonist that the whole plot centers around. After all, not only do they have to appear smarter than average, their actions need to have a logical basis that the general audience can not only see but piece together themselves. Done well, this can lead to a wonderful "eureka" moment where all the pieces fall into place and everything becomes clear to the viewer. Done poorly, the “genius character” can feel less like a genius and more like someone cheating via magic, narrative conveniences, or deus ex machinas. To see which category Wein falls into, let's break down his plan for this episode.

The problem, as established at the end of the last episode, is that Wein's Kingdom is outnumbered 8-to-1 compared to the combined might of Marquis Antgatal and the Gairan provincial garrison. If it comes to war, Natra will lose. Thus, Wein sets in motion a two-tiered plan.

The first part is to approach Marquis Antgatal and lay all their cards on the table—telling him they know he is planning a rebellion. If he agrees to become Lowa's lapdog, they will let Marquis Antgatal pin the treason on the now-dead Gerard and retain his position (though in a diminished capacity). At the same time, Nanaki will keep the actual evidence of the treason safe in case things go wrong. If Marquis Antgatal agrees, then the plan ends here: Lowa would have gained both evidence of the rebellion to show her brothers and a political base with which she can pursue her own claim on the throne. However, if Marquis Antgatal refuses to let his son take the blame (or would rather have revenge at any cost), that's when the second part of the plan comes into play.

Wein has the advantage of information control. Only the people at the party know Gerard is dead. And while that information will eventually leak out, he has at least a few days to make preparations. During that time, he and Lowa will contact the head of the Gairan provincial garrison (not to be confused with Antgatal's personal troops) and propose a joint training exercise just inside imperial territory, leaving Wein a place to escape to should Marquis Antgatal opt for revenge. Additionally, Wein makes sure he can travel light in the event of an escape, forcing Marquis Antgatal to leave behind all but his fastest troops—and sandwiching him between the Narta army ahead and an army loyal to the imperial throne (i.e., Lowa) at his tail. At this point, Marquis Antgatal would have no choice but to throw himself at Lowa's mercy—once again netting Lowa both proof of the rebellion and the political base she is seeking in the first place.

Honestly, this is a fantastic plan that utilizes all of the information we've learned over the last few episodes in a logical manner. Better yet, everything doesn't even go fully as planned; spies from the Western nations attempt to assassinate Wein on the streets, providing an opportunity for Wein to demonstrate his ability to think on the fly as well.

This scene also works as a great bit of character development for Wein. He may be good with a sword, but he's far from invincible. Thus, when attacked by someone who might be able to best him in martial combat, he undermines his opponent mentally—throwing the would-be assassin off his game by overloading him with information and then playing with his expectations of “how nobles fight” to trick the man into losing an arm rather than be grazed by a throwing knife. With this, we are shown once again that Wein's battleground is one of the mind—and fighting there, he has yet to find an equal.

But while Wein's plan is both solid and believable, there is still a big issue with its presentation: the information it's built on wasn't nearly as clear in the anime as it should have been. Either this episode or the last one could have used one of those lessons with Princess Falanya to lay out the military structure of the empire in general—or at least Gairan in specific. Likewise, maps labeled in Japanese/English (so we can read the names of places) to show details like troop locations and movements would have been a big help in keeping everything straight on a geographical level; nametags/titles for newly appearing characters wouldn't hurt too. And lastly, there has to be a way to differentiate the western part of the empire from the kingdoms on the west side of the continent; calling both “the West” at different times only makes things super confusing.

Still, this was overall a fun climax to this three-episode arc. Wein feels like a believable tactical genius and watching everything fall into place is a real blast. At this point, it certainly does feel like the only thing Wein can't do is lose—especially when he wants to.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• It's interesting that Lowa feels that she can't pursue a romance with Wein because she doesn't feel she is his equal—despite her position in the nobility. To her, true equality is having a relationship of pure trust and honesty, like the one Wein and Ninym share.

• I like the glimpses into how Wein really feels beneath his outwardly calm and confident façade. His reaction to dodging that spear is not only funny, but serves to humanize him as well.

• I feel like the director was playing a bit with the sequence of events when it came to the end of the last episode. What happens in this episode only really works if Nanaki reports Gerard's death to Marquis Antgatal after Wein and Lowa set up the joint training part of the plan; in other words, the scenes with Marquis Antgatal are set in the present while all the ones with Wein and Lowa are flashbacks.

• So, what exactly is Ninym's court rank? I think she is referred to as an aide, but she's more like a chancellor or a prime minister with all the power she wields. I mean, not only does she lead troops in battle, but she also meets with foreign dignitaries on Wein's behalf.

The Genius Prince's Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt is currently streaming on Funimation.

Richard is an anime and video game journalist with over a decade of experience living and working in Japan. For more of his writings, check out his Twitter and blog.