I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince Season 1 Anime Review - Review - Anime News Network
I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince So I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability (henceforth 7th Prince) is an anime that, on paper, sounds cool and, dare I say, relatable enough. I mean, if we were all fortunate enough to be reincarnated into wealth and power, wouldn't we all throw ourselves headfirst in our loves and hobbies? Such is the case for 10-year-old (at least physically) Prince Lloyd de Saloum, who used to be a commoner who loved magic, but didn't quite have an aptitude to match. But now, reborn as the seventh Prince of his kingdom, he spends his days completely immersed in the study of magic. And what's more, as Prince Lloyd, he has a lot more magical potential than he ever did in his previous life.
If you read that and were hoping for some kind of anti-capitalist commentary from this anime—something along the lines of how money can't buy happiness, but it can buy the time, security, and resources that'll allow you to pursue happiness—then unfortunately, you're going to have to look elsewhere. With a premise like 7th Prince's, it's fruit that's hanging so low it's practically on the ground. Yet despite how painfully obvious this is, to say nothing of how this could give this show some much-needed punch, 7th Prince never really goes for it. Or rather, 7th Prince doesn't really go for exploring any of the admittedly cool ideas that it has, this one—which is instead relegated to being a light subtext—especially. Similarly, even by the end, we know next to nothing about this universe's magic, even though it's Lloyd's dedication to it that forms the skeleton of this anime. Instead, rather than putting the world it built under the microscope, 7th Prince is more interested in having magical fights for some reason.
Don't get me wrong: Lloyd wanting to study how any given spell or type of magic works is the driving force that usually propels things forward. But I kind of buried the lede in my plot summary—usually, Lloyd's learning about something happens either because of or by way of an explosive magical battle. If nothing else, rest assured if his wanting to learn about a specific thing doesn't start with a magical battle, it'll at least end with one. And such is Lloyd's incredible magical talent, that he's able to master things ridiculously quick—say, mid-battle. So by the end of 7th Prince, it more closely resembles a run-of-the-mill power fantasy than anything else.
