Shironeko Project: Zero Chronicle (Episode 9) - The Queen of Light and the Prince of Darkness

The Queen of Light ponders her encounters with the Prince of Darkness and how together they may change the world. Meanwhile, the King of Darkness has no such intentions and launches a full-scale assault.

What happened?

In the Kingdom of Light, the Queen is preparing for an attack. Sightings of the darkness have increased and she’s getting little to no time to recover. This has put Phious on edge and leads him to abandon his post in search of a way to heal her. Of course, his timing couldn’t be any worse as the King of Darkness sends an army to defeat the Kingdom of Light for good.

The Prince of Darkness, who has been questioning the King’s decisions far too openly for his own good soon finds himself and Lady Groza on a mission to defeat some monsters that are too dangerous for regular soldiers. While they are away and distracted, the King makes his move. Could he be trying to kill two birds with one stone?

Shironeko Project ZERO Chronicle Episode 9 The Prince of Darkness and Lady Groza

What did you think?

It looks like we’re getting ready for the final encounter and I’m still preparing for a dark and tragic ending. I say that, but there’s no real need to prepare, it’s not like we’ve grown familiar with the characters. Unfortunately, it’s all pretty boring, once more. I feel like the pacing has been all over the place and the key things have been far too in your face to take seriously. For example, the Prince of Darkness is far too open with his ideas, especially about the King, and even more so when he’s talking with Vallus who he knows works under the King. Then, when you add Phious going on some quest which involves going into a cave that few have ever returned from, you quickly realise that there is no subtly in this story.

Shironeko Project ZERO Chronicle Episode 9 The Queen of Light

What have you learnt?

This series is an odd one. At times, the animation is stunning and I feel like I could watch it forever and then, in the next frame, it looks terrible. It has a killer OP and ED, and yet, with all those things going for it, the story is flat, dull, and incredibly boring. Yes, those are all pretty much the same thing, but it’s important to hammer that point home. The ideas behind the story aren’t anything new and have been done better. If you’re going to take on a well-worn story, you need to either give it a fresh twist or it’s got to be engaging. This series, unfortunately, doesn’t do either of those things.