Zero Subjects, But Plenty of Heart

The anime starts with Dias. Coming from a poor background, Dias is able to rise through the ranks to Knight. He becomes famous for his heroics, which results in a Lordship title from the king and a remote land in the Nezrose territory so Dias can start a settlement of his own. When Dias arrives at his new land, he stumbles across several unwelcome surprises. The land is remote and barren, with no food sources around. The land is also already controlled by the Onikin tribe, who hide their village from unexpected travelers. Knowing his situation, what is Dias to do? 

I found Dias to be an interesting character. The Onikin and the king’s children found Dias to be a fool. He went to make a settlement in a land that he knew nothing about, with no money or food at that. However, people soon find out that he is better in other ways. 

Dias is a kind soul. He grew up as an orphan and knew what it felt like to be unprotected. That is why he defends so many kids from the orphanage and helps raise them. He is also kind to the other soldiers and to the townspeople that he fights to protect. He works to try to save as many people as possible without leaving people behind. Dias is also stronger than the average knight with almost inhuman-like abilities. It was easy to see why so many people find him heroic and root for him. 

I also liked Dias’s relationship with the Onikin. He finds out that the land that the king had granted him was stolen from the Onikin. Instead of trying to take the land by force, Dias tries to prove himself to the Onikin and respect their boundaries. The Onikin let Dias use some of their land because they valued not only how strong he was, but also his ability to listen and learn from others. It is kind of a refreshing take given the way colonization usually ends up with the original landowners killed or forced off of their homeland. 

It was interesting to see what Dias did with the land that the Onikin allowed him to use. He took in people who were outcast or didn’t have a home. Every villager was required to do a task, but Dias made sure that the tasks assigned were within a person’s skill set. Above all else, anybody was welcome to join Dias and his small settlement. 

That one act by Dias created two opposing thoughts while watching the anime. One is that I was happy to see that in Dias’s settlement, everybody got along and was encouraged to become a part of something bigger. However, the pessimistic side of me wonders how long Dias’s ideal would last before he or others became corrupt and ruined everything. The real world would suggest that Dias’s goals would be tossed aside, with a lot of countries now closing their borders to foreigners who are in need. Part of me wants to hope that I am wrong, though. 

There was one thing that bugged me about the show while watching: the relationship between Alna (age 15) and Dias (in his 30s). Alna has expressed wanting to become Dias’s bride and often refers to him as her husband. Dias immediately shut that down, but it doesn’t seem to dissuade Alna’s efforts. Nothing romantic develops between the two, though.

It seems to be the norm on shows to have kids treated as adults (Game of Thrones rings a bell). There were so many ways the relationship between Dias and Alna could have gone wrong, and I am glad the focus was on Alna and Dias working to build a community instead of Dias taking advantage of someone younger than him. I wish that there were more of that kind of relationship instead of something sinister that a lot of shows veer towards. 

Overall, I really liked the anime. I found watching Dias and his people build a community to be very engaging and calming. It was nice to see people not squabble about their different cultural beliefs and backgrounds. Everyone’s goals are in alignment because of respect and dedication. It makes me wish that was the reality that we were facing rather than what is currently happening in society right now.