The following contains spoilers for Black Summoner Episode 8, “Returning to Parth and the Goddess Arrives,” now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Dark Summoner is a fairly typical but fun isekai fantasy series from the summer 2022 anime, and while it’s fairly conventional in many ways, Dark Summoner finds charming little ways to tweak the isekai formula and entice viewers with all-new possibilities in this subgenre. For example, what happens if an isekai guest goes straight from zero to queen? It’s quite a leap.
Such is the case with Dark Summonerthe new character of, Queen Tsubaki Fujiwara of the Japanese-influenced Toraj Kingdom. Kelvin meets her in Episode 8, and the two have a lot in common, being fellow Japanese isekai guests in a fantasy world. Tsubaki may be royalty, but she can still relate to Kelvin in many ways, which makes her feel good.
Queen Tsubaki Fujiwara summons and greets Kelvin’s group of heroes to her court in Episode 8, and she congratulates them on defeating the Black Wind crime gang as well as killing troublesome monsters inside the borders of Toraj. The reunion goes off without a hitch, although it does have some fun and intriguing twists. Kelvin, as a Japanese himself, recognizes Tsubaki for who she is, though she lacks most memories of her pre-isekai life. Queen Tsubaki is Japanese, just like him, and there’s no doubt that she was summoned to this fantasy world some time ago and ended up becoming a world leader. It’s unclear how this incredible build-up happened, but for now, Kelvin doesn’t care.
Instead, her only reward desired by the queen is authentic Japanese cuisine, specifically sticky white rice. Queen Tsubaki, amused and delighted with Kelvin’s humility, immediately rewards him, and Efil, Kelvin’s elf friend, learns the recipe to cook these dishes herself in the future. This wholesome scene, in short, helps to emphasize Dark Summoner, reminding fans that this is a happy, laid-back series where fun trumps drama. Kelvin is pretty OP as a hero, as are many isekai prospects, so like them he makes up for it with fun and escapism.
That’s just what My Isekai LifeYuji’s hero did it with his hilarious love of steak, for example, and Rimuru Tempest is also subject to comedy in his own anime. Queen Tsubaki also follows this trend, defining herself more by her graceful and warm personality than by her royal status. It is not a power trip; she’s simply a lovely lady and friend who also happens to be Toraj’s brilliant ruler. This makes it much more accessible for both Kelvin and viewers.
Queen Tsubaki Fujiwara’s status as isekai royalty reminds anime fans that there is more than one way to portray a “zero to hero” character arc in anime. Even though Tsubaki wields tremendous political and cultural power as Queen of Toraj, she is not a cheap power fantasy, or at least not in the traditional sense. OP heroes like Rimuru, Kelvin, Yuji, and Ainz Ooal Gown run the risk of becoming indulgent power trips to please viewers, and it can get superficial and boring pretty quickly. Any forgettable isekai series can depict an OP hero demolishing his enemies with devastating magic, almost like he’s cheating in a JRPG title. Queen Tsubaki proves that power comes in many forms, some of them far more selfless than others.
Based on the events of Episode 8, Queen Tsubaki is a fair, intelligent, kind, and highly capable leader for all the people of Toraj. She is powerful, but selflessly, working hard for the good of all her subjects instead of going on a power trip. Tsubaki is confident and comfortable in her role, but it’s about the good of her nation, not herself. She made herself isekaier in this world so she could be part of something bigger than herself, even if she happens to sit on top of that something.
It’s a refreshing and inspiring take on the “get isekai’d and go OP” concept, and the anime could have more characters like it. Not that characters like Kelvin are obsolete, but maybe that’s a direction the isekai subgenre should focus on and reduce the fact that characters like Kelvin and Yuji take center stage. Elsewhere, half the appeal of Rimuru Tempest is being the benevolent and wise ruler of a nation, and Queen Tsubaki is like that too. As weird as it sounds, isekai might have more royalty and less “hax0r” JRPG style power triggers.
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