Genre: Animation, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Actor: Ikumi Hasegawa, Nobunaga Shimazaki
With the extra long title, 7th Time Loop (shortened for length) seemed like a generic royalty romance, with reincarnation used only as a means of skills acquisition. The story is practically that, but there’s something interesting about the way Rishe uses these skills (and the way these skills are written). While today’s women have more freedoms, there is still some discouragement towards pursuits outside of childbearing, with some hoping for a “lazy” domestic life, despite the statistics showing the home being the most dangerous place for women. 7th Time Loop acknowledges that danger– with Arnold being Rishe’s killer in her past life– while also acknowledging the importance of Rishe’s supposedly lazy domestic duties, like household administration, resource management, and education. The show values feminine skills as a means to avoid war, while also valuing women’s self-determination, and creating a tense enemies-to-lovers romance with organic stakes.