The World Is Still Beautiful

The World Is Still Beautiful
Cover of Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii volume 1 published by Hakusensha.
それでも世界は美しい (Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii)
Genre	Fantasy, Comedy, Romance, Supernatural
Manga
Written by	Dai Shiina
Published by	Hakusensha
Demographic	Shōjo
Magazine	Hana to Yume
Original run	2012 – present
Volumes	10
Anime television series
Directed by	Hajime Kamegaki
Produced by	Marina Sasaki Shiro Ishihara Tomohiro Shindō Toshio Nakatani Yuka Ooshima
Written by	Shinzo Fujita
Music by	Kousuke Yamashita
Studio	Pierrot
Licensed by	^NA Sentai Filmworks
Network	NTV, FBS, STV, CTV, SUN, BS Nittele
Original run	April 6, 2014 – June 29, 2014
Episodes	12 (List of episodes)

The World Is Still Beautiful, also known in subtitle as Still World Is Beautiful (Japanese: それでも世界は美しい Hepburn: Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii, lit. "Even So, The World is Beautiful") is a Japanese manga series by Dai Shiina, serialized in Hakusensha's shōjo manga magazine Hana to Yume from 2012. Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii was first published as a one-shot in the same magazine in 2009, with a second one-shot published in 2011. It has been collected in ten tankōbon volumes as of June 2015. An anime television series adaptation by Pierrot aired between April 6, 2014 and June 29, 2014 on NTV.^[1]

Plot

Nike, the fourth princess of the Rain Dukedom and one who holds the power to call forth the rain, travels to the Sun Kingdom to marry Sun King Livius for her country, despite her own reluctance. She soon discovers that the King, who conquered the world in only three years after his ascendance to the throne, is still a child. Furthermore, for trivial reasons, he has demanded that Nike call forth the rain, and when she refuses, he has her thrown in jail. The story follows the two who, while at first are a married couple only in name, gradually begin to establish an emotional bond with one another.^[1]

Characters

Main characters

Nike Lemercier (ニケ・ルメルシエ Nike Rumerushie)

Voiced by: Rena Maeda

The fourth and youngest princess of the Rain Dukedom and Livius' love interest. She is the main protagonist of the story. She has the power to call forth the rain when she sings. She is sent, against her wishes (and because she lost a game of rock, paper, and scissor against her older sisters), to the Sun Kingdom to marry Sun King Livius so that her country can retain its autonomy. She discovers that the Sun King, who conquered the world in only three years after he ascended to the throne, is still a child. Although, initially distraught by her fate, Nike comes to love Livius and accepts her future as the "Sun Queen".

Optimistic, understanding, and stubborn but caring, Nike quickly gains the affection of the peoples as well as Livius, who clearly loves her. She is said to be more popular than Livius among the people in the Sun Kingdom as she seems to interact with them on regular basis and helps them out when she can. Nike is also very strong, as shown when she beat up four of the palace guards. She will also avenge herself, if she believe that any wrong has been done to her. For example, although Rani originally wanted to kill Nike and almost succeeded in doing so, Nike forgives him, but she also beats him up for carrying out the attempt on her life.

Livius Orvinus Ifrikia (Livius I) (リヴィウス・オルヴィヌス・イフリキア(リヴィウス一世) Riviusu Oruvinusu Ifurikia (Riviusu-Issei))

Voiced by: Nobunaga Shimazaki, Haruka Kudō (younger)

Livius is the king of the Sun Kingdom. In the three years following his enthronement he was able to conquer the rest of the world. While he is rumored to be a monster of some sort, he is actually still a child. Although his father was the former king, his mother was a commoner. While she was still alive, the two of them lived an isolated life in the castle because of his mother's low social status. Livius began his campaign to take over the world after his mother's death. He has a loyal butler who seems to understand him.

His abilities as a king are considerable. Not only was he able to cleanse his kingdom's government of corruption soon after his coronation, but he then methodically defeated each opposing nation one by one. Nike has noted that although Livius is just a boy, his eyes are those of an adult. He granted the Rain Dukedom autonomy, but in exchange, he told them to send a princess to become his wife. Nike was sent to him and he is fond of her and grows to love her.

After his mother's death, Livius grew cold and cruel and became distrustful of everyone around him. Neil, his butler, stated that this is because he doesn't know how to reach out to people, a trait he developed because he was constantly surrounded by enemies while growing up. This came about because of his mother's low social status. He and his mother lived a quiet, isolated life in his father's palace and were only able to rely on each other for support. After his mother's death, Livius began to show his true potential and he flourished, not stopping the expansion of his influence until the world was conquered. In a way, his campaign can be seen as a diversion to distract him from the pain of his mother's death.

As the story progress, Nike's presence and efforts to help the young King slowly begin to change him. On several occasion in the series, Livius can be very childish. Livius can also be very protective and violent when people that he cares about are threatened. He didn't hesitate to raise his sword against a person who attacked Nike, although Nike stopped him from killing the man. Later on, Livius reveals that he still harbors a much colder and crueler and if not an extremely jealous side. He imprisoned his uncle Bardwin and confined Nike to her room because he thought that Bardwin had seduced Nike and that she had fallen for Bardwin. He even threatened to burn her home kingdom to ashes, when Nike talked against him for sending Bardwin to prison.

Neil (ニール Nīru)

Voiced by: Tomokazu Sugita

Neil is Livius's butler and tutor who often accompanies Livius during his travels. He seems to understand Livius and he cares about him a great deal. When Nike arrives it is he who provides her with pertinent information and helps her fit in to her new life as Livius' prospective Queen.

Sun Kingdom

Bardwin Cecil Ifrikia (Bard) (バルドウィン・シシル・イフリキア (バルド) Barudouin Shishiru Ifurikia (Barudo))

Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai

Bard is Livius's uncle and the prime minister of the Sun Kingdom.

Sheila (シーラ Shīra)

Voiced by: Keiko Han

Sheila is Livius's mother and concubine of the former king of the Sun Kingdom.

Ranra (ランラ), Sūnya (スーニャ), Mikia (ミキア)

Voiced by: Ruriko Aoki (Ranra), Mizuki Ōtsuka (Sūnya), Uki Satake (Mikia)

Maids assigned by Livius I to attend Nike.

Vordan (ヴォーダン Vuōdan), Ratcliff (ラトクリフ Ratokurifu), Catesby (ケイツビー Keitsubī)

Voiced by: Shūichi Ikeda (Vordan), Kōsei Tomita (Ratcliff), Issei Futamata (Catesby)

Royal advisors of the Sun Kingdom.

Lani Aristes (ラニ・アリステス Rani Arisutesu)

Voiced by: Daisuke Namikawa

High priest from the Ministry of Priesthood of the Sun Kingdom.

Jaina (ジャイナ)

Voiced by: Kenji Nomura

Royal Chef of the Sun Kingdom.

Miranda (ミランダ)

Voiced by: Yoko Soumi

Reporter of the Sun Kingdom's Royal Family Bulletin.

Carl (カール Kāru)

Voiced by: Takeharu Ōnishi

The Sun Kingdom's top designer.

Rain Dukedom

Tohara (トハラ)

Voiced by: Chisa Yokoyama

Narrator of the series. Tohara is the previous sovereign of the Rain Dukedom, Nike's grandmother, and rain-summoning teacher.

Teteru Lemercier (テテル・ルメルシエ Teteru Rumerushie)

Voiced by: Toshiharu Sakurai

Teteru is the reigning duke of the Rain Dukedom, Nike's father and Tohara's son-in-law.

Iraha (イラハ)

Voiced by: Michie Tomizawa

Iraha is Nike's mother and the daughter of Tohara. She has always been sickly and often seen on her sickbed.

Mira Lemercier (ミラ・ルメルシエ Mira Rumerushie)

Voiced by: Mariya Ise

Mira is Nike's oldest sister. She is the first princess of the Rain Dukedom.

Nia Lemercier (ニア・ルメルシエ Nia Rumerushie)

Voiced by: Ai Kayano

Nia is Nike's second older sister. She is the second princess of the Rain Dukedom.

Kara Lemercier (カラ・ルメルシエ Kara Rumerushie)

Voiced by: Yuka Terasaki

Kara is Nike's third older sister. She is the third princess of the Rain Dukedom.

Kitora (キトラ)

Voiced by: Takayuki Kondō, Massa Kobayashi (child)

Kitora is Nike's cousin. He lost his parents when he was a child, so he and Nike were raised together by Tohara. It is implied that he has romantic feelings for Nike.

Aki (アキ)

Voiced by: Norihiro Inoue

Aki is member of the royal family of the Rain Dukedom. He is Tohara's nephew.

Others

Amaluna Luirasael (Luna) (アマルナ・ルイラサエル (ルナ) Amaruna Ruirasaeru (Runa))

Voiced by: Yuki Matsuoka

Luna is Livius's childhood friend and the first princess of the Sea Kingdom.

Media

Manga

No.	Title	Release date	ISBN
1	Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii 01 (それでも世界は美しい 1)	December 20, 2011[2]	ISBN 9784592188728
2	Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii 02 (それでも世界は美しい 2)	June 20, 2012[3]	ISBN 9784592194729
3	Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii 03 (それでも世界は美しい 3)	December 20, 2012[4]	ISBN 9784592194736
4	Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii 04 (それでも世界は美しい 4)	April 19, 2013[5]	ISBN 9784592194743
5	Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii 05 (それでも世界は美しい 5)	August 20, 2013[6]	ISBN 9784592194750
6	Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii 06 (それでも世界は美しい 6)	January 20, 2014[7]	ISBN 9784592194767
7	Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii 07 (それでも世界は美しい 7)	April 18, 2014[8]	ISBN 9784592194774
8	Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii 08 (それでも世界は美しい 8)	September 19, 2014[9]	ISBN 9784592194781
9	Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii 09 (それでも世界は美しい 9)	January 20, 2015[10]	ISBN 9784592194798
10	Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii 10 (それでも世界は美しい 10)	June 19, 2015[11]	ISBN 9784592215707

Anime

The opening theme is "BEAUTIFUL WORLD" by Joanna Koike, while the ending theme "PROMISE" and the insert song "Amefurashi no Uta 〜 Beautiful Rain 〜" (アメフラシの歌 ～Beautiful Rain～) performed by Rena Maeda.

Episode list

No.	Title	Original airdate[12]
01	"The Sun Kingdom" "Hare No Taikoku" (晴れの大国)	April 6, 2014
The rain princess arrives in the sun kingdom. Her things are stolen however and she has no way to reach the palace. For a few days she stays with some commoners and learns about their way of life. Then, when the elder sister is kidnapped by mistake, Nike rushes in to save her and uses her power over the weather to beat the lecherous men before forcing them to take her to the palace where her betrothed awaits. However, when she arrives she discovers that the sun king, the man who has conquered the world and is her betrothed, is merely a boy.
02	"The Rain Princess" "Ame No Kojo" (雨の公女)	April 13, 2014
Livius, the sun king, is turned out to be a boy and Nike is shocked. After finding out that Nike is the princess he summoned to be his bride. He orders her to use her power over the weather and bring forth rain. Enraged that her gift was being used for some petty entertainment, Nike tells him that she could not call her rain even if she so desired to, that she must first experience the beauty of the world. Livius brings out an assortment of things, from dresses to a wonderful meal. When he asks her if she can make rain yet she still refuses. Nike tells Livius that she meant the world as in the nature surrounding them. Later she is shocked to discover that Livius sees no beauty in the world. She is then determined to show him the beauty of the world. However things do not go as planned. An assassination attempt is made against Livius and Nike pushes him out of the way only to get hit herself. Thankfully the arrow was not poisoned nor did it hit anything vital. Livius is shocked though and sends Nike away by carriage. After Nike leaves another assassination attempt is made, this time by burning down the palace with Livius still inside. Nike see the smoke from the carriage and runs back to the castle. There she summons her rain in order to save Livius. Upon seeing the rainbow, Livius smiles.
03	"Chancellor's Declaration" "Kanpaku Sengen" (関白宣言)	April 20, 2014
A party is held to celebrate Nike, presented as the bride of Livius. A group of representatives went to the garden where Nike went and mocked her. Livius saw this and mocked them, he borrowed Nike's lap to sleep. Nike suggested him to take a little rest and reduce his workload and they had disagreement. Nike felt hurt and thought that her hope might be impossible seeing that he does not care at all. In her room, she sang and remembered her conversation with her mother. She was surprised to see the maids and thanked them for putting beautiful flowers in her room but they said that the king personally picked them everyday in order to let her feel at ease in an unfamiliar place. Nike smiled and said that he is an idiot. In the party, the party went pretty well but Nike still does not appear making a group to question her to Livius. Even Livius does not know where Nike is, his butler told him to trust in the princess he had chosen. After a moment, they heard a song and some petals went inside the hall surprising the people. Nike appeared in the stairs and thanked them for attending and then sang, there they saw the rain. They were mesmerized.
04	"Ring of Tales 1"	April 27, 2014
The Ministry of Priesthood must approve the marriage between royalty. They do not approve of foriengers like Nike, so they demand that she take the "Rite of Illumination" to prove that she is able to be the wife of Livius. She must venture into an underground cave, and find a temple. There, she must find an ancient ring to take back with her and use as her engagement ring.
05	"Ring of Tales 2"	May 4, 2014
Nike takes the "Rite of Illumination," but upon entering the cave to retrieve the ring, she faces the Ministry of Priesthood members. They attempt to assassinate her, but she escapes after meeting Livius in the cave, who followed after her. During the engagement ceremony, both Livius and Nike do not have their rings. Therefore, Nika uses her song to create a ring around the sun.
06	"Call My Name"	May 11, 2014
A childhood friend of Livius arrives, Luna of the ocean kingdom. She then makes Nike's life miserable by outdoing her at everything. Luna's jealousy reaches its peak when she sees Livius acting happy around Nike. The next day she challenges Nike to a game of chicken; racing their horses to the aqueduct, first one to stop loses, and if you don;t stop you fall and your life is forfeited. Nike accepts and they race. Luna falls after realizing that she cannot compare to Nike, who loves Livius for all his strengths as well as weaknesses. Nike saves Luna by summoning the wind. Luna leaves later on happy terms. Nike calls Livius by his given name.
07	"Wild Waltz"	May 25, 2014
Livius's uncle, Bard, comes home one day unexpectedly. He is popular with women and tries to seduce Nika. Bard, Nike, and Livius all attend a Banquet hosted by a nobilty. While Livius is out on the balcony, Bard takes Nike to her room. Nike finds out that Bard does not in fact love her, but was testing her. Livius finds them and puts Bard in jail.
08	"Shelter From the Rain" "Amayadori" (雨やどり)	June 1, 2014
Nike realizes that she wants to help Livius and Bard reconcile their feelings. She breaks Bard out of prison and sets up a plan to get Bard and Livius alone to talk to each other freely.
09	"The Principality of Rain" "Ame no Kōkoku" (雨の公国)	June 8, 2014
Nike receives a letter from the Principality of Rain, which says that Nike's grandmother Tohara collapsed and therefore wants to see Nike in case she should die. Nike remains silent about this until after she performs a rain summoning for the Sun King's guests. Livius points out that her rain wasn't what it usually was, which leads to Nike confessing what was written in the letter. Livius immediately cancels all of their plans so that he, Nike and his butler Niel can travel to the Principality of Rain to see Nike's grandmother together.
10	"A Righteous Country" "Tadashī kuni" (正しい国)	June 15, 2014
Nike was tricked and put into a prison that restrains her rain summoning power. Her grandmother has been plotting to erase the memory of Livius so that she could keep Nike with her. Luckily, Livius had already known this, and tries to find Nike. He encounters her grandma, and she throws the key to Nike's cell into the lake. She would not acknowledge Livius' and Nike's being together if he could not find the key.Livi is drowned by a huge wave, while Nike is attempting to break free from the cell by throwing her body against it. Unable to bear looking at her pain, Kitora, Nike's cousin, unlocks the cell and lets her go.
11	"A Passing Wind" "Tōrisugiru kaze" (通り過ぎる風)	June 22, 2014
Nike and Livius are dressed up and are celebrated by the people of principality of rain.
12	"Homecoming" "Kikan" (帰還)	June 29, 2014
Nika returns to the Sun Kingdom with her grandmother seeing her off.

References

1. "Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii Shōjo Manga Gets TV Anime in April". Anime News Network. January 13, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
2. "それでも世界は美しい 1 at s-book.net" (in Japanese). s-book. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
3. "それでも世界は美しい 2 at s-book.net" (in Japanese). s-book. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
4. "それでも世界は美しい 3 at s-book.net" (in Japanese). s-book. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
5. "それでも世界は美しい 4 at s-book.net" (in Japanese). s-book. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
6. "それでも世界は美しい 5 at s-book.net" (in Japanese). s-book. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
7. "それでも世界は美しい 6 at s-book.net" (in Japanese). s-book. Retrieved February 17, 2014.
8. "それでも世界は美しい 7 at s-book.net" (in Japanese). s-book. Retrieved May 6, 2014.
9. "それでも世界は美しい 8 at s-book.net" (in Japanese). s-book. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
10. "それでも世界は美しい 9 at s-book.net" (in Japanese). s-book. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
11. "それでも世界は美しい 10 at s-book.net" (in Japanese). s-book. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
12. "Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii episodes" (in Japanese). Nippon TV.

External links

• Official manga website (Japanese)
• Official anime website (Japanese)
• The World Is Still Beautiful (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia