REVIEW: ‘Love After World Domination,’ Episode 11 – “What’s The Point Of Getting Closer?”

Love After World Domination is a romantic comedy anime produced by Project No. 9. Having gotten her picture taken atop the Kokutei Moon with Fudo, Desumi returns to her regular routine. But when she realizes one of her fellow princesses always seems to be alone she sets out to bring the girl into her circle of friends in Love After World Domination Episode 11.

This week’s opening story sees Desumi attempt to befriend the solitary Geeko agent Judgment Princess. As Gekko’s premier spy and infiltration expert, Judgement makes it a point to not get too close to anyone. Love After World Domination Episode 11 doesn’t explain why Judgement concluded that this is necessary, but regardless of the reason, Desumi determines that she will coax the solitary soldier into being her friend. To this end, she invites Judgement and several other princesses to a “strategy meeting” in her dorm room.

This story follows a simple but sweet path as the princess bond throughout a sleepover. I appreciated how the show has Desumi approach coaxing Judgement out of her shell. While she tries to draw the girl out, she is never forceful or indifferent to her discomfort in her situation. This supportive yet respectful approach allows the story to be both sweet and supportive for Desumi’s new friend. When Judgement needs to step away, there is no pressure applied to her to do any more than she wants to.

The back half of Love After World Domination Episode 11 fares less well. Due to a battle atop a snowy mountain, Desumi comes down with a cold and is taken to the school nurse, who is another of Gekko’s princesses, Blood Princess. It is revealed that when Blood takes someone into her care her mothering instincts go so out of control that she causes her charges to regress into infants.

While this series has done some odd stuff before, seeing Desumi in an infant’s onesie and sucking on a pacifier while calling Blood “mommy” wasn’t on my Love After World Domination bingo card. I feel like the scene is intended to be humourous but there are no jokes or anything funny happening. It’s just all really weird.

The best aspect of this episode is the fact that we once again get to see one of our starring duo without the other for the bulk of the episode. While Desumi and Fudo are adorable together, it’s nice to see it reaffirmed that the two do have lives outside each other. Desumi and her misfit coworkers provide more than enough to carry the show’s story with barely a Gelato in sight, even if one of the stories may not have been worth telling.

The animation leans into both the sweet and the weird sides of this week’s episode with equal skill. As the show continues to deliver new characters and elements, the visuals manage to keep all the new arrivals feeling like they belong in this bizarre world.

When all is said and done, Love After World Domination Episode 11 is a mixed bag. While I thoroughly enjoyed Desumi’s kind attempts to make Judgement feel welcome, that pleasant tale is heavily tarnished by how poorly the second story wraps up the episode.

Love After World Domination Episode 11 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.