7th Time Loop – Season 1 Episode 1 Recap & Review

The Fiancé Who Killed Me

7th Time Loop Episode 1 begins with a brutal sword fight as Arnold Hein enters the palace. Four swordspersons stand in his way to protect Prince Dietrich, but he skillfully tackles them. Last amongst the four is Riesche Irmgard, who puts up a decent fight but gets stabbed through the chest by him.

Just then, the clock turns, and Riesche finds herself standing before the prince as he annuls their engagement. She instantly agrees and leaves, while he stands surprised. She reveals that this is the seventh time she has relived her life.

Riesche begins to narrate her first life. She receives the news of the annulment, and Prince Dietrich humiliates her in front of the entire court. Following that, she also gets disowned by her parents. She walks and comes across a group of merchants. She befriends them and tags along with them on their journey. She learns to trade under the chief and then sets out on her own as a merchant. This life unfortunately comes to an end after she gets swept up in a war.

Riesche then begins to narrate her second life. She is astonished to find herself in front of Prince Dietrich, but he continues to scoff at her. She then leaves for home, hoping to collect things before meeting the merchants. Unfortunately, she is late to intercept the merchants and instead uses the money to travel the seas and study medicine. Once again, she gets swept up in a war.

The scene now switches to her third life. After getting the annulment, she gathers her belongings and travels to specialize in the branch of study that she had done in her previous life. She also makes acquaintance with a genius scholar in the field, Doctor Michel Evan. This life also ends after getting swept up in war.

Riesche spends her fourth life as a handmaid in a duke’s household and disguises herself as a man to fight as a knight in her sixth life. She meets her end in each one. In the seventh life, she plans to do things differently. As she is leaving the castle after the annulment, she plans to jump out of a window.

She accidentally bumps into Prince Arnold in the hallway. He is surprised to know she already knows his name, considering it is his first time being around. She quickly flees after telling him about her recent annulment, and he is surprised to see her jump out of the balcony.

As Riesche arrives at her home, she finds the prince standing at her gates along with her mother. The prince tries to humiliate her in front of everyone, but it backfires on him as she isn’t impacted by the annulment. Just as she tries to flee, Prince Arnold abruptly strikes her with a sword, but she reflexively blocks it. Impressed by this, he goes down on one knee and asks her to marry him at the end of 7th Time Loop Episode 1.

The Episode Review

7th Time Loop Episode 1 marks the beginning of this fantasy romance novel and sets the tone for the rest of the season. The anime follows a young girl, Riesche, as she gets stuck in a time loop beginning on the night of her annulment with the prince.

Prince Dietrich is the spitting image of a spoiled brat, characterized by strong entitlement and a fragile ego which has been exploited very well in this episode. Riesche is a beautiful girl, and the episode also adds a lot of depth to her and displays character evolution within the episode.

We see her going from being scared of the annulment to running away confidently on her own throughout the loop. She also evolves into a fearless girl who becomes a merchant and pursues her education. However, once she meets Prince Arnold, that version of her almost melts away.