For a century, the Kingdom of Dowa and its federation of 13 distinct and diverse nations (now known as districts) united under a single monarchy has continued its existence in peace and stability without much fanfare. This fortune has been credited to the work of the bureaucratic agency known as ACCA-13 that manages the Kingdom and provides government services. However, under this guise of multicultural solidarity and coexistence brews a conspiracy to overthrow the monarchy, threatening to end the 100 years of peace and stability that the Kingdom has enjoyed. With the fate of the Kingdom at play, senior officers of ACCA-13 and members of the Dowa family move to use the situation to their own ends, and at the center of this tale of conspiracies and political intrigue sits Jean Otus of ACCA-13's Inspection Department.
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| Deputy Chief Jean Otus with his iconic tobacco and lighter. |
The Dowa Kingdom and the Federation of 13 Districts
In episode 2, we learn a little about the history of the Kingdom of Dowa, namely its violent past and the origins behind the creation of ACCA-13. Roughly 200 years ago, the Kingdom of Dowa united the 12 other nations under its banner leading to the creation of the federation. However, this was short lived as just after 50 years, the 12 nations attempted to secede, leading to a violent struggle for independence.
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| The 13 districts that make up the Dowa Kingdom |
The coup d'etat attempt by the 12 nations ultimately failed and the Dowa Kingdom was able to reassert its supremacy, and in order to prevent a future civil war, the Dowa Kingdom negotiated and granted semi-autonomy to the 12 nations and established ACCA-13, a civilian agency that was independent from the Dowa monarchy to manage the Kingdom and to provide government services. The non-militarized nature of ACCA-13, along with its independence from the Dowa family was specifically arranged to emphasize and guarantee autonomy of the districts and to ensure equitable distribution of power in the administration of the Kingdom. Interestingly, the name behind ACCA-31 comes from a since extinct bird called Acca, which symbolizes peace.
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The extinct bird of peace, Acca. |
ACCA-13
Established after thwarting the coup d'etat attempt by the 12 districts, ACCA-13 is a bureaucratic agency responsible for maintaining peace and stability of the Kingdom by providing government services. Additionally, while not explicitly stated as its mission, the Dowa family likely sought to use ACCA-13 as an oversight mechanism to monitor and deal with dissenting elements to prevent another coup d'etat attempt.
Structurally, ACCA-13 is a sprawling leviathan that has numerous departments such as the Police Department, Internal Affairs, and the Inspection Department. With its Headquarters situated at the affluent metropolis that is the Badon district, ACCA-13 is able to exert near complete control and oversight over the 13 districts through its branch offices at each of the districts. And to ensure proper administration of each district, officers of the Inspection Department travel to the branch offices to conduct audits on its own members. At the top of ACCA-13 sits the Five Chief Officers who serve as the highest deliberating body within the agency who then delegates execution of their decision to the Director-General.
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| The organizational structure of ACCA-13. |
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| The Five Chief Officers, from left to right: Pine, Grossular, Lilium, Spade, Pastis |
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| Director-General Mauve. |
Jean Otus
Born and raised in the Badon district, Jean Otus is the oldest child of Schnee and Karl Otus, who passed away from a train accident. Having inherited his parents' role as manager of a high-rise apartment complex, Jean lives a mundane but enjoyable life with his sister Lotta Otus, who both share a love for sandwich breads and dining out with their childhood friend Nino.
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| Jean, Lotto, and Nino enjoy an outing. |
During the day, Jean Otus works as the Deputy Chief of ACCA-13's Inspection Department, alongside Chief Owl and his several lively colleagues who always find time to snack on sweets during work hours. Per his duties as Inspection officer, Jean frequently travels to the 13 districts to conduct audits on the work of ACCA-13 officers, but is more often than preoccupied with his sister Lotte's demands for souvenirs. While he normally visits each district once every two years, he is given sudden instructions to audit all 13 districts in just 6 months per instructions from the Five Chief Officers.
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| Jean brings souvenirs from his audits for his colleagues. Chief Owl pictured in fore. |
While Jean is often overlooked for his nonchalant demeanor and his disarmingly droopy eyes, behind this unremarkable facade hides a complex character filled with duality. Born of average parents, Jean professes that he has no money nor connections, but is the manager of a fancy apartment building home to elites and senior government officials. And although he laments that his salary as a Headquarters officer is lower than that of Badon's branch officers despite being in the same district, he is never seen without a cigarette, which are so expensive and heavily taxed that they are called "hobby of rich folk". Furthermore, despite his responsibility as an Inspection officer to oversee and prevent corruption and fraud within ACCA-13, he is quick to overlook such instances, brushing them off as being "out of his jurisdiction", hinting at his inclination to play by his own morals over rigid rules. And finally, despite having no grand aspirations or strong feelings about the current political system, Jean finds himself swept up in a plot to overthrow the Dowa monarchy.
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