Another day in the mansion, another day of silliness but we got some new characters! We meet Rob the butler, who brings in some fun energy in the mansion with his superhuman feats in chores and his terrible eyesight. We also get to meet the Duke’s younger sister, Viola. She’s not really a character personality I tend to like, but she does seem to care about her brother (even though she denies it) and I’m glad she’s not afraid of him. Also, her having a crush on Rob is both weird but hilarious.
This was a pretty simple episode, not going to lie. We meet Rob and Viola, and I liked the cat chase we got this episode. I’m glad it was funny because they could have made it sad if the cat accidentally touched the Duke and died. I can understand why the Duke is so terrified of animals because he’s very correct in saying that animals are unpredictable and you never know if they’ll just jump on you. Dogs would probably be way worse for him. So I’m glad the situation didn’t go south and make me sad. Rob chasing both the Duke and the cat was very hilarious.
Talking about comedy is pretty hard, but there were some nice emotional moments as well. I’m glad the show does this as I think they balanced it in this episode better than last week’s. The Duke and Alice continue to have great chemistry, and while the teasing was still present it wasn’t as boring as last time. There were plenty of intimate moments between them, with the piano and with the dance in the end. Both scenes were simultaneously romantic and melancholic with how they both show their love for each other, but having to forcefully keeps themselves apart from each other. The Duke admitting to Alice that the song he composed was specifically a ballad for her was so sweet, especially with how blushy and embarrassed he got when he said it. The dance at the end was very beautiful, and while it was nice it was also pretty sad. They make do with what they can by not touching each other, but you could see slight sadness on Alice’s face as they danced. The animation did well in also capturing their body movement like their hands slowly getting a little too close, the Duke’s finger twitching in nervousness as he slowly backed away. I can understand the CG not being to everyone’s tastes, but the team animating this is doing a good job portraying emotion through the body movements of the characters, as well as the backdrops and camera angles. It was all very lovely. Oh, and Alice professing her love for the Duke was also quite sweet.
I also just want to give a quick mention of the music in this show because it’s very nice! The piano music is gorgeous, and I did like Duke’s song, I wish we heard more of it. Hanae Natsuki is a nice singer so it’s always nice to hear him~
One interesting thing they mentioned was the Duke’s grandfather and Alice’s mother being dance partners. I’m not sure if that actually means anything or if I’m reading too much into it, but maybe there’s a certain relationship these two families have and if it connects to the Duke’s curse. Did something happen between these two families that would make the witch curse the offspring of one of these families? Or maybe it was to show us how close the two families are and I’m just reaching for any clue possible. There’s not much to go on so it’s just a thought lol.
This was a nice episode. The humor wasn’t too obnoxious this time and the new characters add some nice fun. Alice and the Duke still have great chemistry and their intimate moments together are a treat to watch. I’m excited to see the other characters from the OP we haven’t seen yet, and I’m always here for the cuteness.
