EPISODE 5
First half is all about Viola! The snobby little sister decides to pay her brother another visit and it quickly turns into a “make Alice cute” segment. I call Viola snobby but in actuality she’s a pretty sweet person. She grows really fond of Alice really quickly and vice versa, and their girls sleepover at the end was really touching as they shared their crushes with each other and Viola admits to always wanting a sister. It’s easy to see why she would feel left out in her own family as her mother only focused on her brothers, the Duke because of his curse and her other brother because he’s the next one to be head of the family in place of Duke. And from what little we’ve seen of their mother, and the fact that she banished her son, she doesn’t seem like a warm person at all. Interesting that even though the Duke has this terrible curse on him, Viola still is jealous of him simply because of the support system that he has. Even if it’s only two people, it’s two people that truly care for him. Viola was her typical fake cute girl self, but she’s actually a kind person that just wants love. Whether it be from her big sister figure Alice, or her old man crush Rob. And while she says otherwise, she really does care about her brother too.
Also speaking of her old man crush, it continues to be very weird but funny. Funny…in a weird way. It was cute that they were making kitty breads together, and funny how nervous Viola acts around Rob, but it’s so awkward and weird that she kept swooning as he kept saying that she was too young for him and that he imagined that he could have a granddaughter like her instead. I mean obviously this romance isn’t going to go anywhere, Rob basically confirmed that, but…ehhh, I guess let Viola dream? Sure. Let’s let her dream.
The second half is a lot more simple as the Duke and Alice go ice skating together at a nearby lake. Again, I know I shouldn’t go expecting the worse because this show has already proven it won’t do that, but seeing them on the ice together made me so freaking nervous. One wrong slip and…yeah. But no, Alice shows off her boobs and legs and that’s fine lol. Though the four of them skating together as he held Alice’s sleeve was adorable.
We get to meet Cuff’s friend, Zain. He’s a woman hungry man, but he seems pretty chill. He doesn’t take things too far and he’s friendly enough too. He and Cuff have fun dialogue together so I look forward to seeing more of them soon. This half of the episode was the slowest, but still fun and there’s only so many ways to say “this was funny”. But the biggest takeaway from this episode was near the end before Cuff and Zain left. They become quick friends and they offer to take the Duke to a witch’s sabbath on the night of a blood moon. Since they don’t really know any of the witches, they figured that taking the Duke to the witch’s sabbath could help him investigate his situation. This seems like it could be a huge turning point, but who knows how well that’ll go. Alice insists to go as well, but we know it’s because she wants to see if that woman from the festival will be there as well. This woman has to be important somehow, and again Alice is hiding things that may or may not be related to the Duke. Either way, visiting a witch’s sabbath sounds exciting and I hope we can get a little closer to solving or at least understanding the Duke’s curse.
EPISODE 6
Even when something should seem scary in this show, it quickly turns lighthearted. The witch’s sabbath basically being a PTA meeting was funny, and while the actual witch’s world (or whatever that was) seems terrifying and has monsters, they still made it lighthearted as well. The witches’ personalities take a huge shift whenever a human is involved, however.
Again, the first half was fun and cute as the Duke and Alice chase after a cat as it ran off with Alice’s gown, basically leaving her naked. Gives us the typical fanservice comedy. Before this scene, Duke and Alice clear out the indoor garden area and here we finally get to learn the rules to the Duke’s curse. Which I think came a little too late as I think we were able to figure out the conditions of his curse as the story went along. Everything he touches dies, even through his clothes as we’ve seen. If his clothes are thick enough he can touch others, like with the festival costume he had. People can remain close to him and can touch objects that he has touched without problem, but actual direct contact has to be avoided. There’s one thing that I have to wonder and this thought came across during the second half…
The Duke was able to hold and touch that “ball”, which looked to be a monster at least since it made noises and all that. However, it didn’t die. So now it makes me wonder, does the curse work on magical creatures and witches? Does it affect only humans? The Duke hasn’t bothered touching Cuff or Zain, and for good reason, but now it makes me wonder. It’s not like regular humans come into contact with witches all the time but maybe the witch that cursed him put that exception for some reason. It’s just a thought, and it could be that there may be more to the curse that the Duke doesn’t know about.
We also get to properly meet Delith and she is extremely suspicious. She says she’s not too sure whether Alice’s mother was related to the witches in any way, but the fact that she would go out of her way to speak with her when she accidentally thought she was Alice in the festival doesn’t sit right with me. She says they were just brief acquaintances but I feel like there has to be some sort of connection. And sadly for the Duke, he doesn’t really have any answers. From what Delith says, the witch that cursed him died and the curse brought her to her death. She made it seem like the curse is impossible to break with how powerful she made it sound so now they’re just back to square one. Delith continues to be suspicious when she suddenly burns off the Duke’s cloak and causes a panic before disappearing. Why would she do that unless she has it out for him for some reason? It could be possible that Delith is involved in some way, especially when she knew the Duke ever since he was little and knew the witch. Hopefully we’ll get answers soon.
In spite of that, it was great to see how positive he and Alice still are. They may not have any leads at the moment but they both have their goals, and each other. Also it was just adorable when the Duke’s face lit up knowing that Cuff and Zain are his friends now. The Duke has always been lonely and had very little people to call friends, so him being happy he has new friends now just warmed my heart. He’s so cute.
Not much was resolved but there’s still some things to think about when it comes to the curse and the witches. I wonder where things will go from here, and also wonder if we’ll ever properly meet the Duke’s family other than Viola. They don’t look like a fun bunch, though.
And these two just continue to be adorable, they’re both so sweet! <3
