Man it’s so weird to be back. It’s been quite awhile since I’ve blogged and I’ve kinda fallen out of rhythm, but at least I can say that this season of Shinigami Bocchan is more or less the same and familiar. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but the episode did feel slightly slow. But that’s par for the course for how this show normally is. At least with the slice of life areas of the show it balances out with the sincere romance between the Duke and Alice that I love so much.
This episode gave us a quick recap of the Duke’s deal with his mother: find a cure to his curse before spring or else lose his seat as the heir to the family. It also establishes what Cuff and Zain are doing right now as they also want to help the Duke, and to stay near him and Alice they took up a new job and lodging at a circus. And they seem to be enjoying it which is nice, but of course they have to hide their identities as witches. I wonder how prominent the circus people are going to be. Maybe not in the grand scheme of things with the main plot, but at least when it comes to Zain and Cuff. Also seeing Cuff again is great, she’s just so chill and chaotic and just so cute. Other than that quick update on those two, the episode progressed like any episode from last season where there’s gags and shenanigans happening. We have the usual fanservice, Alice teasing the Duke and him freaking out (but also secretly liking it), and having some heartfelt moments here and there. Thankfully the good balance of the romance and serious moments along with the comedy is still there. And the characters and their interactions with each other is just fun to watch. The pool scene had some laughs, but I won’t lie when the tropey kabedon happened all I was thinking was “NO DUKE YOUR PAINTING!!!”
I can never get enough of Duke and Alice’s relationship. It’s probably because romance in anime is such a low bar, with the characters being so wishy washy with their feelings, it’s such a breath of fresh air when characters are already in love and casually say “It’s because I love you” without the overreactions. I find the Duke wanting to be cool instead of cute as endearing, even more so when he tried using the card tower as a way to show how “cool” he was. Only for the tower to fall over and him crying out very cutely haha. Alice continues her seductive teasing, and I have to reiterate that I’m not a fanservice fan but I appreciate that Alice’s teasing isn’t mean spirited like in many other shows. And it helps that the Duke, while embarrassed, actually enjoys seeing a sexy Alice so it’s not really unwarranted. And we definitely see that he REALLY likes a sexy Alice later on with the Sweet Dreams box.
The Sweet Dreams box that Zain gave to the Duke was a magic item (he stole) that once sucked into the box, enter a world of the person’s deepest desires. That person being the Duke’s obviously. While there were the naughty jokes and the Duke definitely having horny desires about Alice, his desires were actually pretty wholesome and a touch sad. I really enjoyed this part because we could really get to know the Duke more and what he wants out of life. Some were pretty surprising! After passing the room of the many sexy clothing Alices, and of course Alice enjoying this experience, we see Viola in the next room. Of his siblings, the Duke definitely has the been relationship with his sister even though it’s still a little strained because of his circumstances. So I find it really sweet but a touch sad that one of his desires is being there for Viola and having her say she’s proud to have a brother like him. We know for sure that she loves him because compared to the other brother, Viola went out of her way herself to visit the Duke whereas Walter sees him as a rival to becoming heir of the family. So am I surprised that Walter didn’t show up in the world? Not exactly but I know there isn’t any true animosity. I am a little surprised there wasn’t really anything toward his mother, though we did see her silhouette show up in the next scene in the piano hall.
I always wondered what exactly the Duke would want to do after lifting his curse. It wasn’t clear whether the Duke wants to pursue piano professionally or not, but it made me smile to see one of his desires is to play the piano in front of everyone. This included Alice, all of his friends, his siblings, and his mother. To finally have people look up to him and appreciate him, and not look at him as a monster or someone to be feared. Just him and his passion for music and the piano.
And of course at the very end, when Alice took a peek into the white door. I already knew what it was the second I saw the color of the door and how elegant it looked, but I couldn’t help but fangirl when it was confirmed that even deeper into the Duke’s desires…was his wedding in the future with Alice. And I appreciate that Alice didn’t embarrass him and just shut the door, keeping that happy secret. But it’s not exactly a secret when the Duke had proposed to Alice in the first season and confirmed more than once that he would love to marry her once the curse was lifted. However it doesn’t make it any less heartwarming when we get to see a quick glimpse of Alice in a wedding dress with her and the Duke finally be able to hold hands. This is what I love about this show and the Duke and Alice as a couple. The show can be a little mundane with the slice of life sections of the characters not doing anything particularly important such as the pool scene, along with the teasing and fanservice here and there. But then we have such genuine and heartfelt moments like these where the Duke and Alice show their love for each other. It’s always the sweetest thing and I get more and more excited for them to come across any clue to break the curse. I just want them to be together and be truly happy! So they can hug and kiss and get married! Class differences be damned! ;-;
This episode was just return to form with establishing the characters once again, giving us a quick recap of events so there wasn’t anything entirely new. There was that scene with Viola and Walter looking over a portrait of their grandparents, so I wonder if that’s going to be a hint to something about the family and the curse. I’m sure it will or else they wouldn’t have mentioned it. While something to ponder, I just did not like the dialogue in this scene. One of my pet peeves in shows or movies is when characters drop some exposition through unnatural conversation. “Ah yes, this is our grandmother and grandfather. Grandmother died after a carriage accident and grandfather never remarried.” Man I hate that. Yes this is supposed to give us the viewers that information but when the characters who already know of this piece of history say all of this out loud as if they didn’t know, it sounds so weird. Normal people don’t talk like that so it takes me out. But anyway, considering what we know about their grandfather having some sort of relationship with Alice’s mother…it still remains suspicious. We’ll see where it goes from there.
This was a nice episode. There’s more hints to romance with Cuff and Zain, and from what we’ve seen in the trailer, we’ll see more. But we’ll get there when we get there. I enjoy this series a lot and it makes me warm and happy, so I’m glad I can sit back and unwind with it again. Also I couldn’t help but notice that the animation looked even smoother compared to last time, and even noticed a couple 2D moments like with chibi bunny Alice. So hey, even better!
Possibility of watching: Guaranteed
Possibility of blogging: Guaranteed
No, not the painting!
