Episode 8
Okay I guess we didn’t get too much in terms of answers but got the tiniest bit of extra info. That only piece of info being that Sharon’s eternal sleep is also another curse brought on by Sade. Why on earth would she curse both Sharon and the Duke? Not even Daleth knows so we’re still in the same predicament. At least we know that if the group finds a way to get rid of the Duke’s curse then breaking Sharon’s curse will be possible too. So yay for that? Pretty disappointed we didn’t get anything more from that, but I guess the one good thing is that Daleth does seem like she’ll be on their side and it does seem like she’ll feed them more information when she can. Especially to Walter now that she’s madly in love with him already. And see! She even calls him a human child. Dx I won’t say anything more about this ship since I’ve said what I said, but I also don’t love this obsessive type of love that she seems to have for him. Ehhh…
The episode itself was fine. Again, disappointing that we didn’t get anything more from the stuff with Daleth. I did enjoy the other moments in the episode however. Cuff and Viola hanging out was very cute and they get along so well. I thought it was sweet that Viola took Cuff out to get an outfit, though I wish we actually got to see Zain’s reaction to the outfit. She looked very adorable in it. I’m not sure if we ever saw Viola and Cuff hang out on their own together so it was really fun to watch, I’d love more. Also lol at them getting a lion cub because there wasn’t an actual lion at the zoo.
The genie lamp segment was pretty random, but it did showcase the Duke’s selfless side. For once he was able to free himself from the curse, but it came at the cost of the curse being placed on someone else somewhere in the world. It’s like one of those “what if” scenarios playing out in real time. Would he want to be rid of his curse only for someone else in the world to bear with it instead? We already knew what his decision would be once the genie told him that, as did Alice with her knowing smile. There’s no way he could live his life while knowing someone else out there would bear the curse in his place, knowing all too well the suffering the curse brings. Now if only he knew that it was Rob that was the recipient of the curse. He said he would feel regret, but if he knew it was Rob I can’t imagine the amount of regret he’d feel. The Duke is such a sweetheart.
And lastly, we get the window kiss I was waiting for ever since I saw it in the trailer. Reminiscing of the time at the circus, Alice teases the Duke to kiss her while putting on lip balm. Of course he refuses but those feelings are still there, and honestly with all the wonderful moments the Duke has had this season Alice’s love for him just gets stronger and stronger. I love that this anime doesn’t really need to spell it out for us. The show gives us flashbacks to the Duke giving up his curse and then getting it back, wanting to become friends with Daleth and other witches like he does with humans. How he wants to travel the world and have experiences. These moments between them may not seem too grand to the audience, but it’s these human and compassionate parts of the Duke that makes Alice fall even harder for him. It’s something that only she can see and moves her heart, so I understand acting out on those feelings. And because of their circumstances, they share a romantic kiss through the window. It may not be a real “kiss” to most, but it’s still something for them. And they’ve never done this before so this was a huge moment for them. It’s these Duke and Alice moments that I’ve really been missing from this season so obviously this was my favorite part of the episode. <3
Episode 9
Apparently Cuff can’t read??? What???
This show really loves to slowly reveal little things, huh? Daleth’s obsession with Walter continues and he invites her inside his home from the rain. We finally learn his mother’s name, Gerbera, and how her upbringing made her into the strict and stoic person we know her as. However we know from Daleth that she was much different when Sharon was around, and I’d like to see some flashbacks of that. Everyone, and I mean everyone, seems to be connected somehow to Sade. In the illusion from last episode, we see Sade with an angry expression watching Sharon. For some reason she had SOMETHING against her, and I’m wondering if it was just her she had a grudge against. Sade to Sharon, but also Gerbera? And the grandfather? And Rob is also involved too, though he didn’t reveal much when Alice questioned him. I feel like he’s still maybe hiding something from her. It seems like he had a very strong relationship with the Duke’s grandfather since he saved him from the streets.
I don’t think I can theorize any more since there isn’t as much info to latch onto anymore, except we know the players in all of this mess. Sade herself is still too mysterious but now Zain has that logbook so that should give some clues. And thankfully, Daleth is willing to make friends with everyone so they can all help each other. Something they should have done from the very beginning but it was Daleth’s fault, really. Slowly but surely…
The Duke celebrating Alice’s second anniversary of being at the mansion was sweet, and it was adorable how excited Cuff was. And she kept her promise to dance for her, with all of them joining in which made me chuckle. The witches befriending everyone goes beyond Daleth as Keto ends up fixing and even redecorating Alice’s shed. While we don’t know much about Keto, it’s nice that she’s wanting to rid the hatred between witches and humans of the past and to move forward. Maybe she was a little quick about that after that mess during the circus performance, but at least it’s something? Everyone is making peace and this only benefits everyone.
What I didn’t expect were these two new characters at the end of the episode. They look pretty cool and with the sudden water, they have to be witches. Question is, how are they going to connect with the main plot? Do they work with Daleth, or are they their own thing? And are they connected with the curse or not? I feel like we’re so far into the story that I’m not quite sure how I feel about new characters since they look like they won’t be side characters like Amelia or the circus family. They look like they’ll be pretty significant characters so I’m wondering how they’ll fit into all this satisfactorily. Don’t have too much to say about them at the moment so we’ll just have to see.
