Dance with Devils 02-05

Despite the title, only one devil has danced thus far.

Minus the backup dancers in the ED, of course. If they’re even devils. Anyways, I finally finished my last midterm, so I can relax now! …Until my papers start being due. OTL But that’s a ways off, so let’s enjoy these non-dancing devils!

I’m still pleasantly surprised at how kind Rem seems to be with Ritsuka. From what we’ve seen, his actions seem to be pretty genuine, even if he knows more than he lets on. Or maybe it’s just that he’s been the most civil to Ritsuka compared to the rest of the cast right now. Urie sent his fangirls after her (plus he’s just kind of creepy), Lindo locked her in the house (plus it seems that they’re actually related), Mage carried her off in the middle of class, and Shiki… hasn’t really had an episode yet, but seeing how he likes to talk about breaking things, he’s probably not going to be much better either. And then there’s the mysterious guy who might be a fluffy dog, who sent the multiple Rems to attack Ritsuka.

Though the characters aren’t exclusively full of bad traits. Lindo did come up with a way for Ritsuka to go to school safely (…well, for the most part) and him locking her up was kind of for her own good, since despite multiple warnings, she kept running off. Mage just seemed more like he was clumsy behind all of his masculinity and by the end of his episode, it looks like he’s developed genuine affection for Ritsuka (which might be cute to watch if he gets more screen time with her alone). As for Urie… I guess it’s good that he seems interested in her as a person instead of just another generic fangirl? Yeah, I’m not so sure about him.

At the moment, Rem is looking like the best option even with his cold attitude and talk of pawns, since he’s the one who has been the least untoward. Plus from what the other characters have said, his interest seems real and beyond just looking for the grimoire. But this is all very fitting for a show about romancing devils, since that kind of thing is going to be a bit darker. Plus it’s a less fluffy romance, but at least it’s still not falling into Dialovers territory with how much Ritsuka has to put up with. …Though you would think that by now, they would figure out that Ritsuka honestly doesn’t have any idea where it is (or at least consciously). It feels like the last few episodes have just been different guys asking her if she knows anything about it, and her giving the exact same answer. Taking her on a trip or trying to seduce her isn’t going to reveal an answer she that doesn’t know.

As for the heroine herself, Ritsuka is still really good at standing up for herself when things do go south. She’s not one to just stay locked at home, or to sit in on a dinner that she doesn’t want to. Sure, she’s still pretty gullible with some things (like following strange men who tell her Rem is waiting). Or maybe it’s just stubbornness, since despite what Lindo telling her repeatedly not to leave the house, she left it multiple times and ran into trouble in all of those situations. But hey, at least she has a will of her own and she’s not just waiting around for either Rem or Lindo to save her. …Instead, she’ll run away from the situation and then try to find Rem or Lindo to save her. At least it’s something. She still seems really trusting of her brother considering that he locked her inside her house, but hearing exposition about how he was always her prince and seeing how she’s so trusting of Rem and she only just met him, seem seems kind of unwavering when she has faith in someone.

Fabulous.

I am rather disappointed that all conflicts/battles aren’t solved by musical numbers. The second episode made me get my hopes up. On the other hand though, Mage’s rap was unintentionally hilarious (especially with the good old 90’s driving a car by the ocean scene) and the songs generally keep things entertaining. I must say, between this and Starmyu, I’m pretty fond of this whole exposition through song thing. It would be tiring if too many anime had characters break into song out of nowhere, but for this season it’s something new. I feel like even UtaPri‘s musical numbers were less incorporated into the episodes, since the songs were mostly happening because the characters had performances as idols.

Yay, I’m still enjoying this quite a bit. Things seem just dark enough without going overboard, so there’s some actual chemistry between the characters and Ritsuka possibly falling for someone makes sense here. …Or at least that goes for some of the pairings so far. I’m sure they could improve on some of the others in the rest of the anime. Also, the grimoire thing was interesting. That part of the plot seems to be on hold in favour of giving each guy an episode, but otoge anime always seem to do this, so it’s to be expected I guess. Next is Hirarin’s character, so even if Shiki is a little creepy, the song should be enjoyable at least.

About Karakuri

University student and the one at Metanorn who's known for wearing glasses. Likes blood, insanity and plot twists, but also plays otome games and adores cute romance anime. It balances out... somehow.