Shinigami Bocchan indulged its split personality fully this week.  The A-part was pure fluff, the B-part pure plot.  That’s nothing new, the manga does it too.  But in anime form at least (though probably in the source too) I think this series is better when it’s about something.  The pure comic or flirty chapters are fine but they tend to be pretty same-y.  And it’s where both the casting of Hanae Natsuki and the CGI most undercut the series’ effectiveness.  Neither are ever good, but when there’s more stuff going on they tend to intrude a bit less.

Not much to say about the golf thing, really.  Viola using Walter as a makeover model was more amusing, as he got into it a little too much.  As always with Walter it’s a chance to strike a blow against Bocchan for being the eldest, but as always it doesn’t go according to his best-laid plans (much less ones called “Operation Honeytrap“).  Alice being jealous of him was quite a thing, though.

The real meat of the story here is the second half, where we see a little more of Zain and Caph’s past unspool for the camera.  The series has mostly danced around the fact that Zain has extremely powerful magic, which is the reason why he’s so secretive about it.  He was unable to use that time magic to save his parents after they were killed by witch hunters, which left him feeling rather disillusioned about using it.  But anyone who can manipulate time is going to be the subject of intense attention by people whose attention one would rather avoid.

One of those people is Daleth, who after the events at the close of S1 has figured out what Zain’s ability is.  She summons Bocchan for a little chat, and offers him a deal – get Zain to use his time manipulation for her, and she’s “willing to break his curse”.  I note that Daleth never says “able”, but setting that aside, Bocchan is understandably hesitant – especially given that Daleth won’t say what she needs Zain’s magic to do.  She doesn’t appear to need affirmation – she sets her side of the deal in place immediately, which suggests she has means of making sure Bocchan keeps his end of the bargain even if he never agreed to it.