Shinigami Bocchan isn’t Bokuyaba or anything. Not even Hi Score Girl, which is actually the better comparison since it got a similarly CG adaptation from largely the same staff. Those are great series, this isn’t. But it is very good, too good to have 80% of its episodes get no comments at all, and that sort of thing always make me muse on the “why”. Would The Duke of Death and His Black Maid be popular and buzzy if it had gotten the lovely hand-drawn adaptation that would have suited the manga so perfectly? Or is there something inherent in the premise which caps its mainstream appeal?
We’re at the point in the story now where even the slice of life episodes have long-term import. This had the look of one of those idyllic time-wasters that were a staple of the narrative for the first season, but there are no weeks off at this point. That also applies to insert songs, as apparently the anime has indeed decided to include one every episode. That’s an odd choice, though I wouldn’t say it bothers me or anything. It does change the tone of the series in a way, in a manner that works as it is now but I’m not sure will work as well as we get into the third act.
It was nice to see Rob included in this week’s survey course of the cast, as we haven’t seen much of him this season. Poor guy is incredibly lonely at the estate while the young’uns are off having fun. At least they brought him gifts (though a little company was the gift he really wanted). Rob will have his part to play, as has been hinted at. Meanwhile Viola’s love of macarons has started to exert a deleterious effect on her thighs. Big Brother Walter decides to meddle, and while Walter vs. macarons could never end well for him, Viola is swayed by Walter’s argument that Rob likes thin girls (I’m guessing also girls not young enough to be his granddaughter).
Meanwhile Caph and Zain are off on what he envisioned would be their first “official” date (though technically scouting for new acts) at the zoo, and Hugo has invited himself along. Hugo is uncharacteristically vulnerable here – he’s basically conceded defeat at this point, but he admits to Zain that he’s lonely without anyone his own age to play with. Zain and Caph head off for a meeting with Bocchan and Alice as Hugo heads back to town (where he crosses paths with Walter, who appears to be headed to an appointment of some sort). The two witches wind up sheltering in a cave when a snowstorm hits, and the aforementioned musical number (but nothing more salacious) takes place.
The big headline here, though, is Zain’s admission that he has a plan. To wit, to go back in time and stop Bocchan from being cursed in the first place. He wasn’t able to save his – or Caph’s – parents that way, but this might be different since no one’s death is involved. That was fate – maybe this isn’t? In any event that’s definitely the act of a true friend, because not only does Zain hate using his time magic, but it means taking on the legendarily strongest witch of the modern era. It’s not like Caph needs any convincing, but that’s quite a burden the two of them are willingly taking on here…
