Like Bakarina, Aileen is reborn into the world of an otome game she had played (and I feel like I'm already forgetting the first episode, but I think we got a hint that she might have died from cancer or another illness in the real world?). Her memories come flooding back to her when her intended fiance Cedric dumps her at a ball for Lilia and she realises that Lilia is the MC of the game and she's destined to die sort of accidentally when Cedric's brother, the Demon Lord Claude (which is about as unlikely a name for a demon lord as one could imagine), turns into his full demon form and wreaks havoc as some kind of demon-dragon and she's squashed.
Well, we can't have that.
Aileen decides the best way to avoid that is to go tame that final boss -- the Demon Lord -- so she promptly marches right into his territory and asks him...no, tells him...they should get married. He's understandably a bit taken aback and confused. But also intrigued.
I'm not going to rehash the whole plot because, honestly, there are three separate massive story arcs in this 12 episode season and each one of them could have filled out a normal season. When I got to the end of episode 4 and they were engaged and it seemed like their enemies were vanquished, I literally turned it off and went WTF where do they go from here? It's fast, yo.
That's actually one of the fun things about this one. It subverts some things and the pacing is so radically different from the normal thing. The demon lord is actually a bit of a cinnamon bun. She's smart and crafty, but also (once she too falls for him) totally putty. There's sort of a harem collection thing going on, but not totally as a couple of them, while they do become loyal to Aileen, also have their own love interests. There's even a bit of a redemption arc for Cedric.
Anyway, quite enjoyed it. More than I thought I would, as I, ahem, actually watch quite a bit of otome-related anime and was thinking it might be too similar to some other things. It was and it wasn't. Aileen has more in common with Raeliana...even in a 4th wall kind of way. Apparently, the Demon Lord and the Duke share the same voice actor Yūichirō Umehara (who was also the best friend in School Babysitters, which was a bit whoa). So, I guess if I have a type, it's Umehara. Oh! And I think he voiced Shingen in Ikemen Sengoku (though Shingen wasn't my fav, but he did have a great voice). So funny. And...I just looked and he's also apparently Tsukasa from Romantic Killer. Damn, dude. All the best boys.
So, anyway, am I glad I watched it? Yes. Would I watch it again? Hmm, maybe. There was a lot going on though not actually a lot of really awesome moments (that sounds weird, but I mean those bits where you're just all Awwwww and want to see them again). I guess I mean there was so much PLOT being thrown all over the place that you don't get the doki doki as much? Hm. I'm not making sense. The animation also was a bit all over the place -- really nice and then also really awful in some places. Like, distressingly bad every now and again, though the majority of it fell into the decent category and sometimes it was lovely. It makes you wonder WTH is going on in the animation studios.
But, I would definitely watch a second season. I did start collecting the Raeliana books and I was wondering if I'd collect these...but I actually really detested Lilia and not sure I want to read her too? Anyway, definitely worth the watch.
No comments:
Post a Comment