You know, being in plain text from here on out is really working out for me. Last week, Irina (from I Drink and Watch Anime) made the command decision to always be in bold type for our collaborations, and I’m cool with that. First, it takes a ton of pressure off — I mean, I hate being bold and out there! Second, it’s much easier to remember. And finally, it shows considerable outside of the box thinking. No “that’s the way we’ve always done it” tired old excuse for this collaboration! We innovate! And no, I’m not being in the least bit sarcastic!
This week, we review “Met a Beautiful Brother and Sister…”, episode 3 of My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! I’m finding it hard to punctuate a title that itself ends in punctuation. Also, it just occurred to me that I think the titles seem like titles Catarina Claes would use in her diary.
Anyway, before we get this show on the road, do you have any opening thoughts, Irina?
To be fair I just wrote a paragraph in bold because I forgot the host was plain and then just rolled with it. I feel like I’m bullying Crow here. You can have whatever font you want Crow! We can all be bold!!! Oh this is a doom flag isn’t it?…..
This show really is a little ray of sunshine in my weekends. I do hope our readers are getting just as much out of it as I am. The best part (for me), it’s that it really is an homage to otome tropes, a gaming format that has been long maligned. So I’m really thrilled to see so many people enjoying it!
A lot happened in this episode, and though it seemed to speed by, it felt like two or three episodes’ worth of stuff. We learned that there’s something that Gerald Stuart just can’t do, no matter how much he tries. And it has nothing to do with snakes! We learn that one of our cast members can do a great imitation of a superhero landing. Catarina herself learns something about otome games, and it’s a bit late for her to do anything about it. We learned the show has no hesitation — none at all! — to lobbing an emotional grenade in our faces if it suits its purposes. And finally, we get an example of just how dedicated Catarina is to her mission to avoid bad endings — or it might be that she’s just that Bakarina-ish. It was hard to tell.
Alan and Gerald seem to be getting along much better. It’s nice to see.
The episode starts with Catarina and her younger brother Keith receive an invitation to a tea party at Gerald and Alan’s estate. As they’re waiting for Catarina to arrive, Alan starts teasing his older brother about the fake snake that Catarina had lobbed at him in the previous episode. Mockingly, Alan said he thought Gerald to do anything.
Gerald’s answer? Well, yes, he thought that there wasn’t anything he couldn’t do. Then he hesitated and said, “Well, I’d say predicting what Catarina Claes will do is just about the only thing.”
Given that Catarina is really a seventeen year old modern young woman in a Victorian-era (or later) 9 year old girl’s body, it’s not surprising. Irina, what’d you think?
I give Gerald full credit for admitting there was something he couldn’t do. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
I’m not sure there’s that much difference… I don’t mean I acted like a nine year old when I was 17. I act more like a 9 year old now. In fact I act more like a 9 year old than when I was 9. What makes Caterina special in that world is that she grew up without any of the constraints and biases of that universe and class.
It’s not that she’s so humble and kind that she treats even servants with respect, it’s that she has always learned to treat people with respect because she was never above anyone to begin with. I love Caterina so maybe I idolize her but I hope she would have been just as lovable a little spitfire even if she had her 9 year old brain….
After Catarina arrived, I’ll bet you can guess what she did first. Yep! She started shoving deserts into her face. Did you see the expression on Keith’s face as he watched? Poor guy has a hard job, watching out for her!
Of course, she ate way too much way too fast, and she had to excuse herself. Moments later, before she could find a bathroom, a tiny dog had chased her up a tree, where she witnessed a moment of bullying. Apparently, one of the other invitees was Sophia Ascart, and it seems she is a person with albinism. The other kids at the party had cornered her. They were not kind. They said she was cursed and that she had tainted the prince’s party. The poor girl hated crowds anyway, apparently with cause, and she didn’t know what to do. It was very hard to watch.
I felt bad for Sophia as she tried to deal with such open hostility. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
I know overeating is a trope in anime but I have to say I was getting sympathetic stomach cramps for her. As a person with a delicate digestion, it was a bit hard to watch.
I gotta say, I’m so desensitized to anime coloration, that I didn’t realize there was anything off about Sophia’s eye and hair colour. In hindsight, this show does stick to mostly “natural” pigmentation but somehow she just didn’t seem out of place to me… Should I be worried?
Nah. Well, not about that, anyway…
Sophia didn’t know it, but a guardian angel was about to intervene on her behalf. Okay, it was more that Catarina really had to go to the bathroom, but why quibble over a detail like that? In desperation, unable to wait much longer, she launched herself out of the tree and landed one knee and one hand. And I swear I saw Iron Man in that same pose! Or was it Captain America? Or maybe both…
Anyway, to Sophia, it looked like an avenging angel had landed. A small avenging angel, but an avenging angel nonetheless. Because all of the kids fled in terror. Catarina ran off, too, for a completely different reason, but she had made quite the impression on Sophia.
What did you think of their introduction, Irina?
I think you may be laying it on a bit thick there. Some weird girl just fell from the sky and broke it up. It was a bit creepy. Avenging angel is going far…
Actually, and figure we’ll get to it later, but Sophia is another representation of something I am loving in this show and for that to work, it’s kind of important that there is no hero worship, I’m being all mysterious and confusing and annoying probably. It’s because I’m sure you’re going to mention it in a paragraph or two. Let’s see if I’m right!
I guess there is a sight that will distract Catarina from desserts! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Never let it be said that Catarina learns from her mistakes. Moments later, she’s back at the desert table trying to decide what to eat when Sophia introduced herself. I think she was trying to introduce herself and thank Catarina, but Bakarina chose this moment to strike! Sophia reminded Catarina so much of a character from a romance novel she had read that she absent-minded quote from it, saying “our hair is as lovely as silk.” Out loud. Right to Sophia’s face!
The harem grows…
Nope not yet.
Learning that Sophia, too, loves romance books, Catarina invited her to visit. Which she did. But she apparently doesn’t go anywhere without her protective older brother Nicol. When he introduced himself, Catarina was horrified. He had been one of the playable routes in the game — and she hadn’t played that route!
I thought that was a new and interesting twist in a genre where the main character is usually a complete expert in the game. What’d you think, Irina?
Oh no! Crow pretty much skipped over it. I made you guys wait for nothing!
Ok, to me the cool part was that Caterina was really set on getting to know Sophia because they had something in common. A hold over of her modern otaku leanings. A love of stories. Yes, Caterina thought Sophia and her brother were beautiful, but that’s not what piqued her interest. It was the possibility of making a friend and connecting on that level.
And similarly, Sophia was most impressed by the fact that Catarina was accepting her at face value and apparently wanting to get to know her better. She wasn’t looking for someone to protect her or use as a shield. Sophia wanted a friend and the prospect of getting someone to chat with is what charmed her.
Sophia and Catarina were both overjoyed to find in each other a fellow romance fan! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
I really like this. I enjoy friendship stories and they often get devalued or undervalued in favour of romantic relationships. The fact that Cateriana all but ignores a beautiful potential suitor because she gets over excited at the prospect of someone to gossip and giggle with just filed my heart with joy. My favourite moment was when the council of the wise was scrambling to justify that a friendship with Sophia wouldn’t lead to doom. That’s how much she just wanted a friend!
You know, it was in my notes, but I thought I was running long, so I didn’t include it. Glad you did! And sorry for contributing to making the readers wait!
Catarina and Sophia got along so well that they ended up meeting often to read books. Looks like they invited Mary Hunt, too, and I was happy to see that. She seems like such a dear I’d hate to think she was left out and lonely! One on occasion, Keith and Catarina were visiting Sophia and Nicol. They were about to leave when Sophia said she’d forgotten to let Catarina borrow one of her favorite books. She dashed back upstairs to get it.
At first, I thought she was going to fall down the stairs and trigger some other doom flag. Catarina felt something the wrong, too, but it wasn’t something either of us expected. Sophia dashing off triggered a memory in Catarina. More like a deja vu moment. Catarina remembered when one of her friends had done something similar — remembered a manga she’d wanted to loan Catarina. She reflected that if Sophia had been there with her, the two of them would have read manga and anime together.
It ended up being a sweet moment, for it really felt poignant. Irina, did it strike you that way?
Seeing Catarina imagine what it would have been like to share manga and anime with Sophia struck a melancholy chord. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
It sort of rejoins the point I was making above.
I also really like how it subtly implies that like all Jane Austin characters would probably be Otaku nowadays. I dunno, that made me happy. We used to put on a pedestal women who got lost in stories and would love fiction with a passion. A lot of classical heroines fit that mould. We should bring that back!
And yes, it was heartwarming. Friendship stories are great! Girls getting along, even in a harem setting, is wonderful!
Shortly after that scene, we get a time-skip of about seven years. It’s Catarina’s birthday party, and the gang’s all there — and all growed up. And it seems like for at least one of them, he’s beginning to change how he sees Catarina — and what he wants to do with her. Gerald asks for the first dance, and as her fiancé, he got the first dance. As they danced, he told her he had every intention of keeping his engagement with her.
“But if anyone else ever catches your attention, just say so. I’ll back off without putting up a fight,” Catarina told him. On one hand, I applaud her dedication to avoid death flags. She wanted to make sure that when he met Maria Campbell, there wouldn’t be any conflict that resulted in her being dead or exiled.
Then Bakarina struck again. He came out and told her she didn’t get what he was saying, and he proved it by yanking her close to him and telling her he could “easily take you at any time.” Then he gave her hickey. And she had no idea what he’d just done.
Irina and I saw this scene differently. I think seeing how men around me have treated women gave me a negative lens. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Keith, though, knew exactly what Gerald was doing. And he didn’t approve at all. As soon as Gerald left, Keith was by her side, trying to hide the effects of the hickey by rubbing her neck and saying it was a bug bite. She even believed him.
Irina, I get Gerald’s her fiancé, but did the way Gerald treated her annoy you as much as it did me? Or am I reading too much of my guy background into this?
Not really. Or at all in fact. Didn’t seem to annoy Caterina either and that’s who I go by. I know what Keith said, but she’s a capable and strong young lady, I have faith that she can at the very least articulate her own preferences and desires. As long as she’s o.k. with it, I stand with her!
Gerald is supposed to be a devilish character who hides evil intent beneath a perfect exterior, and I suppose this scene was going to illustrate that, but if the extent of his villainy is kissing his fiancee of seven years, it’s a bit weak. I know that Crow says hickey but it seemed to be a light kiss that lasted a second and no one in the room noticed…
I’m hoping we get more evilness out of him because to be honest, the suitors are all looking sort of bland at the moment. I have my favourite though but I can’t deny that they could use some flavour, as the ladies are all more interesting to me.
This said, it was a nice way of setting up just how close Keith and Caterina have remained. By the way, Keith is my favourite. As in I think they would make the best couple. The way he looked after her and reminded her of her matters as kids was sweet, and he’s the only one who put her back in her place aside from Gerald occasionally. And I thought it was hilarious how she freaked out when she thought he had been charmed by Nicol. I just think they have the best rapport and ‘m rooting for them. Even if it is a but… incesty… Congratulations anime, you finaly made me side with incest. This post went into an odd direction, you can edit this out Crow!
You know, Keith is the most interesting of the potential suitors! At the very least, he seems really concerned for her well-being. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
I’m too busy having fun reading it! Looks like I’ll forget.
On a different note, I think this may be an unpopular opinion, but I think I would have liked to see them as kids just a little bit longer. Like another episode or two…
Maybe to see how Nicol and Sophia interacted with the rest? Seeing the two of them with Keith and Mary was really heart-warming, for lack of a better word.
There was a charming scene after the dancing had ended where Mary and Sophia joined Caratina on the balcony. Mary was jokingly (maybe!) upset, saying it wasn’t fair that she’d only danced with the boys! Catarina joked back that she didn’t know the man’s role, otherwise she’d be happy to dance with Mary.
And guess who had also taught herself the man’s role? Mary did, that’s who!
I think Catarina’s gone and built herself quite an extensive and inclusive harem!
Catarina has built a beautiful circle of friends around her. I’m almost anxious thinking about what the future will bring! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
One small thing that ran through my mind was that Catarina is a Mary Sue character, right? I mean she’s perfect and any failings she might have (the overeating for instance) are framed as quirky and charming. She wins over everyone around her without even trying. She’s pretty much the definition of a Mary Sue and yet I like her. A lot in fact.
I think there are two reasons for that. One is that she’s a bit of a doofus and I love doofuses. The second is that I think that that’s also a doom flag. Catarina is supposed to be this epic villainess at the start Fortune Lover, someone who has everything the main character could possibly want, and it seems that’s exactly the position Caterina has maneuvered herself into. She just did it through being a caring and loving friend. And that’s awesome sort of throws a whole new light on a lot of otomes.
I am extra super curious now to see how they treat the arrival of the player character…
The last thing I wanted to mention — and really to ask you about, Irina — was one of the last things that Catarina said at the end of this episode. So far, she’s been all about avoiding the two unhappy fates awaiting her. But as she reflected on her party, she said, “I just hope that I can avoid my own doom and stay with all of my friends forever…” That second part’s new, isn’t it?
It really is. She mentions that Mary and Sophia are also rival characters (isn’t it lame how all the girls have to be rivals?) so they have their own doom flags to deal with. There’s something poetic about it as well. If you take out all the otome and isekai factors, what Caterina is really hoping for is that she can grow up without growing apart from the friends that mean so much to her. Sweet isn’t it…
Very. I wonder if we’ll meet Maria in the next episode? Like you, I’m curious how they’re going to handle that introduction!
Reviews of the Other Episodes
- Review: My Next Life As A Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! ep 1: I Recalled the Memories of My Last Life…
- Review: My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! ep 2 with Crow and Irina
- Review: My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! ep 3: Met a Beautiful Brother and Sister
- Review: My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! ep 4 – Ave Maria
- Review: My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! ep 5 – Another Flag Falls, Another Soul Heals
- Review: My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! ep 6 – The Devilish Count Makes His Move
- Review: My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! ep 7 — I Entered a Dangerous Dungeon…
- Review: My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! ep 8 — I Became Engulfed by Desire…
- Review: My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! ep 9 — Things Got Crazy at a Slumber Party…
- Review: My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! ep 10 — The Moment of My Doom Arrived… Part 1
- Review: My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! ep 11 — The Moment of My Doom Arrived… Part 2
- Review: My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! Ep 12 — The Final Event Has Begun
I always thought I’d love to retain the kiddies when I watched the opening and it reminded me that they’ll grow up. Also, I really like the opening. Angela’s got a great singing style for comedy openings: confirm Aho Girl.
I actually never thought of it before this post, but this show really does seem to throw a spanner into the trope machine of girls be competing over boys in those sort of shows. And I love it, too.
It’s also really nice (and surprising, actually) to see past-life memories popping up. Isekai reincarnators almost never remember their past.
“Also, I really like the opening.”
It lifts my mood. Which is saying a lot lately!
“It’s also really nice (and surprising, actually) to see past-life memories popping up.”
It was really effective, too. I didn’t expect something so affecting. Not only did we get a glimpse into Catarina’s other life past, but it seemed to endear me more to Sophia, maybe through Catarina’s eyes.
I’m glad I started this series. (I’ll probably blame Irina for it.) I can’t help but cheer on Catarina but I am also waiting for those doom flags to start popping up.
That landing was exactly Iron Man! Nice to see that wasn’t a permanent scar on her forehead. I kind of wish there were more chibi action too. Maybe we’ll get flashbacks? I can’t believe she didn’t know what a hickey was though.
“I can’t believe she didn’t know what a hickey was though.”
That’s why I was so worried for her! Keith knew and tried to hide it; I forget who, but another suitor asked about it. But Catarina was too inexperienced to know about it.
I worry about that girl…
To steal Naruto’s line, “Believe it!” That kind of stunning dense innocence is what earned her the nickname of Bakarina (I dont think Keith could believe it either).
I think Anne wouldn’t think it was so nice. The anime skipped the part where Anne felt like she was losing years off her lifespan when Bakarina enlisted her as a witness to her scar disappearing (not surprisingly, the terrified Miss Sherry fell back on her old guiding star philosophy of being a Yes-man to all authority, and agrees, yes, the prince is right, the invisible scar is still there!
Some further thoughts on the article:
…///Well, yes, he thought that there wasn’t anything he couldn’t do. Then he hesitated and said, “Well, I’d say predicting what Catarina Claes will do is just about the only thing.”
Given that Catarina is really a seventeen year old modern young woman in a Victorian-era (or later) 9 year old girl’s body, it’s not surprising. Irina, what’d you think?
I’m not sure there’s that much difference… I don’t mean I acted like a nine year old when I was 17. I act more like a 9 year old now. In fact I act more like a 9 year old than when I was 9. What makes Caterina special in that world is that she grew up without any of the constraints and biases of that universe and class.
It’s not that she’s so humble and kind that she treats even servants with respect, it’s that she has always learned to treat people with respect because she was never above anyone to begin with. I love Caterina so maybe I idolize her but I hope she would have been just as lovable a little spitfire even if she had her 9 year old brain….\\\…
Catarina doesn’t dwell on it in her “televised councils” or in her thoughts in general, but one overlooked factor is while Catarina has come to prize her friends dearly, and of course will also do so with subsequent additions to her circle like Maria–but in her heart of hearts, a big reason the ex-Monkey Girl doesn’t really think of herself as their true peer, but as OLD ENOUGH TO BE THEIR MOTHER. Well, think of it, all of Catarina’s circle will be entering the magic school at 15, and graduating in two years (except for Nico, who’s a year older) at 17. The Monkey Girl died in her final year of school at age 17 (maybe contributing to Catarina and her council’s paranoia about schools in general?), so that would mean at graduation she would think think herself as exactly DOUBLE their age (except for Nico, who’s a year older), and that has to be a factor in Catarina seeing a 34-year-old woman being romantically interested in teenagers (or even as like brothers or sisters–except for Keith of course–anymore than the newly awakened 25-year-old Catarina (in her mind) would be interested in an 8-year-old suitor. The only flaw in Catarina’s reasoning in thinking herself as a 32-year-old entering magic school would be, as one commentary has remarked on this Bakarina-ish logic, “she STILL acts like an 8-year-old” (hmmm…why is it that I have this feeling that Keith and even the original family of the Monkey Girl would chorus enthusiastic assent to that assessment?). That’s why Katarina is baffled that even though she thinks herself as “big sister”, nobody in her family seems to agree, no matter how many time skips she goes through!
…///I gotta say, I’m so desensitized to anime coloration, that I didn’t realize there was anything off about Sophia’s eye and hair colour. In hindsight, this show does stick to mostly “natural” pigmentation but somehow she just didn’t seem out of place to me… Should I be worried?\\\…
Actually, it might not have been made clear in the anime, but Catarina found her new world to have a vast array of exotic body colors and fashions, and given she never saw anyone besides her family and servants outside of infrequent visits to other castles, and having never seen the Ascart route, she ignorantly assumed there was nothing unusual about Sophie’s coloration either. And when she found out to her shock that Sophie thought Catarina regarded her as creepy (Sophie misunderstood Catarina was actually panicking that Sophie regarded HER as acting creepy!), and Nico accused enemies of his family of spreading false rumors on Sophie being cursed, Catarina had a flash of true insight which unfortunately didn’t make it into the anime–that jealousy was a terrible thing, and her own family experienced the same thing no matter how well her brother behaved or how much Catarina acted as a lady–which her dense (this time, for once) brother and mother should have realized, particularly after this jealously (SPOILER ALERT) came within an eyelash of sending Catarina to her doom before her friends saved her. The Clases really should have focused less on curbing Catarina’s eccentricities, and concentrated more on protecting her from people who would intrigue against her no matter what, even if she had the virtues of old Catarina and new Catarina combined with none of either’s faults.
…///I thought that was a new and interesting twist in a genre where the main character is usually a complete expert in the game.\\\…
Well, the irony of the Ascart route is that it really has no significance to Catarina…except that it will bring in a character who WILL have that exhaustive game knowledge–and the resolution of the whole story will hang on this critical character. Yeah, the council’s discussion was cute–but it’s going to prove very ironical before the end…
And yes, Mary Hunt is always a welcome presence, but a crucial point was underplayed in the anime. The reason Catarina was so out of sorts and desperate about not having someone to talk to about her latest passion is simple–Mary simply told her that, sorry, these novels just didn’t really interest her, and unfortunately Catarina got the same answer from Anne (another of her maids got Catarina hooked on these romances in the first place, but unfortunately she had married and left, so Catarina had nobody to talk to on her favorite story). Of course, after Catarina finally met Sophie, the two got so involved in their romance novel fandom that they finally roped in holdout Mary to join them in the fun.
A far more vital point underplayed was Catarina being chased up a tree. The anime portrayed it as almost silly, like the singer in the Aquours Love Live group who was always in terror of a quite large but obviously very docile dog. In reality, in her battle against bad ends, one thing that continually foils Catarina’s strategies and leaves her exposed to danger is that she lacks enough instinct for self-preservation to recognize a real threat to herself whenever one confronts her (other people she loves is another matter entirely, Catarina will react timely and decisively to save a couple of her friends in the original web novel alone, but she doesn’t respond that way to anything else–except dogs). The reading material makes crystal clear that Catarina can pick up the threat of a dog immediately, because unlike others she knows, Catarina actually has hatred for all dogs, and all dogs hate her (according to folk tale, dogs and monkeys are eternal enemies–could it be that Catarina Claes isn’t her first reincarnation, that the Japanese schoolgirl was a reincarnation of a Flying Monkey?). It seems to me that there could be further development of this plot point down the line–compared to the far-off scenarios of Fortune Lover, Bakarina is being incredibly dense not to recognize dogs as the a more concrete threat that could spell doom for her at any moment, if a wild dog pack ever caught her without her sword or a handy tree nearby to climb.
Yes, the dance with the girls was a welcome inspiration that vastly spiced up Catarina’s 15th birthday social debut in the manga and anime (the light novel didn’t have it), but there was another aspect omitted that blanded out the dance scenes (unnecessarily in my view, since it wouldn’t have taken much space to include it). Viewers may recall Catarina reflecting after first meeting Gerald that she had thought nothing else but doing her coming out party when she was 15–but now she felt it was going to be nothing but a hassle. In the light novel and manga, Catarina hadn’t changed her sentiments at all, because she dreaded that she was going to stomp all over the feet of Gerald and other dance partners at the party, and she suffered through many lessons trying to turn her into an adequate dancer! As it turned out, her fears were groundless. Catarina may be severely lacking in her sense of musical beat, rhythm and soul that Prince Alan has; but she has shown she can play the piano adequately at a child’s level. What saves her is the exceptional eye-hand coordination which allows her to fish her family estate’s creek to the point of the fish becoming nearly extinct, and general athleticism that allows her to effortlessly scurry up and down trees. While she has no real talent for the keyboard or dance floor, Catarina’s athletic prowess allows her to at least scrape by if she concentrates hard on the movement of her feet and hands. Mary, of course, is a girly girl lacking that athletic prowess, but since she’s worked long and hard for years to become a graceful lady to be worthy of standing by the side of her beloved Catarina, I would guess Mary knows how move through a room to establish her presence, and that could easily by applied to dancing gracefully as well.
…///So far, she’s been all about avoiding the two unhappy fates awaiting her. But as she reflected on her party, she said, “I just hope that I can avoid my own doom and stay with all of my friends forever…” That second part’s new, isn’t it?
It really is. She mentions that Mary and Sophia are also rival characters (isn’t it lame how all the girls have to be rivals?) so they have their own doom flags to deal with.\\\…
Yeah, very new. In the original story, Catarina bemoans her horrid fate throughout the entire book (which was later split into two books when the light novels were published), forced into a noble lifestyle she felt ill-suited for with the looming specter having it even worse as a royal, loving chumming around with the people on her estate and a few special friends but physically drained by crowds mobbing her, fearing she might inadvertently commit a public faux pas that would make a stranger think she was perverted/rude/threatening/weird/etc. that would result in more thunder from her mother, with terrifying destruction flags arrayed all around her at every turn, always constantly on vigilance for the arrival of that one bad end with her name on it…. But in the final chapter, when she’s confused on exactly what happened, but thinking whatever it was it didn’t seem to be a doom flag…Catarina then has that final flash of insight that her horrible life was actually pretty wonderful, because of all the loyal friends she had found. Very sweet and heartwarming, but I think the anime version is jumping the gun a little on that. Remember Catarina had the unfortunate habit of spiking climatic dramatic moments by uttering the capture targets’ classic lines to their fated lady loves long before they even got to say them!
Yeah, the standard route of romantic rivalry is a bit lame–which is why Catarina is going to turn the tropes upside down. Instead of Mary and Sophia fighting off Maria Campbell as their rival for their men (hmmm, what’s with this classic clinging sis-con doing suddenly throwing up billboards telling her best friend “I have a single brother. Please marry him!”). Oh, Bakarina, there are going to be lots of rivals all right, but not the way you think!
Thanks for sharing those insights — and also for not dropping any spoilers!
That could not have been easy with all the background you just shared!
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again — I’m really glad Irina and I are reviewing this show. It’s a delightful comedy, and as your comments just showed, it has a lot more going on than it reveals.
I’m really excited for the future episodes!
“I’ll second Crow on “Avenging Angel.” ”
I kinda think that’s how it looked to Sophia, too!
“I’m really gonna miss the chibis–wish they hadn’t grown up so quickly!!!”
I will, too. They were working so well! I would have liked to have seen how well Sophia and Nicol integrated, or didn’t integrate, into the group. Catarina’s expressions and voice were so much fun!
I’ll second Crow on “Avenging Angel.” Gotta confess, though, that I’m really gonna miss the chibis–wish they hadn’t grown up so quickly!!!