Dance with Devils

Episode 12

I'm not sure how I feel about this final episode of Dance with Devils. In some ways, it's a great one – Ritsuka makes a firm decision to stand up for herself and make her own choices, including one to wallop Nesta with a convenient candlestick, Rem admits his feelings, and Lindo seems to accept Ritsuka's choices without trying to talk her out of them (or lock her up) for a change. Ritsuka even manages to save herself in the end, using her power as she deems best. (And, if I may quote Shakespeare, who would have thought the old man had so much blood in him?) And yet...there's something not quite satisfying about this finale.

Part of that is that the episode comes to an end fairly abruptly. The fight against Nesta takes just over half the episode before we move into finale territory, and much of the battle consists of reused scenes of the characters fighting, with Shiki's Battle Spread being the most obvious repetition. For all of that there isn't much actual fighting, just a lot of skills lobbed around while Nesta tries to chomp on Ritsuka. Jek feels underused now that we finally know who he is and his death feels a bit anti-climactic, like it was a lucky accident rather than good aim. The best battle technique by far is Loewen's shadow hounds, who are not only summoned from the shadows but attack the target's shadow, which is a nice touch. Sadly the only truly tense part of the fight is when Nesta tries to hypnotize Lindo using his vampire powers, but that too is over relatively quickly. It's also unclear how Ritsuka's actions constitute using up the grimoire's power, which may be the biggest let down of all. Seriously, could she just access it by thinking really hard this whole time? And how is having a vision of a black peony use of the greatest magical tome out there? It feels like a cop out, frankly, and after twelve episodes of people trying to get the book, I admit I wanted more.

But enough about that pesky plot stuff, what about the romance? Last week everyone and their grandfather declared undying love for Ritsuka (and previously we had the unforgettable “Emo Liar” song where three of Ritsuka's suitors tried to convince the fourth to face his feelings), so how does that tie into the final act? Well...that depends on your idea of a satisfying ending. Full-out romantics who want the Happily Ever After (and with Rem) are not likely to be terribly thrilled, and I'll admit I was waiting for my post-credits make-everything-okay scene. (It didn't happen; don't make my mistake.) If you favor Lindo, it's a better ending; even though he sang in the final trio that he'd just watch over her like a creepy stalker, technically he's the one with the best chance when the credits roll. If you're more a Romeo and Juliet kind of romantic, the ending is more likely to be satisfactory, and had this been a better show, the kiss scene would have been heartbreaking.

In the end, Dance with Devils' ending is kind of a disappointment. It isn't inconclusive so much as the easy way to end and leave room for a sequel (which I would still watch, don't get me wrong). On one level Ritsuka's choice makes sense: she's still a kid, and it would be kind of weird for her to spend the whole show looking for her mother only to ditch her for a guy. But romances aren't necessarily supposed to make a lot of sense, and neither are musicals for that matter. That's perhaps what the real problem is here: the ending takes the logical path when the previous 11 ½ episodes didn't. But perhaps that will be rectified in the sequel they're clearly setting up for in the last scene. Who knows? She may end up with both Rem and Lindo then – after all, as we say in my house, it worked in Tokyo Raiders.

Rating: C

Dance with Devils is currently streaming on Funimation.