Forum - View topic(The) Duke of Death and His Maid (TV).
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Stark700
 Posts: 11762 Location: Earth |
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Season 01: (The) Duke of Death and His Maid (TV) Season 02: (The) Duke of Death and His Maid (TV 2) (discussion starts here) Season 03: (The) Duke of Death and His Maid (TV 3) (discussion starts here) Source: Manga (completed @ 16 volumes by Koharu Inoue) Demographic: Shounen Animation Studio: J.C. Staff Genres: comedy, romance, supernatural Themes: Plot Summary: The Duke of Death is cursed to steal the life from any living thing that he touches. He is accompanied by his maid Alice, who enjoys teasing him, but is the only remaining person devoted to him. Air Date & Platform: Season 01: July 4, 2021 (Sunday) Available on: Crunchyroll Season 02: July 9, 2023 (Sunday) Available on: Crunchyroll Season 03: April 7, 2024 (Sunday) Available on: Crunchyroll Episode Count / Runtime: Season 01: 12 episodes Season 02: 12 episodes Season 03: Pending Total: 24 episodes |
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Chiibi
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I like the story (kinda) but oh God....does the CG irk me. I don't understand why they made this choice. And they sure do like reminding us that Alice has giant boobs, huh?
 I'll stick with the manga.
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 23770 |
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This one is on the cusp of being dropped by me. I've given it three eppies and it hasn't wormed its way into my heart. Unless a story starts to kick in by next time, I have a feeling this is gonna get flushed.
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4082 |
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This is my pick of sleeper show of the season- I expected Alice herself was also cursed from the start and in episode 3... yeah, that was the witch, wasn't she?
"My mother worked for your grandfather." Yeah... uh wait, what? Are we going to get all Up On Poppy Hill here or is it less "working", more multi-generation maid work... no that's still a little concerning and it would seem a will is involved at some point. Hey Alice, did you get Grandfathered in? .... uh.... I'm trying to think of a way to rephrase that but nothing's coming. And why does that line remind of Ygor from Young Frankenstein and his "My grandfather worked for your grandfather"? It was weird there too. The CG models don't bother me, in fact I approve. I particularly like Alice's eyes and how they have depth inside the pupil- you stare in her eyes, a blue abyss stares back. Plus,it always plays that the two leads are in a world of their own so the animation company is using the way CG characters stick out as part of the production. Plus, I will never grow tired of just watching that hat; It always seems like it should fit but then doesn't. But most of all, I love the set up. One small misstep and Alice dies..... maybe. In episode 3, Alice says they should go see the meteor shower when it come again and while the thought of Alice still being by his side brightens up the duke, he must be aware of what ten years of forced solitude together should do to each other. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11355 |
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I'm liking this more than I was expecting to. The cgi is giving me a kind of Nightmare Before Christmas vibe somehow. That is to say, it's working for this piece where it might not with a different story.
The new character is rather interesting. She's got all kinds of personality. And wings. Btw, wth is going on with Bocchan's butt in that pic up there? That's like beyond booty. (Ah ha, I see they changed the pic for the new season.  )
Last edited by Gina Szanboti on Sun Jul 09, 2023 12:08 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11355 |
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This all started out very weird, but I find it just grows on me more and more with each episode. There is a story going on, but more important, I just like how sweet it is, rather than being some morbid death fetish thing Alice is into, which unfortunately is how it came across in the first couple of episodes. It's somehow added a different spin on the old trope of girl teasing guy who's constantly protesting her being sexy to, I dunno, protect his own virginity and morality? Protect her purity? Whatever the point of the trope is, I've never much liked it.
But here she's using it to keep him engaged with the world, and with her, so that he doesn't give up, or feel like he can't be loved. So it's become a sort of play between them, whereas usually the trope comes across as the girl picking on the guy for trying to be a gentleman. Alice isn't laughing at him. She's telling him that there's a future with her, and she's waiting for him. And the more the story develops, the more it's clear he enjoys the back and forth between them as much as she does. Her straightforward honesty constantly keeps him off balance, fascinating him with trying to work out this enigma that is Alice, despite her being the most candid and guileless character ever (which is not to say that she doesn't have some secrets she's keeping). Like when she cheated at chess. She doesn't hesitate for a moment to admit it in detail, and he just doesn't quite know what to do with that. He's both flabbergasted that she cheated, but also that she so readily confessed it. Neither of these things seem to fit within his sense of reasonable behavior, and that sort of acting beyond the boundaries he grew up with is endlessly intriguing to him. Plus, he's got that ridiculous hat.
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11355 |
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Ep 12
I guess that's it for now. But shock!! It's getting another season! Yay! This actually turned into one of the shows I most looked forward to each week. They did finally progress from just flirting to confessing, and that was a nice slow buildup. Even his little sister, whose eyes are just waaaay too big, and younger brother finally grew on me. His brother's freaking out over anything and everything that reminded him he was second in line to be the heir, which was pretty much anything with the number 2 or "second" in it, was always funny. So many loose threads left hanging. They wrapped it up very nicely, but I'll really be looking forward to the next cour. If my heart can take it - given how clumsy anime characters are, I'm always holding my breath that one of them is going to trip and fall on the other, even though I know they won't, as that would be game over. |
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4082 |
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The Duke is cursed and everyone knows that if he touches a living thing, they will die. Alice's mother died around the same time the Duke was cursed, a maid who was close to the Duke's mother who now openly shuns her son... I expected that smile and that was the only thing that they showed so far...plus, the witch Esdeth was there at the manor when the Duke was cursed and she has Sharon's body magically preserved.
Everything connects but nothing's connected, it's like having a pile of clues including a corpse but no mystery. However, everything points to one conclusion... if Esdeth is telling the Duke the Truth then the Second Gunman- Witch- is someone regularly seen at the manor. I see two possibilities for who cursed him: 1, his mother... or 2, Sharon. But that's just who instigated it, there's some more things going on with repressed memories and that perfectly kept corpse. I can foresee a Happy Ending but I don't see a Happily Ever After ending.... and once I said that, I have a pretty good idea of what Esdeth did and what she's tying to do. Excellent show and it is continuing. |
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Edjwald
 Posts: 1119 |
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When Teasing Master Takagi-San came out, it was followed by a series of imitations (I won't call them rip-offs because most of them tried to find a variation on the theme) and in my opinion, each one was a little less interesting than the previous show. That's not an unusual phenomenon
By the time The Duke of Death came out, I'd already tried and given up on several anime of the teasing girl genre, and I fully expected to wind up ditching this one too. And I'll admit, the first episodes were kind of touch and go. I almost gave up after episode 3. Both the leads could be annoying for different reasons. The little sister was annoying. The animation was some weird blend of computer cut outs and real drawing. But for some reason I hung in there, and I found myself getting pulled in deeper and deeper as season 1 progressed. As a few other people have noted, there was a surprisingly sweet and earnest love story beneath the fan service. The male lead's reactions weren't just the typical anime male lead's female phobia...he actually turned out to be pretty bold and honest in professing his feelings despite his circumstances. The female lead wasn't teasing the Duke to be cruel...she was constantly jolting and shocking him to keep him from sinking into apathy and despair (which became clear in the episode when he went out into the snow and almost died). All of this mixed in with an original dark fairy tale feel. By the time I got to the end of season 1, the show had become one of my favorite anime. And the reason I'm going into all this detail (aside from the fact that I'm me) is that season 2 took off running. I loved it, but there was very little in the way of recaps. I didn't have a problem, but I'd urge anybody checking this anime out for the first time not to be overwhelmed by the number of back episodes, or to be discouraged if season 1 starts out slow. |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 1907 |
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I agree, it is a very charming series and jumpstarted the teasing sub genre. The first episode of the second season is a nice episode to re-introduce the characters while still being fresh new content. I do wonder how much actual progress we will get this season when it comes to the curse.
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Edjwald
Posts: 1119 |
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As of episode 3, this anime is looking like one of those shows where season 2 takes a good show and becomes even stronger. Takes all of the world building and character development from season 1 and runs with it, having fun with the story now that the baggage is out of the way and making actual progress instead of floundering or heaping on more plot complications or reversing course.
At least, that's how it feels to me. I can't swear to it, but I think the manga/light novel/whatever might have an actual story worked out. The anime certainly seems to be moving forward fearlessly at any rate. And that's awesome. Because as much as I like the anime, I'm also anxious to see the Duke's curse get broken, and I doubt I'd still be sitting around three seasons from now if I felt like I was getting yanked around. I liked that they called back to Alice's ability to see ghosts. I've liked the creative innovations the story keeps introducing. The magic bath. The fantasy artifact. The circus. And in this episode, the curse breaking octopus with her weird underwater magic effects and a strange backstory. |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 1907 |
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The second season seems to indeed have some actual progress to the main story and crucial things happening. I love the slice of life episodes of the duke and maid being cute and interacting with their friends, but at some point you do want to see some progress. In the first season they set up the story and then spent like 75% of the remainder being fluffy. 3 episodes in with the second season and we are approaching something. Some of the side characters also seem to be progressing. Not to say it is all serious though, there is still plenty of fluff.
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Edjwald
Posts: 1119 |
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Maybe shows stop being bad or good or great and move into a realm called beloved when a viewer starts genuinely feeling like they have a connection to the characters. I don't know if that connection's an illusion, or if the reader/viewer is responding to some common ground or experience that they have found with what the creator is trying to communicate. It probably varies. I'm sure that there are crazy people who can project a connection with a pot sticker, and I'm sure there are manipulative creators who are good at buzz words and stereotypes and formulas and the like without really caring what they are putting out there.
All I know is, I have genuinely started liking these characters. It's not like I care if the show is complex or well animated or whether the fan service is sexist or sexy. I was just happy that the Duke got to interact honestly with some people who appreciated him, and I was touched when Alice warmly responded to his enthusiasm without teasing because she didn't have to shock him out of his shell. Because I've reached a point where I feel like I know them, whether that's art or whether I drank the cool-aid so to speak. . |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11355 |
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Five stars for Ep.5! I loved every minute of that, from the so-cute duet of the OP on (I don't usually sit through it, but I did today). So many shoes dropped! My first thought was, "He should use his Touch o' Death on the vine"...and he did! Yay! And I've been wondering what a kiss between Zain and Cuff would look like (like is his beak a nose or nose + mouth?) and we found out! And I've been stupidly anxious for Ringmaster/Zachou to learn that they know Amelia and we got that too! And oh dear, methinks Alice will have some words to say to Rob when they get home. o.o
Other moments I loved was the kid being all, "I'll just leave you two youngsters alone now," and slowly walking cool into the mist.  And Cuff and Zain standing in the street as the Duke and Alice finally disappear around the corner, then that long hold on their clasped hands until Zain finally gives a little squeeze. I just was so happy they gave all those little moments the extra time to breathe for us to fully savor. This could put me in a good mood all day.
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Edjwald
Posts: 1119 |
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Yah, this episode was jam packed. I think it had more action than any other episode in the series, but it didn't skimp on the character development or plot furtherance. I'm really hoping the series will resolve the curse issue by the end of this season, but I feel foolish and naïve just typing it.
It was also the first time I recall seeing the Duke use his curse to protect someone. I had this weird thought when they showed that young, sinister looking Rob in a flashback panel. I don't think it will happen, but how weird would it be if he was evil all along? |
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