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EP. REVIEW: Always a Catch!


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Aerdra



Joined: 02 Feb 2022
Posts: 551
PostPosted: Thu Apr 16, 2026 2:30 pm Reply with quote
The author has taken a big gamble here, starting the story with a genre bait-and-switch. The opening scene depicts the usual villainess denunciation, but the "villainess" arc is completely resolved by the end of episode two (the prince is actually a good guy who had good reasons to do what he did, the villainess is happy to be released from an engagement she didn't want, etc). Whether the gamble pays off depends on whether the audience finds the switch as interesting as the bait.
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TJ_Kat



Joined: 11 Jan 2007
Posts: 868
Location: Saskatoon, Canada
PostPosted: Thu Apr 16, 2026 8:58 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
that doesn't take away from the fact that Renato appears not to have actually asked Mimi if she'd like to marry him. He decides it and expects her to go along.


I dunno, to me it seemed more like they just... skipped that part of the story. They went from 'will you marry me' at the end of episode 2/beginning of episode 3 to 'things progressed quickly' where it seemed like at least several days - maybe even a week - had passed during which they could have had a proper conversation about it. And considering Mimi does seem to be into Renato, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that that conversation happened.

And while it might have been nice to actually see that conversation, it would have taken away from the abruptness with which everything happened at the beginning of episode 3, which I found quite funny.
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Covnam



Joined: 31 May 2005
Posts: 4366
PostPosted: Thu Apr 16, 2026 9:52 pm Reply with quote
This has been fun so far, but I'll be disappointed if she never uses that brass knuckle looking hairpin Laughing
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egozi14



Joined: 26 Nov 2009
Posts: 144
PostPosted: Fri Apr 17, 2026 1:38 am Reply with quote
TJ_Kat wrote:
Quote:
that doesn't take away from the fact that Renato appears not to have actually asked Mimi if she'd like to marry him. He decides it and expects her to go along.


I dunno, to me it seemed more like they just... skipped that part of the story. They went from 'will you marry me' at the end of episode 2/beginning of episode 3 to 'things progressed quickly' where it seemed like at least several days - maybe even a week - had passed during which they could have had a proper conversation about it. And considering Mimi does seem to be into Renato, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that that conversation happened.

And while it might have been nice to actually see that conversation, it would have taken away from the abruptness with which everything happened at the beginning of episode 3, which I found quite funny.


Agree with this
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IronWish



Joined: 05 Jan 2024
Posts: 231
Location: Ukraine
PostPosted: Fri Apr 17, 2026 3:50 am Reply with quote
Agree with folks above, as of Ep3 Mimi seems extremely onboard with whole marriage thing, so I wouldn't have any non-consensual read on the situation. I'm very surprised at pace of the romance/marriage plot progression, so now I have no idea what the remainder of the season would even be about. Also Mimi's rizz is so powerful it's really hard to believe she had no marriage prospects in her home country.
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Alan45
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Joined: 25 Aug 2010
Posts: 10358
Location: Virginia
PostPosted: Fri Apr 17, 2026 7:50 am Reply with quote
Covnam wrote:
This has been fun so far, but I'll be disappointed if she never uses that brass knuckle looking hairpin Laughing


They are not functional. Unless the portion below the finger holes comes off, it would badly mangle her hand if she used them.
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EbjImmano



Joined: 31 Mar 2026
Posts: 3
PostPosted: Fri Apr 17, 2026 9:04 am Reply with quote
Nah, Annovazzi is a regular Italian surname, not a terribly common one but has the markings of a noble name from Renaissance and that feels like what the authors were going for, the assonance with dicks and freaks feels more in the reviewer's mind than anything, it's mental gymnastics that the average japanese viewer wouldn't think of performing.

For context, you can find a late soccer player and a musicien with that name within the fist page of google search results.
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Princess_Irene
ANN Associate Editor


Joined: 16 Dec 2008
Posts: 2808
Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City
PostPosted: Fri Apr 17, 2026 12:32 pm Reply with quote
EbjImmano wrote:
Nah, Annovazzi is a regular Italian surname, not a terribly common one but has the markings of a noble name from Renaissance and that feels like what the authors were going for, the assonance with dicks and freaks feels more in the reviewer's mind than anything, it's mental gymnastics that the average japanese viewer wouldn't think of performing.


Fair enough; this is what I get for playing with my dictionaries rather than doing a google search.
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EbjImmano



Joined: 31 Mar 2026
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 17, 2026 12:43 pm Reply with quote
Princess_Irene wrote:
Fair enough; this is what I get for playing with my dictionaries rather than doing a google search.
For what it's worth, I'm Italian and didn't need the search, either.
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MisterGai



Joined: 18 Apr 2025
Posts: 2
PostPosted: Sat Apr 18, 2026 2:15 am Reply with quote
Covnam wrote:
This has been fun so far, but I'll be disappointed if she never uses that brass knuckle looking hairpin Laughing


As someone who briefly read the manga a while back, I don't think you need to worry. Anime catgrin
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Covnam



Joined: 31 May 2005
Posts: 4366
PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2026 3:36 pm Reply with quote
I wonder if her father's reaction later is due to him regretting having to sideline Mimi. I imagine making her his heir and training her was already defying convention. Perhaps doing that (as opposed to say, adopting a son to be his heir) was already pushing what society or even the law of the land, would allow.

It'd be fun if her dedication to training stuck with her when she became queen and started a new tradition of warrior princesses Laughing

Alan45 wrote:

They are not functional. Unless the portion below the finger holes comes off, it would badly mangle her hand if she used them.


Yeah, but maybe in a pinch when bare hands won't cut it. Or just turning them around, even if it's less of a proper way to hold them...

MisterGai wrote:

As someone who briefly read the manga a while back, I don't think you need to worry. Anime catgrin


Good Laughing
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Aerdra



Joined: 02 Feb 2022
Posts: 551
PostPosted: Fri Apr 24, 2026 4:38 am Reply with quote
I was expecting some action scenes here based on last week's episode preview. Did I misremember something?

Covnam wrote:
I wonder if her father's reaction later is due to him regretting having to sideline Mimi. I imagine making her his heir and training her was already defying convention. Perhaps doing that (as opposed to say, adopting a son to be his heir) was already pushing what society or even the law of the land, would allow.

Yeah, I agree that Mimi's father probably feels bad about what he did. He was originally eager to train Mimi as heir, and replacing her with his newborn son felt like going with what others see as proper, rather than what he really wanted to do.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 12724
PostPosted: Fri Apr 24, 2026 6:28 am Reply with quote
Covnam wrote:
This has been fun so far, but I'll be disappointed if she never uses that brass knuckle looking hairpin Laughing

She's shown using them in the OP. I suspect we'll have to wait till near the end of the season for them to drop that shoe.
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Akcoll99



Joined: 28 Feb 2011
Posts: 451
PostPosted: Thu Apr 30, 2026 10:13 am Reply with quote
One of my favorite minor details so far is in the character design for Mimi's dad. Most of the other men in the series are fairly standard shojo anime designs, but her dad looks like he wandered in from the pages of Baki The Grappler.
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Saeryen



Joined: 26 Aug 2020
Posts: 1162
PostPosted: Thu Apr 30, 2026 11:16 am Reply with quote
I was surprised that the food we saw in Episode 5 looked like generic medieval fantasy food rather than actual Italian food, given this series takes place in pseudo-Italy.

That aside, I absolutely love this and Mimi is already one of my favorite anime characters.
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