Dance with Devils

Episode 4

Is it bad that every time I see Rem's name I start humming “Losing my Religion” under my breath? I'm going to go with “probably,” particularly since Dance with Devils is a musical, with a whopping four songs this episode, although only one of them is a full musical number with title and music video qualities. The other three are just moments when Ritsuka, Rem, and Lindo quietly burst into song as they contemplate what's going on around them, singing mournfully to the moon, their pillows, or family photos. Lindo gets the full number with a song that I'm pretty sure all of us saw coming about his decidedly non-fraternal feelings for Ritsuka. If that sort of thing creeps you out, allow me to offer that it's actually even creepier in song.

Speaking of family photos, Ritsuka and Lindo's home is probably the first one I can recall seeing in an anime that is very clearly personalized to the family living in it. The dried flowers and bunches of herbs hanging from the walls, the photographs on pretty much every available surface, the furniture style – all of it speaks to the personal taste of their mother rather than a Generic Japanese Household such as we usually see. It's a really nice detail that helps to establish the background of the characters without having to go into too much explanation, and like Ritsuka's blue dress in the opening theme, it's eye-catching.

The basic purpose of this week's episode is to both tell us that Rem and his buddies are, in fact, the eponymous devils Ritsuka will be dancing with and to hammer home the idea that Lindo is way too fond of his little sister. Since we already expected this, the more interesting take away is that Ritsuka's friend Azuna is in fact in cahoots with Lindo in terms of keeping Ritsuka locked up – when she hears that Ritsuka has flown the coop, she whips out her phone and sends a text, which we see Lindo receiving a few minutes later. (Was I the only one hoping that he didn't have his phone on while he was meeting this that guy in the regalia?) What does this mean for Ritsuka? Although I was expecting this revelation, I'm really not sure how I feel about it, as it puts Ritsuka in a position where she essentially has no one in her corner. Yes, Azuna and Lindo are worried about her and trying to protect her, but that largely involves telling her what to do and not answering her (generally legitimate) questions. Sure Rem is nice to her, but he clearly has an ulterior motive and a lot he's not telling her as well, which puts both groups in the “manipulate Ritsuka” camp, albeit with different motivations. Looked at this way, Ritsuka's continual defiance of her brother's orders (and padlocks) take on an aspect of being a quest for knowledge rather than extreme stupidity – if no one will tell her anything, she's going to go answer her questions herself. She may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but she's also got an inquisitive nature (or an Alice-like curiosity, which may be the better way to put it) and she's not going to just sit quietly in the dark. Now if only we could get a fuller explanation of Lindo's powers as well...I admit that I'm not up on my Catholic exorcism lore, but I'm still pretty sure that he's using a mix of mythologies in his work.

This felt like a slow episode, honestly, devoted to explaining things that we had already figured out for ourselves. While it is nice to have confirmation, if you took out the musical numbers, there really wasn't much new plot-building information being presented. Dance with Devils' fourth episode is still fun, but it still needs to move the story forward rather than rely on its attractive cast and the novelty of being a musical.

Rating: C+

Dance with Devils is currently streaming on Funimation.

Rebecca Silverman is ANN's senior manga critic.