OP3 Sequence

OP3: 「シネマティックパレード」 (Cinematic Parade ) by (Nasuo☆)

「坊ちゃんとアリスと再会の母」 (Bocchan to Arisu to Saikai no Haha)
“The Duke, Alice, and Reuniting with Mom”

I find it interesting that they ended the last season and started this one right in middle of the school arc, rather than finishing the school excursion in one season and then starting this next one afresh. Not that I mind it- it felt like the series picked up right where it left off as if several months had never elapsed between them.

That bit about witches not being human sure caught my attention. Daleth (Hikasa Youko) sure looks human to me- is there even a difference, beyond using magic, and does it matter that much? I wonder if this humanizing spell will actually work? Given the ridiculously long procedure (1000 steps, seriously?!) and the dead ends we’ve gotten with other magical items encountered in this show, I suspect not. Walter (Uchida Yuuma) loves Daleth for who she is, which includes her witchyness, so I think he’d be perfectly happy to have her as is. Daleth’s character development is one of the highlights of this series for me. She started off as an antagonist behind a mask, pretty intimidating to boot. But now, we get to see her blush and daydream like a school girl- a total 180 and charming in it’s own right.

Cuff (Kuramochi Wakana) finishes up her training arc at lightening speed, what a star pupil. Everyone gets their Hogwarts experience (complete with a cute school song), while Zain (Kamiya Hiroshi) is getting the shit electrified out of him thanks to electro girl. Nico shows genuine care for Bocchan (Hanae Natsuki), taking the time to put himself in Bocchan’s shoes to understand his aversion to killing Sade, then apologizing for trying to make him do that. Shows some real humility.

I had totally forgotten that Alice’s mom was revived the end of last season. It was a little disorienting to say the least when I saw her in the Underworld, until my memory caught up to speed. I’m not the only one who was surprised- the normally unflappable Rob (Ootsuka Houchuu) was too (and who wouldn’t be). I had always wondered if Rob ever got surprised, and now I know. Her mom is a cheerful sort of character, if not talkative- I doubt she took a breath that whole conversation.

We had a touching reunion between mother and daughter. We also learn that Sharon is on a first name basis with Mama Bocchan. Her name is Gerbera, another name for a daisy, which fits with the flower theme (Rose of Sharon).

I was glad that we delved a little bit into Sharon’s backstory without having to wait any longer. I do like the detail that she wears a black apron because she dirtied her white one so often, they gave up and gave her a black one. Alice’s father is a shithead who ran off with some other chick after Alice was born. Sharon apparently became involved with the Bocchan household through a chance encounter with the grandfather and received a job offer at the mansion after tending to his wounds. We don’t know a whole lot about grandfather, but we do know from previously that Bocchan admires him, and he was a kindhearted guy, to offer Sharon and Alice (Mano Ayumi) a place at the mansion. There has to be more to him than meets the eye, given that he was mixed up with Sade and did something to piss her off. At least that’s what I’m assuming since his death is so closely connected to what happened to Bocchan and Sharon afterwards. Only time will tell, and it looks like Bocchan and friends are getting ever closer to turning back time.

All in all, this is a very sweet show (with one of my favorite anime soundtracks out there), and it is a joy to see Bocchan and the gang back on screen again for S3.

ED3 Sequence

ED3: 「エトワールメモワール」 (Étoile Memoir) by (Alice (Ayumi Mano))

End Card

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