The Duke of Death and His Maid or Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid is set in the aesthetic Victorian era. The story follows a duke who was cursed by a witch at a young age: anyone or anything he touches will die. Troubled by this curse and isolated by his family because of it, the duke is forced to live away from his loved ones who only despise him for his curse. The duke, fortunately, finds some company with his trusty butler and his flirtatious maid Alice who doesn’t waste a single opportunity to tease the duke. As the duke and Alice grow to love each other, the power of the curse burdens them even more because they cannot touch each other and are forced to love each other from a distance. Determined to break the curse for Alice, the duke hopes to find a cure so that he can experience the joy of holding Alice in his arms without worrying about her safety. Thus starts the tragic tale of a duke with an unfortunate curse and a maid who cannot touch her loved one.
The Duke of Death and His Maid is a tragically sad yet wholesome comedy (don’t even ask us how this anime balances the two but it does!) that will tug at your heart because you only want the two characters to end up together and live a beautiful life amidst all the fun and laughter. Read on to find out our pros and cons for this anime!
PRO: The Romance Is So Beautiful
The Duke of Death and His Maid does romance in a very poignant and dreamy way. From subtle hints like the Requiem that the duke plays for Alice that hints at the sorrow the duke feels when he cannot touch Alice but Alice says that the music sounds like a ballad to other meaningful romance that is inserted throughout the anime, there is not one moment where your heart doesn’t root for these two characters who simply want to be together and love one another.
PRO: There’s A Little Bit of Everything
The anime starts on a rather tragic note but it switches to comedy really fast and does it pretty flawlessly in our opinion. If you want romantic moments in this anime, you’ve got them as the duke does profess his love for Alice in many subtle ways and Alice understands, of course. If you want hilarious jokes (think Karakai Jouzo no Takagi-san (Teasing Master Takagi-san), this anime has got it. If you want ecchi moments where we see Alice trying to flirt with the duke to see his hilarious reactions, this anime has got that too! If you want some real moments between the duke and Alice, you get that too, like that dreamy yet sorrowful dance that the duke and Alice shared where they couldn’t touch each other. From comedy to romance to tragedy, this anime has a little bit of everything and it makes it worthwhile for anyone who watches it.
CON: The Catch Is CGI
Well, here’s the con of this anime. The animation is not everyone’s cup of tea. Some of us here at Honey’s Anime didn’t particularly enjoy it because, while the story and the plot are superb, the animation simply ruins it for us because of CGI. While many moments are dreamy, there are times when we feel like we come back to reality because of the low-quality animation. However, The Duke of Death and His Maid’s animation is not really that bad as far as CGI goes and the J.C. Staff does a fantastic job. But for many, heavy CGI is simply not something they want to see in anime, especially a wholesome romance one and that might be the only con that would stop you from watching this anime.
Final Thoughts
The Duke of Death and His Maid is still a great anime, despite its con and we encourage you to give it a shot! Let us know how you feel about the Duke of Death and His Maid in the comments below!
Author: Evita Vincy
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