Dance with Devils

Episode 3

What is it that's so scary about a carnival at night? I know my unease dates back to when I saw the Care Bears movie when I was six, but whether you were traumatized by colorful bears or not, there's something very unsettling about a darkened, mostly abandoned fairground midway. This episode of Dance with Devils knows that, and while most of the episode doesn't take place actually at the night carnival, the section that does is creepy enough to be the standout. Of course, to get there, first we need to move past Ritsuka's brother being protective and not telling her what's going on.

We saw Lindo (formerly Lind) return last week, and now this week we pick right back up with him waiting for his sister outside Rem's gate. Ritsuka's pleased to see him; the same cannot be said of Rem, although he makes an attempt to disguise it. Not so Lindo – he gives Rem the cut direct, sweeping past both him and his outstretched hand as he gets his sister out of there. Rem is clearly not happy about this development, making him the first of the bunch who may be developing actual feelings for Ritsuka; later Urie remarks that Ritsuka makes Rem “hot under the collar.” Lindo is absolutely against Rem (or any of the student council) getting anywhere remotely near his sister to the point where he forbids her to leave the house...although he doesn't actually bother to tell her any of that. Ritsuka's no fool, but it looks like she's willing to indulge her brother since he's been gone and he did make her an amazing breakfast. Besides, her friend's on the way over with cream puffs! Cream puffs make anything better.

At this point in the show, Dance with Devils has a major edge over other reverse harems: a lead with a brain. Ritsuka is willing to do what Lindo asks without pushing him for answers, but that's because she trusts him implicitly, and she doesn't let it dissuade her from also trusting Rem, who in her eyes has been her mainstay since her mother's disappearance. At this point Rem hasn't actually done anything she needs to be suspicious of, so when she goes with Urie to his Hell Festival, she isn't doing so because she's an idiot – as far as she knows, she's going to talk to Rem about her mom, and since Urie is his student council underling, there's no reason to suspect him of lying. In fact, anytime she adopts the patented wide-eyed blank stare of many a heroine, it's because someone (read: Urie) has bespelled her and taken away her free will and power of thought...or because she's just snapped out of it and is trying to figure out what's going on. I'm hoping she's going to put two and two together and figure out what is my current assumption: that her friend Azuna was on her way over and got abducted or otherwise impaired by Urie and/or his minions, because hearing the car noises and her scream just before he showed up is just a tad bit suspicious. Azuna also clearly knows a lot more about what's up than she's letting on, and I'm very curious to know how and why this is. Was she made to befriend Ritsuka to protect her at school once Lindo went abroad?

All of this brings us to the carnival scene I mentioned earlier. In a moment I cannot help but liken to Utena climbing to the dueling arena in Revolutionary Girl Utena, Urie takes Ritsuka to his secret garden to a chant sung by a mixed group of voices. There the world's creepiest tea party appears to be taking place, during which Urie clearly is planning on seducing Ritsuka, because what's a creepy tea party without a live seduction? While I could argue that all three episodes of the series thus far have relied upon carnivalism, the second half of this episode really goes for it, and the show becomes very menacing. Yes, the house fire was kind of scary last week, but Ritsuka being hunted in a deserted nighttime carnival by girls in masks with wide, feral smiles is somehow moreso. It's as if the show suddenly remembered that it has “devils” in its title and decided to really go for it – Lindo sprinkles (highly effective) holy water, Ritsuka's pendant repells Urie, and the carnival scene feels hellish. I hope the story keeps going in this dark direction, because it really is giving it more to like beyond the “hot guys who burst into song” angle.

Speaking of songs, we have one full one this week that I thought was weaker than previous songs, as well as a brief reprise of Ritsuka's “ordinary girl” song from episode one. I do like when it has more songs as long as they don't feel like distractions, which in this case the two snippets really didn't. The animation had some issues with running this time, which is too bad, but as the show goes on, physical differences between the guys become more evident, which is excellent – everyone has a different build and figure, and I feel like Rem has a shorter nose than the others.

Dance with Devils is starting to feel a little less silly, though no less enjoyable. Next week looks like Lindo will be taking the spotlight, and I'm hoping two things: 1) that he starts being honest with his sister about what on earth is going on, and 2) that we find out what the deal is with that shirt.

Rating: B

Dance with Devils is currently streaming on Funimation.

Rebecca Silverman is ANN's senior manga critic.