Overview:
Have you ever wanted an anime musical? Not an anime with a character who wants to be an idol and occasionally performs, but an anime where the cast just burst into song and dance? Well look no further because Dance With Devils takes a typical supernatural harem show and adds music.
Review (a few major plot spoilers here if you are concerned):
It should probably be noted up-front that I’m not the biggest fan of harems (though I don’t hate them) nor do I particularly like musicals (but again I don’t hate them). Mostly I watched this for the sheer novelty of seeing an anime musical and yes, it is novel, but it isn’t great.
To put it simply individual songs with their accompanying visuals within this anime are quite good. I particularly liked the fight sequence early on where Rem defeated the enemy during his song because visually it was interesting. The story itself with Ritsuka being a grimoire that both devils and vampires are fighting over is also pretty interesting. Throw in Lindo, the kind-of-brother-who-also-has-a-massive-crush-on-the-protagonist, who is somehow a vampire and an exorcist, and you’ve got a fairly impressive list of ingredients to make an interesting narrative. The show then proceeds to squander most opportunities to do this.
Part of the issue is it is a harem show so for the first half the series each episode kind of focusses on a different member of the student council as they get their introductory song and get to torment Ritsuka in a way that makes no sense given their overall objective (then again it is never particularly clear why the other members of the student council care one way or the other about the grimoire). This means a lot of the plot is just kind of put on hold even though initially we are under the impression that time is of the essence, you know given Ritsuka’s mother was kidnapped by vampires and might be being killed. And of course each member of the student council is a devil and a particular ‘type’. You’ve got the handsome flirt, the strong guy, the massochist, and then literally a dog. It’s all pretty stock standard.
When we finally have the introductions out of the way things do take a turn for the more serious including a character actually being killed (which I kind of didn’t expect and the show gets points for actually upping the danger level) but the relationships between the characters just kind of drift back and fourth without progressing (which again is probably the general issue with harem stories because if someone just stopped dithering and actually made their feelings clear the story would probably end).
For all of that, the vampires are probably the weakest part of this show. They really just exist to launch attacks and force the plot forward but they themselves get almost no development and their motives, while explained, aren’t particularly compelling or convincing.
This is definitely a show for fans of harems, people who will watch anything with a vampire in it, or anyone who is just curious about how an anime musical looks. For everyone else, there are probably better harem shows and there are most definitely better supernatural shows out there. This is never unwatchably bad and there are some good moments to be found in
I like mage and lindo
I remember watching this show when it was originally airing and I only made it through because of the pure ridiculousness of what I was witnessing. I still want to play the game if it ever comes out in English, though.
Plus, those openings and endings have been on my anime music playlist forEVER because they are fantastic. <3 <3 <3
“SAY MAGE IS THE GREAT!”
“EMO LIAR!”
I loved this title; the dub really did it justice. It’s all the things that are right up my alley, and also unintentionally hilarious. <3 Even though it wasn't your particular thing, I'm glad you shared your thoughts on it. I felt like this title was Rejet's attempt at a more…wholesome?…probably not the right word there…DiaLovers. 😛
Also, I'm just going to leave this here:
Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the link.
Interesting concept! The first thing that came to mind was “Anime meets Disney” which doesn’t quite sound like what you’ve got going in here. And thankfully so!
I might actually watch this. I love a good angsty relationship and am not entirely against harems myself, especially reverse ones. Throw in some vampires and it just might get interesting.
Great review, Karandi!
Do it, Sophiethestark. Seriously, it is so good if you like dark, dramatic, musically inclined reverse harem shoujo anime. It’s also sooooo unintentionally hilarious. <3
Hope you enjoy it.
Thanks! Me too! 🙂
There are very few anime that attempt to be anything close to a musical. There have only been a very small number of such shows and this is the one I say gets closest to being genuine. It’s worth checking out an episode or two at the very least as they were unique and interesting in that way.
Agreed, it’s worth watching an episode or two for the sheer novelty. Whether you finish it or not is debatable but at least trying it as something different is well worth while.
Hmm…I would watch this one purely for it being something unique and different. That said, I don’t think I am going to enjoy it much. Like you, am not a real big fan of musicals (but don’t exactly hate them either), so I might watch this at some time in the future, but it is definitely not very high on my list. Great post as always though 😊
If you’re just curious you can probably just watch the first two episodes and call it an experience. The story doesn’t exactly get compelling so you won’t feel obligated to continue.
I can’t…. Too too much singing for me the handle. It’a like High School Musical but anime version.