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[series:4754#628] | ||||||
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(All episodes watched): The premise of this show made me smirk. Rei/Rae finds Claire Francois to be 'irresistably cute' and gets a perverse thrill out of being bullied by her. The first thing she does once she realizes what has happened is to confess her love to Claire. Claire doesn't know what to think. Then there are three Princes, Rod, Thane and Yu Bauer, who also attend the academy and who can't help noticing the strange goings on. Claire secretly loves the silver haired Thane, and Rae will gladly support her romance if that allows her to remain close to Claire. there's also Misha Jur, Rae's friend and roomate. Definitely amusing and unusual, but the thought also occurred to me that surely some sort of plot would be needed since these introductory jokes wouldn't remain fresh forever. And it looks like indeed some sort of a plot is coming together, as the three Princes take an interest in Rae. Judging from the poster above, Claire and Rae will be close friends by the time this is over. So, a silly, amusing show that might just be going somewhere. The next day I downloaded not just episode two but all available ones, because I am expecting to watch this show in its entirety. Episode two kept me laughing or at least smiling. Already Rae has the initiative in their relationship and Claire is on the defensive. Claire has virtually no way to fight back with since the slightest attention she pays to Rae, even if that is an insult, delights her. Rae uses her encyclopedic knowledge of the video game to blackmail Claire's father into hiring her as a maid for his daughter. Rae isn't a pervert, she just knows what she wants and fully intends to get it. The story seemed to remain fresh and fun. Episode three was OK but didn't seem to be as much fun as the previous ones, and I wondered if the 'freshness' of this show was wearing off. Exactly why Rae is attracted to Claire, even though Claire loves Prince Thane, and what sort of relationship she will settle for (friendship?) is unclear. But already there are signs that Claire is starting to see Rae as something more than just an annoyance. I hope the two will do some serious talking about what they both hope to achieve, and we will get to know them and understand their relationship better. In episode four there's a run-in with a monster and we learn of the 'Knights' who act as a sort of academy police force. Both Rae and Claire hope to become one (and the OP sequence suggests both will). It seems that Misha will play a significant part in this series, but just what that will be remains a mystery at this point. I didn't sense the plot moving forward to any great degree during this episode, except perhaps that we get mixed signals during the monster fight regarding whether Claire likes or hates Rae. Episode five was a disappointment as well; I fear that the one big joke--the amusing premise--is wearing thin and the show doesn't have much else. The everyday jokes aren't terribly funny and again there doesn't seem to be much of a plot. Fortunately episode six seemed like more fun to me, with the odd cafe that the Knights will run at the school festival and Rae's shadow business selling 21st century technology to a local restaraunt. In episode seven there are hints of politics as we learn of a group at the school pressing for reform of the nobility/commoner system. Also, the first appearance of the strange masked person who has been in the OP sequence from the start. I wish this show would be either a little funnier or have a little bit more intriguing plot (or both). As it is, it feels pretty lukewarm--worth watching, but just barely. I hope the main theme of this masked villain arc will be Rae and Claire learning to trust and like each other better, not just action and good-versus-evil conflict. That should have been the message all along, and I cannot feel much confidence that this business will be particularly exciting or engaging. I doubt if we'll ever know why Rei/Rae developed her odd affection for the villainess Claire. A friend of theirs is incriminated in a plot and the goodbye between them was almost touching. As is often the case, magic is used to defeat a fearsome monster, but I had no idea that Claire could summon such energy if she really needed to. When you have little idea what the strengths and weaknesses of the characters are, it's hard to know whether threats are all that serious and you should get excited. In general this show seems to expect us to be thrilled by magical fights, but they aren't written or animated all that well. Well, it was seeming like unless there was a second season at some point in the future we would never know who the masked villain was, because time was rapidly running out and the plot has gone off on an apparently unrelated arc. Claire's half-sister Manaria comes to the academy, and threatens to take her away from Rae. Fortunately, the ending was not so bad after all. I sort of liked the surprise Manaria sprung in the end. There's a good deal yet to go (two scenes) after the ending credits. My impression of WnOwAR was that it got off to a good start with a silly premise but the novelty gradually wore off and there wasn't all that much that was remarkable to replace it. Last updated Friday, February 02 2024. Created Friday, November 10 2023. | ||||||||
