The tailors of this kingdom must be rich.
Impressions:
I’m actually surprised that they didn’t take the whole beefcake gag and really run with it. The pun for ?? (budou – dancing) and ?? (budou – martial arts) was right there. They can’t say they missed it. If you were playing a drinking game for the times they said “ball” (budoukai), alcohol poisoning would have killed you. Especially with it ending with the whole punch each other to communicate. It’s not even a bad gag either, at least to build a single episode around. Entire series have been done on it (eg Maid Guy, Dumbbells), which is a bit much, but a handful of jokes before getting into the character stuff would’ve been fine. Or maybe it’s just relief that we aren’t getting more maid/servant fetishism stuff. A lot easier to chuckle at dudes/ladies built like brick houses in ripped sleeves.
That said, the character side wasn’t particularly good. It was, as anime is wont to do, a character who’s just insecure until the protagonist says “hey, stop being so insecure” and that fixes everything. But there also wasn’t even a problem to start with. They didn’t establish that she was under any pressure, or that her father would be disappointed if she didn’t take over for him. Hell, they didn’t even establish that she couldn’t both be a zoologist and a count. Seems like with an entire safari in the backyard, they’re already doing both while also being a student.
Next Episode:
…
