English Dub Review: The Duke of Death and His Maid Season One

Overview:

As the elegant, frail flower petals wither away into lifeless ashes, the young duke is tragically reminded of the despicable power forced upon him—the ability to kill anything he touches. Scorned by his family, he is sent away to live in near isolation. Fortunately, he is not entirely alone, as the manor’s staff—his dutiful butler Rob and the flirtatious maid Alice—keep him company and make his life less miserable.

Our Take:

This show was one I always looked forward to every week. There was never a time where I didn’t want to see what new antics the Duke and Alice would get up to. I have watched A LOT of romance anime since it is my favorite genre so I feel I am uniquely qualified to tell you just how good this show really is. So without further ado let’s get to it!

One thing that really sets this anime apart from others in the genre is how open both characters are about their feelings. Sure there is some of the dumb embarrassment that the main guy goes through that I could do without but that is kind of just par for the course at this point. The only bad part about how the romance plays out is that nothing is really settled by the end but with most anime and a second season on the way I wasn’t really surprised and knew what to expect.

Another really cool and interesting thing about this anime is the VA’s for the two leads. Clifford Chapin voices the Duke while Kristen McGuire voices the maid Alice. These two VA’s are actually engaged in real life and for one I thought that was an amazing casting decision and two it really elevates the show. Their chemistry is very good and makes the relationship between the Duke and Alice all that much more enjoyable. I also want to give a shoutout to Clifford Chapin for singing some of the songs that got dubbed. I didn’t know he had it in him but it was really well done!

Really the only knock on the show is that the animation style might turn some people away. It has that CGI style but almost looks like an oil painting. The characters can look a little off at times but for the most part, it all looks just fine and the characters are charming enough to make you forget all about it. There are times they use classic 2d style kind of like how the 2016 version of Berserk was. But that is the only thing similar about those two shows, seriously the animation in this is fine.

Normally I would knock off the score for how this one ends but luckily for us all it has been confirmed to be getting a second season. I don’t know when it will be coming out but I hope it’s soon. Also, good news for those of us who don’t want to wait the manga has gotten an English license and will be starting to get released here starting in May. Please I urge all of you to watch this anime because despite the dark subject matter you expect going in you actually get one of the best and most wholesome shows of the year.