Summer 2021 Anime: The Duke of Death and His Maid

Synopsis

Cursed by a witch as a child, a young duke gained the unwanted power to kill every living thing he touches. Forced to move away from his family and into a large mansion deep in the woods, the duke is treated as if he does not exist and is continually shunned by his peers. However, he is not entirely alone. Rob and Alice, his butler and maid, are always by his side. Alice loves to tease him, and as their relationship grows, the duke makes it his goal to break free from his deadly curse. (Source: MAL)

Comments

Vina Nurziani (The Indonesian Anime Times)

The beginning of the first episode of The Duke of Death and His Maid may appear sombre, since the young Duke is cursed to kill every living being by his touch, as seen from the flowers and trees that wither after he touches them, and he even unwillingly killed a bird in a flashback. Furthermore, he is banished from the main estate into a separate estate, living only with his maid Alice and butler Rob. As the witch who cursed him said, “you won’t be loved by anyone, and can’t love anyone. Show me a miserable life”, he is isolated from his family and feared by his friend. But in contrast, Alice is making his life more cheerful through playful comedic teasing. Although the Duke calls it out as harassment and he is also always worried that Alice might accidentally touch him from being too close while teasing him, yet their romantic feelings grow like the flowers in spring. The irony of living with your beloved one but unable to touch them, is a bittersweet story

The concept of “unable to touch” is presented consistently throughout the show. Even in the opening (you can see it from the featured image), there’s a gap between the Duke’s and Alice’s hands, but their shadows are touching. Or in the second episode, the Duke and Alice’s dancing scene is also significant in imagining them as a couple who cannot touch each other. Such scenes convey the two’s “so close yet so far” kind of relationship, an invisible wall he is determined to tear down.

The second episode grows the cast with the first appearance of Rob the butler, and the Duke’s little sister Viola. It also contains a story of a cat getting into the estate. Unlike the first episode that sets up the contrast between the curse and the Duke’s interaction with Alice, this episode shows the Duke’s emotional development. If the first episode shows that the Duke was only thinking about himself with his miserable condition and about how to avoid contact with living beings to protect them, the second episode shows that he can empathize with the cat for being abandoned and that he shouldn’t be that cautious around people who are used to living with him (Alice and Rob). Throughout the series, even though he cannot touch living beings, people around him keeps increasing in number, making things more lively for him.

Facts and Figures

Screenshots and Trailer

The Indonesian Anime Times