Every so often, I wonder if I’m just knee-jerking rating every episode of this show “5.” But then I stop and really think about how each episode (this one included, obviously) takes care to balance the dynamic at the atelier, drops of information about Qifrey’s obsession with the Brimmed Caps, character development, and exquisite detail, and I decide that I’m probably just being anxious. Again. But at least this week I had the added comfort of watching the adorable brush buddy (emphatically not named Puff Puff) mimic the way Qifrey chewed on leaves. I love that little creature. He’s like an extra stretchy ferret.

It’s also impressive that the scene doesn’t try to make Qifrey chomping herbs on the roadside look “pretty.” He’s just shoving them in his mouth and chewing, with bits of leaf sticking out and the usual unattractive look of a person mid-mastication. It seems like a little thing, but it drives home how remarkably human Qifrey is. The girls see him – and he seems to want them to see him – as reliable and maybe a bit infallible. But he’s not; he’s got his own things going on, he makes mistakes, and he almost gets himself electrocuted by the eye witch when he tries to tamper with their twinned jar spell. His ambition got the better of him, and he knows it, and then, to add insult to injury, he can’t hide the evidence of his numb hands. Agott should really listen when he tells her to slow down, because it looks like he knows what he’s talking about.

Perhaps more important is the fact that we seem to get a bit of an idea of why Qifrey is so obsessed. It’s been said before – as recently as last week – that among the forbidden spells after the Pact are those that work on the human body. While it makes sense in a broad definition, Qifrey distinctly mentions that it did away with magic used for healing. In fact, the twinning spell the Brimmed Cap used on Coco’s jar is one that originated in medical magic: it ensured that apothecary witches could keep hospitals and doctors in constant supply of the medicines they needed. It’s no surprise that the witches who worked as healers objected to the Pact. They were overruled and had their memories wiped, but I can’t help but feel that this was short-sighted. Why not make an exception for doctors? They’ve clearly made one for the Knights Moralis, and I’d argue that they do a lot less good than a healer who could knit Custas’ legs back together would. Is it some form of anti-Outsider bias? Did someone believe that non-magical families deserved to run out of life-saving medications and medical technology? Or was it just overzealousness, a burning desire to raze the land and salt the earth to kill a single plant?

We’ve seen plenty of evidence thus far that the policing of magic is about deciding who gets to have power. The Knights Moralis are the clearest evidence of that, but even Agott’s trauma is linked to it. Her mother, in refusing to take her as an apprentice, determined that Agott wasn’t worthy of the Arklaum family power. Agott’s entire existence since then has been laser-focused on proving her mother wrong, and she takes Coco’s presence in her life as both proof that her mother was right and that some people shouldn’t be allowed power and as a sign that maybe her mom was right about her, because if someone like Coco can use magic, maybe it, and therefore the Arklaum lineage, isn’t as exclusive as she needs to believe and she really isn’t a worthy successor. Because if she and Coco are the same, doesn’t that mean that she’s not special?

Everyone in this story shows a different attitude towards magic and its power structure. Agott needs to believe she’s worthy, Tetia wants to help others, and Richeh resents rules and adults’ adherence to them. Olruggio just does his thing without thinking about how it looks to others, Tartah resents the rules that keep him from apprenticeship (and even plays with Outsiders, showing that he feels on the outside himself), and Qifrey is more than happy to bend rules. Only Coco loves magic for what it is, and that’s both as it should be and what draws the Brimmed Cap to her. The Knights Moralis have inflicted too many strictures and adhere to them far too closely, but there has to be a balance somewhere. If adults would stop trying to use Coco, maybe she could find it.

Rating:

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Tamura, Uchida voice Royus family’s servants

The official website for the television anime of writer Kei Misawa and artist Natsu Mizuno‘s The Duke’s Son Claims He Won’t Love Me Yet Showers Me with Adoration (“Kimi o Koi Suru Ki wa Nai” to Itta Jiki Kōshaku-sama ga Nazeka Dekiai Shitekimasu) manga announced two more cast members on Wednesday:

Makoto Tamura as Stim, the Royus family’s longest-serving servant

Maaya Uchida as Tanja, an efficient maid working for the Royus family

Flex Comix describes the manga’s story:

Elsa, the daughter of a fallen aristocrat, receives news.
It was a marriage proposal from Julius, a very elite nobleman.
Elsa is wondering, “Why would such a distinguished man marry me?”
But after the wedding, Julius, who had been kind and gentle up to that point, changed completely!

In a cold voice, he tells her, “I have no intention of loving you.”

The anime stars:

Hitoyuki Matsui (Dokkoida?!, Puppet Master Sakon) is directing the anime at Zero-G and Grass with Kaoru Suzuki credited for planning technical direction. Tomoko Konparu (Blue Spring Ride, Dance with Devils) is overseeing the series scripts, and Yūko Yahiro (Aharen-san wa Hakarenai, Attack on Titan: Junior High) is designing the characters. MICHIRU (Ascendance of a Bookworm, Given) is composing the music. Saber Links is working on sound production.

The anime will premiere in July on TV Asahi and BS Asahi.

Misawa and Mizuno debuted the series on the BookLive digital bookstore in February 2021. Flex Comix shipped the fifth volume on March 13. Flex Comix also offers the manga in English on various digital platforms.

Sources: The Duke’s Son Claims He Won’t Love Me Yet Showers Me with Adoration anime’s website, Comic Natalie

The official website of the Tenmaku no Jaadugar (Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia) television anime revealed additional cast, staff, the opening theme, second promo, and the main visual (pictured) on Wednesday.

The anime series adapting Tomato Soup‘s historical drama manga will premiere with a 60-minute special on July 4 at 11:00 p.m. on TV Asahi and its 24 affiliates’ IMAnimation programming block, followed by BS Asahi. Second episode onward, the anime will air at 11:30 p.m.

Cast

Jochi: Kenji Nojima (Psycho-Pass)

Töregene: Ami Koshimizu (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto)

Ögedei: Hiro Shimono (Black Clover)

Chagatai: Daisuke Namikaw (Violet Evergarden)

Staff

Assistant Director: Takuya Fujikura (Dandadan assistant episode director)

Art Director: Yuri Kabasawa (Kimetsu no Yaiba)

Color Design: Narumi Konno (Chi. Chikyuu no Undou ni Tsuite)

Director of Photography: Naoki Takahashi

Editing: Kiyoshi Hirose (Ousama Ranking)

Sound Director: Noriyoshi Konuma (Boku no Kokoro no Yabai Yatsu)

Pop band SEKAI NO OWARI (One Piece) is performing the opening theme “Stella,” which is previewed in the promotional video below.

Abel Góngora (Dandadan 2nd Season) is helming the anime at Science SARU. Kanichi Katou (Mashiro no Oto) is handling the series composition, with Kenichi Yoshida (Koukyoushihen Eureka Seven) serving as character designer and chief animation director. Koushirou Hino is composing the music.

Tomato Soup began drawing the manga on Souffle website in September 2021 and began concurrent serialization in Mystery Bonita in March 2025. Akita Shoten published the fifth volume in April 2025, with the sixth volume planned for a July 15 release.

Yen Press licensed the manga in English in October 2024 and published the second volume in November 2025, with the third volume scheduled for a July 28 release.

PV 2

Source: Comic Natalie