like Caelus is how he'd look like once he stop being a mob and his design gain more strokes/lines. anyway, some of the scenes are so gintama-esque, it makes me think he'd be voiced by tomokazu sugita(anime when?)
the warehouse fire incident reminded me of a similar case from apothecary diaries, and the way she caught the culprit reminded me of conan edogawa. she's even wearing a dress that's quite similar to a classic detective outfit(inverness cape). quite lovely
the only point I'm taking off is for the main romance. for a central couple, it just felt... bland? the ml was introduced as someone the fl wants to save in order to achieve her desired outcome, then he became important because of their (short-lived) contract, but beyond that he's just... an eye candy. tbh, I even thought the princess would have just the same, if not more, chemistry with the ml's older brother. well, I guess they were cute enough.
that aside, I really didn't expect to like this as much as I did. I like how they didn't stray from the fl's main goal, and didn't let romance take over despite the early introduction of the love interest. plus, the attention to the side characters made everything feel more complete. prince Theore's character development was especially satisfying.
Hermann, however, was probably the most interesting character for me. to think he was actually in love with Evaldina... it was so tragic that it was almost hilarious, but I must confess, their story felt more compelling than the main one. as for the emperor, well, I never really saw him apologize. as much as I feel sorry for him, how can anyone forgive someone who never apologized?
regardless of what others may think, the ending carried it for me. I'm really happy with how they chose to deal with the main antagonist, Evaldina. I don't think I would've rated this as high had they gone through the usual "execute the villaines" route for her. and with all said and done, my favorite character in this series will be count Talahan ^^. (4.9.26)
ps. dare I say... even if they chose a sapphic ending, one between the princess and the mage, it still wouldn't be so out of place.
but I'll marinate it first cuz it's angst