From Bureaucrat to Villainess: Dad's Been Reincarnated!

Episode 6

Could Kenzaburo be the best anime dad of all time? He's certainly doing his best to claim the title with the fatherly way he cares for each of the Love and Beast otome game world's characters. Episode six opens with what's essentially a demonstration Pokémon battle between Richard and Auguste's water and fire-themed beasts. When Anna's overpowered wind magic inadvertently wakens a bone dragon (not actually dinosaur bones, as Kenzaburo previously assumed, but he accepts the fantasy world logic without trouble), Grace inscribes Japanese characters on her colleagues' magic circles, causing their Pokémon/beasts to transform into easily merchandise-able Sword and Shield variants, helping them to win the battle. Don't think I don't know what you're doing here, From Bureaucrat to Villainess!

Of course, this further example of unexpected power from Grace only deepens Richard and Auguste's affection for her as they pledge their eternal loyalty! As usual, supposed main heroine Anna reveres Grace and hangs on her every word, “You're a genius, Grace-sama,” while also glowing purple enough for Kenzaburo to wonder, “What's up with that sparkling light going 'ting-a-ling' all the time?” Although he's a committed geek, he's not fully up on shojo dating game conventions enough to know what an affection meter is. His daughter Hinako, watching from her TV screen, a concerned sweat drop on her face, certainly does, though!

The second half of the episode concerns girls previously seen only as background characters—the snob trio Violet Carbeau, Jaune Moinau, and Marron Chouette, each named for a color and bird species. What's funny is that from Hinako's perspective, characters unimportant to her dad appear as poor-quality, low-resolution, 8-bit graphics. Only after interacting with them do they receive proper high-definition sprites. True to form, Grace has to surreptitiously record their names on the back of her permanently-carried fan accessory for Kenzaburo to recall their names. This leads to one of the episode's funniest jokes, where even the background music pauses for Grace to read out their names.

As girls who would normally be part of villainess Grace's entourage, the snob trio is concerned mainly with making trouble for commoner Anna, spreading malicious gossip and outright lies. Thankfully, Anna's been brought up well enough not to take stock of slanderers' words (much to Kenzaburo's delight, as he sheds copious manly tears in appreciation of excellent parenting). Grace's elegance and Kenzaburo's aptitude for well-timed bureaucratic apologies essentially win their souls, adding yet more to his ever-expanding multi-gendered harem.

Not that 52-year-old Kenzaburo shows the slightest sexual interest in any of the characters he interacts with—he views them all as teenagers through a fatherly lens. He desperately wants to set Anna up with one of the male characters, but for the moment, she only has eyes for Grace, the woman she sees as having done so much for her. What also marks Kenzaburo as a thoroughly decent man is his willingness to learn from anyone, regardless of age—despite his incarnation as an upper-class aristocrat, he exudes no snobbery, only respect, and fatherly concern.

Hinako and Mitsuko's commentary on Kenzaburo's actions is much less intrusive here than in previous episodes and more closely integrated with the story's flow without excessive repetition. Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come. It's lovely that Kenzaburo seems to have brought up Hinako in his image—she's also emotionally moved by the same things he is! Now that she's discovered she has more direct control over the summoned beast Orion, perhaps she'll develop a more active role in Kenzaburo/Grace's story going forward?

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From Bureaucrat to Villainess: Dad's Been Reincarnated! is currently streaming on HIDIVE on Thursdays.