REVIEW: ‘Delico’s Nursery’ Episode 5 — “The Second Nursery”

Delico’s Nursery Episode 5 “The Second Nursery” finally pops off with some more intrigue and the series’ first big action set piece. As the Vlad Agency fathers and agents check out the latest murder of a Vlad Agency member, they discuss how all of the members have been asked to go into hiding due to the document leak Sir Maurice stole in Episode 4.

However, one member refused, introducing Lord Johannes’ second-in-command, Lord Umberto Lent. Dali and his men also discuss how they must protect their children. This reveals that the children are all being kept at the Delico head maid Clara’s home. Raphael is still conflicted about being Ul’s older brother but admits to Clara how much of his father’s attention shifted from him to Ul—a classic older brother jealousy situation. This is great character growth for Raphael who is able to sort through these conflicted thoughts with someone outside of his direct family.

At the same time, Theodore’s mind is starting to break as he snaps at the other children. The teddy bears in his mind are like his subconscious that he’s trying to stave off, but it looks like the next episode will finally show Theodore opening up to the other children. Delico’s Nursery Episode 5 focuses a lot on Raphael and Theodore’s issues that have been growing, and it is pleasant to see how the children’s minds work, as they influenced by their aristocratic fathers. It’s interesting to see how the fathers’ parenting styles have influenced their kids, which is what this episode displays

But back to the fathers—they devise a plan to use Lord Johannes as bait, and Lord Johannes trusts Dali’s strategy. Using bait to lure out the enemy is a classic plan that never fails, right? Wrong! Before they attempt this ploy to draw out Pendulum, they check up on Lord Umberto because they fear Pendulum could also target him. Dali and Gerhard try to convince Lord Umberto to go into hiding while Dino and Henrique guard outside.

This is a great, quick scene for the character-building of Dali and Gerhard as Lord Umberto talks about how he knew both Dali’s and Gerhard’s fathers back in the Clan (the school for vampires to become part of the Vlad Agency and Blood Pact Council). He talks a lot about how honor must be protected above all else, but Dali disagrees. Lord Umberto offers a questionable argument about honour while Dali says that no one should be dying anymore for withholding the information on the TRUMP.

While the three men converse indoors, a surprise attack from Pendulum ensues. Dino and Henrique almost get knocked out by sleeping gas, but Henrique swiftly bites his tongue to keep himself awake. Not sure if this is a real tactic, but sure. If it means they’ll stay awake to finally do some awesome fighting, that’s great. Delico’s Nursery Episode 5 contains two simultaneous fights: Half are fighting outside, and the others barge indoors through the window. They breached the house like they were playing Rainbow Six Siege.

The fights are not the most spectacularly drawn, but the hits’ sound design sells them the most. The music in this episode helps ramp up the pacing, too. Dino and Henrique get beat up so fast, making their characters seem underwhelmingly weak, or that the enemies are scaled really high. Pendulum’s smallest member Kiki explains how she’s basically abnormally strong—somewhat explaining why she could beat up the two fathers so easily. This is an overused trope where the smallest person is typically the strongest, but still kind of hilarious.

Inside, Dali and Gerhard also fail their fights, resulting in Lord Umberto being captured. The Pendulum members are disappointed and end up escaping successfully. After suffering this major loss, the Vlad Agency fathers are disappointed with their inability to defend Lord Umberto but agree they must do better.

While there aren’t too many big reveals or twists, Delico’s Nursery Episode 5 was one of the better ones in terms of pacing. The children’s screen time was reduced at the cost of showing off the Vlad Agency fathers popping off in a fight—or more like getting popped off. Sometimes the kids and fathers interacting are cute, but the mystery is definitely the driving force of this series. Some small details are revealed from some of the Pendulum members this episode, fleshing out why they doing what they’re doing.

For story purposes, it’s a little shocking that the four main characters seemed so weak in this fight. Yes, they emphasized that the villains were super strong but it seemed like they were normal humans compared to them. Even Bleach’s Ichigo, or Naruto put up a good fight when he was facing a strong enemy. The power-scaling of each Vamp in this series is very weird. It will be interesting to see how Dali and his crew regroup for the next episode.

Delico’s Nursery Episode 5 is out now on Crunchyroll.