REVIEW: ‘Delico’s Nursery’ Episode 6 — “A Small Adventure”

Things take a turn in this episode as the kids go missing! Delico’s Nursery Episode 6, “A Small Adventure,” throws a tiny switch-up in the story. Theodore lashes out at the other kids again in this episode, but Clara and Ferdinand see him hallucinating this time. For some strange plot convenience, Kate Lorca (Henriques’) wife, shows up at the perfect time to explain what’s most likely happening to Theodore. She shows up with the Classico’s butler Albrecht, who he says acts “as a surrogate mother” to Theodore.

Haruka Tomatsu’s (Gintama) Kate is a force with her voice in this role. She is typically known for being as loud as Gintoki Sakata or quiet like Asuna in Sword Art Online. However, she plays this role as a stern, militaristic mother. It makes sense since Elena and Lucia blurt out that her marriage with Henriques was a “political marriage,” strengthening their influence as they are both members of the Vamp Agency.

Her principal analysis of why Theodore is hallucinating is that he’s going through his cocoon phase, but it is premature for his age. With all the focus on cocoon phases and how vampires in this world are weakest during this phase in their lives, the story seems to point out that Theodore could be in trouble for this. As seen in previous episodes, the story of Berlach and his initiation on so many cocoon phase Vamps was a significant issue. Perhaps Pendulum’s Keith will try to put Theodore under his initiative shortly or ransom that idea against his father, Dino.

Just from the beginning of this episode alone, the complexities of these families go beyond the norm—even for us humans. In the last two episodes Romi Park’s (My Hero Academia), Clara contributed a lot of dialogue, acting as the voice of reason and strict authority within the second nursery. It seems like despite Ferdinand being the martial artist adult of the two, he has a soft spot for the children—struggling to keep them from physically fighting with one another.

Seeing Kate and Clara go head-to-head in a verbal debate is fascinating in Delico’s Nursery Episode 6. Kate explains that with the families of those in the Vamp Agency going into hiding, she wants to take her kids with her to a separate hiding spot. But Clara counters by saying Dali’s nursery is technically safer, which is questionably true. Technically, Ferdinand is said to be a great fighter despite his elderly look—maybe he has a Tekken Heihachi thing going for him.

Then, Clara puts her foot down to say that she cannot allow the children to leave since it’s Dali’s orders to keep them there. This ultimately forces Kate to back down and wait until Dali gets home. This is one of the instances where two adult females finally have an intellectual, witty back-and-forth in this series—a refreshing sight from all the Vamp men talking to each other all the time.

The next most intriguing aspect of Delico’s Nursery Episode 6 is how the characters intertwine. As the kids run off on their little adventure through the town, they encounter some thugs. They are shockingly saved by the Pendulum member’s strongest members: Abraham and Kiki. The writing of this encounter is brilliant because the kids don’t know who they are, and the Pendulum members don’t know they are the kids of the Vamp Agency dads.

As for the art style, one excellent shot appears to be a new, rougher sketch technique. During the sunset scene in Delico’s Nursery Episode 6, the rougher lines on the buildings make it look like the art style in the Banner Saga games. One eye-catching detail is how Albrecht’s face is not drawn in until he steps closer to Kate and has to introduce himself. Even though the audience has seen him already at the Classicos’ house, the others don’t know him. This detail is incredible for introducing characters other characters haven’t met yet.

At the core of Delico’s Nursery Episode 6, the TRUMP situation only gets worse for the Vamp Agency because now Kiki knows Lord Johannes’s address from dropping off the kids there. And from the child-rearing aspect, the fathers fail in this episode as all their kids have gone missing. This could be a turning point, as they need to father their kids better.

Delico’s Nursery Episode 6 is out now on Crunchyroll.