REVIEW: ‘Delico’s Nursery’ Episode 13 — “Goodbye, Nursery”

What a strange way to structure a finale episode. J.C.Staff’s Delico’s Nursery Episode 13, “Goodbye, Nursery,” ties up most of the loose threads it needed to while teasing another season. Even though Dali and the other Vamp fathers were able to thwart Juras and Pendulum’s plans at the Clan Academy and save everyone, it had so many threads to tie up. This episode ended up creating new threads, even showing a potential future reality in Dali’s dream.

The first half of Delico’s Nursery Episode 13 began with an abrupt time skip, showing a grown-up Raphael Delico and Angelico Fra discussing how they were kidnapped at the Nursery when they were younger. They explain how they’ve been in the Blood Pact Council for four years now and recount their time in their cocoon phases at the Clan Academy. They also reminisce about their fathers until they see grown-up versions of all the other children. The character details of their grown-up versions were so good, and the voice acting was solid, too.

It’s not until all of the children reunite for Ul’s celebration that they mention how it has been twelve years since they were all in the nursery. Ul had just finished his cocoon phase at the Clan and came home with a fellow student named Sophie Anderson, who went through their cocoon phase with Ul. At this point, it seemed very suspicious to introduce a new character in a season finale. This flash-forward sequence is stopped by the cries of Raphael’s future kid, only for Dali to wake up to find the cries coming from the baby Ul—indicating it was all Dali’s dream.

Using this alternate reality or dream sequence in Delico’s Nursery Episode 13 feels like it’s trying to tease the audience with what could be the best scenario for the future of the grown-up Vamp aristocratic kids, all for quick, cute scenes. But this only initiated more questions, like who the heck is this Sophie character so late in the season?

The cute scenes are great because grown-up Raphael picking up his younger brother, a grown-up Ul, is wholesome. It’s a classic brotherly love thing to do. Also, Lucia and Elena Lorca making fun of Angelico being a crybaby when they were younger was hilarious because he was literally crying about everything. Another detail that hints this was a dream sequence is the fact that Raphael and Angelico were depicted as the leaders of the group. This was off-putting since the whole season showed Theodore stepping up to protect all of the kids, so it should’ve been him organizing the reunion.

When the dream sequence breaks, Delico’s Nursery Episode 13 truly begins where the last episode left off. It cuts to Catarina, Kiki, and Abraham—the remaining Pendulum members—captured in a prison carriage. They discuss their dreams, only to be interrupted by a coordinated breakout. The majority of the second half of this episode ramps up the story tension to where a second season could be heading—if the show gets renewed. The conversation about the Pendulum members’ dreams was a nice touch and nod to Juras’ death in a dream last episode.

The ramp-up for the Blood Pact Council shows Dino, Henrique, and Lord Johannes discussing the breakout of the Pendulum members and having no leads. Dino notes how there could be spies in the Blood of the Police, noting the obvious! More than half of the season showed Vamps getting compelled or initiated to do the bidding for Pendulum. This was frustrating because it felt like it was supposed to be a ‘no way’ moment, but this wasn’t new information or some new ability.

What makes up for these storytelling missteps is that the next few scenes involve dialogue from the Pendulum boss. The boss explains to the remaining Pendulum members in his church worshipping the TRUE OF VAMP/TRUMP that the TRUMP will always be attracted to Vamps in their cocoon phase. He continues to explain how the TRUMP is a god and deity, along with knowledge about the TRUMP that the show already reiterated many times. The boss even explains again how all Vamps allegedly are linked to the TRUMP. At this point in Delico’s Nursery Episode 13, it seems like the showrunners just wanted to fill the episode with content.

The payoff for the reiteration of exposition is the scene of a random dude named Norman dropping off a baby named Sophie Anderson at the Pendulum church. Sophie is revealed to be the other survivor of Nebula Village, which pleases the Pendulum boss because he will use the baby to lure out the TRUMP and enact a Grand Guignol. This reveal was the perfect ending from Pendulum’s side of things in terms of setting up for the next season.

The final shots of Delico’s Nursery Episode 13 show all four of the Vamp Agency dads and spouses with their kids having fun in the countryside. The greenery animated was splendid here, showing off very detailed environmental brushstrokes of a windy grassy field. The adults all talk about how the nursery could still thrive if they all continued to invest their time in balancing their agency duties with their child-rearing obligations. The final shot shows everyone shocked at Ul trying to walk for the first time.

Delico’s Nursery Episode 13 is a mixed bag of greatness and disorganization. The episode thrives in showing a poignant, abrupt flash-forward scene that falls flat when it’s just a dream, especially since the dream sequence took up around ten minutes of the episode. On the other hand, it alludes that Dali has high expectations for his kids and his companions’ children too—as it’s said that dreams can reflect one’s subconscious thinking. But who knows if dreams mean something else for vampires?

This is a great setup episode to tease things for next season and tie up most loose threads made in the first few episodes of the season. The overall pacing seemed off, though. The dream sequence seemed like something they could’ve shown in a second season when the audience would’ve had more time to connect with the vampire kids. The reunion would’ve had more impact. While the dream sequence worked for cute, wholesome moments, Delico’s Nursery Episode 13 did not deserve them.

Delico’s Nursery Episode 13 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.