Kuroneko to Majo no Kyoushitsu Ep.09 - Aries Ewe is adorable! Aries x Capricorn?!

Episode 9 of Kuroneko to Majo no Kyoushitsu takes a detour, leaving the introduction of the villain for the next episode and instead focusing on developing the remaining members of the cast. This also confirms that the villain arc will be the final one of this adaptation.

The focus was another of the training camp's tests: a match between two squads where the winner receives a "pass" mark. Put a douchebag on the opposing team, and you get an easy-to-relate-to episode with the payback of watching him inevitably fail and grow frustrated. Simple, but effective storytelling.

Aries Ewe can be very mature looking when she's serious, but that doesn't really last that long.

Spica is near her, but felt more disconnected leading more easily in pairing Capricorn instead.

The main heroine of this episode was Aries Ewe, the always sleepy and calm girl. Everyone (including me) underestimated her, but it turns out she has absurd magical potential, being able to create giant fireballs with ease and overwhelm multiple other students on her own. It makes me wonder where does she fit in the overall power ranking of the students of Claude's class...

One thing I particularly appreciated about this episode is how Spica became a side character, letting Aries Ewe and Capricorn Capella take center stage and develop on their own. Don't misunderstand me, I love Spica and her antics, but it is nice to see the other characters have their time to shine without being reduced to props for Spica.

This connects well to the relationship between Aries Ewe and Capricorn Capella, which tingled my yuri sensor quite a bit as a possible second yuri romantic relationship in the anime. The triangle between Spica, Aria, and Hana is nice, but having variety is never a bad thing!

The next episode is titled "The Attack," and it clearly shows Spica being cornered by Turus Arc and Algebar Rigel. Will it be Sirius Claude who saves her, or will she manage to grow on her own? I don't mind Claude having some time to shine, as he has been underutilized recently due to his teacher role.

Cute Aries Ewe is cute. Honestly it was a great episode for her even if purely a side story.

I really like Spica's faces of this series. Not sure why, but they give me a nostalgic vibe.

The reason why they are targeting Spica is still unknown, but it has to be connected to why Claude was transformed into a cat for the storyline to feel organic. I guess that is something for future seasons, or for when I start reading the manga. I hope to get to it soon, been swamped recently.