English Dub Review: Arte “Naughty Child / Katarina’s Dinner”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

In the ninth episode, Arte has dinner with Katarina and her parents, and afterward, Arte attempts to get a good grasp on what Katarina knows. However to her surprise, Katarina has shown to have mastered etiquette, but she refuses to show her parents. Arte tries to figure out why and get Katarina to open up to her with an outing, but it fails. Later during the night, Arte finds out about Katarina’s secret: she cooks. Katarina assumes the worst that she’ll tell her parents and that she won’t have the freedom to cook anymore. However, Arte keeps her secret which prompts Katarina to invite Arte to eat her cooking as an exchange for keeping her secret.

In the tenth episode, after finding out about Katarina’s secret, Arte partakes in Katarina’s cooking over at Yuri’s place. Arte and Yuri discuss Katarina’s life with her wet nurse, Buona, and a reminder of why Arte was hired. After getting back from Yuri’s, Arte realizes the household’s problem: no one seems to care about Katarina. Later Arte overhears Katarina’s parents arguing over Katarina’s future and decides that enough is enough. Arte tells both of the parents off before leaving with Katarina to seek out Gimo, Buona’s son. They arrive at Murano Island where they find Gimo who refuses to speak to Katarina because of his deceased mother and questions if Katarina’s looking to the future since she can’t change the past or her birth. After Katarina chooses to look to the future, the duo returns to the Falier household. Lastly, a few changes were made to the household with Katarina and Lady Sofia accepting one another as mother and daughter.

Our Take:

Arte has the unique challenge of tutoring Katarina. The child at first glance appears to be a spoiled brat who just naps however she has actually already mastered etiquette and table manners. The only reason why her previous tutors quit is because of her attitude. Furthermore, despite already knowing the etiquette Katarina refuses to demonstrate it to her parents. Arte tries to figure out why and she can’t do it through her usual methods either. Now both episodes have a good conflict with Katarina’s secret and her parent’s one-sided argument over her future.

It’s interesting to see Arte explore how nobility raised their children. Tutors are the norm as even Arte had a few as a child, but it was a surprise to learn that the Falier children were raised away from their parents by being raised in their villa. Also, it was absolutely cathartic to see Arte just tell both of Katarina’s parents off like that. First with her father for placing his financial desires over the happiness of his daughter, and Lady Sofia for just letting it happen instead of asking Katarina what she wants and standing beside the young girl in support. The background music also helped in making the scene dramatic and intense.

Furthermore, Katarina’s perspective on etiquette and food dividing the nobles from the poor was another interesting detail of the tenth episode. It skims the surface of classism in the 16th century in a unique way with food. Arte and Katarina’s relationship may have started rocky, but they grow to be friendly with each other after the reveal of Katarina’s secret and Arte’s reaction to it. They’re both unusual in terms of noble norms and it’s entertaining to see the two girls go against those norms. Arte decided to apprentice at a workshop while Katarina rebelled against her parent’s expectations by not displaying proper etiquette. Also, Katarina showing interest in Arte’s sketches was a nice scene of them bonding together.

However, I was a bit disappointed with the lack of art in these episodes. There was even a perfect chance to pause at some church art, but instead, we get a minor misogyny act from two men just to see Arte shrugging it off like usual. It’s a decent reminder that it exists no matter where you go, but we get plenty of that with the way Katarina’s father acts when he’s on-screen. Overall the episodes were decent in showing Arte’s adaptability in the noble life, and Katarina’s conflict in accepting her parents. Hopefully, we can get back to the art stuff in next week’s episodes. As much as I like Katarina and Arte’s friendship, Arte’s development as an independent artist is much more important to me personally since it’s her goal since the beginning of the series.