Mimi’s strength hits harder when the show slows down
Episode 4 of Always a Catch! puts Mimi’s family baggage under the spotlight, and honestly, this is the kind of character work that makes her more than just the funny strong-girl lead.
The episode makes it clear that Mimi does not hate her baby brother, Teo. She says she has no resentment toward him, and the story seems to back that up. She loves him, she is happy he was born, and she is not secretly plotting some tragic sibling drama. But that does not mean Teo’s arrival had zero impact on her life.
The key emotional beat comes when Mimi talks to Renato about her family’s martial arts. Through that conversation, we get a better picture of what changed after Teo was born. Before him, Mimi and her father were extremely close. He trained her, spent time with her, and treated her like someone who could carry the Annovazzi name forward. Then Teo arrived, and suddenly the family had a male heir.
That shift matters. Not because Mimi becomes bitter, but because the show quietly shows how painful it can be when someone who once saw your potential starts boxing you into a different role. Her father’s instruction for her to go find a husband feels less like a romantic push and more like him trying to follow what society expects of a daughter now that a son exists.
Why this lands for SEA viewers
For Malaysian and SEA anime fans, this kind of storyline is very familiar lah. A lot of families still carry expectations around gender, inheritance, responsibility, and what daughters or sons are “supposed” to do. Always a Catch! is not suddenly becoming a heavy family drama, but Episode 4 touches on that pressure in a way that feels easy to understand.
Mimi’s response is also what keeps her likeable. She is not written as someone crushed by the situation. Instead, she keeps moving, keeps using the training her father gave her, and finds new ways to define her value outside her family’s original plan. That is what makes her strength feel more complete. Yes, she can fight. But more importantly, she can adapt.
Her rescue of the queen also gains extra meaning here. It is not just an action scene or a chance to show off. Mimi proves herself to the royal family while also helping Renato, her fiancé. She may not be fully in love with him yet, but her loyalty is already obvious. The episode continues to frame her as someone whose kindness is just as important as her physical power.
Poor Raimondo, meanwhile, is still stuck trying to manage her. The comedy works because he seems increasingly aware that Mimi may not actually need the kind of protection or supervision he thinks he is supposed to provide.
Ireneo is the weak link so far
The new addition that works less well is Ireneo. Right now, he feels like the standard flirtatious rival character who exists because the genre apparently demanded one. Mimi dodging his advances is fun and useful for showing her instincts, especially compared with how she reacts to Renato’s affection. But as a character, Ireneo has not made a strong case for himself yet.
To be fair, this is still early for him. The problem is that the anime appears to be skipping connective tissue from the source material. The episode does not clearly show Mimi and Ireneo building enough familiarity for their banter to feel natural. It also previously skipped over Mimi agreeing to marry Renato, which makes some emotional transitions feel sudden.
That pacing is the main issue with Episode 4. The big character beats are good, but the smaller setup scenes seem to be getting trimmed too aggressively. For a series built around charm, chemistry, and character reactions, those missing moments matter.
Still, Episode 4 gives Mimi a stronger emotional foundation and makes her journey more interesting. She is not just powerful because she can throw hands. She is powerful because she keeps choosing her own way forward, even when her family and society quietly change the rules around her.
Source: Anime News Network