(Welcome to Ani-time Ani-where, a regular column dedicated to helping the uninitiated understand and appreciate the world of anime.)

Music is an instrumental part of anime. There are hundreds of shows about music, filled with musical performances. But the vast majority of them are just about singers or bands trying to make it big. Actual musicals are next to non-existent, and spontaneously breaking into song isn't really a thing in anime. This is why any show that dares explore the theatricality of musicals is worth checking out.

One such anime is "Dance with Devils," a musical that's also a reverse harem — meaning, a story about a single girl being pursued by many male love interests. The story follows Ritsuka, a regular high school girl whose mother gets kidnapped one day. It turns out, Ritsuka holds the key to finding a magical artifact called the Grimoire, which holds tremendous power,...