Kuroshitsuji Midori no Majo-hen – Episode 12 Review

「その執事、尋訪」 (Sono Shitsuji, Jinbō)
“His Butler, Calling”

Wow- that was a first for Kuroshitsuji in a long time- an episode that starts without a long ass recap. They still managed to fit recaps in, albeit with more finesse than vomiting everything out in one long go.

Backtracking to where we met the German Reapers, we get musings from them on the rapid speed with which humans advance their technology. That humanity is on the eve of a world war is the underlying theme of the episode, speculations appearing multiple times. As we all know from history class, they weren’t wrong about that, sadly. Power and weaponry exist hand in hand and humans are never shy about using that against one another. A sobering reminder that the tragedy doesn’t end there with the burning of the werewolf village.

Another tragedy- the Grell cameo. Though thankfully, a brief one at that, but still long enough to chafe pretty badly. The British division pops over to Germany to pick up Wolfram and Sullivan’s documents since they’ve immigrated to England. Megane Reaper is tickled pink with this development- Sullivan’s destructive knowledge is now in British hands, balancing out the world power (for now). Her freedom and pursuit of the outside world poses a stark contrast to the chains of the afterworld binding the reapers to their grueling duties until they’re forgiven for suicide. Very sobering indeed. Grell and Will are not the only Britishers to pay a visit to Germany- Undertaker also made a pit stop there before heading to France.

Sebby and Ciel also learn of the rogue reaper’s visit when they have a cozy chat with Dietrich after arriving at his castle. (Tanaka is so elegant- pulling out his German like that, with graceful manners). As to why he came, we don’t know. Just to pay a friendly chat? To poke fun of his friend? The fat shaming jokes were in poor taste, I will say. Narratively speaking, it drops another massive hint with Undertaker’s “there’s still the other Phantomhive” and Ciel’s musing on whether he was meant by that, or…. I’ll leave you to deduce that for yourself. I’m kicking myself big time, because when reading the manga, I never picked up on any of those “Ciel or…” hints that have been pitched at us throughout this arc and others. I don’t know if I was just a total airhead when reading it or if they emphasize those clues more in the anime.

Wolfram is well on his way to recovery, thank goodness for that. We get a tearful reunion between butler and mistress. Sullivan absolutely has nothing to be sorry about. She did nothing wrong in choosing to join Sebby and Ciel to see the outside world. She had every right to do so, abused the way she was by the manipulative village bastards.

The last part of the episode brings us back to British soil for the first time since episode 1. We have a My Fair Lady situation on our hands, Sebby tasked with the challenge of turning the little urchin into a proper lady for an audience with the Queen. Clothes make the lady or gentlemen, so first things first is the wardrobe. One of my favorite things about this series is the fashion and the detail that goes into each character’s wardrobe. This era is a perfect setting for fashion, with all the ruffles, hoops, lace, and ribbons galore that deck the garments. As such, I can’t wait for the court presentation outfits.

The last few seconds teased a Lizzie entrance. That spells trouble with a capital T- I can’t see her reacting well to finding another girl in Ciel’s mansion.

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