Kuroshitsuji II continues on its batshit crazy run of bizarre plot twists, rampant shotacon and random acts of savagery. And it’s having an awful lot of fun in doing it.
10 was arguably the creepiest ep of the series so far. There were a few interesting revelations – among them that it was Alois’ brother than signed the initial contract to destroy the village (except for one woman, who had stood up for him. But she gets offed later by Claude’s monkeys). We also see increasing evidence that Claude is downright pedo for Ciel, which appears to creep Ciel out just as much as it should. And Hannah reveals that she’s been keeping Ciel’s eye in her mouth of all places, which she reveals to poor Ciel in the scariest scene of the series so far. And of course, Sebastian finally – using Seb-o-phile Grell as his weapon of choice – disposes of Claude’s trip of demon servants.
Lots of new questions pop up here. How in the world did Hannah get Ciel’s eye, and just what is her relationship to him? She seems to have double-crossed both Sebastian and Claude now, and clearly has designs on Ciel for herself – just what is her relationship to him? Sebastian appears a bit unglued by losing Ciel to Claude – though he certainly hasn’t given up – but Claude has gone quite bonkers by comparison. All he seems to care about at the moment is making improper moves on Ciel, which is quickly wearing down Ciel’s patience for the Trancy Estate. But then, Claude has manged to fuse Ciel and Alois, which Hannah seems to be using to her advantage.
This season has turned out rather good, but it’s interesting to see how differently it plays on screen from S1. The absence of a source material is clear here – S1 was very focused and thematically consistent until it diverged from the manga. It had a much darker, more gothic and less campy feel than this season has, full of royal politics and intrigue. S2 has been all over the map, a string of often interesting ideas sort of loosely joined in semi-connected episodes, punctuated by occasional bursts of creative brilliance in the form of individual scenes or even individual shots. S1 was a writet’s story, S2 clearly much more a director’s one. Of course, that doesn’t mean I don’t care about the characters and how things turn out. Ciel is just as sympathetic as he was in S1 – he and Alois both have been manipulated by Claude’s lies. It’s obvious now that Ciel truly does represent something more than Kobe beef to Sebby and Claude – his very existence is so interesting that it adds spice to their long and often dull lives. But is Sebby really any better than Claude when he wants to devour Ciel? And is there really nothing more for Ciel than to suffer the indignities of being manipulated by the both of them, only to have his soul consumed? For someone clearly so special, I certainly think he deserves better.
