Well, that explains a lot.

As I’ve noted in the past couple of posts, I had a growing suspicion that Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid might just be getting a sequel.  The anime’s leisurely pacing just didn’t make sense any other way, no matter how I tried to rationalize it.  Surely this was all planned in advance, and it reminds one of the advantage of a low-rent CGI adaptation like this – the budget is basically whatever they find scrounging between the couch cushions in the breakroom.  The downside is that it looks dirt cheap, but the upside is that it is.  Rest assured, it’s unlikely this series would get a second season if it weren’t.

I’m glad of it too – I like this manga a lot, and what’s to come is absolutely better than what’s already been adapted in my opinion.  A second cour still wouldn’t be nearly enough to adapt the whole story (which is ongoing), unlike Hi Score Girl – and even that needed a 4-episode OVA to cover everything.  But there’s a lot of great stuff in the next 40 or so chapters and I’ll be looking forward to it.  There are certainly shows I would have preferred get sequels – Kemono Jihen and Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun for example – and I can’t help but wonder if I would have rather had one really good hand-drawn season than two of what we’re getting.  But as the Heike Monogatari adaptation teaches us, the mantra of the anime fan in 2021 is “it’s better than nothing”.

The hard truth of it is, Shinigami Bocchan is really the last series that should ever have been CGI.  It has almost no action and is basically comprised of very “interior” character moments and what should be lovely Victorian fairy tale backgrounds.  I’m also really sick of Hanae Natsuki (showed up in Tokyo Revengers yesterday, ROFL) and his indistinguishable performances.  Those two factors undeniably limit how much I’m able to really enjoy this adaptation, but there’s a lot on the plus side of the ledger too.  We saw some of it here, especially in the last couple of episodes – we’re about to see a lot more.

At the heart of this series is a very good love story, but there’s a lot more to it than that.  Not so much in what’s already been adapted, but in what will be.  Bocchan going to the main estate is a fine place to end on, because it’s a watershed moment in the story.  As it’s his first visit since his banishment it’s only natural that he’d be on-edge about it.  He’s quite relieved when Alice volunteers to come along, though she has her own reasons for doing so in addition to supporting him.  It’s clear immediately that his siblings are on his side – even Walter, for all his bluster.

This series does a very good job at depicting the stifling aspects of aristocratic life in Europe in bygone days.  The thing about Walter is, he’s pretty much screwed by life – a backup plan whose mother never pretends he’s anything more.  Walter is basically a good guy, he just has a chip on his shoulder and a paucity of social graces.  As for Mom. she betrays no emotion at this reunion – to Bocchan’s face.  She grants him barely a moment before ordering him to come back the next day because it’s too late to talk (she at least allows him to spend the night).  In fact it’s only upon seeing Alice – who she momentarily mistakes for Sharon – that Mother betrays any emotion at all.

The message she bears for Bocchan could hardly be simpler.  His father is not well (we still haven’t seen him) and a decision about the future must be made.  She gives Bocchan till the spring to break the curse or Walter becomes the heir, and he’s in no position to argue.  He springs his own message on her – he loves Alice and wants to marry her.  Mother’s reaction is exactly what you’d expect, but for Bocchan this is no joke.  Not only does he scold her for treating it lightly, he scolds her for the way she treats his siblings as “things” – and funnily enough, Mother is secretly pleased to see her meek little boy show some steel.

Maybe Alice is right, and Bocchan really is the lucky one.  She’s an afterthought altogether and Walter an insurance policy – Bocchan is more or less free to do as he wants and lives with two people who love him.  That’s really the main theme to this part of the story, I would argue.  Everyone needs to decide what’s truly important in their lives, and act on that.  It’s ironic that Bocchan and Shigaraki from HeroAca basically have the same curse, but their relationship to it could hardly be more different.  Maybe that’s a function of one of them having Rob and Alice to look after him, and the other All For One…

The finale does an artful job of establishing where things stand for the pieces already on the board.  Next season will be all about expanding the world of Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid beyond what’s in the title and trust me, it’s a fascinating world to spend time in.  My sense of regret over what this series could have been with gorgeous visuals and different casting is real, but I’m also excited to see it really spread its wings and soar.  It may not be everything it could have been, but hey – it’s definitely better than nothing.

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