To the Victor go the spoils.

Good things come to those who wait (which was going to be my tagline until the above popped into my head, and I couldn’t resist). It applies to the audience of Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid, and to the cast too. It can’t be overstated what a crucial decision (in the manga, though the anime had the good sense not to change things) it was to give the denouement of this story the time it needed. Breaking the curse was just the means to an end. It was the driving force of much of the plot, but the point is that the curse needed to be broken for a reason. Multiple reasons in fact, though one obviously stands out above all others.

In a way, The Duke of Death and his Black Maid is a test of how much an audience’s attention can be held with almost no  suspense. What is this series if not a romantic fairy tale, and not the Grimm sort either. This is one of the “and they lived happily ever after” ones. I suppose it’s possible not everyone felt this way, but I don’t think there was a single twist in the final two episodes that I didn’t fully expect. Maybe I considered it possible that Rob might decide  to go off on his own, but that’s about it. It’s a deconstructed tragedy, truly, all about getting to the payoff we know is coming and enjoying the trip. And the payoff too, of course.

First things first. We got the name, and it’s not Cosmo. “Victor” certainly makes sense – clearly Bocchan always took after his namesake grandfather. And it’s lovely to see Victor and Alice casually holding hands and hugging (though nothing else) as if it were the most natural thing in the world. And of course it is, which makes the fact that Sade took that away from them for all those years all the more galling. But all is forgiven now, I know – the whole fairy tale thing.

Then of course we have the matter of the whole heir kerfuffle. This too comes as no surprise. It never really seemed as if Bocchan was into the whole heir thing – all he wanted was to be accepted by his mother. Walter wanted it more and truthfully he’s better suited to it anyway. But apparently “changing the rules” doesn’t change the fact that if he marries a servant girl, Victor has to leave the estate and technically the family. Not till after the wedding at least. And let me say that I thoroughly approve of the two of them not wasting any time on that front. What would be the point? They’ve been living together for years already and frankly, they have to be pretty bottled up.

Walter being the heir calls his own romantic life into question of course. Gerbera knows he has feelings for the strange woman at the dance party, but she does her duty in trying to steer Walter towards a proper match. Sade’s “royalty” sales pitch aside, it’s a bit of a stretch that Gerbera would be OK with Walter marrying an ex-witch and remaining the heir. It would have been interesting to see what Walter would have done if he’d been presented the either/or option. I have no doubt that he’s in love with Daleth (in many ways this was the most romantic pairing in the series), but what he’d have been giving up exerts a much stronger pull on him than it does on Bocchan.

It was nice to see Victor have a real bonding moment with his mother, even if he is leaving the family. Gerbera is a hard woman, there’s no question about it. The absence of her husband (who will never do get to meet, even at the end) and eldest son certainly heaped the pressure on her, but I can never accept the way she treated Victor after he was cursed. Does she love him? Yes, absolutely. She knows he’s not cut out to be the Lord of the Manor but that quality in him makes her love him even more. The problem is that the love Victor inspires in her is only that of a mother, not the matriarch of the family. And I think that makes her feel conflicted about showing Victor that love.

As always, it’s Rob who seems to get to me the most. He’s such a stoic figure, but in many ways the real hero of this story. I never did get to see Bocchan give him a hug, but at least he gave him a good neck rub (which is a sort of child-parent ritual here). And it’s not as though Rob could ever doubt for a second Bocchan loves him. This was a tough moment for Victor here. He wants Rob to stay with he and Alice, but this is a man who’s basically dedicated his adult life to him – Bocchan also wants to set Rob free, if that’s what he wants to be.

As I said, this was the only element of the final act that held any suspense for me – what would Rob decide? I’d like to believe he decided to move with the pair of them (alas, poor Viola) because that was what he wanted for himself. And I think it was. As for that move, it’s to town – where Bocchan wants to pursue a career in music. He enlists the help of Zachou (who gets a little gift from Sade in the form of a conjugal visit from Amelia) in finding a house in town. You’d have to think Victor’s family is at least going to give him some financial support – I sure hope so, because piano gigs can he hard to come by.

With that, a ceremony at last. And performed by Rob no less, it looks like – do butlers have that legal authority? And perhaps one of the most hard-won kisses in the history of animanga. No one can possibly say they – or we – didn’t earn this one. It is indeed a happily ever after ending – Sade even apologizes to Sharon (who responds by thanking her, which I actually sort of get). And the fact that it was so expected made it no less satisfying.

And so ends Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid after a three-season run that mostly went under the radar. The manga was a decent seller, but the fact that this series got a full and comprehensive adaptation has to go down as a mild surprise. While I’ll never stop wishing that this series had gotten a really elegant traditionally animated adaptation – which would certainly have raised its profile, because the manga is visually very striking – the fact is, this was way more than fans had any good reason to expect. And even if the budget was obviously limited, at least we got a gorgeous piano soundtrack to elevate the anime experience. I’ll miss this series a lot – it’s very like saying goodbye to an old friend – but I’m glad it was treated so well.