It’s refreshing, in a sense, to have a final arc which makes no bones about being one. That’s often not the case – it’s left to fans to speculate on whether the end is close, and how far off it is. Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid has always had an end point and there was never really any doubt about what it was.  Life will go on, of course, but it’s never been less than clear what the climax to the story itself was going to be. And it’s finally here.

In a sense, Nico and Bocchan are very logical allies. They’ve both been cursed by Sade in such a way as to make it impossible to do what they want to do – grow old holding hands with the one they love. But there are some major problems for this whole operation, most obviously the lack of an obvious endgame. They can’t defeat Sade (hard as that would be to do) and get what they want. Nico did that once, and killed her in the process, but he’s still cursed. What good would it do to go back and do so again? The only thing they can do, in fact, is persuade her to lift their curses voluntarily (since it seems almost impossible that they could force her).

And therein lies the other problem. What’s in this for Sade? She already lost what she wanted – Victor – and it’s not clear that anything else gives her satisfaction besides cursing people. Bocchan can talk all he wants about becoming her friend, but we have no evidence she wants any more friends after Victor and Sharon. Nevertheless that’s Nico’s Plan A, because it’s the only clear path to their desired outcome. He splits the group into three teams, with the “good cop” team heading into the past with Flea as a bodyguard, while the “bad cop” team (led by himself) waiting in the wings in case things turn ugly. There’s a goofus Plan C team too, but they’re really only there in case things really go cattywampus.

It’s Zain who more or less takes the lead when the first group – which also includes Bocchan, Alice, Walter, and Daleth – jumps back in time to just after Bocchan was cursed. Zain plays quite a little cat and mouse with Sade, who offers to remove all the curses in question if he signs a contract surrendering his time magic to her. He refuses, and while his selfish reasons would have been understandable, he cites the big one – it would be wholly irresponsible to turn Sade loose on the world with that power.

Alice takes her shot – a bear hug and a guilt trip – and Bocchan tries honesty and humility. But none of this seems to make much of an impact. Even the benefit of escaping her impending death doesn’t appeal to Sade, even if she believes them. With Victor gone, she doesn’t have any obvious reason to live. Eventually Sade turns past Daleth loose with the orders to drive the others off while  Zain leads her a merry chase, trying a little persuasion of his own in the process.

It’s fitting that Walter signs on to be the receptacle for Daleth’s illusion attack. No matter which version this is still the woman he’s in love with, and he can’t fight her. Daleth in the past is what you’d expect more or less, a basket case totally under Sade’s thumb. Walter’s Daleth has her own reason for wanting this plan to work – so Sade can take over as boss witch and she can live happily ever after (as a human) with Walter. But all this is really still preamble, even as we stand at the precipice of the final act. Bocchan has been mostly a bystander here, and ultimately Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid is his story. He’s the one who’s going to have to grab it by the scruff of the neck and make this ending his own.