Kuroshitsuji Episode 24 summary and series review

:( The end is here. I don't know why I make the end of some series so dramatic. It is better to end a series on a high note rather than people wishing it ended several episodes (or seasons) back. Leave them wanting more as the saying goes.

About friggin time!

But it was a good series. It is natural to feel a little sad when something you like and looked forward each week ends. Even though sometimes Kuroshitsuji got x_x at times I really enjoyed this series. It had an interesting plot and never REALLY got boring at times. Yes there were fillers here and there but it never strayed too far from the plot.

So as usual there are spoilers for the entire series in this post (not that it matters at this point as this is the final episode). And this post got a little long...or a lot long. XD Forgive me for my long winded...ness. XD But by now that should be obvious too. So enjoy my long review and commentary on this series. Thanks for reading!

Kuroshitsuji: Where my yaoi dreams did not come true.

Sebastian gently places Ceil in a small boat and guides him down the river. Ceil looks on at the chaos and devastation when he sees one of Ash/Angela’s feather. Sebastian explains the bridge they are traveling to is being used to suck up souls and something about how it will start a brand new world. Sebastian tells Ceil that he is a burden and he will fight Ash/Angela on his own. Ceil basically calls Sebastian weak so Sebastian gives in. Ash is up on the bridge crying about how wonderful this fire is and asks Sebastian his opinion. Ash admits to killing the Queen and talks about some octopus. Sebastian gently places Ceil down and Ceil gives Sebastian his final order to kill the angel. Ash mumbles about filth again and Sebastian and Ash fight (with awesome knives). But before the battle can become interesting the souls that make up the bridge start to surround Sebastian and hold him down. The Undertaker and Grell are trying to round up all the souls, but since Ash is messing with them it is impossible to reap them all up. Ash/Angela starts going on again about purifying the world while the souls start to envelope Ceil and Sebastian. Ash/Angela tries to hit on Sebastian again and Sebastian tries not throwing up in his mouth. William arrives to help with the reaping process as Ash powers up his awesome sword of doom. Ash manages to cut off one of Sebastian’s arms and Ceil panics. Before Ash can do any more damage Grell and the others manage to start hacking away the souls, limiting Ash’s powers. Ash tries to call upon Pluto…but Pluto and the former stupid trio are all on the ground defeated. Ash gets a little upset and attempts to squish Ceil.

Must not think yaoi thoughts....

After getting in a compromising position on Ceil Sebastian asks Ceil to close his eyes during this battle so he will not see his true form. Ceil agrees to and Sebastian transforms into something with killer heels. During this awesome display of power Ceil is pushed off the bridge and is barely hanging on. Sebastian asks Ceil to hang on til the count of ten while he takes pleasure in killing Ash. Ash screams as he is torn limb from limb. A bright energy fills the area and the souls in the bridge are released. Sebastian goes over to tell Ceil the deed is done…and Ceil smiles. Then he lets go of the bridge as Sebastian looks on in horror. As he falls into the water his history film strip becomes exposed. Sebastian goes after Ceil and points out he just lied to him about staying alive. Soma and Agni are shown in the city passing out food and trying to help people out. A fake Queen has taken over and tries to ensure the people all will be well. Elizabeth is playing in a field near Ceil’s house (the burnt down shell of course). She is worried about Ceil and her maid tries to cheer Elizabeth up by making a flower ring. The ring ends up being blown into the river and Elizabeth is very worried about her Ceil.

Free to be himself, even if it's only for a few minutes.

Ceil wakes up back in that tiny boat and Sebastian directing them down a misty river. Ceil feels strangely calm as his death play is shown all around. Sebastian decides that he is going to be a big man and offer up death to Ceil. Ceil is only worried about Elizabeth and how she will respond to his death. He then shows a little concern towards the former stupid trio and wonders if they are still alive. Sebastian then explains that the little sparkles of light flying all around them are the feeling for Ceil. Ceil calls them pretty and seems content with his fate. Sebastian gives Ceil a diary containing information from his father. His father knew the Queen was going to turn on their family but decides not to tell Ceil because he didn’t want to pass down hatred. They find the flower ring in the river and Sebastian attempts to put it on him. Ceil notes he can’t with just one hand and Sebastian is sad about not being the perfect butler til the very end. Ceil says it is no big deal as he stares at the ring and just enjoys being him. They arrive at an ancient looking structure and Sebastian gently sits Ceil down. Sebastian promises to be gently but Ceil insists that he makes it painful. Sebastian smiles at that and takes off his glove. Ceil reclines back in the bench and resigns himself to his fate. Sebastian caresses Ceil’s face before he looms in for the kill. THE END!

What a loaded smile...

:( Well then….I SEE! And just…sadness. Let me devour this bowl of ice cream and dry my little tears before I try to blog anything coherent. Because right now I am just a big ball full of x_X and fail.

MY POOR CEIL!

Ceil is dead. And it shouldn’t surprise me. I am not sure if I am sad from shock because I was expecting it. But there was always a tiny part of me that wished the enviable wouldn’t happen. That in the end Sebastian would change his mind and discover that he loves Ceil just as much as I love putting yaoi pairings together. Or the more plausible ending that has Ceil outsmarting Sebastian and maybe Sebastian being okay, that he can bid his time.

Do not like.

But no. This anime has been pretty upfront about Ceil’s short shelf life. So really we shouldn’t be surprised. Or maybe I should just say I shouldn’t be surprised (since most people don’t believe miracles will happen in a dark anime like this). CEIL IS DEAD! I must move on and accept it.

Second sadness scene in the episode. Poor Ceil giving up on life.

Or at least talk about other parts of the episode before I go on and on. Sebastian x_X lost his arm. I thought I remembered Sebastian getting hurt earlier in the season and healing himself but I might be thinking of another show or maybe I make things up in my silly mind. The point is I thought the arm was going to be regenerate and leave Ash going 0.0 An armless Sebastian made me sad.

Regenerate it NOW!

Almost everything Ash said made no sense. I am sure at least 50 percent of it was actual rambles of a crazy fallen angel but I have a feeling I was supposed to get parts of this soul building a bridge and maybe some of the filth and healing people stuff. Sometimes it’s like stuff just FLEW over my head…but maybe it was meant to be mysterious and left up to interpretation. Or that is what I will tell myself so I don’t feel dumb.

Crazy angel is an emotional wreck.

But I am glad that Ash died. I had no doubt in my mind that Sebastian was going to tear him (her/it) into lots of little pieces and it was going to be a blood bath. I am sure that Sebastian wasn’t doing it for silly reasons like he/she deserved a death equal to all the suffering he/she inflicted. I believe that Sebastian just wanted to tear into something and it had been way too long since Sebastian got to be his true demon self.

And now you have no feathers either. So eat that!

I know this is going to come as a little shock…but I was a little sad at the possibility that the former stupid trio might be dead. Yes, they have redeemed themselves that much in my mind! Not that they would be very happy IF they lived (what with their livelihood and master GONE) but I don’t want them to die for just following orders. And since almost EVERYONE died in this series…we did get the little check up on the rest of the characters at the end of the series. So…my hopes for them are slim.

I am feeling sad for them! *looks for the flying pigs again*

The most SHOCKING part of the episode was when Ceil let go of the bridge. And again, I am not sure why it was surprising to me. I should have known that Ceil would just hold on long enough to make sure Sebastian did his job. Then he decided to go out in his own way. And despite this boat trip, I think he did “die” how he wanted to. It was just jarring to see a 12 year old let go on life like that. :(

:( Scene that made the sadness. MY POOR CEIL!

But Sebastian went after his dinner. He wasn’t angry with Ceil which made me a LITTLE happy. I mean, it would be really cruel to scream at someone you are about to kill. But I wish he didn’t play it off as he was doing his butler duty. No, you wanted what was yours. You weren’t doing it for your benefit. :( Also, I felt as if he enjoyed the whole taking the soul experience a little too much. Yes that is typical Sebastian…but I was hoping for a LITTLE regret. But I always assume WRONG always!

Thanks for not screaming at the dying Chibi.

Ceil was at peace during the boat ride and right before “dinner”. If I had been shot in the side, nearly thrown off a bridge, tried to drown myself in the river, and was being taken to have my soul eaten…I might be a little upset. Just a little…But Ceil has always been big and bad. Or at least pretending to big and bad. I think had he not been shot and already close to death he would have put up more of a fight. But he was and decided to accept his fate. I am not accepting it but all that matters is if he did.

At least he knew he was loved.....

Maybe I would be more okay with his death if I understood what “having his soul” meant. Does that mean that Ceil simply dies and Sebastian gets his energy? Or Ceil’s actual soul, memories and his spirit are now Sebastian’s? Because in the back of my mind I want to believe that Ceil died and got to see his parents one more time. But I guess demons aren’t that nice. I pretty sure that Ceil now ceases to exist and that is what makes me sad. :(

Don't smile at a time like this!

I was surprised (and an actual surprise, not oh, I get it) is that Grell lived. He was such a deplorable…creature I don’t understand how he survived while more deserving people died. I understand keeping him around as a comic relief…but at the end of the series it’s okay to off him. But no, he just gets his happy weapon back and he has a hay day running around getting souls. :( This disappoints me greatly.

At least he helped Ceil get his revenge in the end...

Elizabeth lived. For a while I wish she died because she was just that annoying. But then I thought she was actually going to die as depicted in Ceil’s chess dream. But she gets to live and dance in flowers as Ceil gets his soul eaten by a demon. All is fair. Lovely. She gets to grow up ignorant of all the horrible things that happened all around her and probably marry some rich guy. Life is very fair.

Just bleh. She ended up getting Ceil a ring in the end...so it wasn't SO bad.

Something that left a really bad taste in my mouth was the journal. I am not quite sure why this tiny detail was added as I did not see HOW it would comfort Ceil. It sure as hell wouldn’t comfort me. I mean, his father KNEW the Queen was out to get him and he didn’t try to stop it? Perhaps protect his innocent son and wife and die ALONE? Or not try to warn Ceil that the Queen might kill him later on too? Am I missing the connection between not wanting to pass on hatred to your son and warning him against a potential homicidal maniac? Personally that piece of information, that my father KNEW my life was in danger, would not comfort me in my minutes on this planet. In fact, it would make me think all of this was POINTLESS as my father knew who took them out all along.

No father of the year award for you!

But forgetting that fact and the small factor that Sebastian was still using lame weapons during the first part of the fight, this episode was pretty good. I didn’t get the ending I wanted but that is to be expected. I never want cute kids or good main characters to die. I wanted Ceil to live but I understand why he couldn’t. Dark series tend to end with high body counts and this one was no exception. At least I had my ice cream to drown my sorrows in.

Final battle with knives...yuck.

So now that this series is over it’s time to discuss how the overall plot played out and whether or not it is considered a success by the great and mighty Tenchi standards.

No more Yes My lord comments. :(

I think overall the concept of the plot would have been very interesting but it was not explained very well at all. I am still not clear on WHY the Queen was out to get Ceil’s family. Unless the angel corrupted her that much she was left with no free will…I am not getting it. I am not getting why it was important to see Ceil’s mom and dad sewn together like that. I am not getting why Ceil’s dad kept this horrible truth from Ceil. I am not sure why Angela was being the puppet person and stuffing real girls.

Still not getting it.

I don’t think this is a case of me being slow and not understanding the complex plot. I feel as if it was rushed and the writers were relying on the viewers not needing answers. After all Ash was just a crazy angel and crazy people don’t make sense. I tend to like things that add up and leave me with OH so that’s why it happened like that! I don’t feel that way at the end of this series, but I think the premise behind the plot would have been strong.

Just why was Ceil so important to Angela anyway?

Ceil was a very likable character despite his severe case of the emo. If my parents were murdered on my birthday and I was surrounded by morons I might have a gloomy outlook on life too. Sometimes I feel as if he was too mature for his age but again that goes with him being forced to grow up fast. He never set out to do humorous things yet I was always laughing at his reactions to the WTF moments in his life.

Just let a kid be a kid...

I understand that the way the story was written Ceil had to die. I wanted him to live and find a loop hole out of this mess…but then he wouldn’t be keeping his promise. Personally I rather screw over a demon to live but Ceil wanted to be noble. I wanted him to have a happy ending but sometimes people are happier being gone. Due to all the stuff that happened to Ceil…it might have been more humane to let him go. I just wish he could have be let go and been with his parents.

Ceil won that match but paid with his life. :(

Sebastian was a roller coaster with me during this series. Sometimes I wanted to scream at him for taking advantage of this poor confused child. I wanted him to actually be confused about his feelings for Ceil and him to realize that he did care about his young master. But in the end…he never really had feelings for Ceil. It was just a job and a way to get a soul. That makes me sad.

They seem to have fun together...

But that is entirely my fault for assuming people have goodness at their very core. Sebastian is a DEMON…he doesn’t have a nice part to him. I was silly to assume otherwise. So Sebastian acted how he was supposed to and in the end he got the prize he was promised. I am just disappointed my yaoi fantasies did not come true.

All this caring was just an act. :(

The former stupid trio did try my nerves every single episode until recently. Then it turned out they were helpful and my whole world turned upside down. I do think that their crazy antics were a bit much at times and dragged the show down. But now they are not so stupid and it’s okay with me. I think.

I learned to embrace the stupidness.

Ash/Angela is just creepy. Very creepy. I am still not sure why she/he/it went crazy like that but it reminded me of the plot of Constantine. Crazy angels are just crazy. But some of her/his/it scenes were the most puke worthily in the entire series. These memories have been carved into my mind and I am sure to have nightmares because of it. So thanks you creepy…creepo.

And Sebastian can be the East?

My favorite side character would have to be Prince Soma. He was over the top but one of the most genuine characters in the show. It is sad that he lost his bestest best friend…but he was shown being a good person and actually changing in the end.

Not sure how he got there so fast...but at least he is a very caring person.

My least favorite character was Elizabeth. Since her ring throwing days I haven’t forgiven her. She was pretty useless and was a burden on more than one occasion. And Ceil who was cold as ice actually felt sorry for her. And she is one of the ones who gets to survive. Just doesn’t seem fair to me but nothing really is.

But I did like the Chibi scenes that Elizabeth brought up.

The funniest scenes in the entire series was Ceil being forced to cross dress and that nearly yaoi scene. MMM gotta love the play with your mind yaoi scenes. And Ceil made such a lovely young lady too. Happy times for sure.

Must contain those thoughts!

I loved how the opening/closing scenes were actually used in the last episode. It was a huge spoiler that most of us didn’t even realize with Sebastian rowing Ceil to his final resting place and the bench that Ceil died on. I think that was a really nice touch and feel slightly lame for not assuming that was actually going to happen.

Sometimes obvious scenes are obvious.

So there it is in a nut shell. A rather large nut shell though. I am sad the series is over and that it ended the way it did but I think it ended the way it had to. It was entertaining to the very end and I would recommend this series to anyone. I hope everyone who watched this series had just as much fun as I did. Thanks for reading and here’s to hoping the manga ends differently. XD

Sebastian and Ceil bid us goodbye.