Kuroshitsuji – 08

 
Summary:

Picking up right at last week’s cliffhanger, everyone discovers Henry’s bloody, empty jail cell with the busted back wall, followed by a knock at the front door. A soaking wet man tells them that the dog demon has attacked again, so they rush to the scene in the pouring rain. Sebastian breaks through the crowd surrounding his body to discover that his arm has been ripped off, and Angela faints.

It’s a shame they can’t return home tomorrow morning as planned. Ciel remarks on the irony of Henry being killed by the demon, when he was the one setting up the fake demon in the first place. The servants think Henry received revenge for angering the dog demon, while Sebastian comments that at least it’s a positive thing that the culprit isn’t human.

Sebastian buttons up Ciel’s nightgown and asks what the silent glare is for. Ciel wants to know if the real culprit is a death god or demon like Sebastian. In turn, Sebastian wonders what Ciel’s power of deduction might come up with, but tells him it’s useless to worry. Unable to leave the town until he solves the case, Ciel inspires Sebastian to comment on his admirable loyalty to the queen. Ciel says it’s not just that, but he also wants to see if Sebastian’s opinion of dogs might be improved.

Finnie walks through a dark hallway alone with a candle, and hears a chilling, scary sound and voice. Frightened to death, he shrieks as Maylene comes screaming into the hallway as well. She wonders if it’s the ghost of Henry, which scares Finnie, but causes Maylene to squeal with joy (instead of fear). They set out to investigate, and come upon another unlocked, slightly open door where two voices can be heard. One of these days, Angela should learn to lock her door.

Inside, Maylene and Finnie see what appears to be a naked man with white hair laying on top of Angela, licking her while she tells him in a kind voice to relax. Maylene’s nose bleeds at an unusually unstable rate, and she goes back for more, but Finnie runs away quite upset. He storms out of the mansion in his pajamas, crying and knocking down numerous whole trees by the trunk that accidentally wandered into his path.

The next morning, everyone meets for breakfast, but Finnie’s eyes look sunken and tired. When Angela comes in and asks about Finnie’s condition, he panics and runs away. For being so ill, his energy levels speak otherwise. A short time later, Meylene and Finnie interrupt Sebastian and Ciel’s discussion to worry about Angela’s sudden disappearance. Thinking that maybe it has something to do with the demon, all the servants run out ready to fight. Smiling, Ciel asks Sebastian what color his blood is, because it seems like he might get a chance to see it soon.

Out in the foggy barren plains, all four Phantomhive servants search for Angela. Running after Finnie, everyone suddenly realizes the entire landscape has half-buried and deteriorated human limbs sticking out of the ground. One of the arms is fresh and bears the ring of Henry Valleymoor. They hear a howl and hide behind a rock just in time to see the naked man with white hair walk up, sniff Henry’s arm, and move it to the other side of the same rock. Bard thinks this guy is definitely the culprit, so many the murderer was human after all. Maybe he had a grudge against Henry. This prompts Maylene to remember the weird sexual power scene she accidentally witnessed recently between Angela and Henry, in addition to the more recent one with this white haired man. Upsetting Finnie with the association, Finnie’s voice raises a little too much and the demon notices his presence.

Before anything happens, the entire town comes up running in a creepy unison as usual, in their pajamas no less. They want to be useful, and they were struck by Finnie’s power display the previous evening. When Finnie looks around, the mysterious man has already disappeared, so he runs after him while the townspeople begin warming up. Hearing the howl again, an enormous dog shaped creature with flames in his mouth appears out of the fog. Sensing their presence, it launches into a running attack. Finnie notices a piece of Angela’s apron on its claw, and forgets his fear to attack the beast. Considering his incredible strength, Finnie is tossed around very easily, proving to be useless against the demon in a fight.

Before the demon can smash Finnie into the ground, Sebastian catches the paw with one hand and hurls him into a nearby rock wall. Ciel tells Sebastian not to play around and become friendly with the dog, and so he agrees to straighten things up quickly. The demon senses an interesting smell, and Sebastian smiles slyly and wonders if it could be this small container of dog treats he happens to be carrying with him. The dog demon becomes ecstatic and runs towards Sebastian with childish glee, and Sebastian comments again about how the way to treat dogs is apparently kindness alongside abuse. As the demon approaches, Sebastian jumps into the air, lands on its face, and starts chewing on its nose affectionately. As everyone looks on in shock, he knocks the hearts out of its eyes with a kick that sends him flying. After a few more ridiculous examples of kindness vs. severity, he finishes the fight with a flying spinning screwdriver move that he clearly borrowed from Rock Lee, sans bandages.

Finding himself deep underground, everyone rushes to the edge of the cavity, and Ciel orders him to quit playing around and come out. With a vocal confirmation, suddenly a rushing water sound erupts, and an onsen explodes out of the hole. Sebastian stands on top with the once again naked man in his arms, converted from his dog demon form. Successfully accomplishing the mission, Sebastian looks pleased until the man begins licking his face, much to Maylene’s pleasure.

Angela comes running to the scene in her plain dress, calling the demon’s name (Pluto) in relief, and he runs to embrace her happily. Everyone stares in shock as she explains that she found him last month, and fell in love quickly with this cute puppy of a man. She worried what would happen to him if he were found by Henry, and thinks maybe she spoiled him too much. Angela sincerely pleads with Ciel to take him back to London to live in his house, so that he might escape the blame and punishment for the murders happening in this town.

Even Sebastian appears shocked at this request, and becomes annoyed when she tried to appeal to his emotional sensitivity. But Ciel surprises everyone by agreeing to it easily, thinking it would be quite interesting to have a dog around the house. The pajama-clad townspeople rushing to the scene interrupt the meanest glare Sebastian has ever delivered to thank Ciel for catching the culprit. Since Ciel’s goals have been accomplished, they can return home shortly. Sebastian delivers the words “case closed,” and they enjoy a little time in the freshly created onsen before preparing to leave. The hardworking townspeople are building the new resort around the hot springs.

As they load up the car, Angela says goodbye to Pluto, and kisses Finnie on the cheek. She says she’d love to come visit him one day, but Sebastian coldly advises her not to if she can help it. She’s already tamed him enough. Everyone waves goodbye, and Angela watches them leave with a sinister smile, thinking that she’ll definitely see him again.

 
 
Preview:

 
First Thoughts:

This cake is slightly less tasty than last week’s cake. I’m somewhat put-off by the sense of humor in this episode that is so markedly different from the mangaka’s. I’m usually fascinated with how well Kuroshitsuji blends darkness and humor, but this filler arc is more ‘dim’ and ‘scooby-doo humor’ than I anticipated – “Anticipated” being the key word. You’ll never be disappointed if you don’t raise your expectations too high to begin with!

Small bouts of grumpiness aside, this episode wasn’t that bad. Finnie goes through a lot of emotional ups and downs because he wears his heart on his sleeve. (Not only does he look like a teenage girl, he goes through many of the same emotions.) Sebastian also proved by example what he was explaining last week about dogs – No matter how much he abused the poor.. demon, he came back ready for affection whenever it was offered. And scooby-snacks. I can’t quite shake off the question that’s in the back of my mind — Why don’t they give him clothes when he’s in his human form? (Also, I deserve brownie points for calling the dog demon thing last week.)

Although Angela seems to be cleared of any direct crime, I still can’t shake the feeling she’s the main antagonist of this arc. When she asked Ciel to take care of him back in London and he agreed, my feelings were along the same line as Sebastian’s. This arc will continue next week while the Phantomhive family takes care of a new pet.