Thanks for visiting my blog today. It’s time to review episode 12 of the following: Black Butler Emerald Witch Arc, Kowloon Generic Romance, Lazarus, and Your Forma. They were all entertaining as usual. Please enjoy these notes.

Contents

1. Black Butler: Emerald Witch Arc Episode 12
2. Kowloon Generic Romance Episode 12
3. lazarus Episode 12
4. Your Forma Episode 12

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Black Butler: Emerald Witch Arc Episode 12

Episode Rating: 8/10

This was an eventful episode despite the fact that the battles are now over. We learned some new information about the Shinigami (or “Grim Reapers” as most English translations say). Shinigami were once humans who committed suicide and now must work with death every day. In other important news, Diedrich told Ciel that Undertaker had recently visited. At the time, Diedrich didn’t know Undertaker was responsible for the sinking of the ship or the reanimated corpses.

While visiting Diedrich, Undertaker looked at a picture of Vincent and shed some sad tears. There was no way to resurrect someone whose bones burned to ash. However, Undertaker said “There’s still the other Earl Phantomhive.” Hearing this, the room grew quiet and grim. Ciel quietly wondered if Undertaker meant him or “someone else.” From everything we’ve gathered in this arc, my theory is that Ciel had a twin who was sacrificed three years ago, and that’s who Undertaker was talking about.

Moving on, Wolfram survived and began to recover. I loved it when Sieglinde forgave him and said they would be together forever. Later, in London, Sebastian and Ciel took Wolfram and Sieglinde to get some clothes appropriate for meeting the Queen. Miss Hopkins was entertaining. I like her and the way she cut Sieglinde’s hair.

On a final note, there was a lot of talk in this episode about a potential war between Germany and Great Britain. I expect to see an alternate history version of WWI in a future Black Butler arc. Sascha the Shinigami seemed pretty excited about it. Anyway, one episode remains in this arc and it will probably be mostly filler.

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Kowloon Generic Romance Episode 12

Episode Rating: 8/10

A lot of important events took place in this installment, but it didn’t feel as intense or exciting as usual. That could just be me and my fluctuating interest lately. Anyway, the first point to address is that Hebinuma suffers from dementia and won’t last much longer. This news left Miyuki completely lost, unable to secure the revenge for which he so longed. On the bright side, Gwen found Miyuki again and reiterated his love. The two men are back together now. Yay!

According to Yulong, Generic Terra was a failed project which could store memories but could not generate anything new. However, when it came in contact with Kudo’s mind, Generic Terra activated for the first time, generating the Second Kowloon according to Kudo’s memories. I wish this series had spent more time developing Kudo and showing us his perspective. He feels rather boring as a character.

This episode also taught us the true cause of death of Kujirai B. The drugs that killed her were a discontinued type of cold medicine from Hebinuma Pharmaceuticals. People who took a lot of doses, thinking they would just get high, instead found death. The drug was lethal. Hebinuma’s company demolished Kowloon to cover up the scandalous deaths caused by their failed drug. As someone who used to get high off cough medicine, dodgin dangerous additives, I found this twist very believable.

After acquiring the drugs in the alley, Yulong told Reiko he wanted her die after all, since that would put an end to the world Kudo was trapped in. However, Reiko stood up for herself and convinced Yulong to leave her alone. She then went to talk to Kudo and told him she didn’t think it was right for him to stay in Kowloon forever. In response, Kudo became annoyed and upset. His mood triggered an earthquake and the episode ended there. I look forward to the final episode next week.

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lazarus Episode 12

Episode Rating: 7/10

This episode was a bit boring for being so close to the end of the series. This is where the action ought to pick up in a more engaging series. Don’t get me wrong – I’m still enjoying this anime and I’m excited to see how it ends. However, it’s sad that Lazarus didn’t turn out to be anywhere close to a masterpiece like I had originally hoped. It’s just a soft little sci-fi series with some good fighting animations and a fascinating starting concept. Again, it’s a shame that it didn’t live up to the potential of that concept.

It was awesome to get to know Popcorn Wizard, AKA Lynn, in this installment. Her story with Skinner was interesting. In the end, she did help Eleina track down Skinner. He is in Babylonia City nearby. After rescuing Doug, Lynn and Eleina headed that way. Meanwhile, Chris kissed a bedridden Axel before leaving to help identify the assassin Soryu.

That female NSA agent (whose name I still don’t know) began researching Soryu and found that he was the same as HQ. He likely suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder. That’s a bit cliché, but then again, it’s one that I enjoy. Anyway, Chris also mentioned that Axel mentioned that Soryu mentioned the Hundun. The NSA agent recognized that term and said something about the “Hundun program.” Further answers will have to wait, but I expect it was a secret government program for assassins.

While that was happening, Abel called in a favor with the US President, who was dying of Hapna. She agreed to issue an executive order for the NSA to raid the US military INSCOM. Schneider killed Hayes and took over the base, refusing to let Abel and his men inside peacefully. A shootout – and a war – may be unavoidable. On a final note, it seems like all the members of Lazarus were unlikely survivors of strange incidents in their youth. I wonder if that means they are also immune to Hapna? To be continued.

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Your Forma Episode 12

Episode Rating: 9/10

Although this episode was easily predictable, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. I might just be dumb, but usually, I don’t try to predict the anime I’m watching. For one thing, I’m often wrong. For another, I like the excitement of letting events unfold in front of me. When I actually understand what’s happening, and my mental predictions are correct, it fills me with exhilaration and satisfaction. That was my experience watching the penultimate episode of Your Forma.

The real “Nightmare” was Detective Napolov, who threatened Shubin into working with him, trying to framing him as the killer. I’m glad Shubin wasn’t the real villain, because a) I liked him and his sullen, neurodivergent mannerisms; and b) he seems to be Jewish-coded, and Jewish people are often demonized in both reality and fiction. In other notes, the voice actor for Napolov (Kouichi Yamadera) performed amazingly in this episode. He’s perfect for the role of the sadistic, arrogant Nightmare.

It was very satisfying to see Harold shoot Napolov twice. I don’t think I’d be a good law enforcer because I would just let Harold torture and kill the Nightmare. Echika, however, needs to enforce “justice” for her job and for society. I wish the moral dilemma had been set up a little better, like it was in Psycho Pass. As it stands, the tension stems less from a philosophical place and more from the emotional connection between Harold and Echika. I can barely wait to see what happens in the final episode next week!

~Thanks for reading~

Written by 7Mononoke at Anime Rants

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