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Elizabeth Midford: Tale of Two Versions

Hiya!! This is a major breakdown of the differences of Lizzy in the manga and the original anime seasons 1 & 2. I actually adore her anime version, but many fans claimed they dislike Lizzy because of those seasons. So, I thought it would be worthwhile to actually go over the notable differences between the manga and the anime, what connotations they have, and why the audience's reaction even matters.

(All anime mentions refers to season 1 & 2. Very lengthy post ahead!)

First Impressions

Kuroshitsuji began as a one-shot volume. In Lizzy’s first appearance she comes off as childish, hyper-feminine, and annoying. She was written as a typical misogynistic caricature often found in the BL genre (and Shoujo in my experience), an obstacle the male characters must endure and overcome. While there's merit in characters having flaws, it’s clear Lizzy's was used to demonstrate the male characters' complexity, rather than her own.

After the manga’s serialization was confirmed, Yana expanded the story and gave her female characters more depth. Lizzy’s characteristics over time became more toned down, relatable, and positive, while the anime, confined to two short seasons made of filler, ended up flanderizing her and the other characters based off their early iterations. Acknowledging biases and limitations like these helps us compare Yana's writing to the anime’s direction.

So to start off, let’s talk about the infamous ring incident! In Lizzy's first appearance, she breaks Ciel's ring in a fit, and apologizes after finding out it was his late father’s. This is what led many fans to dislike Lizzy in the first place. While there are not many differences between the manga and the anime for this scene, what I’d like to point out is the aftermath.

In the anime, Lizzy feels compelled for the rest of the show to make it up to Ciel. She’s intent on finding him gifts, ones that remind him of childhood, and even finds a perfect, replicate ring. Yet despite her efforts, Ciel never resented Lizzy nor even remembered what she did, being thoroughly confused when Lizzy mentioned the new ring was for him. However, it's implied the incident still weighs on her mind by the end of Season 1, with her wishing to give Ciel a flower ring. Thus, Lizzy's mistake and her repentance steadily remains in the audience's mind.

While in the manga? Literally no one cares. The ring is never brought up again for over 100 chapters. Instead of fixating over Lizzy's faults, Yana chooses to portray her more favorably with her later appearances; her consideration towards Ciel, her self-awareness of her actions, and importantly, how Ciel cares about her enough to act as a human shield! (I always say when you can’t get the plot to advance, throw in a bear). And it makes sense, as by Ch. 14 Yana received news that Kuroshitsuji was confirmed for a long-term serialization, so she does her best to salvage Lizzy’s impression with the audience.

Frances

Another significant difference Ch. 14 made was introducing Lizzy’s mother, Frances. Frances adds another layer of complexity to Lizzy and her relationship with Ciel. Her devotion to her family and the duty of the Queen's Watchdog has us understand why the engagement even exists, and the pressure Lizzy and Ciel faced growing up.

Frances’ strong-willed, dignified nature made her a perfect role model and we learn over time how much Lizzy admires and strives to be like her. Being raised by Frances, Lizzy is revealed to be rather well disciplined despite her wildness (and how such strict guidance from her mother influences her mindset).

Whereas Anime Lizzy was basically left to her own devices and all the positive qualities we assume Francis would instill in Lizzy are non-existent. Lizzy’s parents are barely mentioned in the anime, leaving their daughter to roam around London unsupervised, attending balls and shopping without anyone to stop her.* Without the context Frances provides, the engagement just seems to be a burden for Ciel, instead of a responsibility Lizzy also shares and struggles with (far more than him).

(*It's actually historically inaccurate for Lizzy, a young unmarried girl, to be left un-escorted like she was at Druitt’s Ball by herself. However Yana seemed to fix this mistake, as Lizzy remained escorted by her family for all formal occasions afterwards.)

“Crazy Girl!”

In short, the anime took Lizzy's eccentricities and dialed it up to ten. We have to consider how they chose to animated her, like in her introduction:

The screen practically shaking from her POV

Hearing her feet thumping before she's on screen

Throwing people around with ease (rip Grell 💀)

Lizzy’s physical affection was always rather... excessive. It was a gag that she hugs Ciel so tight he starts to choke. Ciel was forced to put up with it, often exclaiming that he's hurt, and because of his trauma, fans found Lizzy too overbearing for his sake. Now, her PDA has toned down considerably over the years, and Lizzy became far more gentle expressing her feelings,their moments together portrayed more heartwarming than comical.

S4 made me laugh how softly they made her hug Ciel compared to S2 (anime filler) *glomps* or pro wrestling move.

Another common complaint about the anime was her voice acting, as some fans found it particularly grating. Despite liking both Japanese and English VAs myself, I admit it doesn’t help when her dialogue is filled with her throwing fits or sobbing loudly as possible.

Structural Characterization

An utterly, character breaking difference I find is in S2E02, when Lizzy starts sobbing as loudly as possible just because she can’t get her way, inviting other nobles to gawk and gossip about the engagement. Ciel becomes exasperated by this, and eventually caves into her wishes. She has no regard for how she comes off in public, which I can only take as a fundamental misunderstanding of her manga’s character.

“But what about the ring!”

What about the ring. Once again, this is behavior from the one-shot volume, but even so: she was crying in the comfort of a childhood’s friends’ home, in front of servants she’s familiar with, and never does it again. The only times she’s gotten close to loudly sobbing like that were both on the Campania, once after getting her clothes RIPPED OFF HER, and then after her fencing secret was discovered, both highly stressful situations.

I'd argue as well that as Yana developed Lizzy, she grew to be more considerate of Ciel's circumstances and handle rejection better. Ciel often turns down Lizzy in the manga, like her invite down to go boating in Ch. 39 or to join her family's trip in Ch. 51. Instead of blaming Ciel like she did in the past, Lizzy makes the best out of the situation; She helps replace Ciel’s destroyed closet, and promises to bring back souvenirs.

Public Perception

S2E02 also brings up an interesting aspect of their relationship: societal pressure. Outside of some light teasing, Ciel and Lizzy’s engagement has never faced public scrutiny in the manga (um. for now). Which makes sense, as Ciel isn’t concerned about what society thinks about him or who he associates with, as he once encouraged Snake in the Campania arc.

But in that episode, Ciel only goes along with Lizzy after hearing the nobles gossip about their engagement, plastering a smile on his face. And while neither of them pay attention to the nobles for the rest of the episode (who are outright betting on their breakup), you get the feeling it’s all just an act? Even as Ciel and Lizzy reconcile, it’s always performed in front of the others, so Ciel's efforts come off as insincere and vague at most.

There’s this sense that the only way their relationship can advance is when Ciel puts on a performance for Lizzy's sake. Throughout the show, Ciel remains rather stoic whenever Lizzy tries to make him happy and he only responds positively after Lizzy makes large demands of him (offering to dance after she threw a fit, or that he liked the white stag after they both almost drowned), so it’s quite difficult to tell how genuine he’s being.

I love this meme XD but it really shows how the anime made Ciel less expressive overall.

Half-Baked Relationships

As a result, the way the anime portrayed Ciel and Lizzy weakened their dynamic and their dynamic with other characters. For instance, by focusing more on Lizzy’s attempts to hang out with Ciel, rather than his relationship with the Servants and Soma in the manga, Ciel’s anti-social behavior has this “girls 🙄” quality to it. Constantly emphasizing Ciel’s sense of responsibility towards Lizzy increased the impression that she’s a burden, thus placing more strain on their relationship.

To be fair, there are moments in the anime where Ciel clearly values his relationship with her, but he’s never given a chance to put down his walls. We can only infer that Lizzy makes him happy indirectly:

Having an internal montage of Lizzy to convince himself to work with Grell

Wearing a flower ring she made in his final moments

Undertaker calling his memories with Lizzy like “sweet sugar” in one of the OVAs

Nonetheless, Ciel can easily dismiss his attachment to Lizzy, leaving their relationship relatively free of complications (the season 1 & 2 endings).

While the manga has similar elements as well in their dynamic, their relationship has a stronger emotional connection where we can believe Lizzy (and the others) have a genuine impact on Ciel. From when he shows happiness in private to unintentionally putting his guard down, there’s room in their relationship for Ciel to be vulnerable enough to be himself.

In the manga, Ciel does claim he’s obligated to help Lizzy, but it’s seen more as an excuse. Sebastian is often the one to point this out, that it’s always his choice how he treats Lizzy, well or not, and often persuades Ciel to treat Lizzy more considerately (convincing Ciel in Ch. 66 to fetch her Easter egg himself even though Lizzy would be none the wiser). Thus, Ciel’s efforts come off more sincere in the manga, rather than just to uphold his duty.

The Servants

The anime presents more strain in Lizzy’s other relationships as well. Anime Lizzy is rather sharp with the Servants, frequently shouting at Mey Rin and Paula to help her with her dress, or to get out of the room. Despite celebrating Ciel’s birthday together, the Servants still remain afraid of her, referring to her as “that crazy girl” when she visits.

Instead, Manga Lizzy’s relationship with them is on a more friendly basis. She treats the Servants as family for Ciel, enjoying important events together like Ciel’s birthday or watching the cricket tournament, and when she arranged the Easter Day egg hunt, everyone was eager to participate.

She genuinely cares about their well being. She bursts into Sebastian’s room to check up on him and deliver a gift, despite being considered improper. She even goes so far to scold Ciel when he “overworks” Sebastian and neglects his new friend, Sieglinde. The manga really conveys how thoughtful she is towards Ciel’s close ones, and how much she values their presence in his life.

Materialism

Another misconception the anime contributed to, and which I find quite damning, is that Lizzy’s an overly materialistic, spoiled little girl. Her biggest concerns revolve around appearances and she spends most of her free time shopping or fussing over how she’s dressed.

The audience can’t help but compare her to Ciel; while Ciel is under pressure fulfilling his Watchdog duties and expectations as a nobleman, all Lizzy talks about are dresses and tea parties! Thus every time she pops in, she’s seen as a distraction from the *serious drama* unfolding in the story, rather than a facet of it.

While it's hinted Lizzy deliberately exaggerates her girlishness, it comes off superficial in the anime, as it doesn't bother examining "why". In the manga, we learn her obsession with beauty standards started from her environment, and grew more twisted after losing Ciel that month. That being "cute" is defined by her constant sacrifice, to the point she endangered her life several times.

Lizzy's femininity in the manga opens an window into her psychology, instead of being used as a way to degrade her. Being a teenage girl in the Victorian age, she struggles establish her agency while devoting herself towards her future husband and family, and developed anxiety from these contradicting desires, ultimately leading her down a path in the Blue Cult arc where she seemingly betrays herself and everyone around her in pursuit to fulfill her role.

Another aspect of her materialism in the anime is her fixation on gifts. While Ciel is dealing with the burden of the contract and his duties, Lizzy’s running around getting gifts that he, and by extension the audience, find trivial: the ark toy, the hope diamond ring, the flower ring, and the white stag.

While each gift shows Lizzy's affection, they are ultimately sentimental rather than substantial. These gifts are supposed to bring good luck or nostalgia, but they aren’t tangible things Ciel relies on or even cares about. Lizzy’s efforts to help Ciel, like recovering his memories in Season 2, are usually made into fruitless endeavors. She’s seemingly unable to help him, as her fixation on the past thematically opposes Ciel defining himself by the present.

Motivations

The anime offers very little interiority to examine Lizzy’s actions with outside of her archetype. Lizzy becomes far more romantically-coded towards Ciel in the anime than in the manga, often blushing at the mention of his name or being around him. She's just in love with him for being her fiancee, because she's the "love interest", because she's a girl.

So what we’re left with is a rather odd Lizzy, one who is relatively satisfied with the Ciel who came back. As I said before, Anime Lizzy far more concerned about appearances, as her lament about Ciel focuses entirely on how cute he is and his smile, rather than his trauma showing through his behavior. As long as he acts happy, she's satisfied. Invite her for a dance, and she doesn’t push the issue. And the anime sees no reason to explore further how Ciel views her, as his relationships were left undeveloped over his pursuit of revenge.

Yet, the narrative impact of their relationship is completely reversed in the manga; even the way they avoid their issues leads to the biggest twist in the series! Lizzy’s feelings in the manga are far more ambiguous and complicated, to the point they come into conflict with Ciel's. We, the audience, are called to question how much her feelings towards “Ciel” are true or a convenient lie to deal with her circumstances. While she does want his attention, she’s not satisfied with him simply playing along with her whims. She’s more concerned about his health, safety, and the people around him, and likewise, such feelings are reciprocated by Ciel towards her, leaving their relationship feeling far more balanced.

Lizzy isn’t so saintly to only care about Ciel for his sake as well. Despite how much he adjusts to her, she’s disturbed by the way he is now, and curious about what happened to him, making her concern for him far more self-motivated. Even willing to trick and go behind Ciel's back, Lizzy eventually betrays Ciel, becoming a somewhat realized antagonist in the later arcs, an incredible development that the anime couldn't have set up.

Conclusion

In both versions, Lizzy keeps her childish, feminine personality, yet Yana's empathic approach to Lizzy gave her nuance and a proper role in the story, while the anime's lack of interest in her fell back on weak, often misogynistic tropes. But does that mean Lizzy is left with no value in the anime?

I'd like to reiterate I find anime Lizzy wonderful in her own way! She's funny, loud, and silly. At times, I even felt that I was harsh on the anime's depiction of Lizzy, but that was to imitate the common assumptions fans had at the time. But why can't we embrace the "unpleasant" aspects of female characters instead, and understand their use in the narrative, just as we do for their male counterparts. Being "likeable" or not should not be a constant expectation placed on women, and in fiction.

I'd like to end with this quote from Yana:

"I’m somehow glad that the character which was rather disliked until now has received a lot of positive feedback thanks to volume 12. I [as the author] think it’s good that people used to see her as a very childish and selfish person. People are able to read mangas and other creations from an objective point of view. So if a character says something childish, their childishness would stand out. However, in reality, human beings can sometimes be much more childish than fictional child characters.[...]"

This is why I wrote this meta, why I consider fans' opinions, both the positive and the negative, relevant in my analysis with Lizzy. That what we project on female characters like Lizzy leads to those expectations being subverted and we, the audience, are not divorced from the story but apart of it.

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