1 I think the biggest problem with Kuro rn is just that the pacing is a bit... off. Yana has good stories to tell, but I think it'd help if the beginnings of Kuro were brought back, in terms of arc lengths. I'd say the current arcs about finding the blood banks, could be cut down by quite a bit. Mey Rin, and Ran Mao's story, as a novel chapter, feels like it'd be maybe 3 chapters, maybe 4 for the flashback. It's a very straightforward arc, yet it has 17 chapters. Manor murder arc, was 12, which
Honestly, I’m not too bothered by the pacing, though I much prefer longer chapters! 😆 I consider everything since ch111 or so to be one reeeaaaalllyyyy long arc, split into mini-arcs. They even all start with “blue” in their names now.
Circling the prey is entirely on purpose, and I do believe it’s because this latest, super long arc — split into the mini-arcs — is the last true arc of the series. And I don’t count the first four chapters as a real arc at all, more like an introduction that could be a stand-alone or one-shot sort of thing, if the series had never been picked up.
We are still getting reveals, and there are more to come, like what Lau’s true goals are and maybe some actual backstory on him, Bard’s backstory, Finny’s backstory, possibly more about Snake’s life before joining the Phantomhive household, Undertaker’s backstory and his relationship to the Phantomhive family, the truth about who ordered/planned/carried out the attack and why... which I expect to be about Queen Victoria and John Brown, and possibly even some crazy reveal about the reaper realm and organization.
All that said, though, I am hoping this can all be covered in about two weeks of timeline or less, since I expect the contract to be fulfilled on Friday, December 13, 1889. That’s the day before the twins’ 14th birthday and a Friday the 13th.
Considering the fact it took about two years to cover one day (the rather eventful day Agni was killed), this much of a time stretch is entirely possible. Our earl and Sebastian did a lot in that one day, and we also saw some other action, like with Violet, Agni, Soma, etc.
Some things, however, we might only learn through side chapters or an epilogue.
