frederickabberline:

ghost-rocker:

Tanaka likely has known Undertaker the longest out of all the Kuro. characters since he worked for Claudia (whose name was on Undertaker’s mourning chain, indicating familiarity).

The scene below means a lot (though it’s not very surprising), but honestly it just creeps me out.

Note how close Undertaker is to RC. It’s not even close at this point– he’s touching the kid.

If you were a butler, would you let just anyone approach or touch your master, especially when that master is practically your grandchild?

Just so you know, Tanaka and RC were standing on the same step at the beginning of this chapter (where they’ve been during OC’s flashbacks).

But while everyone was talking, he disappeared…

While I don’t know where he went, or if this is just an artsy angle and Tanaka either moved back or is purposely absent for aesthetic reasons, Undertaker’s proximity says a lot.

Tanaka let Undertaker approach Real!Ciel.

Tanaka is letting Undertaker say his spiel.

It is now very, very likely that Tanaka knows Undertaker.

Unfortunately, we only got to see one Tanaka-reaction shot in this chapter, as seen below.

This is after RC stated that he wouldn’t let anyone try to punish OC for his lie.

Tanaka is very composed and not disturbed by RC’s speech, indicating that this protective behavior may be normal (based off OC’s flashbacks, I think we can agree).

If you squint hard enough, you can see a degree of sadness, but honestly I read that expression more as calm acceptance rather than sadness at RC’s words.

Aside from this image, we don’t see how Tanaka reacts to Undertaker except for his inactivity– no one’s stopping the man.

The look on Tanaka’s face and his lack of surprise at RC showing up also implies that he knows a great deal about the twin switch, and apparently about RC (due to his allowance of Undertaker’s actions/ proximity).

Questions

Tanaka’s actions and Undertaker’s presence lead to more questions in this deepening plot:

• Was Tanaka working with Undertaker?
• When did Tanaka become privy to RC’s existence? Did he allow Undertaker to begin his work, or was he only notified after RC was brought back or in the stages of “rehabilitation?” For all we know, Tanaka was just made aware of Undertaker’s presence in this chapter or when RC arrived. Based on his composure toward RC and his lack of interference with Undertaker, I doubt this is the case (i.e. he’s known for a while).
• Why does Tanaka allow Undertaker’s current actions?
• Tanaka’s lack of interference indicates that he already knew of Undertaker’s involvement. Though Undertaker was an Evil Nobleman, that does not give him the intimacy to meddle in Phantomhive matters, especially ones related to life and death.
• Possible answer: The Undertaker-Claudia theory, in which Undertaker and Claudia were friends or lovers (though iirc, the age differences would have left Claudia as a child or relatively young when Undertaker was alive– feel free to correct me if I’m wrong). This long intimacy with the Phantomhives may have reassured Tanaka.
• A related theory is that Undertaker is Vincent’s father, whether that be through the guise of Cedric K. Ros or through an extramarital tryst. Reminder that Undertaker would have already been a shinigami at this point, so the question rests with whether or not shinigami can have children. If Undertaker was Vincent’s father, whether as Cedric or himself, and Tanaka knew, he may feel obliged to assist the man in his endeavors.
• Love
• Could Tanaka only know Undertaker as an Evil Nobleman? Is he moved by promises of reanimation and returning what was once lost? Personally, I’m not so sure if Tanaka would be lured by such ideals. The Halloween chapter (120, iirc) showed that while he greatly misses those he’s lost, he wants their souls to be comforted. Does he think that reanimation is a comforting solution?
• What does Tanaka know about Undertaker?
• At the very least, Tanaka knows Undertaker from the latter’s role as an Evil Nobleman. However, these two have likely known each other for decades. Tanaka’s composure indicates trust in the man, plus he was not shown reacting to Undertaker’s arrival or explanation. Further than being acquainted with Undertaker, Tanaka likely knows about his reanimation attempts and equally likely about his shinigami status.
• Tanaka and Undertaker both share Japanese aspects as well. Since Toboso-sensei enjoys using stereotypes, this could indicate that Tanaka is familiar with the notion of shinigami or believes in such.

Again, all of these questions stem from the idea that Tanaka and Undertaker are more than acquaintances due to the Phantomhive connection and age. 

Perhaps next chapter will show Tanaka reacting in shock, that his lack of action this chapter was merely artistic focus, but based off these scraps of context and Tanaka’s composure thus far, I highly doubt it.

Bonus: The Fire

Remember this online mistranslation, in which RC should have said something about OC taking advantage of the fire? What fire do you think RC was referring to?

Originally I thought it was the Phantomhive Manor Fire, but after this chapter, perhaps RC was referring to the cult fire?

OC saw Tanaka after he had Sebastian burn down the cult building– perhaps he told Tanaka about setting the building ablaze and about RC’s fate?

We know that Tanaka knew about the switch, but we don’t know what exactly OC told him about his brother’s fate.

Either fire being referenced makes sense, as evidence would have been lost in both cases.

Time to wait another month to find out what’s up.

I hope you don’t mind me butting in, OP! You make some really good points (although I don’t agree that Undertaker could still have been alive at the same time as Cloudia, that’s a separate issue;;), and there’s something I’d like to add!

First, regarding their shared link with Japan, I think it’s always good to note when Tanaka’s past is on the table that Japan was forcibly opened to trade (and following that its citizens were finally allowed to travel abroad without being automatically branded as pirates) in 1854. This is three years after Vincent was born, and the same year as one of Undertaker’s lockets. If Tanaka had left Japan before that point, he would have been considered a criminal by his homeland.

Therefore, if Cloudia and by extension Undertaker had anything to do with the political situation going on then, it’s even possible Undertaker was one of the first Western people Tanaka ever met. By all means, he has far more reason to side with Undertaker than Sebastian, especially if he knows that Sebastian is here to eat OC.

I personally feel like Tanaka has a general policy of non-interference, considering how he’s played along with OC’s charade, didn’t want Sebastian to do anything drastic during the green Witch arc, and right now doesn’t seem keen on interfering either.

The big thing you reminded me of though, was that there was a gag scene in the anime where Tanaka was found casually drinking tea with Ash, who as we know turned out to be the big bad. (speaking of non-interference, season one also showed him having agreed not to tell Ciel anything under Vincent’s orders, so as not to inspire Ciel to take revenge and live in hatred) (lol). Supposing Tanaka has known about this for a long time, and known about both sides for a long time… tea with the enemy, indeed. I don’t know how you feel about the anime, but considering it was supervised by Takeshi Kuma and has foreshadowed other major things with throwaway gags (like Grelle’s exaggerated suicidal tendencies), I’m personally inclined to say this lines up