Grell’s gender identity has been the subject of debate in the fandom. Grell still speaks in onee kotoba when she is younger. She has short hair, wears men’s clothes, calls herself an actor instead of an actress, and refers to herself as a man attracted to men. In the Japanese version of the manga, other characters do not refer to Grell with any gendered language, but in the English version they use male terms for her.Īn OVA of the anime, The Story of Will the Reaper, depicts a younger, partially closeted version of Grell. In a scene in the 2010 musical, The Most Beautiful DEATH in the World, Grell becomes frustrated after William calls her 'he' and asks to be called 'she' instead. Grell frequently refers to herself using feminine terms including onna (woman), joyuu (actress), otome (maiden/girl), kouitten (a term for the only woman in an otherwise all-male group), and the English word lady. On the same page, she says that she wants to get a sex change. In her section in the 2009 character guide, she is described as a 'self-proclaimed lady' and states that she thinks 'God made a mistake' when she was assigned male at birth. In the 2009 character guide and a blog post by Toboso from the same year, Grell is described as having been in love with Madame Red, but in a 2013 blog post, Toboso claims their relationship was platonic and closer than a romance. The manga’s author, Yana Toboso, has given contradictory statements. While fans accept that Grell is attracted to men, there is a minor dispute about whether she had feelings for Madame Red. Despite this, she is only depicted flirting with men. Grell also states that she fell in love with Madame Red, which could mean that she is bisexual.

Grell is instantly shown to be attracted to men, including the titular butler of the series, Sebastian Michaelis, and her supervisor at the Grim Reaper Dispatch, William T. She refers to herself with the female first-person pronoun atashi. Grell speaks Japanese in the highly feminine onee kotoba sociolect, typically associated with queer men and transgender women. Her portrayal in the anime is mostly as comic relief, while her presence in the manga is more varied. She is fond of referencing theater, especially the works of William Shakespeare.

She is concerned with her appearance, and complains if she thinks her makeup is bad. Despite her lack of compassion, she can be a cheerful and doting companion. Grell is emotionally expressive and flirtatious, but can be violent, and expresses very little empathy for humans. She wears round glasses, a black overcoat, and black pants. While working with Madame Red, her hair is dark brown and tied in a low ponytail with a red bow holding it together. Grell reaps souls with her death scythe, which is a chainsaw. She has a chain of mangosteen hanging off her left hip. She has distinctive sharp teeth and long, crimson-red hair. Like all grim reapers, she has green-chartreuse eyes and a pale appearance. She stands at 175 centimeters tall (5’9”) without her heels. Grell usually wears a white button-up shirt with a brown vest, brown sleeve garters, black gloves, black dress pants, a ribbon bow tie, red 11-centimeter (4.3-inch) high heels, red glasses with skull ornaments, and a red coat she took from Madame Red after collecting her soul. As an additional duty, she is responsible for tracking down and defeating Undertaker, another grim reaper who has deserted the Grim Reaper Dispatch. After Grell was arrested for breaking the laws of the grim reapers, she was punished and suspended from her duties for three months.Īfter the end of her suspension, Grell continues to collect souls. For the next three years, she posed as Madame Red's butler and aided in her murders, until they were caught red-handed and Grell killed her and collected her soul. Grell empathized with her inability to bear children, and offered to help. While on duty collecting souls in 1885, Grell spotted Angelina Dalles, a doctor and socialite better known as Madame Red, murdering a woman. She has been a grim reaper for under 70 years. She is drawn to appear in her late 20s, but her exact age is never stated. Like all grim reapers, she used to be a human, but committed suicide. Grell is a grim reaper and works in the soul collections division for the Grim Reaper Dispatch.

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