One of the many themes of the game is very much “appearances can be deceiving,” and Jamil and Kalim’s relationship is likely yet another example of this in action.
Jamil is one of the more private characters, trained from childhood to be an obedient servant, so it can be difficult to tell how much of what he says reflects his actual opinions.
Both Leona and Azul comment on how they prefer the authentic Jamil to his “usual, sycophantic attitude.”
Kalim’s dorm uniform groovy art is one of our biggest hints that there may be more going on with Jamil concerning Kalim than it seems, but it isn’t the strongest argument: a distorted facial expression in one, single illustration does not stand up very well against hundreds of pages of dialogue, multiple storylines and many recurring plot points.
But the illustration was also no accident, meant to hint at maybe even more depth to Jamil that we have yet to see?
And there might be at least one more hint in Jamil’s ceremonial robes vignette:
Kalim, by his own admission, forces Jamil to perform a task that Jamil did not want to do, and then follows him. It is common for Kalim to compliment Jamil and he does so here as well, telling Jamil that he is always amazed by him and “thanks for always being there to lift me up.”
Jamil responds with, “Ah! Why do you always…?” but does not finish his question, instead lifting up his hood. The two get into an argument over his wearing of the hood, with Kalim repeatedly telling him to remove it while Jamil possibly wants to hide the fact that he is blushing?
It seems unlikely that Jamil (or anyone) would be so flustered by compliments from someone they dislike as much as Jamil claims to dislike Kalim, but this is all conjecture: this vignette and Kalim’s groovy illustration might be all we have to go on at this time.
There can be debate as to whether or not the vignettes are canon to the game at all, in which case their reunion at the end of Book 7 might be the only canonical hint we have, where Jamil says, “I never thought l’d actually be relieved to see your face.”
There is so much depth to so many of the character relationships in the game, and it would make sense that Jamil and Kalim are no exception, and Certainly looking forward to more of them.
(This does not include any novel/manga/4koma interactions, which are not canon to the game.)
For reference:
Kalim from Jamil’s perspective: Jamil and Kalim (pt1) ・Jamil and Kalim (pt2) ・Jamil and Kalim (pt3) ・Jamil and Kalim (pt4) ・Jamil and Kalim (pt5) ・Jamil and Kalim (pt6) ・Jamil and Kalim (pt7) ・Jamil and Kalim (pt8) ・Jamil and Kalim (pt9)
Jamil from Kalim’s perspective: Kalim and Jamil (pt1) ・Kalim and Jamil (pt2) ・Kalim and Jamil (pt3) ・Kalim and Jamil (pt4)
Twisted Wonderland Reference Note 