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Kuroshitsuji (2013)

by Yana Toboso(Favorite Author)

4.53 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

8363769797 (ISBN13: 9788363769796)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Waneko

series

Black Butler

review 1: Again this series never fails to give me engaging and interesting characters. This volume gives us a lovely, and rather twisted look at an old standby in the series, the Undertaker. As a character, I've always found him to be rather mysterious, slightly disturbing and somewhat cute, but nonetheless intriguing. It was great to get an insight to who he really is. So of course, I completely bought into the absurdity of him just showing up randomly on a sinking ship infested with the living dead. Naturally, Yana Toboso plays up the absurdity with believable perfection and suddenly we are given that 'ah ha!' moment we've been waiting for.Beautiful artwork as usual, but at this point in the game I have come to expect no less from this series. My only gripe? I felt the lead up of... more Lizzie from the last volume was not played up to it's full potential. While a satisfying backstory to Lizzie, it left me wanting more of her in the 'present time' of the story.
review 2: Another solid entry in the endlessly entertaining "Black Butler" manga series. This volume continues the Campania Arc, which I have enjoyed less than other recent arcs (I mean, how do you ever top the Sherlock Holmes Arc, right?? Ciel and Sherlock Holmes--a match made in heaven! XD), but this volume is elevated by two things: 1) A beautifully written/realized opening chapter explaining Lizzie's surprise revelation from the end of Volume 12 (i.e. she's a badass master swordsman/knows about Ciel's "Underworld Watchdog" job and is prepared to support him in it. --which makes perfect sense when you consider who her mother is. Of COURSE she made her daughter aware of Ciel's dangerous job and trained her to be able to defend herself!)2) The very end of the volume, in which (without revealing any spoilers) we finally get to see the beginning of Ciel and Sebastian's partnership from SEBASTIAN'S POV. *__* This, of course, is manga gold, as is every time we get to hear Sebastian's thoughts. Against all odds, Yana Toboso has managed to make her mysterious, ever-smiling demon butler a familiar and endearing presence for the reader (and Ciel) without ever revealing much about who he really is/what his long, long life and experiences have been like pre-Ciel--so after having been with his present incarnation so long, it's such a treat and surprise to hear what his true thoughts/inner self is like at long last. It's certainly not a complete tell-all (that volume will get 5 stars from me easy!), but as I mentioned, it's always a treat to get under that smiling facade, even if only a little bit. That said, the "flashback" isn't over yet! We'll likely get more in Volume 14--can't wait for that! less

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