Vanderwier, Emma January 2012 2B Mrs. Boloori Black Butler: The Dark Tale
Anime the final frontier, possibility the best thing man has ever created. Its beautiful lands and dynamic characters leave you wanting more. Kuroshitsuji or Black Butler is an anime, Japanese cartoons, created by Yana Tosobo. The story follows the life of thirteen year old Ciel Phantomhive and his mysteriously perfect butler Sebastian Michaelis and their issues through out the Victorian Era of England; the Victorian Era is when Queen Victoria ruled England from 1837 to 1901. Black Butler is the golden trophy of anime but with dark thorns all over it representing its dark nature. The storylines in Black Butler have been a roller-coaster ride and is a never stopping adventure. The characters are of top quality, they all have a certain meaning and roll to play in the story. To begin with, the storylines of Black Butler are astonishing, they start you up with mysteries or a strange series of events that can only leave you wondering with a bit of humor along the way. The second storyline in Black Butler is about the Jack the Ripper case, which started in 1888 and took place around Whitechapel in London but Black Butler puts a twist on it. Ciel and Sebastian are called in to investigate Queen Victoria and find out who is behind the killings and get rid of them. Ciel’s Aunt, Madam Red, accompanies Ciel and Sebastian in the investigation. Madam Red has a butler named Grell Sutcliff and it seems that he can’t anything correctly, but plays a large role later.
One night Sebastian and Ciel stakeout in front of the next target of Jack the Ripper and then the truth is revealed. Both Madam Red and Grell are Jack the Ripper as Ciel had figured out prior to the event. It is then revealed that Grell in a grim reaper who was attracted to Madam Red because she love the color red so much, he is obsessed with the color red. Then Grell kills Madam Red with his death scythe, which is a chainsaw, as Ciel watches. Ciel order Sebastian to kill Grell but right before Sebastian can Grell commanding officer, William T. Spears, shows up and drags Grell away and how he now has to work overtime, don’t worry Grell will return. Ciel then calls the case closed and returns to the town house with Sebastian. This is a truly dramatic storyline for Ciel and also shows the darkness for London at the time. It creates the base for the majority of the characters and prepares you for later storyline that are far more traumatizing. Additionally, another story line called The Curry Contest which shows the Indian immigrants and how there have been Englishmen murdered in the East End, the bad part of London and where all the gangs hang out, and Ciel, once again, is called in to investigate. Scottland Yard, the British police, assume that it is an Indian person. Ciel goes to the East End to investigate and is almost mugged by a gang, but Sebastian saved him. Then an Indian teenager comes in and orders his butler to attack Sebastian but then Ciel explains that the gang tried to mug him and then the Indian teenager leaves. Later at the Phantomhive mansion there is a knock at the door and the Indian teenager and his butler come in and say that he is the prince of India and he is looking for his nursemaid who was stolen and brought to England. Soma, the prince, and Agni, Soma’s butler, tell Ciel that they will be staying at the mansion until they find his nurse maid, Meena. Ciel is outraged but allows it but, Soma consistently distracts Ciel from his
studies and deeply annoys him. It is soon discovered that Agni has been sneaking out at night and is making a deal with the man who took Meena in England he is in rage with Agni. The man that Agni is working for is the one that has been forcing Agni to kill the Englishmen that were competition for the curry contest. Agni feels that he is helping the prince because if he wins an up coming curry tournament he can get Meena back. All the man wants Agni for is to win the curry contest so he can get a royal warrant in curry making, a royal warrant is a piece of paper signed by the queen or king saying that the person who receives it has goods or food of the best quality. Ciel, Sebastian, and Soma do not know about Agni’s idea so Ciel plans to make Sebastian enter the curry contest to get Agni back on their side, but Ciel said he was only doing it for the publicity. Then at the place of the Tournament Meena and Soma bump into each other and Meena said that she left because she wanted to and then call Some a royal brat. Soma is then heartbroken and just wants to get Agni back. Sebastian does win the contest and the Funtom corporation, Ciel’s families business, wins the royal warrant and all is well in Soma and Agni’s life’s. This story line is like a Disney fairy tale, not very happy beginning, sort of happy middle and very happy end, however this story line, I feel, has some of the most character development for one character, Soma, and is full humor. Finally, the main story line of Black Butler, the one that almost all of the other ones tie into and also the longest one to explain. This storyline begins all the way back with the Jack the Ripper case it all about the cinematic records. Cinematic records are the things that grim reaper, like Grell, come to collect when a person is on the to die list; it holds all of a persons memories so grim reapers watch there life threw the cinematic record and decides were that person goes after they die. An angel named Angela whom
is after Ciels cinematic record because she finds his memories unclean and unnecessary and then calls Ciel unclean and unnecessary. The ordeal with Angela made Sebastian really mad because he is a demon and if Angela did get rid of Ciels memories then Sebastian could not eat his soul which is the only reason why Sebastian is there. The last episode of the anime is an amazing battle between Sebastian and Angela on some holy bridge and by the very end Ciel plummets to his death by falling off the bridge and Sebastian takes him to an island where he is so post to eat Ciel soul, however it is undetermined. As the main storyline it has more ups and downs then all of the rollercoasters in Magic Mountain combined. It owns the entire show; the storyline has a true meaning of the life in the eightteen hundrads, that they were cruel this thirteen year old kid over came it and managed to live in it. Black Butler has the one thing that draws anyone in and will keep them in like a fly in a spider’s web, a well planned plot. Black Butler has truly captivating characters and create an aura that will show that your past create your personality. Ciel Phantomhive, the main character, has one of the many darks pasts in Black Butler. Ciel’s mansion was burned down and his parents perished in the fire, Ciel was then kidnapped and almost auctions off in the black market. Ciel was being treated like an animal in a cage and when he was about to be auctioned off Sebastian showed up and saved Ciel and swore to do whatever Ciel told him, as his loyal butler. Two years later Ciel is the head of the British underworld and is the queens watch dog. Ciel is the lead character and as such he has the most information about himself currently and in his past. Ciel’s harsh past has made him only crave for revenge and is his only goal threwout the anime. Sebastian Michealis is a
demon and his true form and name are unknown, we do know that Ciel named him after his dead dog. Ever cince Ciel’s tragic birthday in which he creates a deal with Ciel, the dead is that Sebastian has to fulfill Ciel’s revenge wish and in return Ciel will let Sebastian eat his soul, he has been living the life of the perfect butler. Sebastian can do anything that his young master, Ciel, tells him to. Since little is known about Sebastian’s past we must assume the majority of it such as, that he is very knowledgeable since he has taught Ciel violin and Latin. Sebastian also has extreme dedication to Ciel and does not question his decisions and protects him at all costs which does occasionally end him up with major injuries. The servants at the Phantomhive manor consist of Mey-Rin, the house maid, Finnian, the gardener, Baldroy, the chef, and Tanaka, the house Steward. All of these characters are technological good for nothing in there current positions; Finny used to be a test experiment, Mey-Rin was an assassin, Baldroy was in the army, and Tanaka was a butler. What makes these character so great though is that the hate their past so much that they have completely pushed them aside and adapted into hilarious characters with happy-go-lucky aditude. They truly complete the mansion even if it means that Sebastian has to stay up all night clean up their mess. The savants’ past have made them the people that they are today, they are extremely grateful towards Ciel and Sebastian. Past does effect future in Black Butler which is a bitter sweet thing it is bitter because a lot of the characters pasts are sad and the sweet thing about it is that they are like real people that you can talk to. Now then, some people out there might be repulsed by Black Butler. The number one reason why most people don’t enjoy Black Butler is because is to dark and sinister, with all the murders, demon butlers, and the British underworld. Another reason why
people don’t enjoy Black Butler is that the first few episodes are confusing and people get lost. Not to worry though, yes Black Butler does have some more dark themed things but the writers were just staying truthful to the time period and there is quite a bit of comedy added be the servants and Grell. For the first episode and a half you are confused because you don’t know what it going on but it all gets explained in episode two, and isn’t the mystery of not know so post to draw you in? In conclusion, Black Butler is a deep red rose, red roses simbolize buety, in full bloom that is dripping from its dark leaves the dark tale which is Black Butler. Black Butler is an amazing piece of art that Yana Tosobo has created and alowed us to venture into the lives of Ciel and Sebastian. Black Butler is becoming very popular you can find the manga at any bookstore and even read it online, the anime can be purchesed at Best Buy and other vidio stores or streamed online on Netflix. It is truly wonderful and I would love to hear feed back on what you think of it!
