Set the next arc in a prestigious all boy’s school of course.
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Yana Toboso
Translation/Adaptation: Tomo Kimura
What They Say
When several students refuse to return from an English boarding school that counts elite bloodlines among its student body, Earl Ciel Phantomhive and his indomitable butler, Sebastian, infiltrate the lush grounds and stately halls of this distinguished house of learning at Her Majesty’s behest. But this cannot be accomplished without some masterful artifice. The butler takes on the role of housemaster, his master that of student – parts to which both are more than just a little accustomed. As their dorm lives of deceit begin, they turn their eyes upon the conspicuous and colourful waistcoats of the four school prefects, from whose attention nothing at the school escapes…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
When a number of sons of prominent society members -including an extended relation of the queen- essentially go missing at their prestigious school, Ciel is the perfect person to send in to investigate…well, he is the right age, has a family title and is the queen’s watchdog so saying he is the only choice may be a bit more accurate than saying he is the perfect choice. In truth Ciel may be exactly the wrong person in this case as displaying humility and subservience aren’t exactly his forte and as an underclassman he is also going to be required to serve an upperclassman just to maintain his cover. When in the course of his efforts to investigate he makes enemies of other students and gets thrown off the grounds of one of the houses that one of the missing students belonged to Ciel figures out that he is going to need to win the attention of one of the four ranking upperclassmen who seem to sit just a stone’s throw from the power of the unseen headmaster in order to make any progress in his investigation.
Winning that attention is something that will be easier said than done however as even with the help of his devilish butler turned (temporary) teacher/housemaster doing the physical chores Ciel is still going to have to navigate the machinations and power building attempts of some of the other students that also are looking to curry favor with the four prefectural heads. As Ciel crashes up against one particularly talented schemer he may find himself outmatched as most of his regular tools are not available to him and he must rely on his ability to scheme on the fly, which is fine, but he also concludes he will have to go way outside his comfort zone and recruit others to his cause which isn’t exactly his strongest skill in order to get past this current blockade in his path. And even if he can find allies at the school he may find he needs to ask a favor from a source he doesn’t want to get into debt all of which may make this mystery far more costly and dangerous then it seems on the surface as the only person he can ask does subterfuge about as well as cement trucks fly. In such an unusual environment for him Ciel may find that the Queen’s watchdog is going to be stuck in a kind of a kennel that even he may not escape from.
One of the more fun things to do from an audience perspective is to have writers take characters that the fans have come to know and love and place them in situations that challenge them in a new way. In Black Butler that is often done by having Ciel come up against even stronger and weirder antagonists but he largely isn’t terribly off balance as even when out matched from a physical standpoint he can rely on either his title and wealth or Sebastian to get him through. So the twist of Ciel being in a position where all of his usual weapons are negated as they can’t get him any of the special access he needs is delicious as it forces Ciel to resort to other methods. This also works in setting up a fairly lengthy gag which pays off even more as Ciel’s efforts bear fruit and he gets praised in a manner that will almost certainly have fans laughing out loud at the absurdity of the situation as it complements the often wry battles between Ciel and Sebastian.
It is also nice to see Ciel matching wits with people who are in many ways his equals as some of his opponents here are roughly as clever as him and since the fight won’t be waged in a test of strength Ciel needs to fight this battle (mostly) by himself as there is only so much help that Sebastian can be in the present environment. Though his efforts may help tip the balance in Ciel’s favor it is a treat getting to see Ciel being nearly an equal partner in this endeavor as often Sebastian gets stuck doing the majority of the heavy lifting which can leave Ciel looking like more a week but loud puppy rather then the Queen’s watchdog his is supposed to be and overall it works well to carry a story that has less obvious dire than many of the more recent arc.
One thing that did come up though and threw me off is the difference once again that pop up in cultures, though this time it is more British/US that Japan/US as the system in place at the Weston College school Ciel infiltrates pairs up an upper and lower classman in an almost brotherly like fashion where they can help each other (ideally anyway) is called fagging an it was a bit offsetting to see the term thrown about as often and casual as it is in this story. I was taken a bit a back and it took me a while to realize I hadn’t seen the term thrown around so often and loosely since about mid 80’s movies- where of course it had a different meaning- but the culture I live in only really uses the term as a slur or as a not sly way for someone to try to be pretend to be clever when referring to a cigarette in the US (unless the person is from England of course). It is kind of amazing really how a word can be drummed out of society and the power of it can be forgotten by those who have never had it used on them or a friend in their presence and then suddenly be reminded of it when seeing it for the first time in a while but in an odd way it also underscores kind of how some of the younger students are treated and it also emphasizes the uncomfortable nature of the practice in reality (if not explicitly in the manga at this point which kind of glosses over it a bit).
In Summary
The newest arc of Black Butler arrives and this time Ciel will find that his usual tools of doing his job are neutralized and so he is going to be forced to be even more scheming then usual- but stuck in having to do so in a way that no one, even those on the receiving end of his efforts, realize just how they have been played. This situation forces Ciel to take more of an active role than he typically has until now and it gives him a chance to be more than just a character always needing the strong savior to swoop in and rescue him. As an added bonus it allows for even the author to throw some Sebastian like sharp jabs at Ciel as well and gives the reader a chance to wryly grin along with some of the situations that the young Lord finds himself in this time and the reaction from those around him showing that even when not as imminently scary Black Butler can serve up entertainment.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: A-
Text/Translation Grade: B+
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