Heroes deformed by the persistence of horrific pasts
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Yana Toboso
Translation/Adaptation: Tomo Kimura
What They Say
Gruesome and mysterious deaths are occurring on the continent. Along with the fear of contagion that permeates the air, there are also rumours of witches and wolfmen running amok. In accordance with the wishes of Queen Victoria, young Earl Ciel Phantomhive embarks on a jaunt to Germany with his elite butler, Sebastian, in tow. When Ciel’s party heads right into the heart of a cursed forest where supernatural creatures are said to dwell, they run straight into a witch! In fact, several of them! And the village head is none other than a little girl who appears as though she’s stepped out of a fairy tale?!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Volume 19 opens with a feeling of threat that saturates the story. Ciel, Sebastian, and the other servants are welcomed in the German town of Wolfsschluct, encircled by a mob of women. Without explanation, Wolfram,the servant of the doll-like Liege Sieglinde Sullivan, states visitors are not welcome and orders the outsiders to go. His mistress, whom he cradles on his bent arm,offers the travelers sanctuary for the night. Far from sanctuary, this volume offers three harrowing glimpses at childhood trauma and the sense of purpose it creates in the characters.
Sieglinde Sullivan offers a complex interplay between her childish size and lack of worldliness and the awkward attempts to engage with Ciel and Sebastian in a sexual relationship. Her attempts put Ciel on the spot, making him nervous and evoking his own childishness. Sullivan, like her village, has remained cut off from the world and living in the memory of a distant past long before she was born. The inside of the front cover has an alternate drawing of her as a ventriloquist dummy. Part of that comes from her size and her need to be carried around, but it also works with the demands of the villagers who seem only to see her leadership as an agent to do what they want. She has descended from the Emerald Witch who first made a pact with the wolfman to protect the witches from the outside world.
Sullivan easily transitions from leader to naive child as she overeats Sebastian’s cooking and becomes an object of humor while at the same time demonstrating something much darker. Her feet have been bound as a child to fulfill the Emerald Witch’s original sacrifice of offering her legs to the wolfman. While this can be used for site gags and moments that can elevate the tension of the story, it also demonstrates her fatalistic understanding that she will not live in the world as she might wish.
On the first night in the castle, Ciel and Sebastian go out in the forest to investigate the wolfman. Engulfed in a mystical fog, they contract a degenerative condition that even affects Sebastian. Upon returning to Sullivan’s castle, he realizes the effects of the fog continue to attack them. He takes Ciel to Sullivan, and she attempts to counter the magical attack.
This volume offers strong imagery where Ciel, trapped in his memories, watches caged and chained children force-fed through a funnel. As one dead body is removed, another is stabbed in front of our young hero. Imagery of this section offers some of the better panels of the book because, like Ciel, we do not see everything, but what we do see balances the child’s body with overpowering violence. While Ciel remains trapped in his mind, he rebukes Sebastian’s help and begins to depend on their young gardener, Finny. We are treated to a short origin story for Finny, and this allows another view of both the brutality of adults and Ciel’s resolve to be a protector.
Artwork in this volume demonstrates a style that remains rich whether in intricate full page images or in small panels with much lower detail range. While the expressions of the characters can be enchanting in the full page portraits that introduce each chapter, the real strength is to find captivating scenes in minimally drawn interiors. Even though in some of the smaller panels, less than 1/8 of a page, the characters may be little more than faceless silhouettes, the space has both depth and texture. Sparse details add up to maintain both the stage of the scene and the foreboding of the story.
In Summary
Volume 19 can introduce a new reader to the Wolfsschluct story arc as it brings in a new cast of side characters with ambiguous motives and actions. With an ever increasing sense of danger, a mystery develops that traps our central characters in roles they don’t normally play. While much of the book resonates with drama and violence, a balance of humor softens the edge and allows many diversions in the story’s path. Artwork moves between surreal nightmare and cartoon expressions that at once give the viewer the vibe of the troubled world without allowing too much dread to creep in the story. Overall, this volume offers a fun ride that looks to be gaining speed for the next volume.
Content Grade: A-
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: A-
Text/Translation Grade: A –
Age Rating: Older Teen
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: January 20, 2015
MSRP: $13.00
