BLACK BUTLER (VOLUME 1)
December 7th 2011 05:54
Category: Manga
Publisher: Yen Press
Written & Illustrated by: Yana Toboso
Translation by: Tomo Kimura
Lettering by: Tania Biswas
Cost: AU$16.95/US$10.99
Picked up this particular volume in the library of my local tech college, was there at the time for an exam and having gotten there fairly early decided to wander around in the library to see if there was anything interesting and boy was there stuff. In fact there was an entire table full of manga, graphic novels and anime…so much to choose and so little time to chose it in. Eventually I settled on this volume along with another volume of manga and an anime collection…more about them further down the track. Now apparently this particular series is currently a hot thing at the moment, not only in its manga incarnation but also in anime circles. After reading this particular volume I can see the appeal…though I suspect it might appeal more to female fans than the male fan base…
Of course all is not quite what it seems…that’s the one of the joys of manga, it lets things develop at their own pace rather than having to paint a picture in the first two or three pages. You get the sense that as you read that there are layers and complexities to the story that as you continue to read will be revealed to you. Like enjoying a great meal the real enjoyment is in the savouring of the meal not the finishing of it, so it is with reading this particular manga. As I mentioned earlier the key protagonist in this particular series is indeed the kind of character you’d expect to play a more subordinate role, after all a butler is usually the servant of his master and thus not the kind of main character. Still this works quite nicely.
But that’s precisely the point – Ciel isn’t the kind of character who is the out in front personality, he is more the shadowy power behind the throne so to speak. His butler though is very much the out in front personality, he is the mailed fist in the velvet glove in so many ways…but then again it seems that Sebastian is far more than anyone other than his master realises… Yana Toboso who has created this series has done a very good job with this manga; he has woven together elements of Faust, James Bond and Victorian era drawing room dramas that meld into a truly tight taut story. No doubt you’re wondering at my particular choice of elements there, but trust me this manga has those elements and has them in spades.
Earl Ciel is in essence not a mere boy that runs a family corporation, apparently he is the Queen’s and by extension Britain’s chief enforcer. Sort of like the M of this particular story and whilst Sebastian is in fact Ciel’s butler he is also his enforcer – the one who deals with disreputable elements that threaten his master’s existence and equanimity. But Sebastian though is decidedly something more and at the same time something less than human…the implication is that he is the devil and his master is very much his master, having entered into a contract with him that binds Ciel to Sebastian. Until of course Sebastian eventually claims the soul of Ciel…so the arrangement is very much Faustian indeed…Ciel gets the service of truly superbly skilled individual in return for the price of his soul.
When I picked up this particular work from that table on Monday I have to confess that I didn’t know what to expect with this story. Fortunately though when the dust had finally settled I was suitably impressed, as I said the creator has taken together several diverse elements, woven them together and formed a highly enjoyable story in deed. And the truly superb thing with this is even though there is an element of darkness within the story it’s not overstated, it’s just right, giving you the sense of possible impending doom and tragedy without completely overwhelming the story. Makes me want to watch the anime now that I think about it…so if you like stories that combine elements of horror, action and Victorian era style drama then Black Butler is definitely up your street.
| 14 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
