Reviews

Black Butler, Vol. 8 by Yana Toboso

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andreavisbal240's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

lknano's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

shonaningyo's review

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1.0

I will NOT, I repeat, NOT be continuing this series. After this volume, I've lost all enjoyment in this series.

It wasn't that it wasn't good; it was .. I guess.. But Ciel Phantomhive, you have pushed me to Alienation Planet for the last time, and this last time, it was a forceful shove off the cliff into a glass filled pit of anger and hair-pulling.

=INITIATING POINTLESS RANT ON CIEL PHANTOMHIVE-

I have a love-hate relationship with Ciel Phantomhive. I love him -- but it's a grudging love-- because of the fact that he's a child and I like how he's drawn, because lots of authors make ugly children.. I DESPISE him because of his friggin ARROGANCE, the sheer audacity..

I mean, it's probably because he's rich and of an aristocratic family.. and British. British people at the time this series takes place were especially uppity, 100x then they are now.. much like Americans are today... The fact that he has a demon butler that does whatever he says, along with 'pawns' ... the sheer .. urgh!

Yeah, he was abused, possibly raped in the ass with the hilt of a dagger, who knows what happened. All I know was he was held down , chained up, and put on an altar , and branded like cattle. That's traumatizing, but God, man, be at least a little GRATEFUL you have your fiancee and your servants who love you unconditionally and want to take care of you and share your burden! Only a biblical figure would have that much gall to think that they were greater than everyone else because they 'suffered the most' and 'experienced the most pain' .. "you don't even know me, you don't know the pain I feel" .. well enlighten us! Instead of sitting on your throne with your scowl of boredom, tell us a little bit about your traumatising past? You can't? You throw up at the mere thought of it? Well then get off your high horse, since you obviously don't have a pair to face your past, instead just push in the back of your head and suck on a lemon day in and day out.

Maybe it's the whole British 'stip upper-lip' mantra that they quoted day in and day out.. probably because he's in the public eye.. That's all well and good, but you have a thousand rooms in your mansion; you could just lock yourself in one of them and cry... But then again, psychology and child counseling was sh*t back then, so... My ideas would probably be looked at with looks of confusion, surprise, and suspicion.

On to my review of this volume:

Spoiler

I will say this. My favorite manga characters will usually incorporate one of the following:

1) long blond hair
2) puppetmastery/puppet skills/ doll-maker
3) glasses (male only)
4) snaggle tooth
5) Cool costume

Joker fit 2/5 of the five requirements, lol. And I got the doll-maker vibe from him for some reason, even though that's Drocell I'm thinking off (anime only). Maybe it's because I imprinted my infatuation with Drocell onto Joker, since they're a little similar in clothing and looks (not really, but shut up).

It was depressing looking at Joker and his troupe-family's past: Discarded for being malformed or unwanted, freaks and the like. And they got their spare parts from a shady dealer, whom they were forever indebted to , along with this other, fatass-ugly-noble whom I don't care about. Joker didn't even know that the prosthetics were made of human bones; Joker is ... what'd you say, an anti-hero? Without the -hero- bit. He was a victim of circumstances, just like everyone else in his circus; they did what they could to survive.

Ciel actually remarks upon that, stating in a wannabe-Nietzche fashion, "Only two types of people in this world: Those who take advantage of others, and those who are taken advantage of." Wow, that's so black and white. Typical of a snot-nosed 12 year old bratty aristocrat. But I digress.

Joker and his 'family' had no other choice BUT to follow the crazy noble's orders. It wasn't that they really did anything malicious... okay they kidnapped children. Those children were probably runaways anyways, or orphans. Not like they just stole them out of the cradle or whatever. Yes those kids were tortured, but it was either them or Joker and Co. Which would YOU choose? I'd say the children. At least they're being put to better use other than chimney-blockers.. Ahem.

But Ciel has a freaking mental breakdown and orders Sebastian to kill all the children. This is where I completely shut down. I literally screamed, readers, I screamed this: "WHAT THE HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!" Don't worry, it was in the lonely solitary confinements of my room, which I frequently hole myself up in except to eat or piss.. Anyways!

And of course, Sebastian, being the shit-eating-smirker that he is, grants his wish. God Sebastian, your smile drives me insane! I hate his smile! It's okay , but after a thousand times his mischievious grin just drives me up the wall with anger! Arrgh.

And then Ciel has the gall -again, more gall in this kid's little finger than in the whole cast of Jersey Shore - to say that those kids wouldn't have been able to function properly had he not set them ablaze--living children-- and 'put them out of their misery' . Yes Ciel, because letting them taste the fires of Hell in the mortal life is a much better fate than letting them free to possibly, I don't know, band together in the oustide world and comfort each other as fellow victims of horrendous, unspeakable abuse, neglect, and God knows what else..

And then after all this stupid angsty-ridden crap, there is this stupid story of fitting Ciel with an Easter dress. Like seriously? Totally unacceptable. 1/5 for that whiplash-transition. But not just a 1/5 just because of that, but because of what is written in the spoiler. I take my leave .____.

selvania's review against another edition

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dark emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

ladywren890's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

Phantomhive servants fight back to Protect Lady Elizabeth.

bookishwendy's review against another edition

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5.0

5 stars for the first chapter alone. My favorite Kuroshitsuji installment so far. The anime "Book of Circus" follows the manga arc very closely, and I definitely recommend it if you don't mind dark, gothic stories with a high body-count. Oh, and whimsy! I hope you like blood, noir, and highly disturbing situations with your whimsy.

chapter 33 opening