Catching Up: Kuroshitsuj (General Thoughts, Spoilers, Etc.)

I was a reader of this manga even before the first season of the anime was aired. But because the anime adaptation seemed cool and I wanted to prioritize my other favorite manga, I put this on-hold. (But I admit that take a peek at spoilers once in a while. Hehe.)

The first season started awesomely but.... though I'm not really a "manga is always better person", things really went downhill when the anime started to deviate from the manga's story, The story and character development had become so horrible (that I'm surprised that I managed to finish all those episodes). Even if the rest had been awesome (animation, music, etc.), those parts sucked so much that it hurt my head terribly.

I lost interest in Kuroshitsuji no thanks to that. I still love my favorite characters, but great disappointment is quite hard to forget.

But then the second season is announced introducing a new main character pair. I had my doubts at first since what made me disappointed so much with the series are the anime originals after all. But I've heard there'll be a new staff behind it.... and a new pair may mean a fresh start. I thought it wouldn't be so bad to give it a chance.

And I'm glad I did. The new pair is awesome!!!! I don't mind of the original pair being back since I love Sebby anywayz because the rivalry seems cool~ Ah well, the main character resurrection thing sucks though.... and the 2nd and 3rd episode don't seem to connect much to the first season..... Things might be the same again if it weren't for the new pair bringing hope to this season.

Thanks to those two, the next thing I knew I was extremely hooked to this series again.

Then I remembered the manga. I suddenly became curious about the difference between the first season and the original manga....

But that wasn't really enough to make me read the manga again. What motivated me is: the possibility of Alois and Claude debuting in the manga *_* Well, there's no confirmation to that, but the creator herself had mentioned that: Sebastian and Ciel are main characters born from the manga; while Claude and Alois are main characters born from anime. If the manga main characters got into an anime adaptation; wouldn't it also be probable for the anime main characters to get into a manga adaptation as well? Besides, the creator has been drawing a lot of the new pair in her blog recently. Seems to me that she favors the two as much as the original pair.

That got me really hopeful! So I started reading the manga again.... this time marathoned all the chapters (from the first to the latest) in one afternoon. @_@

Wow.... indeed, comparing the manga to the first season (and episodes 2 and 3 of the second season)..... the original is certainly much better.

I love series that are set in England in earlier times with fictional twists. Stories on such a setting usually have a mix of some of my top favorite genres: supernatural, historical, horror, action, mystery, romance, drama, and comedy! I love it that they are balanced (e.g. not too much horror, etc.) and are presented accordingly (e.g. what's dark is really as dark as possible, etc.). And even if there are times when random parts get inserted, the don't seem out of place. And even if there had been annoying characters, they quickly became likable in later chapters (talking about the servants. I saw development or at least hints of them being not ordinary before revealing their true selves. The anime just made them completely useless except for the end. And that was so MEH).

I don't get why the anime attempted to go the other path when the original material is already this good. What's so difficult in following the good stuff from the original? Well fine, it might be because they're attempting to make an original first season ending..... but if they'll be doing a second season anywayz, then a cliffhanger first season ending would've been more bearable than that stupid anime original parts.

But then again, if that happened, Alois and Claude might not have been created. So I'll shut up my complains about the first season's failures for now, hehe.

Anywayz, back on Kuroshitsuji in general, one of the major things that I love in it is its horror theme:

It's about a demon and the underground society after all. It would be cool for it to be as dark and as horrific as possible, yet awesome. The twistedness helps, and the main characters not being "totally good" guys fits the theme better. They do dirty stuff and at times don't have second thoughts in causing bloodshed. They're not your stereotypical heroes that saves everyone despite one of the main characters being a "demon". Demons should still act according to their nature. Oh I really love it when a series is being true to its theme.

Another cool thing about it is the action. It's a series with a noble that has a demon for a servant and he is involved in very very dangerous things. Attacks from criminals/maniacs and strong supernatural beings just makes sense for this kind of story. And since we have a perfect butler, make him do a lot of badass moves as well~ Amusingly, even during fights, he's still as butler-ish as possible.... for he uses tableware as weapons! Hahahahaha! It's awesome yet amusing at the same time, haha! There's crack in the cool stuff of this series~

I love the humor of this series very much. Some are obvious comedy, some are totally random, some are simple jokes, some are sarcastic lines, some are totally twisted, and some could be so WTF?! xD Haha! OH I LOVE CRACK xD

Oh, it looks like it wants to explore a popular thing in English novels: detective stuff. We have the favorite "Jack the Ripper" case and the classic "people-gathered-together-in-a-certain-place-but-can't-get-out-because-of-the-weather-and-during-that-night-they-are-being-killed-one-by-one", and there's even the famous and overused "locked room murder", yet there are some different twists on such cliches.... and the characters themselves say that they don't want to be in such a cliche situation. Hehe. I still don't get why exactly those people are gather though..... but I like that it doesn't hide the obviousness of the fail acting of our characters (puh-leaze, did people really believe that Sebby died?). The events in the mystery arcs may seem expected, yet it still ahs some surprises and nice twists to show. Cool.

Oh yeah, back to the differences, some arcs in the manga are presented differently in the two mediums. Like with the case with the Indian Prince. In the anime, he left after his arc but in the manga, he's still around. I like it that he continues to play an active role but.... the guy also has an awesome butler. I don't want him to be just a comic relief.... I want him to have a role on the serious parts of the arcs. So far that's not happening yet so.... ah well, hopefully the mangaka has a plan for him that's why she's still keeping him there.

Another thing that is presented differently in the two mediums is showing the other sides of the "idiotic" Phantomhive servants. The backgrounds are the same, but their moment in the manga is much better compare to anime season 1. In the anime, they only finished off weak pawns if I remember correctly; while in the manga they actually massacred the group of main enemies of the arc. The manga made them cooler in that sense. I was able to appreciate them in the manga (in the anime, I still didn't like them even after they reveal their badass side).

Speaking of character appreciation.... my opinion towards Lizzie is quite complicated. She's really annoying.... and a spoiled rich girl. The anime made her more annoying.... and the anime even bothered to make a small arc for a "rescuing Lizzie mission". I only remember her being protected by Ciel in the manga once, and it didn't take an arc. The less damsel-in-distress moments, the better, you know.

But what made me not hate this girl is.... her love for Ciel ^^ You see, Ciel has changed.... he's not as cheerful as he used to be. But Lizzie still loves him even after he became such a gloomy kid. Despite his lack of interest in doing "fun things" with her, she still cares for the boy. So in other words, despite her bratty attitude, she genuinely loved Ciel. She accepts him for whatever he is. I don't think that she'll be the type to be disgusted with Ciel when she finds out that he was once a tortured "item". She got my respect from that... she has the potential to become a likable character if only she'll have the chance to grow.

Moreover, Lizzie's presence and her position as the fiancee makes me at ease that Ciel is straight. He doesn't seem to be madly in love with her, but his care towards her seems real. I don't think all those actions he did to protect Lizzie and all the lines he said about his concern for his fiancee were pretend.... And besides, he always has the option to break the engagement and get another girl whenever he pleases. But no, he chose to stick with her and even fought for that bond to remain. Hopefully there will really be progress between the two...

And yes, I'm not into Seb x Ciel. Totally not. Except for crack (because twin pigtails Ciel in pink was cute, LOLz). So that makes my support for this hetero pairing even stronger.

And about Ciel, I liked him at first (because I'm really into tsundere characters xD) but later got bored and a little annoyed with him no thanks to the first season of the anime. But the manga made me appreciate him again. He's a poor darling.... and his moments with Sebastian are so LOLz xD

Okayz, now about the other characters. I love it that among the shinigami, aside from Grell, William had also been involved in a certain arc. His interactions with Sebastian are really funny~ There's another shinigami introduced.... hopefully we'll see more of that guy soon. And then, if I remember correctly, Undertaker was revealed to be a shinigami in the anime. I don't know if it'll be the same as in the manga but.... seeing that Undertaker is an ally of Ciel's father.... looks like Ciel's father is also involved on the dark supernatural side. Cool~

Aside from more info about Ciel's family, the manga also made more revelations about Ciel's past (the happy ones before the tragedy and the horrific ones after it). There's also an arc that's not in the anime at all: the one about the Noah's Ark Circus. It had been a hilarious and.... intriguing arc. And it was really cute when Sebastian has no idea on how he is supposed to treat a sick person. Another butler even has to teach that to him. Hehe.

Speaking of another butler, the first season showed that the queen's butler isn't ordinary either. (one of them is expert in sewing! Sewing flower patterns! LOLz) It's the same with the manga, but she's got three of them. We're not certain yet if they would be angels... hopefully more info about them would be revealed soon. On of them is involved in the recent arc but.... it seems better when he's with his partner or if the three are complete. The one that the queen stepped on (or her horse rather) during the curry contest and was wearing similar shades as she does is the most interesting and amusing for me. Hehe. Hopefully there'll be more of that guy in the future.

And speaking of the queen, her manga version was much better. Not to mention hilarious~ Haha! The Albert doll.... bwahahahhahaha!

So, the Kuroshitsuji manga has successfully pleased me that I've decided to be more up-to-date to it from now on. But if I have to choose between it and the second season.... for now, I think I'll still put the second season in higher priority, all because of these two:

They made it to a manga magazine cover! Please let that be a sign that they're gonna debut in the next arc *_* (I also wish for Arthur to be a main character. It would be interesting to have some ordinary guy who thinks differently among an extraordinary co-cast) I thought of checking out the manga in hopes for a chance of them to debut in it after all xD Haha!

Since there are not hints yet, then I'd rather tune in to the adaptation where this pair will certainly have an appearance. Seriously, their debut in the first season blew me away so much. Despite the awesomeness of the manga chapters, Alois and Claude are still better for me xD Especially Alois! I may like Ciel but I love Alois xD Between the hott butlers though... don't make me choose, ahahaha.

Oh I am so excited for episode 4:

This is a crack image drawn by the creator at the official twitter blog by the way. The young masters are being cute outdoor boy (Alois) and indoor boy (Ciel). Alois is fascinated with bugs while Ciel was creeped out.... Ciel was cute but it made me adore Alois more xD As for the butlers, they're being competitive on who'll get more eels. Haha!

And speaking of eels, the creator hinted that it's like a keyword on the upcoming episode *_* Damnit, I want episode 4 now!!!! *_*



So a summary of my overall thoughts of the series: First anime season sucked. Manga rocks. Sebby and Ciel are cool and cute. Claude and Alois are pure win. Damn, gimme more of the bulter + bocchan pairs rivalry xD