Kuroshitsuji (TV)

Picture from Google.com

I have recently finished watching Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler). As is always the case with anything, my fangirl side doesn't permit me to think a single negative thought about the series. But for the greater good I shall struggle to look at both the pros and cons of Kuroshitsuji. Q('o' Q)


The Art.
I am a sucker for frills and lace and Gothic motifs, so I am more or less in love with Ciel's outfits. However I was a little disappointed at the effort put into all the other costumes in the story. Of course it's understandable because it's an anime and I'd expect the manga to be more detailed...

Another thing that I liked was the contrast between Ciel's boyish and sometimes flamboyant costumes and the simple black suit he wore at the very end, with a single white rose tucked into his breast pocket. (The consistency was also good - it was mentioned in the first episode that Ciel's favourite flowers were white roses.)




The Music.
I debated having a band such as SID do the OP for this series, because the band seems so pop-y while the anime has such Gothic influences. The lyrics do go well, but again the tune just....hmm. Yeah.
The first ED song and animation suits the somewhat comedic nature of the first part of the series. When the plot took a darker turn it was good to see the change to a more somber song and foreshadowing ending sequence.



The Characters.
Sebastian. He is your stereotypical dashing, stoic 'bishounen' type. He speaks with beautiful words, can do EVERYTHING, indulges even the most unreasonable whims of a 12-year-old kid and looks good bloodied up with a torn shirt. The interesting thing about him is that he serves Ciel under a contract, and treats the relationship as such. He does develop an attachment to Ciel, but this is because he seems to find Ciel's personality intriguing. I liken the relationship between the two characters to the relationship in Death Note between Light and Ryuk, where Ryuk sticks around because he is fascinated with the way Light thinks and behaves.

Ciel. He's an arrogant, cold-hearted, selfish prick. To put it bluntly. But deep down, he is still human, and he is still a child. That's why watching him makes me sad. It was touching to hear him tell his mother that he loved her, but at the same time it was touching to hear him tell her that he would not give up his cause for somebody who had already died. ;_;



The Story.
I'm not entirely sure about the way the plot developed. There are episodes that have no significance in the storyline whatsoever, except to introduce certain characters. There are some characters who got a bigger part in the story than they really required. There was also a trend to bring back characters who had been previously disposed of *coughDruittcough*.

The story gave me a lot of lols and in the end it gave me a few tears too, but I can't help but feel that it is just a little bit cheesy. Especially the first episode. Actually I thought that most of the first episode was brilliant, up until those last few minutes when it was revealed that Damiano survived. The trap laid out for him was so beautiful, why did the writers allow him to live and just ruin the entire plan?! OTL

On the other hand, I enjoyed the depiction of the simple nature of humans - the Queen refusing to act for Ash's greater good for the sake of love; Soma blindly searching for his Ah-ma without even considering her feelings; Angelina refusing to kill Ciel for the sake of her late sister; and Ciel...just with everything he did.

I also enjoyed the fact that the servants of the Phantomhive estate were all linked by Sebastian, who gave them a future to look forward to. The irony of having a demon play a protagonist of sorts while an angel is the threat to humanity - though this idea is cliched, it always amuses me.



The Miscellaneous Points of Appeal.
I enjoyed the comedy and fanservice elements of the story. I had a good laugh at episode 4 with the crossdressing and yaoi/shota undertones. I also enjoyed the subtle interspecies yaoi suggestions. On the other hand, I found Grell to be quite annoying, in that he killed off Ciel's aunt because she rediscovered her humanity, yet the writers brought him back and gave him a rather solid role.
Humanity is important to me I guess.

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Versailles - Serenade

Serenade sounds like it came out of the 80's, to be honest. And not in a bad way; it's a pretty decent ballad - moving and emotional without being too whiny, and as with many songs by Versailles, it is epic and powerful. I say 'too whiny' because in the first part, Kamijo sounds like he's singing with that awful voice I thought he ditched back when Lareine ceased activity. The accompaniment of the piano and violin, though beautiful in its own right, somehow reminds me of Gackt's Freesia, and Hizaki and Teru's twin guitar solo reminds me an awful lot of X's Endless Rain. Perhaps it's because of this that I do not like this song as much as I thought I would. If I had not heard any of the other songs I mentioned, I would probably adore this song to death.

The melody is very nostalgic for me - it reminds me of my childhood (watching melodramatic kung fu dramas with music just like Serenade).

So, then. The PV. What upsets me most about Visual Kei PVs is that they are all dressed up nice and pretty, and sometimes they go and film in a stunning location... But the end product just has no cinematic substance whatsoever. The same can be said of this PV. The band sing/play as usual, looking soulful and whatnot, and that's about it. I can barely focus on the song since I'm so busy headdesk-ing over how unimaginative the PV is, so much so that I had to close my eyes in order to concentrate on the song.

Now, I don't mean to offend, but I have a major problem with Teru's face, or the way it appears on camera. Maybe they just put too much makeup on him. It is as if his face is made of wax, or got truckloads of botox injected. He just looks so artificial. I mean...without makeup, he looks just fine. He's actually rather cute *fangirl*. Perhaps it's the makeup artist who is to blame...

And the guitarists are SITTING DOWN? I have nothing against them sitting down, but in the context of the song and taking into consideration the fact that it is wrought with power and emotion, sitting down quite casually does not seem to fit. They could've even sat down and leaned forward and looked like they were actually getting into the song.

Oh, and Yuki doesn't get nearly enough screen time on this PV (I lol'd at the part when he looks at Kamijo who is standing at the window, and Kamijo turns away as if to disown him XD). What is it with bands and giving the front man all the attention? Why is the vocalist the 'front' man anyway? Why is the drummer always at the very back (back man XD), never to get any camera action? The whole band contributes to the music, and in the cases of some bands, the music is better than the vocals anyway. But that's another rant for another day.

I'm still waiting for a remotely interesting PV to be made. I haven't seen that many, especially for a genre that defines itself by its visual aspect. The only one that really springs to mind anymore is Dir en grey's [KR]Cube.

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