Kuroshitsuji is published in North America by Yen Press. Both seasons of the anime, the Book of Circus TV series, and the upcoming Book of Murder OVAs are licensed by Funimation Entertainment in North America, Manga Entertainment in the United Kingdom, and Madman Entertainment in Australia.
Feedback is always welcome so without further hesitation, let's get on with this review!
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It isn't often that I catch up with a manga that's still publishing and find myself eagerly waiting for chapters to come out every month. I'm the kind of guy who sticks with mangas that finished publishing or mangas that are still publishing with absurdly high chapter counts. What's more is that I find myself rather surprised that of all the mangas I caught up with, it had to be Kuroshitsuji. I started reading the manga when I was still waiting for episodes of Book of Circus to come out and the next thing I knew, I spent the next few days clearing through manga chapters because I was THAT enamoured with what was going on.
Despite Kuroshitsuji's initial appearance of being some bishonen-ridden, supernatural slice-of-life comedy taking place in Victorian England, Yana Toboso proves herself to be an able writer who's more than capable of bringing well-written stories to the table which are incredibly addictive and will be more than enough to have you despairing over having to wait until the third week of every month to get the next chapter so you can get more of your fix. Well... that's assuming that you can take the bad with the good but let's get into that can of worms a bit later.
The biggest strength that Kuroshitsuji has is the fact that it's for the most part, a supernatural mystery drama with a dark and serious tone throughout much of the narrative. Do you have *ANY* idea how hard it is to find a supernatural story that ISN'T action-oriented? Now hear me out: yes, Kuroshitsuji has a fair deal of action and comedy in it but that's not the primary focus of the story. The focus stays on Ciel Phantomhive and his omnipotent butler, Sebastian investigating the various mysteries that the Queen assigns him to solve. These mysteries he's assigned start off simple enough but then turn into something much darker and more complex than one would've initially thought.
With that said, Yana Toboso is prone to her dry spells much like any mangaka. Over the course of 99 chapters (at the time of writing), there have only been *2* lacklustre arcs out of eight: the Curry Contest arc and the Public School arc. The Curry Contest arc itself was rather boring from the get-go, all things considered and it never really went into anything darker or deeper. The Public School arc however did start off interestingly enough but suffered from being dragged out WAY more than was necessary and genuinely DID feel like shameless fangirl pandering that would make the authors of Hetalia fan fiction blush half the time.
Now keeping that in mind, what makes the arcs of Kuroshitsuji stand out is the fact that Yana Toboso is experimenting with her style. While that might seem like an overall detriment to the story because there's no consistency, it should be noted that Kuroshitsuji's arcs aren't predictable nor do they feel formulaic in the slightest (thus far) BECAUSE Yana Toboso is experimenting with the style of storytelling she uses for every arc. Furthermore, Yana Toboso has yet to repeat any of the mistakes she's made over the course of 99 chapters when it comes down to the story and I highly doubt she will.
There is one thing about Kuroshitsuji that might keep potential readers at bay, and that is the fact that Yana Toboso is a former yaoi mangaka. Why is this relevant? Well... if you didn't know by now, Kuroshitsuji has a reputation for being shameless yaoi fangirl pandering. I'll say this right now: the first season of the anime dials up all of that shit to 11 and Kuroshitsuji II may very well have been adapted from somebody's slash fiction on FanFiction.net or deviantART. The manga BARELY has any of that shit in it. I say barely because the Public School arc was probably just Yana Toboso's way of giving the fangirls what they want... despite the fact that Kuroshitsuji is a shonen series. Thankfully, there's none of that in the other arcs so no need to panic if you've got a deep distaste for that kind of shit.
When it comes down to the characters, I can safely say that they are MUCH more developed in the manga than they EVER were in the anime. For one thing, certain characters end up being much more fleshed out than one would imagine. Look no further than Lizzie, Ciel's betrothed whom many fans of the anime found rather... annoying. The Ship's Voyage arc was more than enough to prove that there was far more to her character than we initially thought was present. Honestly, I can't wait to see more of her in the upcoming arcs because Toboso handled her characterisation THAT well. Other side characters like Mey-Rin, Finni, Baldroy, and Tanaka were handled in a similar fashion, and I'm REALLY glad that the current arc the manga's on (the Green Witch arc) gave us a chance to see these guys shine.
Ciel is also a VERY capable lead. While the anime basically painted him out to be a punk kid who can't do shit without his daemonic butler by his side, the manga actually shows that he's able to handle himself quite well and is more than able to do shit on his own. With that said, Ciel is ultimately a 13-year-old boy who's gone through a rather nasty series of VERY unfortunate events. There are moments where we get to see that traumatised inner child that his haughty exterior masks which is more than enough to make us question what Ciel has become. If you don't get what I mean, hear me out.
Ciel was once an innocent child, but then had his house burned down and his parents murdered. He got abducted and was forced to endure unspeakably brutal torture at the hands of depraved psychopaths. Out of sheer desperation, he pays a VERY hefty price (aka his own soul) just to live. Whenever an arc takes a look at his psyche, you can't help but see a victim of circumstance despite what he's done over the course of the series. He's no longer an innocent child, and yet the fact that we don't know what exactly Ciel is now is the question that haunts much of Kuroshitsuji.
Ciel himself states that the world consists of victims and those who exploit them (and most of the time, it's easy to tell who's who). But when we see Ciel's vulnerability, it's more than enough to remind us that he may very well be the biggest victim of them all. Remember that by the end of it all, Sebastian is only in it for Ciel's soul and doesn't really care about HIM in the slightest (despite what slash fic writers want to believe). With no family and a traumatic past which forced him into the circumstances he's in now and knowledge that his soul will be devoured by a daemon once the contract has been fulfilled, it's hard NOT to see Ciel as a victim from time to time.
As for Sebastian (affectionately referred to as Sebas-chan/Sebby by the fans), well... he's simply one hell of a butler. Okay, that was lame. I like to imagine that Sebastian is related to Alucard from Hellsing in some way, shape, or form because in many ways, Sebastian simply has that aura about him where he's impossible to hate because he's just... awesome! A lot of people rag on Sebastian for being overpowered, but then they forget to realise that he is a DAEMON, not a human and isn't bound to the same rules because of that. He must do everything he can to protect Ciel, lest he lose that soul he's hungering for.
Furthermore, Sebas-chan has a certain charm to him. He's a character who you might think is obligated to be nothing more than a grumbling servant, but he actually likes to toy around with his master to keep things fresh, so-to-speak. The contract remains in effect so long as Ciel lives, and given that he wants to devour Ciel's soul, of course he'll make sure Ciel is alive (but just barely). Furthermore, Ciel must be very careful about what he orders Sebastian to do, otherwise Sebastian will just literally interpret the order and get off on a technicality since Ciel explicitly said from Day 1 that his orders are absolute. When you look at him like that, he's way more than an overpowered servant.
In regards to artwork, Kuroshitsuji has some of the best artwork I've ever seen from a shonen manga. Yana Toboso manages to depict Victorian England almost to a T, anachronisms aside. Settings are beautifully detailed, the clothes everyone wears are befitting of people living in Victorian England with their social standing, etc. One complaint that some people might have when it comes down to the artwork is the fact that Yana Toboso has a penchant for drawing most of the male characters as bishonens, and Sebastian is the most obvious example. Honestly, bishies are part of the course and if you have some sort of deep-seated hatred of bishonens, don't fucking read it. That's the way I see it, anyway.
Would I say that I enjoy Kuroshitsuji? Well if the fact that I'm in despair because Kuroshitsuji is a monthly manga that I've caught up to isn't proof that I enjoyed the series, I have no fucking idea what is. Aside from a few dull spots here and there, I can safely say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading the manga. This is bar none, one of the best shonen series I've had the pleasure of reading and despite its reputation, I'm certainly not ashamed to admit that I like it. Hell, I'm more inclined to buy volumes of Kuroshitsuji than I am of One Piece. What does that say about me? That I have shit taste? Eh, possibly but that's beside the point. I guess my point is that if you can put aside your preconceived notions of the franchise as a whole, you're definitely going to love the manga.
Tl;dr version? My lord, my lady, I highly recommend reading this manga. I assure you it's one hell of a good read.
