Blood-red fate with snow-cold faith

(Yana Toboso blog post December 12, 2014)

English translation:

Oh, the cover illustration of the latest comic has been published! This time it’s Finny! […]

Drawing a serious-looking Finny reminded me that he was originally supposed to be a very handsome-looking young man. (lol)

“A very handsome-looking (approximately) 16-year-old young man with blond hair (with the voice of Yuki Kaji), who used to be an experimental subject in a research institution; an experience which resulted in his superhuman strength. However, he has now become a person who loves taking care of plants, animals and his friends.”

If he were described that way, people would think he’s a gorgeous character. Currently it seems like his shortcomings, i.e. his idiocy that even makes a demon suffer, do outweigh his good traits.^^; So please look forward to Finny’s development in the future (lol) […]

(Yana Toboso blog post December 5, 2014)

English translation:

I’ve been asked by fans in which order the servants joined the Phantomhives. Finny was the first one to join! […] I might draw that scene in addition to the main story someday, so please wait until then. (∩^o^)⊃━☆

(Yana Toboso blog post May 5, 2014)

English translation:

Lately I’ve been thinking that I should have designed Mey-Rin’s maid costume, especially her little bonnet, in a more Victorian-like fashion. I really couldn’t bring myself to like the actual Victorian maid hat back then [when I designed her outward appearance before serialization]… nowadays, I think it looks cute, though. (lol)

Btw, my last purchase before the tax increase [*April 2014] was a replica of Mosin-Nagant [*Russian military rifle]. It was very heavy and very long, so I started thinking that Mey-Rin may have a six pack.

Proofread by minacchin (♡Thank you!♡)

Yana’s comment on Kuroshitsuji’s 12th anniversary:

“It is all thanks to my editor, staff’s and your support that I was able to reach this milestone, 12 years [of serialization] and 144 chapters, without even once having to take a hiatus. I’m so grateful for the luck and the connections I was blessed with. I will keep doing my best so you can enjoy Kuroshitsuji in its 13th year, too!” (X)

“Considering I never was sick in bed for a long period or had to be hospitalized in the past 12 years, I think I am very strongly built, both physically and mentally. I think taking a planned hiatus is not a bad thing at all, but as for me, I was just lucky. I was very lucky. I’m so grateful.“ (X) - Yana Toboso, 17. Sep. 2018, on twitter

Fact:

Yana has never once taken a hiatus in the past 12 years. Not even when her beloved mother died back in 2010 or when she went on a 2 weeks trip to UK in 2015.

And here are my thoughts.

Very first scene:

Tower Bridge (YESSSSS)… and Bard saying it’s a filthy town. This accomplishes two things:

It shows Tower Bridge again to remind us of the ongoing construction but at the same time downplays just how important this project really is. I mean, they aren’t even mentioning the construction this time. But it’s THERE. And we are meant to keep this in mind.

What Bard says foreshadows that they will litterally be surrounded by London’s “filthy mess” before the chapter is up.

Yana-san has drawn herself into this scene, since she really wore a similar mascot outfit at a pop up store for Black Label.

Change my mind. (You cannot.)

Unlike the vague “breakout” plans hastily laid out by Bard and Sebastian (in the presence of the Yard and others) in ch144, here Sebastian is using established code with Mr. Pitt. “Tableau vivant” is probably code for something like “put a previously discussed plan into action”, and then “the legend of King Arthur” must be code for “escape route”, possibly that specific one through the sewers. Or the first means “escape route for all of us present” and the second means “into the sewers” or “hidden passage.” If it means anything more specific (like recreating Lancelot’s escape to France), hopefully we will find out later. It’s odd hardly seeing Mr. Pitt all this time, and we now learn he and Sebastian have coded language for this sort of thing. They could be terms previously used by Vincent, in which case Mr. Pitt might be the one who taught them to Sebastian. Personally, I find it odd they are using such codes in this conversation; the only others (who should be) privy to it are our earl, Finny, Bard, and Mey-Rin.

Though Mr. Pitt works there (and apparently makes some sort of living off that and freelance reporting), it seems that the shop might technically still belong to the Phantomhives. I’m not sure how this is in the original Japanese, but it’s interesting that he feels comfortable referring to Vincent here as “Lord Vin”. I also wonder whether Vincent had a passion for photography, like our earl does for toys and sweets, or was it just a good cover for shady dealings?

I’m assuming that Chlaus is harder to contact simply because he travels a lot. Back in the green witch arc, our earl sends Sebastian to tell Chlaus to visit Diedrich, and boy was Chlaus surprised to see Sebastian show up during his sauna treatment in Finland!

BTW, Why didn’t our earl just send Sebastian straight to Diedrich in Germany? 🤷🏻‍♀️ Maybe it was merely plot purposes, since Sebastian going to Germany to investigate might have solved it too fast, and our earl never would have gone there himself. Our earl misses so many opportunities to just send the demon wherever for whatever. You’d think the kid would like playing fetch with his dog…. 🤔

Anyway….

…gave it away… kind of. It’s the same place that Grelle collected the soul from a little boy who had been bled to death (ch114):

I found images of the place:

It was a coaching inn that used to be near St. Paul’s Cathedral, nestled in the area surrounded by Covent Garden to the west, Clerkenwell to the north, Whitechapel (where the Ripper murders occurred) to the east, and The River Thames to the south. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_Arms,_Warwick_Lane It was located on Warwick Lane.

It no longer exists. In fact, it was torn down in 1876 and replaced with warehouses; that’s one year after the twins were born. Ok, so we tell ourselves it’s an AU, so it can still exist in the Kuroverse in 1889. Either that, or the old signage remains, but the rest of it is now warehouses. And perhaps The Lark Photographic Studio is in one of those.

Sebastian says they should leave the country:

Then, once in the sewers, he mentions Regent’s Canal:

If they are where the old Oxford Arms coaching inn used to be, then they are very close to The Thames but not close to Regent’s Canal. For quite a while (like a few hours) I was convincing myself this was all wrong, that they should head for the river and hire a boat that could carry them down to the port and straight out to sea. Either that, or they aren’t where the scenery places them, and they are closer to the canal. But good grief, we just saw them traveling north across London Bridge while Tower Bridge is being built a little bit east of them.

So… are they just west of Whitechapel and headed way out of their way to get to a canal that will just take them to a river they are already really close to?

Until it dawned on me that Sebastian wants to go somewhere else before they leave the country. He wants to get to the canal to “take a boat—“ A boat WHERE? The canal system in England is vast and connects many cities.

Oh, and Sebastian talks about needing to get a boat. Then lo and behold, Lau shows up. If he decides to help out… he’s got boats….

Ok, so Sebastian wants to find them a place (who knows where) to hide just long enough for the earl and the others to rest up a bit. Then it’s off to…?

I say France. Go back to the code words he gives to Mr. Pitt. “Tableau Vivant” and “The Legend of King Arthur.” To me, the only thing this could mean is some specific escape plan/route similar to one used in the legend. There are many versions of it, and they are probably full of escape plans, but I suspect he’s talking specifically about a route that leads to France. Besides, a good deal of Arthurian events take place in France:

1. He’s sometimes called the Knight of the Cart because he meets a dwarf who gives him a ride in his cart (because Lancelot keeps riding his horses to death, though some versions say the horses keep getting killed by enemies). Back then, it was shameful for a knight to be seen riding in a cart, and he hesitates for a moment but climbs in because he’s desperate. People are rude to him, since they think a knight riding in a cart must be guilty of some felon, like treason or murder.

This reminds me of how Bard and the others show up with a horse-drawn cart that Sebastian and our earl feel they have no choice but to climb into….

2. Merlin tells him about a secret passage to help him get out of a castle where he’s being held prisoner.

Last month, I wrote about ‘Inactive Sebastian’ as he didn’t really do much. Bardroy, Mey-Rin, Finny, and Snake did much more. While this could have purely been because Sebastian was arrested and trying to keep up appearances, I also noted that it could be partly because our!Ciel hasn’t given an order in quite some time. In fact, the last time Sebastian really acted was to attack Undertaker, and he did so without a direct order.

The trend continues somewhat in chapter 146. It’s not that Sebastian doesn’t nothing. He is most definitely trying to help our!Ciel to escape. He initially thought of Funtom Headquarters and later led everyone to Pitt’s studio. He most definitely has an active role in the escape.

Yet, he’s almost neglecting our!Ciel in the little matters.

Previously, Sebastian always played the perfect butler who did everything for his master. It was part of his aesthetic. Yet, when they were running away after being spotted by the Yard, it was Finny who carried our!Ciel and not Sebastian.

Sebastian could have easily grabbed our!Ciel as well. While our!Ciel was most definitely in good hands with Finny, who can run quickly, it’s simply different to see someone other than Sebastian do such a thing.

Afterwards, they go to the sewers to try to escape. Pitt gives them a map, lantern, and masks. Curiously, it is Mey-Rin who is seen tying on our!Ciel’s mask while Sebastian is talking about telegrams.

Normally, Sebastian would have done both. He would attended directly to our!Ciel while talking to Pitt, but he didn’t this time.

What makes this interesting to me, is that Sebastian seems to be almost taking a step back from our!Ciel. In the past, he was so concerned with playing this role of a perfect butler, he did practically everything for our!Ciel. It’s not that the other servants aren’t capable, and they have our!Ciel’s best interests at heart, but it’s curious that Sebastian is letting them take these roles rather than doing it himself. Does he trust them more?

Or is he growing slightly distant from our!Ciel who certainly hasn’t been himself since the return of his brother? Is there this barely perceivable wedge between demon and master?

Pitts is also able to surprise them by snapping a photo…

…the police again finds them in the sewers…

…and when the ceiling caves in Sebastian didn’t really do anything, either.

Being a demon and comparing to his behavior in the past Sebastian now seems unusually inactive, almost powerless.

To compensate (plus some with rc heh):