#post 129

-love @ask-coppertop

Vibe

Now that chapter 129 has confirmed 2CT, there’s more for the fandom to solidly ponder.

I have a few questions and ideas concerning Tanaka and 2CT.

1. What We Know about Real!Ciel

He claims to be real!Ciel and most likely is, going along with story hints and 2CT

He was with our!Ciel during his cult enslavement post-Phantomhive Murders.

His whereabouts during the attack on the Manor are not necessarily known

He was most likely killed (or thought to be killed) by the cultists, triggering our!Ciel’s extreme hatred and the summoning of Sebastian (which was paid for by real!Ciel’s soul)

While our!Ciel is more similar to his mother (sickly, possessing a weaker disposition), real!Ciel seems to have Vincent’s personality (charismatic, outgoing)

Our!Ciel admired real!Ciel when they were children (or at least found comfort in him during their enslavement)

He is most likely the “Blue Star” that Blavat is serving and collecting blood for.

Probably attacked Soma/Agni at the Townhouse for reasons currently unknown

He may or may not be some type of Bizarre Doll.

He shows zero signs of decomposition and seems to have memories of his past as well as strategic insight (or at least the ability to command or attempt murders)

2. Tanaka and the Twins

As the former Phantomhive butler, it’s near impossible for Tanaka to have zero knowledge of the other twin. Even further, I believe that Tanaka must know that the master he’s serving is not the real Ciel Phantomhive. 

Tanaka spent years caring for the twins, seeing and serving them every day. 

He most likely spent more time with our!Ciel, who was sickly and thus stuck indoors more than real!Ciel.

He might be closer (or appear closer) to our!Ciel rather than real!Ciel

Tanaka has never referred to our!Ciel as “Ciel.”

The flashback of the murder, in which he says “Ciel, sir,” could be a broken phrase (we don’t know if he’s addressing Ciel or talking about him)

Tanaka refers to our!Ciel as “young master,” not “master.”

It could be a personal preference, an age-related thing, or maybe a hint...

Tanaka is extremely astute

He has excellent observational skills as seen from his adept swordsmanship (like when he sliced a bullet in half)

He didn’t flinch at Sebastian’s death (hinting that he might know the truth about Sebastian’s nature)

He knew that the Red House’s stomach pains were from Sebastian tampering with their food 

3. Tanaka and Real!Ciel

More or less regardless if Tanaka knows about the switch, real!Ciel exists. Where does that leave Tanaka?

Tanaka is a target

Since he sided with our!Ciel, Tanaka could be seen as a traitor by real!Ciel, a label that could lead to his demise

Tanaka is an accomplice

If Tanaka knew about the switch, could he also have found out about real!Ciel and have been working with him?

On the other hand, will real!Ciel attempt to recruit him?

Tanaka is troubled

Real!Ciel doesn’t really care about Tanaka’s existence

Whether or not Tanaka originally knew of the switch, real!Ciel’s appearance is troublesome for our!Ciel and possibly him (Tanaka).

4. Tanaka’s Loyalty

Tanaka serves the Phantomhive Household-- more specifically the house led by Earl Phantomhive. There are currently two contenders-- the rightful heir to the earldom and the acting earl. Tanaka has known both of these boys and can easily confirm who the true earl is. The question is...who will he serve?

Our!Ciel

Tanaka is loyal to our!Ciel, possibly due to “favoritism” or closeness with him (since again, Tanaka and our!Ciel most likely saw a lot of each other due to the latter’s illnesses)

Real!Ciel

Tanaka is loyal to the true heir

Tanaka feigns loyalty to real!Ciel in order to protect or help our!Ciel

5. Interesting Notes about Tanaka

Tanaka has most likely known Undertaker longer than anyone else in the series (depending on when he started working for the Phantomhives)

Tanaka could know something about real!Ciel (where was he during the manor’s attack?)

Toboso-sensei employs traditional characteristics or stereotypes to some of the characters (Bard being loud and loving guns/ explosions/ etc. since he’s American; Soma/Agni being Hindi, owning elephants; Germans being obsessed with cleanliness and being great at science...)

Since Tanaka is Japanese, could he have more knowledge about beings like Shinigami? (During the time period in which Kuroshitsuji occurs, spiritual beliefs and even religion were less prominent in Britain. I believe spiritualism was on the decline in Japan as well, but since Tanaka is older, who knows what he believes...)

6. Questions about Real!Ciel’s Motives

So your twin brother stole your identity. Cool. 

There’s an easy fix to this-- real!Ciel could appear to Frances, Tanaka, or maybe even go to the police to reclaim his identity. All the authorities or others would need to do would be to visit our!Ciel and verify the existence of two Ciels, thus deeming that one is an impostor. Real!Ciel could also provide details about the Phantomhives that would vouch for him before they located his brother.

So why is he part of some complicated plot, probably involving Lizzie? Another question-- weren’t he and our!Ciel close in the past?

For some reason or reasons, real!Ciel is messing with his brother and his brother’s friends rather than taking direct action.

Possible reasons:

Something/someone is preventing him from revealing himself (or revealing the existence of two Ciels)

His survival would surely be questioned-- he would be interrogated about his whereabouts during the manor’s attack through the current time. Does he have something to hide about the manor’s attack? About how the hell he survived the cult (possibly revealing he’s some type of Bizarre Doll)? His true activities in Sphere Music Hall?

Is there some condition preventing him from this? Has his memory been tampered with? Is he under someone’s control?

He wants to make our!Ciel suffer

He’s just really pissed that his weak little brother is pretending to be him and is now out to see our!Ciel break

He’s a sociopath

Loves the drama, craves the power, and enjoys knocking his brother down a peg 

Did our!Ciel do something that contributed to real!Ciel’s murder? Perhaps real!Ciel volunteered to save our!Ciel and he’s pissed about actually dying? Was it possible to save real!Ciel but our!Ciel chose not to or ruined that chance by searching for the ring?

He’s honestly just in it for the drama

Just wants to freak people out, rather than getting his brother into boring, normal legal trouble

He doesn’t want to get our!Ciel in any trouble

So maybe he just wants to enact some fun, kiddish revenge?

He actually cares about our!Ciel but just wants his title back? And maybe a little bit of revenge and scares?

7. My Theories

Tanaka will work with real!Ciel, whether out of loyalty or to assist our!Ciel

Tanaka has been working with real!Ciel and has possibly been spying on our!Ciel for him

It’d honestly be kind of hilarious to see Tanaka emerge as his butler or something

I mean, the room at Sphere Music Hall was wrecked-- maybe Tanaka has some pent-up hostility xD

Real!Ciel will be pissed at Tanaka for siding with our!Ciel (whether the man knew about the switch or not), and will attempt to kill him

One reason real!Ciel might try to kill Tanaka could be to silence him

This goes off the theory that real!Ciel attacked the Manor (or at least killed his parents and attacked Tanaka)

Possible evidence:

Vincent and Rachel appear to have been attacked from the front

Tanaka, though distracted by our!Ciel and vulnerable, was not killed. He easily could have been beheaded but was stabbed in the back for some reason.

Real!Ciel’s whereabouts are technically unknown, but the figure that attacked Tanaka was awfully small...

Real!Ciel’s enslavement along with his brother’s could have been a double-cross or an unrelated incident (the kidnapper(s) happened to appear during the murders)

Real!Ciel is a sociopath

He killed Vincent/Rachel and attacked Tanaka. His brother looked up to him and he pretended to be caring/ strong but honestly didn’t care, or just enjoyed the praise and attention. After somehow surviving the cult, he was pissed to discover that his weak little brother survived and assumed his identity. He wants to put his brother in his place and take everything away from him. Or even worse, he wants to kill him.

Less of a theory, but I wonder if our!Ciel’s constant sickness as a child was due to real!Ciel, whether through pressure, an inferiority complex, or real!Ciel having Munchausen Syndrome (in which he would have poisoned or somehow made our!Ciel sick so that he, real!Ciel, could get attention). Our!Ciel has been pretty healthy during the span of the manga... (And the few exceptions were due to his asthma acting up in damp environments-- I was surprised he was okay during the cricket tournament)