#syanalyses

while theres an explicit sexually predatory hunger in sebastian's eyes as he gazes into ciel's mouth (which is where he claimed ciel's soul from in the anime), there's something between wonder and fear within ciel's eye as he stares into sebastian's mouth which is intentionally drawn to be seductive here—his fangs aren't large the way they are in the infamous green witch arc scene or the jagged perspective we see in the next chapter, his lips are plump and shiny, tongue slightly visible as he smiles. this directly contrasts ciel's mouth, smaller and not perked up, surprised and either injured (implying oral SA) or dirty (signifying how he was abused). either way, it denotes that he's "defiled"...

and yet as sebastian smiles and says "i shall claim your soul as my reward", his desirous gaze is pointed at the sullied mouth, eyes dripping with want.

Sebastian and Ciel in Kuroshitsuji 219 | Part 1

See analysis of 218 here

We start the chapter off with Sebastian being given a full focus shot, mid-bite as Ciel watches him and says, "This is the first time I have seen you sit down and take a meal." Sebastian doesn't reply and Ciel adds, "Though I have seen you taste dishes."

There's a sense of familiarity in this scene and a desire to understand. Ciel has been watching Sebastian for a long time, enough to anticipate the day he actually eats properly in front of him. He expresses his desire to know more about Sebastian by saying, "Your palate must be different from a human's." Unlike a jab like usual at Sebastian's nature, there is a somber acceptance. He is not mocking him when he asks, "Is it to your liking?" ..Your liking? He is acknowledging Sebastian's preferences here, something we have yet to see him do. Sebastian gives him a simple response and then (and this is really tender), he says, "You had an extra dish today, which means the hotel serves excellent meals for humans." Every single one of Ciel's sentences in the first page directly mention Sebastian, there is a total of 4 sentences, the first two sentences use "you", the second two "your". Sebastian's first two speech bubbles in the chapter is about himself and his lack of understanding of the human sense of taste, his third and forth are about Ciel... You had an extra dish today, means that he acknowledges Ciel's preferences as a picky eater and knows that if the food is good enough for Ciel to eat extra then it's good for humans.

So what's being said is, “I want to know if you like the food. Do you?”

yes, he expresses affection by defending him verbally in the circus/luxury liner arc, trying to help him onto the boat during the lifeboat scene, telling him he did well, etc... but he doesn't want sebastian to know that he's 'weak', that he's human. that's one of the reasons he pushes his friends away, he doesn't want to have to grieve them in front of sebastian. he doesn't want to care about people because he doesn't want sebastian to see him care. it's like how he says he wants to advertise to the orphans so they pressure their parents to buy them funtom toys (what parents ..?). ciel's words at the end of the red butler arc are another example of him deflecting from his kindness.

they also say love is understanding but i also disagree with this. ciel seems to think that sebastian in the manga right now is the same sebastian of season 2.

to explain: ciel thinks showing emotional weakness in front of sebastian will make him look down on him. this impression of him is probably due to the day they met. sebastian also thinks ciel looks down on him and sees him as a dog because of that day. the day they met has caused walls to be put up between them.

to put it succinctly, sebastian and ciel are two characters who have fundamentally misunderstood each other, deeply so.

sebastian knows how kind ciel is and yet he still hasn't been able to figure out the extent of ciel's affection for him. he doesn't understand that when ciel tells him it's okay that he sits in first class in the train and from then on, he always sits in first class, that means ciel doesn't look down on him. when he makes him lie down and eat a shitty porridge, it means he cares. when he says his social status doesn't matter against the double charles, that means he does not fundamentally care for class. when he accepts to take the servants shopping at sebs request and doesn't question where he goes when he stops at somerset house, he is expressing that he believes in him (which is different to trust*).

*ciel doesn't trust sebastian enough to directly express his emotions in front of him. he doesn't, however, think that sebastian will ever intentionally cause him trouble. he trusts sebastian's loyalty as a butler and his aesthetics but not sebastian himself.

when he orders him tea while they sit in a first class dining spot, does sebastian believe ciel when he says it's just because he wants to stretch his legs? do you believe him? from ciel's perspective, he knows that sebastian fundamentally does not like fighting undertaker (because he might lose) but in the manor when r!ciel returned, he tried to. he knows that sebastian didn't sign up for battling against a reaper who wants to bring the dead back to life. as much as he considers sebs cold, he knows agni and sebastian were at least on good terms and saw sebs' reaction to his death. he thinks sebastian isn't capable of being upset about all this. but sebastian is. it's evident from the way he's so snide and harsh on the dinner table towards bard and his expression when lau mentions india. ciel might not think seb is upset/annoyed with this situation but he treats him as though he is.

he treats him with care despite not trusting him, he treats him like a human, despite thinking he's a beast. he doesn't understand him but regardless he shows him compassion. and i think that's higher than a love where you know the person in front of you is good and deserving of your love. if you love someone despite not thinking they're capable of caring for you back and knowing they will destroy you when given the chance (see: green witch arc), do you not think that love is beyond anything built on trust and understanding?

it is the most selfless, altruistic act of love.

sebastian does not know how cared for he is, he only knows that ciel doesn't see him capable of any human emotion (which he does have to some extent, when he said he would compensate modri, that was empathy and guilt), he thinks he's seen as a lowly dog by ciel (but we know ciel likes dogs, as we know sebastian made him feel safe despite being "mean" to him) and he thinks ciel cares about his class, wealth and luxuries (this is the same person who wanted to be a middle class toy maker since he was 9 btw)... and yet he still protects ciel with his life (literally), does everything to ciel's benefit (even when he's not ordered to) and gets him the best clothes to express that he believes in him* (again, misunderstanding ciel's attachment to wealth).

*during the school arc, he has already ordered a tailored version of the cox outfit for ciel because ciel had said he would win. in the current arc, he orders a full set of clothes because ciel said he would get his title back. he believes in him but he doesn't understand him.

hs even tries to get ciel to go out and explore brighton in the recent chapters. but why? shouldn't he want this to be over as soon as possible? no because despite being misunderstood as a beast by ciel, while deep inside he enjoys being a human servant for ciel playing a game with him, he is willing to act like a monster at ciel's behest (green witch arc). is that not a potent form of love? to know you are not understood or trusted but still behaving in a trustworthy way and with good intentions? even though he cannot change ciel's perception of him, he still tries to make ciel happy (remember, he always tells elizabeth that she makes ciel happy, he even questions why she's fighting him in the blue cult arc by saying, "you always wanted to make the young master happy, why are you doing this?" paraphrase). and is that not a higher form of love? to know someone does not trust or know/understand you but loving them anyway? to know they will never see you as a fellow person despite any humanity you show and yet trying to bring them happiness anyway?

many people have been picking up on how he purposely avoided giving a straight answer and how he may be hiding information from o!ciel but i would like to propose an alternative reading...

i (personally) don't think he would hide information from ciel anymore; not even because i think he 'cares' but because i think he's scared of UT and is taking everything more seriously now. more importantly, the first time he 'lies' (hides info) in the manga, we find out he can't 'lie' when he's directly asked a question and that's what ciel does:

in the new chapter (215), we found that sebastian only created this form for ciel which leaves us with four to five possibilities on what's going on and how modri must've recognised him:

1) modri recognised him from something other than his physical form (which people have mentioned) and sebs genuinely just forgot him because it was a long time ago/only a night long.

2) this is a crack theory but sebastian has facial blindness and doesn't realise how all his forms have the same face (likely considering all the costumes he put on for ciel during the negotiation looked the same) but at the same time, is sebastian really that stupid? (i mean kinda)

3) sebastian and modri met during this contract's time (which is possible since we do not see the better half of 1888, nor do we see much of 1887 or 1886, the year the contract was made).

4) genuinely mistook him for someone else (again possible) or UT made modri think sebastian is the demon/person who wronged him.

5) sebastian does not remember what all of his past forms looked like so cannot accurately tell whether he's ever made a form like this before or not. this will also explain why he did not answer about his previous contractors being devoured or not—he can't answer accurately if he does not know. this would also tie in with possibility 1. modri remembers sebastian but sebastian does not remember him. this would also explain strange things like sebastian remembering how to waltz but not being able to brew tea (as we see in his memories in the luxury liner arc), he can speak languages but did not remember ever having a single friend (which a lot of people found odd... personally i don't find it that strange but again, it's a good point, nobody ever wanted to befriend him?) all this to say one thing...

i think each of sebastian's bodies houses different memories and/or skills.

to visually represent this, i made an example chart:

say he wanted to contract a noblewoman living in a sultanate in the middle east then surely he'd go for spare body 2, or if he wanted to contract a travelling merchant in eastern europe then surely he'd go for spare body 1.

these are just possible body memories, obviously we don't know what sebastian's other bodies are like. but we do know one thing:

sebastian has to use a mask to become jeremy in the murder arc and he never changes his face when he's disguised. like these are all the same body in different costumes:

and they probably all remember schönbrunn palace and how to waltz.

to put it simply, he only has fragments of disjointed memory in each of these bodies because he readily swaps them out. he said he only took this form for ciel and it might technically be true, he might've taken on this body with this hairstyle and this clothing for o!ciel but he might've had this same body in a contract many many years ago... he might just not remember the contract in detail or he doesn't consider the body a unique 'form' but rather the body, hairstyle, clothing and role altogether make his 'form' (remember he spawns in with clothes/hair). is it truly impossible for one to escape from a demon's contract in kuro? for example, say your contractor kills themself, would sebastian be allowed to eat them or would they become a reaper? perhaps he genuinely doesn't remember. look at sebastian's cinematic record in the luxury liner arc (which UT reallyyy wanted to see):

there's no way UT decided to see the record from the moment they met, this body might just house memories from this point, and nothing before that. again let's visualise it into how each one of sebastian's humanoid 'bodies' could work, cinematic record-wise:

each time a contract ends, the memories of it end too, obviously there can be fragments/'episodes' remaining (which is why he can remember places he's been like a palace or a sabbath or concepts like witches, reapers, etc...) but it's also important to remember that things like language, dance, musical skills (like playing violin or piano) aren't stored in the same place our normal memories are stored (which is why amnesiacs will often forget everything but will still be able to speak, have muscle memory in dancing or playing piano or other instruments, even video games!) and this is because of how memory works, in branches.

what we see in black butler's 'cinematic records' are people's episodic memories. they contain one's first hand experiences.

sebastian's memories such as language fall under his semantic ability for example 'cat in french is chat' while his procedural memory is viennese waltz steps. this is also why the simple bizarre dolls that took over the liner had the memory to walk, jump and swim (sebastian even pointed out how they use each other to climb). this isn't to say sebastian is a bizarre doll, but he has a cinematic record just like humans and bizarre dolls do. as we know, the more complex doll of derrick arden had the ability to say a phrase about tea, he was drawing on his semantic memory 'this object is a cup of tea' and 'this smell is pleasant' in order to speak. on the other hand, vice principal agares had many 'episodes' meaning his episodic memory had started working and he remembered who he was (a teacher at weston college), that's why he could form opinions, teach, etc... though it limited his procedural memory (likely due to the brain damage of how he was killed) which is why he kept falling over. while the most complex of the dolls, r!ciel and doll, have full retention of past memories and are able to form new ones adding onto their records.

so let's run over what my theory is:

1. sebastian has multiple bodies he uses for contracts, unclear how many or how they look (can he produce infinite bodies or does he just rotate/reuse a few? if so, does he remember when he does reuse them?) but they are used for different contractors and he believes this form* is exclusive for o!ciel.

*though we don't know if he considers this body the form or the body AND his clothes/hair/role.

2. each of these bodies have separate memory systems e.g. one body's procedural memory could contain 'how to brew tea' while another could contain 'how to do the polka', another body can speak 'xyz dialect of french' while one can speak 'xyz slavic language'.

3. every one of sebastian's 'bodies' has its own cinematic record and they fade every time he 'ends' a contract/his record (explains why his record starts w/ meeting o!ciel). the memories remain if they are procedural/semantic and he has vague episodic memory (like the bizarre dolls' "episodes") which is why can remember places he's gone to but can't remember who he's met there (evidenced by the fact he doesn't know how many people could bear a grudge against him; the people he was counting were probably from the last 3 years he'd spent with o!ciel, not even previous contracts LMAO)

with all this said, there are 3 possibilities remaining for how modri knows him:

1. sebastian is telling the truth, this is the first time he's using this body (and my theory about the bodies is either completely wrong or sebastian uses the same organic matter to make each body which is how the procedural/semantic memories remain while his episodic record gets mostly wiped out everytime he starts a new contract) and modri is seeing something we don't see and that's how he's recognising sebastian.

2. sebastian does not remember using this body before but he has (which is why the body has semantic and procedural memory of how to speak and dance but no episodic memory of friendships despite certain semantic/episodic/declarative memories like 'i have been to schönbrunn palace' remain) and he's met modri before however his episodic record has faded away so he can't remember him, this possibility means that modri is recognising sebastian based on his appearance.

3. (most likely) sebastian does not consider each body a different form but rather each body with independent styling is a different form to him (most likely) and he doesn't remember his past contracts/people he met in this body because of his cinematic record being restarted with every new contract.

Sebastian and Ciel in Kuroshitsuji 218

We are told by Rodney that today's dish is seafood (Brighton's specialty as it is fresh) and the image of lobster is shown, a dish so luxurious that only the rich (mostly nobility) could afford to consume it (reminding us of the gluttony of King George, mentioned in the previous chapter).

In response, Ciel states the following: "That will be fine. A table for two then."

Sebastian is shocked by this and then says, "I was certain you would reserve a private dining room." But Ciel has a very logical explanation.

This is the second time he had a very logical explanation for dining with Sebastian. He also ordered tea for him on the train a couple chapters ago.

Sebastian is consistently confused at Ciel's (well-justified) actions but enjoys them anyway, as evidenced his little smile. But he is ultimately putting a time-stamp on when their 'togetherness' will end ("until we reach Brighton").

This doesn't work out as they end up together again.

What's funny is that we never see the maitre d seat Ciel, only Sebastian and that's rather strange because Victorian convention does not demand men to be seated, gentlemen seat themselves while ladies are seated. A little funny how Sebastian is getting the princess treatment when there's a literal child sitting opposite him. Anyway...

Ciel, who used the excuse of wanting to spy for gossip, seems to despise it more than anything. He could've very easily gotten a private dining room and told Sebastian to spy/listen out for any valuable gossip. But he didn't. What he's saying isn't just "nobles are annoying", it's "you're not annoying so I decided to sit around these annoying people so I'd have an excuse to sit and dine with you", and sadly, there's no telling whether Sebastian has picked up on how fond of him Ciel is indirectly behaving as though he is. But again, he seems rather glad to be able to try the pricey Brighton seafood, though he gives a time frame again ("for the moment"), just like he did on the train.

What did the comparison in Chapter 216 really mean?

Please read Part 1 before this and Part 3 after.

What I love here is that Ciel does not deny he and Sebastian are akin to Prospero and Ariel but rather he expresses the fact he is troubled by the fact Sebastian has had a prior relationship with Modri Vladis (if that is true). He instead calls back to the end of the previous chapter where he had straight up said he is cleaning up after Sebastian's past affair. He's sort of rubbing the fact that he is doing something for Sebastian's sake in his face. Anyway, the relationship between Prospero and Ariel is not explicitly* romantic or parental. But it is fascinating.

*Well... I'll get to that.

In the final act, Prospero regards letting go of Ariel as setting them free but also calls them very fondly. He does so multiple times in this scene.

Kuroshitsuji calls The Tempest a romance. The main plot of this Shakespearean story is not romance. In fact, it is more of a tragicomedy than anything. The side plot however is a romance. Miranda, Prospero's daughter, and Ferdinand, Prince of Naples, develop a romance and end up together. But these two characters are quite obviously foils for Prospero and Ariel whose relationship is trapped in the mould of master and servant; while Miranda, despite ending up at Ferdinand's wife, says she is willing to be his servant if he does not take her as his wife.

Miranda, unlike the inherently tragic relationship between Ariel and Prospero that remains secret and ends with separation, ends up marrying her love Ferdinand, rather than ending up his servant. But, despite this, she still treats Ferdinand as a master even as they play chess and she accuses him of cheating, calling him 'Sweet Lord' (Ariel also calls Prospero 'my lord') and claiming she does not care if he cheats and takes over the world. Sebastian is also shown as Miranda in the chapter cover.

Her attitude of servitude in their game of chess is rather familiar. It echoes the way Sebastian and Ciel engage in chess, Ciel breaks the rules and cheats while Sebastian supports him wholeheartedly. In Prospero and Ariel's case, Prospero too is cheating against his enemies using Ariel.

Not much more to say. I'll leave you all with this.

Very cute of a comparison, considering these two were... romantically charged. To say the least.

"Do you love me, master, no?" (Act 3, Scene 1) / Ariel claims Prospero is tender, causing him to forgive his brother (Act 5, Scene 1) / Ariel dresses Prospero and after being given an order, says he will return before Prospero's heart beats twice (Act 5, Scene 1)

Highly recommend reading this and how Ariel's one-sided love changed Prospero.

How Elizabeth & Sebastian play matronal, self-sacrificial roles in Kuroshitsuji

A meta-analysis on gender roles in Kuroshitsuji and how Ciel's masculinity and femininity are defined by two of the most important people in his life.

Regardless of whichever way you see Sebastian and Elizabeth in Ciel's life (positive/negative, family/friend/neither), I believe it should be acknowledged that they are shown as harbouring complex feelings when it comes to each other and Ciel. This analysis is ultimately focused on Sebastian and Elizabeth more than Ciel, but in the narrative, they are presented as people who step on their own wants and desires for the sake of him so there inevitably will be a mention of him. This analysis will be on the almost-maternal sacrifices Sebastian and Elizabeth make for 'Ciel' as well as drawing comparison to Rachel. I highly recommend having the following chapters on hand: 2, 14, 37, 50, the Luxury Liner arc, 85, 99, 107-8, 117, 120, the return of r!Ciel (end of Blue Cult arc / start of Blue Memory arc), 133. I have chosen 10 images to include in this post, but you can find all the manga chapters and parallels I reference HERE. (Everything has been numbered and highlighted with clear explanations in the linked images for analysis post.)

Sebastian and Ciel in Kuroshitsuji 219 | Part 2

See part 1 here

We start off the second page being reminded that Ciel is a child in this world as the hotel staff looks at and refers to Sebastian as sir and seems to be speaking to him when informing them about the smoking room but again we are reminded that despite being a child, Ciel is the one in control here as he's the one who answers for both of them.

So they go to the smoking room, we are shown who's in the room and obviously Modri is there and he approaches Sebastian again. The tension in the moment is largely cut by old man Fairchild getting Rodney to bring in some sort of entertainment device.

On the device, there are 20 words, love, future, past, memory, dream, desire, etc... each corresponding to one of the "tales each of [them] secretly hold in [their] hearts" and Sebastian thinks it's a good time to get Modri to spill the beans on exactly what happened.

Ciel's expression here mirrors the one he had on the first page, just more nervous. He has constantly been on edge this whole time, his mouth is downturned as always but his brows and even his eyes seem to be drawn in a constantly concerned and overly observant way. Here's a good time to remind everyone that Ciel is not actually the main protagonist. We spend longer in Sebastian's thoughts than we do Ciel's. Right in that panel, we don't know what he's thinking. Yes, he might be similarly to Sebastian focused on getting info from Modri but is he also not curious about someone else in that room? Someone he starts off the chapter with asking, "Is [the food] to your liking?" For Ciel, he has shown subtle signs that he is at least a little bit curious about Sebastian, I think the best sign of it was the scene at the start of the Emerald Witch arc where he starts by asking something but doesn't go through with it. Ciel struggles to find out about Sebastian.

Probably the funniest moment here is when Ciel (as usual) verbally stands up for Sebastian, describing him as dedicated and earnest—traits he has imposed on Sebastian by force of the contract* and that Sebastian almost certainly did not have pre-contract if Modri knew him before... But we know that Modri might not have known him before because Sebastian (whether he's unintentionally lying or not, we don't know) claimed that he only took this form for Ciel and he hasn't appeared in it before so unless Modri is recognising something other than his face, Ciel's words are technically correct. Though contractually, his butler is only meant to be dedicated and earnest for him.

Anyway, right after saying he can't imagine Sebastian doing that, he says "anything is possible" and reassures Modri he'll listen to him much to the chagrin of the person being discussed (who asks, "Are you enjoying yourself, young master?" and clearly he is as he's holding back laughter).

All in all, a good chapter setting up that Ciel wants to know about Sebastian, Sebastian wants to know about Modri and Modri wants to warn Ciel about Sebastian.

*I know I said he enforced dedication and earnestness through the contract but Sebastian was less dedicated and earnest at the start of the story than he is now which is a testament to how their relationship has developed through the story.

Extra:

This chapter really reminded me of the black butler anime season 1 original episode 9 that was not canon to the manga whatsoever but supposedly shows the person that is most special to the person being photographed but is "not of this world" and Ciel orders the other servants to take a picture of Sebastian to see who he cares for. Ciel ultimately is not successful in seeing the photo as that damn non-canon naked man dog Pluto ruins everything but we do see that (for Ciel) at least, the one he cares for the most who is not of this world is Sebastian (since Sebastian is the one taking the photo). Unless Pluto cares the most about Sebastian because again that damn naked dog man appears in the photo because he launched himself at the window or something. I fucking hated season 1.