Black Butler, Vol. 1 Author: Visit Amazon's Yana Toboso Page | Language: English | ISBN:
0316080845 | Format: EPUB
Black Butler, Vol. 1 Description
About the Author
Yana Toboso is the creator of the wildly popular series BLACK BUTLER which is currently serialized in Square Enix's magazine MONTHLY GFantasy. Her previous work was a single volume entitled RUST BLASTER.
- Series: Black Butler (Book 1)
- Paperback: 192 pages
- Publisher: Yen Press; 1 edition (January 26, 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0316080845
- ISBN-13: 978-0316080842
- Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
- Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Meet Sebastian. He's the charming butler of a young nobleman, Ciel, head of the House of Phantomhive and its toy company. He excels at any task he is given, be it cooking, redecorating the Phantomhive mansion, or taking care of any of his charge's demands. In fact, he does these tasks so perfectly that he almost seems to be inhuman...
The first volume of Black Butler introduces us to this duo of servant and master and shows us the trials and tribulations that they have to face living in an alternate-world Victorian England (last I recall, people in the Victorian Era didn't own cell phones or video games). While its premise might sound similar to Kaori Yuuki's Count Cain Saga, it takes itself much less seriously. The first couple of chapters are essentially a comedy-filled slice of life centered around the young Earl and his servants, and even after the tone starts to darken, it still retains the same goofy sense of humor it had in earlier chapters, albeit with slightly less of it.
The artwork in this manga is gorgeous if a bit shojo-like. All of the characters are beautifully drawn with a great amount of detail spent on the costumes of the period. Even the background details and food in the volume are well-drawn, and it certainly provides a good deal of eye candy for its readers to look at.
The characters themselves, however, leave a little to be desired in this first volume. Ciel and Sebastian are intriguing enough, but the rest of the recurring cast comes off as a bit annoying. The Phantomhive staff, with the exception of Sebastian, are all a bit... bumbling to say the least, and while they aren't that bad, they do start to grate on your nerves after a few chapters.
"Black Butler" seems like a manga that is designed more to provide ideas for cosplay outfits than to be a comic in its own right. The entire set-up comes from a wordplay pun that only makes sense in Japanese, juxtaposing the term "Aku made Shiitsuji Desu" ("I am a Butler through and through") with "Akuma de Shiitsuji Desu" (I am a Butler from the Devil"). There is almost no story here, but every page is packed to the gills with Little Lord Fauntleroy outfits (complete with eye patch!) and frilly Gothic Lolita dresses.
The story (such as it is) starts with Earl Ciel Phantomhive, a twelve-year old boy who also happens to be the head of a giant corporation that produces candy and toys. Not that the Earl has much to do with his company, as he spends his days lazing around his manor house and making unreasonable demands on his staff. The Earl is served by three members, Finnian the Gardner, Mey-Rin the Maid and Baldroy the Chef, who are all hopeless incompetents with no redeeming qualities other than to accidentally destroy everything they touch. Fortunately for the Earl, he is also served by Sebastian, a butler of inhuman skills and perfection personified in every possible way. No matter what muddle-headed hijinks Finnian, Mey-Rin and Badlroy cook up, Sebastian is always there to set things right and save the day with elegance and style.
Most of the book follows this standard plot. An important guest comes to visit, but Baldroy burns the food, Mey-Rin breaks the China and Finnian wipes out the garden. Sebastian steps in at the last minute to cook up a meal, set out the decorations, etc. The Earl's betrothed Ms. Elizabeth stops by, decorating the entire house with frilly lace and pretty bonnets.
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