**This months summary post with have depictions if blood and possible death. Please read at your own risk **
Already with this cover we know whatâs going to happen in this chapter and its not going to be pretty.
They are still arguing but the truth is out in the open.
While Finny was doing his job to protect his Master, Doll and her people were kidnapping innocent children. O!Ciel found out so the circus was going to silence him and his servants did their job.
Finnyâs actions were in the right as were O!Cielâs as the Queenâs watchdog.
None of Snakeâs snakes were talking. It was him directly
But now Snake is stuck between his past, who he considers family or the truth and his rescuers.
Its too much for him to handleâŠ
Letâs go orphanage kids!! Kick these bitches down!
However things must remain on topic
Doll is a doll and I think her memories are twisted because of Undertakerâs soul continuation that she doesnât see herself as a fake. She probably sees herself as a superior being for cheating death.
She goes in to attack an innocent child to prove that what I assume the orphans are the fakes (but more might be cleared up by next chapter)
However⊠Snake makes his choice.
Does this mean he was protecting Mabel? Or was he trying to stop Doll?
Doll fucked up. A lot of her work was to lure the children to the carriages from then on Joker would deliver them. But that doesnât mean sheâs innocent since she still took part in the kidnappings.
There is so much to decipher in this chapter and with Doll and the circus story. But Iâll leave it up to the theorizers.
This chapter really shook me. Snake is my fave from the circus because he is an actual sweet boy. My mind is all over the place because of it. I hope Snake makes it since he does have snake genetics, but if heâs dead I have a feeling weâll be seeing his reel real soon and a reaper is going to come get him.
Throughout the manga, we see various titles used for Vincent, Real Ciel, and Our Ciel, with these being more obvious in the original Japanese than in translation.
This post will focus on Sebastian and Tanaka and the various terms they use at different points within the story.
I personally am not an expert on keigo (the most formalized of speech that Sebastian speaks almost exclusively in in Japanese), so I am not really going to be going into the subtleties there. (Other posts have tackled this already, and probably with more expertise than I could.)
I also want to emphasize I am only now beginning to read the manga from ch 1 in Japanese (Iâve only read bits and pieces until the most recent ~25 chapters or so), so it is possible I am missing some examples or variations mentioned in other parts of the 200+ chapters not brought up here.
However, I think we can still look at these subtle differences even if you are an English speaker who knows zero about formality levels/humble speech in Japanese. And if youâre willing to take this journey with me despite these caveats, keep reading.
Before I get into the variations between Sebastian and Tanaka, letâs look at some of the titles used:
The variations are as follows:
Dannasama - æŠéŁæ§
Toushu - ćœäž»
Shujin - äž»äșș
Goshujinsama - ăäž»äșșæ§
âmy lordâ - ăäž»äșșæ§ă»ăă€ăăŒă
Lord Ciel - ă·ăšă«æ§
Bocchan - ćăĄăă
Tanaka
Tanaka uses #1, #2, #3, #6, and #7. Letâs look at him first.
Dannasama - æŠéŁæ§
Means âmaster of the house,â but is also a term youâd use with a boss or someone of higher status, akin to âsirâ in some usages in English.
Tanaka uses this term only for Vincent, so far as I know.
Toushu - ćœäž»
Means âpresent head of the family.â
Tanaka uses this when speaking about/to Our Ciel when distinguishing him from his father, the previous head. For example, in the murder arc when he points out that it isnât appropriate for the master of the house to be upset by a servantâs death.
Shujin - äž»äșș
Means âhead of the householdâ or âmasterâ (among other uses). This version does not have the added formality/humbleness of the versions that Sebastian uses (the go- prefix and the -sama suffix).
Tanaka uses this when speaking generally about âthe masterâ or âoneâs master,â for example, in the end of the murder arc when he tells Sebastian a Phantomhive butler shouldnât die before his master.
Lord Ciel - ă·ăšă«æ§
Just Ciel + the kanji for âsama,â is how Tanaka refers exclusively to Real Ciel throughout the manga, to the best of my knowledge, when speaking to or of him specifically, individually.
Above, we see how in the example on the right (in the present), Tanaka calls RC âLord Cielâ directly, and in the example on the left, how he refers to him that way in the past as well when not directly addressing him. (OC is âyouâ or èČŽæč there.)
Bocchan - ćăĄăă
Means âyoung master,â and is how Tanaka refers to Our Ciel almost exclusively (except for the examples above), not only before the tragedy but after. He immediately knew that Ciel was OC and not his twin, and we know this because of the address.
Sebastian seems to have picked up the title from Tanaka, because he does not use it before they see him. Above, he even puts special emphasis on the title when he uses it for the first time. And as far as I know, aside from âmy lord,â he refers to Ciel as such exclusively thereafter.
Means âhead of the householdâ or âmasterâ (among other uses). This version does include the formal/humble prefix âgo-â and suffix â-sama.â
This is the first term that Sebastian uses for Ciel when he shifts from âyouâ (èČŽæč, anata) to âmaster,â when they first begin establishing the contract. He also uses a variation on this Iâll explain next, but THIS version, said exactly like this, he stops using after their visit to Tanaka.
You can see in the above examples that he uses this address both before and after he assumes his butler form.
I expect that this is likely how Sebastian has referred to all his masters as I believe itâs the most humble/formal way of addressing oneâs master (aside from more specific titles that may be used).
My Lord - ăäž»äșșæ§ ă»ăă€ăăŒă
Even before he adopts âbocchan,â Sebastian sometimes refers to Ciel in English as âmy lord,â as Yana informs us via the katakana spelling on the kanji. Yet she still writes it in keigo, as if to reminds us of the manner in which Sebastian speaks, and that even if he has dropped the uber formal âgoshujinsama,â he is, in a sense, still using it throughout the story.
Bocchan - ćăĄăă
As I explained above, this seems to be a manner of address Sebastian picks up from Tanaka. It seems to imply that he does so partly because he recognizes that the old man is aware of Cielâs real identity (unlike Madam Red, who assumes heâs RC, which is why Ciel looks so dead-eyed while Sebastian is smirking).
Maybe he does it to mock him at first, a reminder that Sebastian knows heâs a liar. Maybe he adopts it because heâs never had a young master before and decides it could be a fun change of pace.
Unless Yana says something or reveals more insight into Sebastianâs POV, however, we may never know exactly why he made this shift and stuck with it.
And thatâs my rundown of how âmasterâ is used in Japanese by Sebastian and Tanaka, depending on who theyâre addressing or referring to and at what point we are in the story. As you can see, most of it is lost in translation.
If you enjoyed this post, you may like to check out some of my other kuro translation posts, including my pronoun series, in which I explain why various characters use certain personal pronouns.
Whenever I say "sorry guys" or whatever I am exclusively apologising to guys I am not using it as a gender neutral term this is because I hate women HASHTAG MISOGYNY
I was going through my old posts and just found this. I cannot believe I use to be this person and I would like to apologise to all women everywhere for this hate. I'm sorry women. HASHTAG FEMINISM
Doll was complicit in the kidnapping of, well, kids, knowing very well what would happen to them. And while she was feeling guilty over it, it doesn't change the fact that she was an active participant in this human trafficking. Maybe due to her guilt "evil" might be a strong word, but she's not good (not that anyone important enough to the plot is tbh). You can't look at her and just excuse away her letting kids be lobotomized and killed because she has trouble sleeping at night.
Hello anon! I can and I will, my girl didn't do anything wrong.
(JK đ). Ok the real answer:
About my last post, what I said is that Doll was a kind girl by nature, something that is, well, a fact the manga made it clear. I actually haven't justified her nor the circus troupe's crimes, the position about it in this blog is clear and I said it before: the circus troupe commited unforgivable crimes, that's why they got what they deserved at the end.
But maybe Yana's words are more explanatoire, as you can read it in this post translated by ducky:
"I think people like Madam Red, Joker and Doll from the circus arc are also âgood peopleâ who strayed from the right path. Considering their evil deeds, you might think they are incredibly wicked but if you try to see behind the curtain, youâll notice that they arenât bad peopleâŠ"
Anyways, discussing about who is a good or evil character could be kinda a nonsense, given how morally gray is this manga.
About what you said in your last BB post, I wonder if it's true that Snake will kill Doll. I have read many comments wishing for that, especially on Twitter, and readers commenting a lot of hate towards Doll, saying that Doll was always okay with kidnapping children, and even now she's hurting children, so she deserves to die again, but Doll wasn't really evil, she was a kind girl :( I just can't accept Yana brought her back only to gain the fandom's hate and to be killed by Snake. I think her condition as a bizarre doll is making her to act like that. That's why I would like to know your opinion, since you seem to be one of the few people who doesn't hate Doll, do you think Snake will really kill Doll?
Hello! Thanks for your ask âĄ
I didn't know about this hate towards Doll in the fandom (as I don't spend much time in social media nowadays, especially Twitter), but I wouldn't be surprised, fandom is biased lol.
Regarding my opinion, I think I already answered it in another post, so maybe I'm just repeating more of the same, I don't know, but here we go
I agree Doll used to be a kind girl in the circus arc, she always took care of the new ones, and she protected OCiel thinking he was a kid needing her help. She also was the most conflicted about the whole child abduction thing, and was very hesitant to hurt people as we saw in BoC. Doll had an innate kindness.
HOWEVER, first we have to learn to separate that Doll from this new Doll. Doll is now an advanced bizarre doll, and those dolls seem to be desperate for blood (as we saw with Layla), they can't feel physical pain, and seem to lack empathy for the lives of other humans because they have no souls.
So you got an idea.
It is understandable if readers dislike BD!Doll, but I disagree with those comments about her being always evil, because she wasn't.
Also, is Doll really evil now? And this question goes for all the bizarre dolls. It's not like Doll gave her consent to be brought back as a monster, as she called herself. And it's not like she is the mastermind behind the horrors of the orphanage, there is an organization behind it and if Doll is important is as a test subject, she is a simple puppet, a doll. And yes, it was stated in this post before, that it's probably that bizarre dolls are programmed with their "yearning for the future" and cannot escape from that. This arc could give us more insight about how dolls function regarding that topic.
Now, let's talk about Snake.
Snake's position is a very difficult one. Snake clearly loves Doll, she was a part of his family and it was hinted in the last cover that she saved him in a similar way Ciel did with Finny, and now he has her corpse telling him that Ciel killed her, and that the people he is currently friends with killed his first family... it's heartbreaking. On the other hand, there are innocent children being used as a material for the "Stars", and that must be stopped.
About the "Snake will kill Doll theory", I don't think that would actually happen, I mean it's still a possibility, but even if Doll goes completely mad and start attacking them so Snake would have no option, he would still resent o!Ciel for being forced to do that. I think things will be resolved differently.
Sorry for the late response and again thanks for the ask!
Ch. 205 was a short chapter, but a heavy one!, I feel like we hadn't had a chapter as intense as this in much time.
I love this cover, it shows how Finny and Snake are similar, they both felt unhuman until someone took them in and gave them an identity, a life and a family.
Doll in chapter 28 vs chapter 205
It is kinda shocking to see what Doll's character has become, she was a kind and charismatic girl with a high level of empathy, and now was reduced to an undead crazy being. Then again, bizarre dolls are crazy beings who lack empathy because they are soulless, so she acting like that is not out of place. I was expecting that, but I can't help to feel upset about it.
I find interesting that Doll defined herself as a monster, Undertaker did a good job on his dolls, since they have self-awareness even with their lack of soul. Snake looks so hurt by this, most of his life he probably felt like a monster in a cage, so hearing this by the person who saved him and made him felt human it must be painful.
It struck me that Doll knew in great detail what happened that night with her circus companions, as if she had witnessed it. I wonder if it's because Undertaker told her, or because he inserted those memories into her. UT worked for OCiel at the time, collecting the bodies of those who tried to sneak into the mansion and were disposed of by the servants. If it were the case that Undertaker inserted the cinematic record of the circus members into Doll, that would be quite cruel.
And I don't understand why Doll called OCiel "Ciel Phantomhive" and says she wants to take revenge on the Phantomhives... like, isn't she working with one? Doesn't she know? It would be funny if she doesn't know about the twin, their bedrooms were next to each other!
Anyways, returning to Snake, when Doll revealed the circus troupe's fate to him she omitted the part about the kidnapping thing, but OCiel actually told Snake about the circus troupe's crimes! Snake remembered this in this arc and seemed to consider that it might be true, so he could question Doll about it.
Rigth now, Snake is in a very painful situation where is forced to take a big decision, and unlike Lizzie who had days to think about it and process it, Snake has to make his decision quick. I know my opinion will be unpopular, but I don't see Snake forgiving OCiel, even though he could still help the kids, it would be unlikely that he would maintain his loyalty to him. As I said in my post, back in the circus arc, Snake had the chance to poison OCiel when he was caught sneaking into the tents, but he didn't because Doll covered it up. I still think that is going to become relevant, because it's clear that Doll means a lot to him, and he would think about how Doll protected OCiel but he still killed her. It would be painful for Finny if he were to fight against Snake, since they are close friends and when he was a test subject, he was forced to kill his friends. The other route could be that Snake poisons Doll if she goes wild and tries to attack him, the children or Finny.
On the other hand, where are the reapers?
It is strange that no reaper hasn't appeared yet, I could be sure that they extracted poor Ginny's blood in the facility, so she must have died there. I wonder if we are going to see a diserter working with Undertaker. Most likely one will appear very soon.
I think with Doll, the big question is whether she would go as far as use experimentation on children if she wasnât a bizarre doll. Of course in the Circus Arc, kidnapping children was out of desperation to save family, but would someone as kind as her go that far just for revenge? Or is it the BD state pushing everything else under the craving for revenge?
Doll called themselves a monster. I don't think they're agreeing with the way things are going, and are feeling very guilty about needing innocent blood once again to survive. They have once again fallen victim to circumstance. Wether that validates their actions... Well I guess opinions on that will continue to differ.
Itâs interesting to draw the parallel of being a victim of circumstance. Looking at the choice the circus troupe made in the Circus Arc, while it wasnât much of a choice, it was still their decision to make about kidnapping the children.
While in BD!Dollâs case, perhaps thereâs no real choice at all. Despite UT saying how Real!Ciel can think and act on his own as an advanced bizarre doll, perhaps these dolls cannot move beyond the longing for the future they died with as humans. That could be the limit which prevents them from being fully human no matter how close they get.
If I may, I'd like to say that I totally agree with the total lack of consent existing in the BD project, despite UT saying "they're very much like humans" : from the moment Bizarre Dolls are basically brought back against their will, one can indeed wonder about Doll's having any choice at all with becoming a monster again.
First time (the circus arc) was indeed to protect their "younger siblings" still in the orphanage from Kelvin's madness. But now... well, while we don't know if both Kelvin and Joker were also brought back (I believe so for Joker, jury's still out for Kelvin), what fuels Doll is indeed that "yearning for the future" that she briefly had upon dying. So it is doubtful that she has any way to escape wanting revenge or helping blood collects, considering her surviving conditions. That's what makes it so tragic.
And again, like we have been saying, it's quite ironic (and in bad taste) that UT would subject hundreds of humans to this, when himself was denied the right to die, becoming a Shinigami enslaved for decades, if not centuries.
Can't wait for real!Ciel to become a fully independent antagonist and to throw UT into the garbage so that he finally realizes that the BD project was not a good idea.
So, we have received confirmation in ch. 204 that Doll is Lord Canopus, as many in the fandom have theorized. I personally believed this too, not because Vega was most likely Layla/Al (and canopus was the only left), but because her personality fits with the japanese chart about blood type personalities. By now we know these canopus/Types B: Lizzie, Doll, Redmond, Lau, Bard, Wolfram, and all the corgi class students like Mabel and Ginny.
"Type B blood people are creative, cheerful, independent, laid-back, and adventurous. They are quick thinkers and spontaneous, as well as passionate and strong-willed. They do things at their own pace, and mostly end up going their own way because they are not good at follow orders, so they are known too as the "rule-breakers". They are honest and caring at heart, and make friends easily because they are loyal and non-pretentious. On the other hand, their negative traits include being âwild,â selfish, unforgiving, irresponsible and unpredictable. When type B blood people focus on something, they put their all into it, and they are unlikely to let go, even if the goal seems unachievable or impractical."
There are interesting things in the symbolism of canopus too:
Canopus was the helmsman of the Argo Navis, the ship of Jason and the Argonauts, who served King Menelaus. Canopus is described as a handsome young man who was loved by a egyptian prophetess, but never reciprocated her feelings. While visiting the Egyptian coast, Canopus was bitten by a serpent and died, and Menelaus then built a monument to his memory on the shore where this happened, around which the town of Canopus later grew up. In this town was worshipped the egiptian god Osiris, under a peculiar form: that of a vase with a human head. Osiris is a god who is in among other things, the Lord of the afterlife, the dead, resurrection and life in ancient Egyptian religion).
Osiris is the name of the group/company Undertaker was supposedly working with on his bizarre doll/resurrection project during the Campania arc. It is curious too the way Canopus died (it will implicate Doll's fate in the future?... although for now I see it unlikely).
About Doll's role in the plot, I don't think she will be killed (in this arc), because I think our Ciel will see her again, it would be a poor choice on Yana's part to reintroduce Doll just to kill her off so quickly, what would be the point then? And we still don't know why Undertaker revived her either. The "Stars" require a lot of work and huge amount of resources to function properly, and her blood type is rare (not as rare as Sirius but still rare), so why Undertaker gave her such preferential treatment is a mystery. I don't think he has revived her just to mortify OCiel, there must be another reason.
And some things start to make sense now, just at this part. I don't think the relationship between RCiel and Doll is good at all, since RCiel wouldn't tolerate someone who hold such a big grudge against his brother, and Doll wouldn't like the idea of dealing with the brother of the one who killed her and her family. So it makes sense not to mention Canopus as a candidate for his butler.
Besides, the butler of RCiel would need to be a fighter, and unlike Lizzie, strength in combat doesn't seem to be Doll's strong point, who also seems to be in a delicate state. Polaris fought AGNI and won, Layla(Al) almost beat Ronald if it wasn't for William's intervention, but Doll just walk and collapse? Like with RCiel, that could be because of a low blood supply.
What will happen now?
Regarding what will happen next, I was somehow expecting a confrontation between Doll and Finnian, but in her current state that seems impossible, since she probably can barely move, so the whole conflict will happen between Finny and Snake.
Doll is an important part of Snake's character. She is the first person who reached out for him, and in his memories she is the most prominent figure of his "circus family". The worst thing is that Snake has been serving loyally to the one who ordered her death, and him forgiving OCiel after finding out seems unlikely. There are inocent children involved too, so the situation is really complicated. It will all depends on what are Snake's priorities and loyalty, but I wonder if he will bear with the idea of killing Doll, I highly doubt it (I hope he and Finny save the kids though).
On the other hand, I expect Finnian not to die and return to OCiel and Sebastian, but he could learn from Doll the truth about Sebastian's nature. At first obviously not believing her words, but the seed of doubt would be planted, as he could remember Sebastian's strange behavior in the Emerald Witch arc. Finnian could confirm this later, causing a huge conflict between the servants and Sebastian, who would want to protect their master from him, and complicating things for our Ciel.
In addition, we must consider that Meyrin and Bard have already achieved 2 victories for OCiel, will this be the occasion where RCiel will win a game?
For some reason I can't open or view your updated Finnian Name Theory on mobile, maybe because my phone is too old or maybe the post is so long. I am SO CURIOUS about these comparisons you found between the warrior in the myth and Our!Ciel can you post it separately? đŁđđ»đđ»đđ» I'm sorry if this is asking a lot!
Sure. This post is also going to be bit lengthy though so hopefully you can still see it... I'll add an extra parallel, and some additional images juuust for you.
Parallels between Fionn (the warrior in the Fenian Cycle) and Our!Ciel
đThe Salmon of Knowledge and Fionnâs Magic thumb Abridged version: Fionn eats a magic salmon, he burnt his thumb on fat/juice that escaped from the salmon while it was cooking. Whenever the warrior brings his thumb to his mouth, heâs granted forbidden knowledge.Â
Our!Ciel always, always, ALWAYS wears the Phantomhive Ring on his thumb. Itâs never on any other finger, never worn in any other fashion. One might think he could easily wear it around his neck on a chain, or have it pinned into place, or temporarily fashioned into a broach: But it is ALWAYS on his thumb, even when Sebastian had the perfect opportunity to resize it after the band was shattered. He purposefully places the ring on his thumb, and it consistently remains there.
There's also been some interesting artwork depicting our!Ciel holding his thumb close to his mouth drawn very recently... and even an early image of him licking it, made almost a decade ago. So this has been "a thing" for a while, now.
Youâre probably wondering, Okay, but what about the salmon? This is the first meal we ever see in Kuroshitsuji. A meal Sebastian serves his Master. Page one of the manga:
And if youâre thinking âIt canât be THAT importantâ youâre wrong: because as many might remember, The first season of the anime, did not follow manga canon (although the first meal was still poached salmon and mint salad).Â
As a result (and sort of a ârefresherâ) Episode One of Book of Circus is meant to be a âredoâ or ârecapâ of the first chapter. Guess what heâs served, again just to remind us?
Poached salmon!
đRevenge parallel, and similar childhood goals
They both ride a black horse
đBran and SceĂłlang (âravenâ and âsurvivorâ) / The dog parallel
Fionn was famously said to have magic hounds, that were once his biological cousins that were trapped in hound form. They were loyal to him and loved him, one might argue, to a fault. He was considered a âmaster of houndsâ and could get his hounds and near any dog, to do what he said.Â
...Then, thereâs our!Cielâ Clearly, he didnât feel like he was living up to his namesake.Â
Until...of course. He gets a new "dog" of his own.
đFionnâs arch nemesis Fear Dorocha / Sebastian the âBlack Butlerâ ParallelÂ
(Keep in mind by âFairy Queenâ They mean the Morrigan. Otherwise known as, the "great queenâ or âphantom queenâ and a powerful Celtic goddess of what one might consider, The Celtic underworld.)Â
I elaborated more on this story here in this ask if you want to follow this link.
Kind of weird both both of them had otherworldly evil Butlers to deal with, isn't it?
đBonus đ
Fionn is infamously known as "the sleeping warrior." According to legend he's not actually dead...but asleep. And he'll wake up in Irelands most dire hour of need.
This 'wake up, Finn!' has long become a part of Irish folklore, and enmeshed in the culture in many sayings, folk songs and such. A message that for obvious reasons was aligned with "if you want this warrior to wake up it means you hate the Queen of England" so it's sort of... an inside joke.
Many believe it's even been hidden in more popular Irish songs as well. The best example I have of this, is probably " Finnigans wake " which of course, has nothing to do with the warrior itself. It's meant to be a lighthearted, very funny and upbeat song about miserable drunk old man literally coming back to life because he's mistaken for dead. But the title choice is a play-on words. It sounds like "Finn, again, is 'wake."
Our!Ciel has a tendency to be a very sleepy boy, but I find it incredibly interesting that Sebastian waking him up is such a stark, piece of imagery in the series as a collective whole.
(There's another layer of suspicion if you're of the belief the twins were switched at birth).
But this is also on the first page of the manga, the first time ANYONE speaks, is Sebastian. And he says this.
Another!
I thought I had added this, and I guess I was mistaken. Someday I'll update the original name theory post (again) but I'll put it here, as well.
Fionn Mac Cumhaill is also said to be an extremely talented and skilled hunter. He's known as both a hunter, and a warrior as well as the rest of The Fianna (his loyal companions).
Our!Ciel is also, an incredibly skilled hunter as well, especially for someone his age. He tied with Aunt Francis in a hunting match, the only reason she was deemed the winner, was because Sebastian allowed him to believe Francis shot the final kill.
Sebastian did not have to help him cheat to win that we know of, and he stayed behind with Elizabeth. Our!Ciel won this game on his own. (Although, Sebastian was the one who taught him how to hunt and ride a horse, so he can take credit for that much.)
Our!Ciel isn't said to be particularly talented or gifted in the way of many physical activities (hopeless at the circus), either relying on Sebastian to cheat for him or else, he has to rely on strategic ways to win/succeed without actually playing/winning/doing the task "properly" (like the cricket match, later on).
But he does hunt properly, and he nearly wins against a grown adult who has been doing this much, much longer. If anything, Sebastian let him lose, in this particular instance.
He also does all that while wearing an eye-patch... Hunting wild game, seems like a HIGHLY SPECIFIC SKILL Yana chose to let him be talented, at.
