Fighting each other AND loving each other (manga vs musical)
ok so a really cool detail i noticed when looking at the raws for chapter 11, is that on the roof grelle says
いつまでもこうして二人殺し合って
itsumademo koushite futari koroshiatte
“the two of us could stay like this forever killing each other”
however, the furigana (furigana is small hiragana over chinese characters as a pronunciation guide) for 殺, which means kill and usually pronounced as koro , is written like “ai”, which means love, which can turn the original phrase into
“the two of us could stay like this forever loving each other”
to me this is definitely very indicative of grelles overall character, not only in the way that the lines between violence and romance are extremely blurred for her, but also how the lines of her relationship with sebastian are blurred, as she’s caught between wanting to kill him, and just wanting him.
BUT what i thought was super cool was how uehara takuya says BOTH “killing each other” and “loving each other” in the song romeo and juliet from lycoris that blazes the earth
“the two of us could stay like this forever killing each other and loving each other”
which is a really cool way of including both the written dialogue and the double meaning of the furigana while speaking (or singing)
also thank you @kuroposting for bringing the original text to my attention. i’ve been trying to read all of kuro in japanese so i can pick up on details like this but it hasn’t been easy lol
i went to see the new kuromyu in osaka on the 13th and it was so amazing!!!
some people said yes when i asked so here are the notes i took after both acts! these include some plot related notes as well as some personal opinions so please keep that in mind and of course,
Spoiler Warning:
Namushitsuji 9/13 Osaka
Act 1
- Opening song by Baba sama is suuuper cool, a really epic start
- Interesting way to include the contract scene, it’s after opening scene of them entering the forest and it leads into the main title song
- Toshiki’s Sebastian kinda always feels like he’s lamenting(?) now
- Sullivan’s voice is soooo good, she’s gotten a lot of song moments
- They definitely switched some stuff up structurally, like they talk about the outside world at the dining table for example, and no language barrier
- Sullivan gets a cutesy song during her perv scene lol (*i wanna clarify it’s not near the extent of the original, she just sings about what she expects to happen and lays on the bed and ciel runs off like wtf is her problem)
- Really cool screen use when she’s cleansing Sebastian and Ciel after they go outside. It looks like water behind her and toward the end they include a recording of Ciel floating in the water
- Ciel is sooo cute, his singing is really good too. He might be one of the best Ciel singers
- SERVANT SONG IS SO CUTE bocchan no tame ni~
- Finny solo so good too it’s so emotional, his high notes in chorus are so good???
- When Sullivan imagines going to the outside world and all the characters are dancing happily around her, even Ciel in all his gauze lolol. A favorite moment
- Oh my goddd Sebastian solo when almost ending contract. The switch into lower octave during chorus shocked me. It’s so cool and dark
- Lots of cool dancing from Ciel and “cult people”. They make it look like Ciel is being moved all around tormented. He’s a good dancer
- Switches into Ciel’s mind after that, screen has “other Ciel”. The sudden switch of “other Ciel” in regular outfit to bloody shirt stunned me
- He sings twin duet here as the past arc characters also appear on the screen, Sebastian sings some here too
- Ciel has really good note at the end when he’s being like boku no tame niiii
- Ciel is seriously so good, he could end up a fan favorite
- Overall structure feels most similar to Circus musical. I think like lots of different things happening back to back, given the source arc it’s hard to create a musical with as good of a plot-flow as Campania imo
- Toshiki’s voice definitely shines when he’s doing high or low notes compared to the mid range
- Intermission song title song reprise, when they take Sullivan from her room. Her note at the end is reallyyyy good
Act 2
- Oh my god Baba sama’s song right after intermission left me stunned. It’s her and all the women in their military fits now and it’s just so amazing. She’s all like 見ろ~ smth I forgot the words already, as they’re doing the werewolf stuff and get discovered by Sullivan
- Ciel, Sebastian, and Sullivan come down right (stage left) aisle
- BABA SAMA’S FLASHBACK SONG omg it’s like madam red level. She was def the standout. Might be my favorite song
- Her and Sullivan share this same motif that Sullivan uses when singing about the outside world where she’s vocalizing like “turururu” but when Sullivan does it it’s wistful and dreamy and Baba sama’s desperate and dark
- Sebastian really does sing Ahhh from Campania, when fighting the soldiers, some changed lyrics and he also goes higher at the end. I guess they’re making that his battle theme now cause the instrumental also plays some later when fighting Wolfram
- Ciel + Sullivan’s do you wanna live moment is really good
- Ciel orders all the servants and then they reprise their bocchan no tame ni song from earlier but epic version. Soldier ladies verse is really cool and they do part of a dance that I swear was used by the cult people in Circus or the zombies in Campania (but I’ll have to rewatch those to verify) and then some really cool march style moves
- Each servant gets a verse as they’re fighting
- CIEL IN THE DRESS IS SOOO CUTE
- Cuts away from them as he shoots at Wolfram, goes to Sullivan and Finny
- Finny lil flashback moment continuing his lil song and also about getting his name from Ciel
- No Diedrich, Sebastian saves Ciel from Wolfram and they have a really good fighting duet
- Funny moment where Sebastian is shaking Ciel around from behind by his shoulders, some dress banter
- Preparing the train pretty much goes same as original, then Wolfram has song after getting shot
- Surprisingly not using the cinematic record screen much like they used to? It was a lot more minimalistic in those scenes (except Baba sama’s hers had a lot going on)
- Sullivan saves Wolframs life, they have a really good song together about going to the outside world (reprise of Sullivan song from earlier)
- Switches to Sebastian and Ciel being on boat back to UK, some conversation, then the rest come out and reprise main theme
This is a long post. I love to yap. There will be links.
So... Do you, too, love Black Butler musicals? Are you tired of finding only crunchy four times regurgitated youtube uploads of them? Do you have too much space on your hard drive? Because I sure do have a solution for you! You can find this juicy solution further in this post or on my dedicated kuromyu archive page.
As a huge Musical Kuroshitsuji fan, I wanted to share my love for them through sharing my collection of the DVDs and Blu-rays. Specifically, sharing their disc images, so that everyone could watch the best versions of these fine musicals there are without committing to the grueling task of importing said discs from Japan. I’m sharing these for the sake of our small Kuromyu fandom and for posterity. As the older musicals aren’t even being included in the current online streamings, and getting your hands on their physical copies is only going to get harder and more expensive, I want to preserve them for future fans who will struggle/are struggling to find a decent copy to watch to even decide if they actually like this stuff in the first place. Of course, if you love these musicals, I encourage you to still actually go buy them (they come in very pretty boxes!)
I'm sharing torrent files of disc images, aka digital copies of the discs, .iso files to be precise. A player like VLC can play them from the get-go, though you can also use a disc emulator to mount the “discs” on or/and use a tool to convert them into a more convenient format if you wish to do so.
Why I don’t simply share a bunch of .mkv files or something? Well, I have two reasons:
The Blu-Rays are chonky (40+ gigs!), and any conversion that would mitigate the size also inevitably impacts the quality, and this is supposed to be an archive for fandom posterity. As I lack the technical knowledge on how to make beautiful, but lean video files, I’ll leave this task to others. Do it yourself (and share it, too!) You have my blessing.
I want to preserve the crunchy DVD menus, also, lol. They’re nothing special, but they add to the vibe, you know?
Each torrent file consists of two or three iso files: a main musical disc, a bonus/backstage disc and an Animate exclusive bonus/backstage disc. All of them are sourced directly from the discs that I own irl. I also own all of the pamphlets and visual books for their respective musicals. I’m not going to scan them (don’t really have the means), but I can at least take photos if needed. By request only, though.
(Not) Finally, the actual Musical Kuroshitsuji Disc Image Archive:
Musical Kuroshitsuji 1. That Butler, Friendship (2009):
+ Musical [7.32gb]
+ Backstage [3.87gb]
+ Animate bonus [1.35gb]
Musical Kuroshitsuji 2. The Most Beautiful DEATH in the World (2010):
+ Musical [6.51gb]
+ Backstage [4.08gb]
+ Animate bonus [3.32gb]
Musical Kuroshitsuji 2.5. The Most Beautiful DEATH in the World (2013):
+ Musical [7.47gb]
+ Backstage [4.17gb]
+ Animate bonus [2.77gb]
Musical Kuroshitsuji 3. Lycoris that Blazes the Earth (2014):
+ Musical [7.81gb]
+ Backstage [4.33gb]
Musical Kuroshitsuji 3.5. Lycoris that Blazes the Earth (2015):
+ Musical [41gb]
+ Backstage [7gb]
Musical Kuroshitsuji 4. Noah's Ark Circus (2016):
+ Musical [42.3gb]
+ Backstage [7.66gb]
+ Animate Bonus [2.51gb]
Musical Kuroshitsuji 5. Tango on the Campania (2017):
+ Musical [41.2gb]
+ Backstage [4.23gb]
+ Animate bonus [2.62gb]
Musical Kuroshitsuji 6.5. Secrets of Public School (2024):
+ Musical [43.6gb]
+ Backstage [5.82gb]
Musical Kuroshitsuji 7. Emerald Witch and Werewolves' Forest (2025):
+ Musical [44.4gb]
+ Backstage [45.4gb]
+ Animate bonus [7.89gb]
Yeah, starting with 3.5 the main files are humongous, that's Blu-Ray for you. Most (all?) DVDs are region-locked, but I can confirm that at least VLC plays all of them with no issue. YMMV. None of them are subbed.
If you download anything, please try to seed for as long as you can. While I’m not planning to stop seeding any time soon (I’d have to have a major falling out with Kuroshitsuji for that to happen, and I’ve been a fan since late 2010, lol), I’m only one person, and the Blu-Rays do be chonky. If I end up being the only seeder, and trying to download something you find no connection, consider this:
I live in the UTC/GMT+3 timezone, and I prefer to shutdown my PC during the night, so please be patient, I might be simply getting my honk shoo mimimimis;
contact me! DM me here, on tumblr (if I don’t look active, your best chances for a faster response would be on my art acc), on twitter, or even on reddit, lol. DulcetPill is the name. Let me know that you’re trying to download, and I’ll make sure to keep my hard drive plugged in and leave PC on.
You’re welcome to share this post and the aforementioned archive page, these torrents and their contents with fellow fans! If you want to upload them “properly” somewhere, be my guest! I shared and will continue to share all of this because of my immeasurable love for all things Kuroshitsuji and its musical adaptations in particular. I want more people to love them too, and in the best possible quality :)
I only ask you not to tag Kuromyu actors/staff/Yana-sensei on social media in posts with links, and also maybe avoid main fandom tags on twitter or wherever else official Kuro pages are active, because, you know, while this little ‘project’ is made out of love, it’s also a bit (a lot) on the yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum side. Be mindful.
Thank you for your attention, consideration and potential reblogs! 🖤 watch kuromyu or else
