“Horses for programs” is a phrase you have heard me use earlier than. And a very apt metaphor for Derby Day (what a end). Normally it refers to an anime that fits my very own tastes, like this season’s Yatagarasu or Tonai no Youkai-san, and the additional credibility that brings. But it surely additionally applies to Kuroshitsuji and the establishment for which it was chosen Kishuku Gakkou rooster. It is arduous to think about a backdrop that higher fits Toboso’s aesthetic – or a setting that is higher suited to that backdrop. Once more, it is the final word Saville Row swimsuit (all of which Younger Grasp Ciel is definitely carrying).
That is Black butler at greatest (as was Circus guide, in one other sense). It’s primarily Ciel who puzzles and casts a disdainful take a look at the tasteless guidelines and sheepish conduct of the folks round him. It has the bonus of being positioned amongst boys his personal age, amongst whom he appears particularly misplaced, and being compelled to make use of all his attraction and guile to attempt to slot in. It is a setting that provides Toboso the area to emphasise every thing on this sequence. is sweet at it, and limits the probabilities for her to go her personal manner (which additionally utilized to “Circus”). I’d go as far as to say that Kuroshitsuji And Mahoutsukai no Yome are the opposites of suitability for a faculty arc, the Yin and Yang of the premise laid out for all to see.
As Sebby notes, Ciel is compelled to method the Derrick Arden drawback in a extra “pleasant” manner than typical (there are limits to that, as we’ll see). He has undoubtedly made progress by turning into Clayton’s drag. However he is nonetheless a drag, as he notes, and no nearer to Violet Wolf’s insides. He’s compelled to come back out greater than he usually would, asking questions brazenly as a substitute of working behind the scenes (often with Sebastian’s assist). The P4 are a wierd group, Gregory Violet maybe probably the most so. However their response when Ciel mentions Arden at their tea get together within the gazebo reveals that they know much more (although apparently not their routine) than they let on.
Ciel’s inside reflection that “folks locked collectively are at all times the identical” – and Sakamota Maaya’s assertion of it – might be my favourite second of the episode. It says a lot about this ridiculously good little one who, above all, doesn’t endure fools gladly, in an setting – the Victorian public boys’ faculty – that fetishizes foolishness to a non secular stage. Ciel is compelled to play good and take dangers, pushing him out of his consolation zone. And Ciel being pushed out of his consolation zone is a pleasure to look at.
He would not be taught a lot right here. Derrick Arden was quirky and proficient (unusually, it appears). His switch from Scarlet to Violet wasn’t the one one; a number of different boys have been additionally transferred. And above all, this was performed on the orders of the nonetheless invisible headmaster, and everybody concerned is satisfied that when the headmaster provides an order, it’s absolute and unchallenged. No assertion will be extra of a purple flag for a Taurus than this one for Ciel – lack of curiosity and initiative and issues he despises on the highest stage. However he can hardly do something about that if he nonetheless has to work his approach to the belief of the P4.
In any case, evidently Ciel’s actions have aroused their suspicions. McMillan-kun is an effective useful resource – he is a little bit of a gossip hound and has turn out to be a full-fledged Ciel otaku. However Ciel’s sudden movie star standing among the many youthful boys is, at greatest, a combined blessing for him: Ciel is extraordinarily uncomfortable with any type of bonhomie, not to mention this sort of infantile exuberance. Even on the threat of blaming himself for the improper type of suspicion, Ciel sees no alternative however to maintain asking questions, and let Sebastian do the identical.
In the end, Ciel decides to depend on “no matter it takes” – beginning (with the assistance of his butler) a hearth within the Violet Wolf dormitory. He knew (as Bluewer prompt he ought to) the principles effectively sufficient to know that each one the boys in that home (those that survive, anyway) will likely be gathered into the quad and subjected to a roll name. Will Derrick Arden and the opposite lacking boys be a part of their group? And if not, what’s going to Ciel’s subsequent transfer be? Whoever the mysterious director is, it appears very probably that the solutions lie with him.
