thedarkestcrow

[thedarkestcrow]

When thinking about the connection between Sebastian and this new person, Modri Vladis, I remembered something Sebastian said back in the Circus arc.

His words imply that at some point he did just eat whatever soul he could. Different from how, nowadays, he uses the time of the contract to cultivate his meal to make it more special and delicious.

William also mentioned that there are demons who "scavenge for a meal".

While Sebastian seems no longer interested in these kind of meals and methods, it's likely that he used to be such a type of demon before.

So maybe Modri Vladis is one of the souls back from the time when Sebastian behaved more like a savage beast. From Vladis' words it does seem like their encounter only lasted for one night.

And if it was back when Sebastian didn't care for the soul's quality and just wanted a meal out of it, it's possible he doesn't remember him. They may not even have had a contract.

The only issue I have with this idea is that Sebastian said it was a long time ago since he stopped that behavior. It must have been before he met Ciel, probably way longer. But in that case, Vladis must be long dead. Most likely too long for Undertaker to make him into a Bizarre Doll. And before Ciel met Sebastian, Undertaker would have had no reason to seek out someone who had fallen victim to Sebastian.

If, however, Undertaker's latest model of Bizarre Dolls uses the memories of another person to extend someone's Cinematic Record, it could be possible that he sought out the memories of someone whose soul had been devoured by Sebastian (even if it was a long time ago) and added them to the Record of one of his Bizarre Dolls. We don't really know what happens to a Cinematic Record after a person dies, but the shinigamis might collect and store them somewhere so Undertaker could have had access to them.

Of course there's also the possibility that Undertaker just tempered with Vladis' Cinematic Record in such a way that he's convinced to have met Sebastian, even if it never really happened. That could explain why he's certain to recognize Sebastian even though Sebastian's appearance only exists like this since meeting Ciel.

[thedarkestcrow]

Who is Modri Vladis?

The mysterious character who claims to know Sebastian is calling himself "Modri Vladis" in the new chapter.

It's been suspected that this person could know Sebastian as a demon from once having a contract with him. The tattoo on his neck might be a remnant of a contract sign. However, Sebastian denies to remember him, even to Ciel who he cannot lie to.

But does that truly exclude the possibility of Modri Vladis being one of Sebastian's former contractors?

Modri Vladis seems to remember an encounter with Sebastian for one night which could imply that there had been a very short-timed contract that ended in Sebastian taking Vladis' soul.

Vladis is first shown being connected to an infusion stand so it's likely he's one of Undertaker's more advanced Bizarre Dolls who depends on regular blood transfusions. So if Vladis' body was okay after dying or having his soul being devoured, there is a chance that he could have been made into a Bizarre Doll.

Sebastian claims he doesn't remember him but that does not necessarily mean that they've never met. Maybe with his soul missing, Sebastian truly doesn't "remember" him (like he says). Maybe a contractor is really so insignificant to a demon that they simply forget them after the contract. A human is just a meal to them, especially if that contract only lasted for one night. Who remembers what they ate years ago? Or maybe Sebastian's current form only stores the memories of his current contract. (When Undertaker cut him with his death scythe, he only saw the memories of the time from the contract with Ciel, at least to our knowledge.)

There might also be another possibility. Maybe this idea is a bit far-fetched but bear with me for a bit. ;)

Bizarre Dolls are created by extending their Cinematic Record which stores their memories. Undertaker first started by adding fake records and later added the person's yearning for the future which evolved the Dolls. What if another evolution to this process is to add memories of another person to a Doll's Cinematic Record?

The hotel's manager mentioned the smoking room as a place to share stories of the past and the future, which struck me as a curious detail.

Maybe this hotel is not just a place to gather blood but to collect the memories (i.e. Cinematic Records) for Undertaker to use for his more advanced Bizarre Dolls. In that case, Modri Vladis might have a different body with just the memories of Vladis. And maybe that's why Sebastian doesn't remember him from his looks.

The reason I've been thinking this is the way that Vladis tries to make Sebastian remember him. He cuts into his wrist and draws his own blood.

It seems like a strange way to make someone remember him. It could be that Vladis' blood was involved in once summoning Sebastian (similar to how the cultists who captured the twins tried to summon a demon by killing children). However, I couldn't help but be reminded that when a shinigami cuts someone with their death scythe, their Cinematic Record is shown. So maybe Vladis was trying to make his memories with Sebastian visible through showing his Cinematic Record?

That didn't happen, though, the knife doesn't look like a death scythe and I'm not sure if someone who isn't a shinigami could even use a death scythe in that way.

Still, whether Vladis is fake or not, Vladis himself seems quite convinced to know Sebastian. And despite Sebastian not remembering him, it seems like he's not absolutely sure that they never met.

So I think it's still possible that there is a past connection between them and I'm really curious to learn more about that.

[thedarkestcrow]

The "Nectar Springs" Hotel

I think I found the inspiration for the "Nectar Springs" Hotel that Ciel and Sebastian are investigating in the latest chapter.

It's modeled after the Grand Brighton Hotel, a Victorian seafront hotel in Brighton that was built in 1864:

Take a look at the lobby:

And the suite:

Just like the "Nectar Springs" Hotel, the Grand Brighton Hotel was famous for its outstanding service. And it had several advanced engineering features, like the very first lift in England outside of London (called "ascending omnibus").

[thedarkestcrow]

And he has a hotel! :D

Is it just me, or does Barnabus Fairchild III seem like the kuroshitsuji version of Mr. Monopoly.

Seriously, he's even bought up the railroads.

[thedarkestcrow]

Kuro 214 spoilers

(Read here)

I initially really thought it could be Joker with a proper haircut (mostly because of the little pointed teeth), but :

the cliffhanger makes it seem like they were looking mostly for Seb and not for Ciel & Seb

Also they seem to have a neck tattoo (?) and no earring hole, unlike Joker :

So maybe it's not Joker.

I also checked to see if the church on their hood was the same as the cult that abducted the twins and summoned Seb 4 years ago...

...but it doesn't seem to be the case, so I guess he's not this guy either from ch137 ?

Otherwise, I guess this person could look like the hired killers from ch3 if we're reaching ?

Anyway, the possibility of Joker's rather new look aside (to make him more butler fitted), it'll be cool to see if UT was petty enough to track down someone from Seb's past somehow, unrelated to when he started to work for Ciel, and brought them back as a BD.

[thedarkestcrow]

Yes It is official!

Black Butler will continue its manga serialization on Gfantasy May Issue (publish date: April, 18th).

Key Visual by our beloved mangaka, Yana Toboso sensei!!!

[thedarkestcrow]

The opening and ending for the Emerald Witch Arc, premiering today, April 5th.

[thedarkestcrow]

Yana Toboso illustration for Black Butler -Emerald Witch Arc- episode 1.

[thedarkestcrow]

New trailer for the upcoming Emerald Witch Arc, premiering on April 5th.

[thedarkestcrow]

Kuroshitsuji Hiatus End: Manga returns next month!!

The Kuroshitsuji manga went on hiatus in July 2024. Chapter 213 (publication date: June 18, 2024) was the last chapter before the hiatus.

Now, not even a year later, the hiatus finally ends! The long-awaited Chapter 214 will be included in Monthly GFantasy's May issue (publication date: April 18, 2025).

This means the manga returns next month! Right after the premiere of Season 5.

(Source)

[thedarkestcrow]

"10th Blog Anniversary" Post - The Future

The manga is currently on hiatus, but when it returns, we’ll be nearing its final arc, which means that the manga that started in 2006 and to this day consists of over 200 chapters will be coming to an end. But before that, we’re going to get some answers that we’ve been waiting for a very long time. Here are some of the things I’m most looking forward to or would like to see in the manga before it ends:

Who is Undertaker?

Undertaker is a mystery who has been around since the beginning of the manga. We’ve learned that he is a seceded shinigami who must have a connection to the Phantomhives, probably since Claudia’s time. But who he really is, what his goals are, and what the creation and evolution of his Bizarre Dolls is really for (beyond the resurrection of the twin) is still unclear. So I’m really curious to know his story. I’ll even accept a multi-chapter flashback for it.

Who is the culprit behind the attack on the Phantomhives?

The main motivation for Ciel’s actions and the goal of his contract with Sebastian: Revenge against the culprits. On whose orders were the Phantomhives attacked on that day? What’s the reason behind it? And why were the twins sold off to this cult? I think the answers to these questions could be connected to other open questions, as well. And since this mystery has been looming from the beginning, of course I want to know the conclusion to it.

The possibility of being judged worthy

We have learned that – although it’s so rare as to be almost nonexistent – there is a possibility for a dying person to be judged worthy by a shinigami. If that person is deemed “beneficial to the world”, they can be removed from the to-die list, meaning that they will continue to live. We don’t really know anything else about the specifics or how it works. But the fact that this option has been introduced must mean that it will be addressed at some point. So either there is a character who has already been judged worthy, or there’ll be someone who has the potential for it. Alternatively, the sole possibility of having someone removed from the to-die list could maybe serve as a loophole in Ciel’s contract with Sebastian. And since Undertaker is a shinigami, he might know the technicalities behind it, so he could play a role in this as well.

Either way, I’m curious to see how this aspect of the story will play out. If it opens a way out of the contract, it will be interesting to see whether Ciel will take it or not.

How will Ciel change before the end?

So much has happened to Ciel over the course of the manga, but what hasn’t changed is his thirst for revenge and the sacrifice he’s willing to give for it – his soul, literally and figuratively. He’s always distancing himself from other people, believing he’s all alone, and deep down he feels guilty for surviving when his family didn’t, and for sacrificing his twin in order to live. He masks his guilt and tries suppress his fears and grief, even to the point of denying his true existence and pretending to be his twin. He’s ruthless, clinging to the belief that as long as he gets his revenge, it will justify all his actions. And then he’ll accept his punishment at Sebastian’s hands.

I would love to see Ciel face his guilt, process it, and realize that he’s worthy in his own name, that he has many people around him who love and support him (like the servants, or even though it’s complicated right now, Lizzy and Soma,…), and that he deserves to live as himself. This would create a conflict between Ciel and Sebastian that I very much would like to see. But Kuro is ultimately a tragedy, so the realization that revenge won’t bring closure might come too late. Maybe it already is.

How will the contract between Ciel and Sebastian end?

It’s been clear from the beginning: Once Ciel gets his revenge, Sebastian will have his soul. However, things might not be that simple. There are forces at work that might try to prevent this outcome, and I suspect that this is Undertaker’s goal. Still, I believe Ciel will be the deciding factor in the end. As I said above, I’d love to see some conflict here. Either for Ciel to abandon his plan for revenge or for him to want to find a way out of the contract. Either way, it would be interesting to see Ciel and Sebastian on opposing sides for once.

[thedarkestcrow]

"10th Blog Anniversary" Post - The Present

When I started this blog in 2015, I was studying math, and even though my studies are finished, I still love numbers and statistics. And thanks to my more or less consisting tagging system, which I implemented quite early on, I can get some pretty reliable statistics for my blog that I find quite interesting. So what better occasion than the 10th anniversary of my blog to share some of those numbers. To date there are…

…12 578 posts in total, including reblogs and my own posts. That works out to about 3.5 posts a day for the past 10 years. And from those posts there are…

…4 908 replies to messages I’ve received through the askbox. I remember there was a time when I really got a lot of messages. Some days I was answering about 10 messages a day. It definitely got to be too much, and I had to occasionally close my askbox before closing it permanently. Still, those messages often contained lovely words and great ideas that inspired me.

…54 posts about “small details” as I tagged them. I always loved how Yana placed some clues or references in the manga. For example, similarities to real settings or historical events. Or how there are sometimes little side plots that are picked up much later or are referenced in later chapters. Even funny little details like Phipps’ chicken. I love such details and I loved looking for them. It’s as if Yana was placing these little treats for us to find.

…47 “crack edits”. Yeah, there are some pretty weird ones among them but they were really fun to make, too. XD

The top 5 characters I’ve posted about are:

5. Grell Sutcliff (huh, kinda surprised about that one since Grell is not really among my favorite characters but I suppose Grell is quite popular in the fandom)

4. Elizabeth Midford (ahh, I love Lizzy as a strong female character with great depth)

3. Undertaker (the great mystery, a lot to speculate and there’s still so much we don’t know about him)

2. Ciel Phantomhive (no surprise there)

1. Sebastian Michaelis (only slightly above Ciel and again, no surprise)

[thedarkestcrow]

"10th Blog Anniversary" Post - The Past

For my blog’s 10th anniversary today, I’d like to take a look back to the beginning. Back when I joined the fandom, some things were a lot different than they are today. So let’s go back to some of those nostalgic memories. Do you remember…

…Yana’s old blog (Devils 6th Day)?

She used to post regularly on this blog of hers. Personal stories, manga or anime related content, or drawings for Kuro or other works. The lovely @akumadeenglish has translated many of her blog entries. Today, Yana’s old blog no longer exists. Instead, Yana is on X and has an official site where she sometimes posts news.

…the old forum?

We had a forum (BBnet) with many posts about different topics. The spoilers for the new chapters could usually be found there, and there were many different sections for discussing theories, the new chapters, or the anime. Kinda like Tumblr now, but more text-based and categorized; it was quite popular at the time. It shut down years ago, but it was through this forum that I found myself on Tumblr.

…the musicals?

Between 2009 and 2021, here have been six Kuro musicals, some of which were based on manga arcs, while others introduced musical-only characters who were later referenced in the manga. Parts of them can still be found on YouTube.

…the live action movie? Or the second anime season?

Nah, me neither. XD

…the time before we could get the official translations for the new chapters on the same day they are released in Japan?

Every month around the 18th, we would look for all kinds of spoilers, pouncing on any blurry photo of even the smallest part of the new chapter that could spark the wildest theories and speculations about what would happen. While it’s great that we can get the full translated chapter through official means so soon these days, I still kind of miss the excitement from back then.

[thedarkestcrow]

10th Blog Anniversary!

Hello everyone, today, March 8th 2025, is the 10th anniversary of my blog here on Tumblr. I know I’ve been almost inactive for the past year, and it’s been relatively quiet here for even longer. With the manga being on hiatus and many of my mutuals focusing on other fandoms or becoming quiet here as well, I didn’t really have much to write about and quite frankly, I didn’t really feel like it, either.

However, this blog is still very dear to me. Even though I’m not posting much, I still check on it regularly. Since today marks the 10th year of this blog’s existence, I wanted to at least do something here. It’s crazy that it’s been 10 years already. When I first started here, it was because I wanted to follow some blogs that provided great content for my favorite manga at the time, be it spoilers for new chapters, translations from Yana’s blog at the time, beautiful art, or interesting theories. But then I started contributing my own content, first with some edits and later with my own theories or analyses which has shaped my blog into what it is today. I got to interact with so many people who share the same love for Kuro. And for that, I’m very grateful.

I know the fandom hasn’t always been nice to each other, there were (and probably still are) sensitive topics that led to nasty arguments that escalated to disgusting insults on a personal level. Fortunately, I’ve never really been on the receiving end of this, probably because I’ve tried to avoid engaging in such conflicts. I love discussion and differing opinions on all sorts of topics. That’s what gives rise to new ideas and perspectives. But it’s important to remain respectful, even or especially towards someone who has a different opinion. After all, we’re all part of the same fandom, so we should stick together and respect each other.

That said – and on a lighter note – I believe the majority of the fandom consists of really great people. That’s been my experience over these past 10 years here. So to those people, thank you! Thank you for sharing your content, be it art, stories, theories, ideas, thoughts and so much more. Thank you for keeping up with me for all these years. Thank you for being nice and making this a fun place on the internet to be. For the most part, I’ve enjoyed running this blog for the past 10 years, and I’ll always have fond memories of my time here.

With the Emerald Witch Arc being animated starting in April and with Yana preparing for the final arc of the manga, I expect more Kuro content and maybe (just maybe) that will get me to be more active here again. I won’t make any promises though, it probably won’t happen until the manga returns and even then it might only be occasionally. Just know that this blog is not abandoned yet.

For the 10th anniversary of my blog I have prepared some posts, at least for today. I hope you’ll enjoy them. Take care, everyone!

[thedarkestcrow]

A trailer for the new Black Butler anime season has been released. The Emerald Witch Arc will premiere on April 5th.

Source

[thedarkestcrow]

News:

The Emerald Witch Arc will begin airing in April 2025.

Here are some teaser visuals:

(Source)

[thedarkestcrow]

New Promotional Video for the upcoming Kuroshitsuji Anime in 2024!!

Ono Daisuke as Sebastian Michaelis and Sakamoto Maaya as Ciel Phantomhive are back!

And CloverWorks will be working with this new project!