Now we’re getting somewhere.

——

Ciel replaces Maurice and is welcomed with open arms as something of a celebrity amongst his fellow classmates. Now that Maurice is out the way, Ciel and Sebastian focus on their mission from the Queen: find Derrick Arden. They focus on observing the head of Derrick’s dorm, the gloomy artist, Violet. Ciel attends the prefects in the gazebo, where they have a lengthy conversation about the upcoming cricket tournament, Lawrence’s sisters, and what not. Ciel then makes a daring move and asks about Derrick Arden, causing all the men to freeze and Violet to snap his charcoal while glaring at Ciel with murderous eyes.

I’m glad to see Kuroshitsuji is finally getting down to business. The last three or four chapters had almost neglected their mission in favor of establishing Ciel’s guise as a student, which is by no means a negative point, but it would have been nice to remind readers why he’s there. Ciel’s transition into his new role amongst the prefects fits so naturally that it almost begs the question why so much attention was paid to Maurice. However, it may be too soon to jump to the conclusion that he was unnecessary, assuming Maurice comes back as a key player in this arc, which would make a nice twist.

I find Violet an interesting character. His initial purpose seemed only to fill the twisted artist with a hood and heavy eyeliner archetype, but now it looks like he has an important role to play. It’s nice to see him with the other prefects in their element, having breezy conversations and flipping through those charcoal drawings while Ciel watches in awe. The light-hearted atmosphere around his character draws a really exciting contrast to his expression when asked about Derrick Arden and makes for an excellent cliff hanger.

This chapter is pretty dialogue heavy, filled with little gags and character background; but that doesn’t make it a pointless chapter. There was a certain lack of tension until the very end that made the final panel almost as startling as the opening color page of Ciel in the bath. All in all, for a chapter that focused more on humorous dialogue than anything else, it did a pretty decent job. It set up future plot lines while progressing the story arc instead of staying rooted to a single issue.

GO Rating: 3.5/5

[KissManga]