How tall is sebastian from black butler

The deer head is cracking me up! It goes from mantle to wall to mantle again (ever since the curry/yellow butler arc). 

Why do you keep moving it, Sebastian?!? Is it a seasonal thing?

(Stop messing with my MIND! Actually, it makes me laugh.)

Friendly reminder: Soma and Agni in Kuromyu1

Soma and Agni make an appearance (however brief) in the first Kuromyu “That Butler, Friendship”. They had been on vacation but returned early. It’s set *between* the curry arc and the circus arc. 

Three visitors from Japan come to Phantomhive Manor hoping to learn about English customs from Tanaka, but they never get to speak with him. A young man (Yuuki), his older brother (Kai), and a caretaker of sorts (Kirito). 

Kirito turns out to be a demon who offers Sebastian friendship while making a joke (that Sebastian doesn’t understand) about cats. At the end Kirito is killed by Yuuki playing a magic flute that exorcizes spirits and demons, and it’s sad because Kirito had become a “good guy”. Kirito allowed himself to be killed in order to protect the young Yuuki. His (Yuuki’s) own brother, Kai, was the villain…. (Sebastian ends up killing Kai the same way he will kill the circus doc later.) 

They hold a funeral for the demon, and Sebastian mourns him and comments that perhaps they *could* have become friends…. I think this play was meant to be a hidden au spoiler for Agni’s death. They couldn’t kill Agni off in the play, so they bring in new foreigners and kill off the one who offers Sebastian friendship….

Color arcs in Black Butler

Another Tumblr blogger ( @akumadeenglish ) was suggesting that there should be an orange arc and a black arc. And I thought “why?” But then I got to thinking….

The Jack the Ripper arc is about Madam Red….

The Curry arc is also called the Yellow Butler arc….

The Noah’s Ark Circus arc doesn’t seem to focus on a particular color…. Though Sebastian is nicknamed “Black”. (However, Mother3 would make a comparison to a huge white ship.)

The Phantomhive Murders arc doesn’t seem to focus on a particular color, either….

The Campania arc features a huge white ship (also a comparison to Mother3’s huge white ship)….

The Weston arc focuses on the houses: Red Fox, Green Lion, Sapphire Owl, and Violet Wolf….

We’ve had a Green Witch arc….

Now we are in the Blue Sect arc….

I haven’t seen orange or indigo, but the other colors of the rainbow have clearly been mentioned. Red, yellow, green, and blue are even in order.

Is there any specific mention of orange? Besides the actual oranges in the Blue Sect arc?

Is there any mention of indigo, besides Claude changing the Trancy walls from dark blue to midnight blue in S2?

Maybe there will be a Violet arc? Maybe there won’t, since we already have a house and a person named that?

Don’t think we need a black arc, since the whole series is called Black Butler.

Still, it’s interesting to think about. (Plus, each Magypsy in Mother3 represents a color, denoted by their clothing, so it interests me even more.)

Hmm. You know, French for rainbow is “arc en ciel”….

Love this scene. Actually, I love every time Sebastian gets accusatory of religion and gods….

The return of “Deer”

Ch226 is full of memories of Soma and Agni’s time spent with the earl and Sebastian. The (essentially stolen) deer head from the Curry arc shows up… yet AGAIN.

sigh. the deer head. always the deer head. thank you, yana-san.

The top (or left) pic is Vol I. P.108. It shows the earl’s left eye close up. Looks normal.

The bottom (or right) pic is Vol IV. P.107. It shows the exact same eye, but this time it looks demonic….

Odd it’s a difference of just one page between volumes, too….

Foreshadowing, or is he changing??

reblogging for @tittesandtatertots, by request.

Omg thank you I never noticed that

Notice that when his eye looks all demonic, he’s saying the sort of thing Sebastian would say… Not understanding and not caring to understand.

Reminds me of Sebastian’s reply when Beast says he doesn’t understand how she feels, her pain. Oddly, though, Sebastian says “not a jot, as of yet”.

Does this mean Sebastian will someday learn that pain?

Then, at the end of the Noah’s Ark Circus arc, the earl laughs like he’s probably never laughed in his life as he comments how terrible humans are. Sebastian is initially shocked to see the earl act that way, but then he just smiles and agrees with him.

But in the Green Witch arc, Sebastian is surprised to see tears falling. It’s because of mustard gas, but at the time all he can think is that he lacks the necessary emotions to cry. Will he learn those emotions?

And the earl, in that same arc, comes out of a dream/hallucinatory state to realize he’d been acting nuts. He apologizes but then gives his servants the order to forget everything crazy he had done. They all laugh, even Sebastian, because forgetting all that is impossible… even for the demon who is supposed to obey all direct orders….

It’s as if they are slowly switching places, emotionally. Sebastian won’t turn into a human. However, he could pick up some increasingly human emotions, like this one during the Blue Sect arc:

That might be a new feeling for him….

A new sense of loss if Agni dies? (AKA Why Agni might die now for character development purposes)

I wonder whether Agni dying could give Sebastian an unexpected sense of loss, since Agni was the first person to ever call Sebastian a “friend”….

Sebastian already gave just the *slightest* pause when he saw the scarf Beast had worn (the night they had sex) show up at the explosion site at Phantomhive Manor (while he was helping with clean-up). Just prior to that, he had shown what *seemed* to be a bit of concern for the children that the earl demanded he burn to death (by ordering him to burn down Kelvin’s manor and everything/one in it). The reaction could have been more to do with the earl not following the queen’s orders. However….

Then there was that brief moment of sad, reflective silence at Sphere Music Hall… when all those “little stars” threw insults at him and demanded that he leave (for not having a star of protection).

The death of Agni (IF he took the bullet for his master and didn’t survive) might make Sebastian flashback to 1. the Curry arc and 2. the quite recent scene of Agni being the “epitope of a butler”.

Agni showed Sebastian:
• that he could keep pace with and fight on par with the demon (at fencing and hand-to-hand combat anyway)
• that he could use tact with the other Phantomhive servants in a way that Sebastian had so far failed to do. Agni quickly assessed them for strengths instead of focusing on their weaknesses, so he was able to assign them simple tasks they could perform (and even enjoy).
• a level of competency that truly impressed him and even prompted the demon to comment that the other servants could only *hope* to achieve the same.
• faith and devotion (giving Agni this powerful “Right Hand of Kali” trance state of Samadhi) that Sebastian admits (to the earl) demons cannot achieve (because they lack true faith/beliefs in anything).
• kindness, admiration, and a feeling of brotherhood (however reserved), which led to Agni calling Sebastian a “friend”.
• a continued devotion to his own master, prompting Sebastian to call him the “epitope of a butler”.

I predict (and I know this is a relatively minor thing to predict) that if Agni dies now (particularly so soon after Sebastian’s recent comments to him) that we will get to see Sebastian have another one of those (albeit brief) moments of pensiveness or uneasy contemplation.

Thoughts?

A thought about Agni

@shinigami-mistress and I have discussed Agni and Soma depicted as a Christ figure (particularly Agni, of course), and @eglentyne-mcqueen made a good post about the religious symbolism, too.

However, we’ve been focusing, perhaps, on the *visual representations/imagery*. Has anyone discussed the fact that Agni basically *died for their sins*? Because he did….

I actually mentioned this here.

From Matthew 20:28: “The Son of Man (Agni) did not come to be served (he was from a very noble caste as Arshad), but to serve (now he’s a butler–his entire job is to serve), and to give his life as a ransom for many (do I need to explain this?).”

He “gave his life as a ransom for many”–not just Soma, but all those that Soma touched (and he says as much).

Ah! Thanks! I needed someone who can do the biblical legwork lol

It’s an interesting thought that Agni could be given a second chance by the reapers. It seems too late at this point, though, according to the idea that death occurs when the soul is collected. However, we have not seen the process for reapers saving a life. Perhaps it takes a few days? Like three??

lalottered lalottered

As a Christian this is very deep for me… I love this manga, but it being about demons would worry me if someone were to pull out biblical citations, but this is about a good character, so right now I’m so touched for Agni who’s such a good person and I’m really gonna miss him. TTATT

As for your question, @abybweisse, what if the killer was accompanied by Undertaker, specially to get a soul he could practice on for the strange dolls?

Though I don’t think Undertaker went inside the townhouse with the attackers (probably Lords Sirius and Polaris), I think a Undertaker could be driving their carriage. (That’s why my icon right now is the carriage driver….)

I doubt he would take Agni’s soul, though. He seems to be focusing on specific people and specific souls, not merely experimenting on any soul or cinematic record he can get his hands on.

delightfullydarkanddangerous delightfullydarkanddangerous

As a Christian, I have to say I think you all are really stretching this. Not everyone who sacrifices his life for others is a Christ figure. Self-sacrifice is a thing that humans do. I really don’t see the connection between Agni and Christ beyond the idea that “dying for others” = “Messianic figure” which I don’t agree with. Just my .02.

If you pay attention to the illustrations, Soma gets shot in the hand, making his right hand look like it has stigmata. Then Agni gets stabbed in the side like Jesus getting stabbed by a spear. Agni is shown in a “crucifixion pose” when he’s getting shot in the back. When Sebastian holds Agni’s body on the floor, it looks very much like the Virgin Mary’s lamentation of Christ (a Pieta). Add to the fact this chapter was released worldwide just two days after Easter.

(I’m atheist, but I see the intentional religious illustrations and implications….)

lalottered lalottered

Don’t forget the knives in his back, referring to the whipping. Oh and good job on the knowledge even though you’re atheist! No wonder you answer things so well!

Ooh! The whipping would parallel very well to all the slashes across his back (even more than the stabs themselves).

I’ve also wondered whether the stabbing of his eye could be a vague reference to the crown of thorns, since there’s no really good way to make a more direct reference….

I’m an art history and architecture buff, and you can’t be into those without learning a lot about religious imagery lol.

Agni and Soma are definitely Christ figures. According to How to Read Literature Like a Professor here are the requirements for a Christ Figure: 

Crucified, wounds in the hands feet, side and head (See Examples Above)

In agony (perhaps even great physical suffering) (Again, See Examples Above)

Self-sacrificing (big sacrifice, preferably a life, for others) (Again, See Examples Above)

Good with children (Agni and Soma feed a bunch of poor kids)

Good with loaves, fish, water, wine (I’ll count curry as it is food)

Thirty-three years of age when last seen (I don’t know how old Agni is, but I’ll guess he’s in his 30s)

Known to use humble modes of transportation, feet or donkeys preferred (Soma and Agni walk around a lot, especially the first time we meet them)

Believed to have walked on water (Ehhhh….I can’t recall any time, but whatever.)

Often portrayed with arms outstretched (See Chapter 127)

Known to have had a confrontation with the devil, possibly tempted (in a wilderness–disappears to the wilderness) (Agni and Soma’s interactions with Sebastian.)

Last seen in the company of thieves (Well, Agni used to be a criminal, so this can count for Soma, also Ciel and Sebastian aren’t exactly innocent)

Creator of many aphorisms and parables (See Chapter 127 where Agni refers to Soma as the sun…like a lot)

Buried, but arose on the third day (Dear God, I hope this happens.)

Had disciples, twelve at first, although not all equally devoted (Agni to Soma, Soma to Ciel)

Very forgiving (Soma to Agni during their first meeting)

Came to redeem an unworthy world (at the least offers hope) (Soma and Agni offer a lot of hope in the Black Butler universe)

Here’s the link to the page so you can read more about Christ Figures, because I didn’t include everything: http://www.westga.edu/~jmcclain/christ%20figures_spring06.htm

A note about the company of thieves….

In ch226, Soma and Agni are reminiscing their adventures with the earl and Sebastian (it’s probably also Yana-san’s way of saying these happy memories of theirs won’t last), and one of their biggest adventures was going to the home of Harold West… where Sebastian put on a deer head. Sebastian took the deer head with him and never returned it. Not only is it shown from time to time, but it’s shown quite prominently in ch226…. So, that’s at least Sebastian depicted as a thief, even if it’s not something he would typically do.

Then you have the earl, in the circus arc, telling Joker there are only those who steal and those who get stolen from… and on that day the earl was stealing the futures of Joker and his closest friends/family. So, that’s the earl calling himself a thief….

Oh! And Soma forgave Agni again, at the end of the curry arc, for not telling him the truth about Mina….

Arc lanterns, a closer look: Curry arc

• The top of the lantern is meant to be reminiscent of eastern architecture, like in India.
  
• What looks like a gravy boat with stars coming out might actually supposed to be a “Genie in the Lamp” reference, but I’m not sure how that’s important to the arc… :/
• The bird-looking thing might be a chicken, since Sebastian used chicken for all his curries. That way Soma would be able to try them all.
• We have the curry buns.
• We also have the Crystal Palace at the bottom of the lantern screen….

calm-down-komaeda calm-down-komaeda

If you look at it in a different angle the ‘bird looking thing’ is a lobster

Ah, yes! I was trying to see a lobster in it but could not until I looked at it upside down. It’s the blue lobster! Haha!