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One of the things that I find most fun about the more casual version of Bleach roleplay is its greater potential for creativity in off-topics, and part of this is that you can be off-canon as you like in the fun barrack threads (in 'proper' mission threads you have to apply for that sort of thing). This, of course, leads to cross-over ahoy, and recently, this has been showcased on the BA forums, as I've been masterminding a Black Butler (Kuroshitsuji) style cross-over murder mystery event. The only links to Black Butler really can be found in certain character beats, plot points and the fact that the first victim was an NPC butler. Actually, I don't think I'm doing the fun of the thing justice.
But, when I think about it, the fun of this event is coming more from its mechanics than its tangential connection to Black Butler. Basically, I outright instruct and point out things as little as possible, letting people accuse each other depending on what they personally feel is a clue and telling people their role in the game through private messages.
As to the Black Butler manga itself, my feelings towards it have always been a bit weird. It's well-written, well-structured and beautifully drawn. Each plot arc blends almost seamlessly into the next. But, beneath all this I have two problems with this manga. The first isn't a deal-breaker. No, my first problem is the silliness of the manga's nostalgic presentation of the Victorian age. But, really I don't ask for historical accuracy from this sort of thing, and I can laugh at the idea of the Victorian era as one of twee decadence, where it was totally likely that a woman could become a doctor. I can especially forgive this silliness because of the way that people are given interesting arcs - particularly Sebastian, whose arc does not really consist of any changes that we see, but ones that are hinted at, considering his impenetrability.
But now we're getting to what my real problem with this manga is, and that's that it's ... well, it's kind of creepy. And I don't necessarily mean stuff like the way that the same manga can both have its twelve-year-old protagonist order the murder of a hundred children and have those supposedly adorable asides with his fiancée. Though that that is weird and feels wrong. Instead, I would say this manga disturbs me out of a sense of general wrongness.
Let me elaborate: a friend of mine at uni came to visit me once while I was reading the latest chapter. He asked me what it was, so I pointed to Ciel and said that he had made a deal with a demon (the butler of the title) to get revenge for the murder of his parents. To which, my friend's reply was 'That's a boy?! Because I would totally tap that!' This was an especially interesting response, given the manga's having dressed that character as a (very convincing) girl twice. Then, there's the butler himself, who, granted, is supposed to be creepy. But, just, almost everything about him comes across as sexualised. I'm serious. It is really really weird. I mean, in one story, he even gives someone a hand job for information. It's like the manga tried to corner both the shounen and deviantart markets at the same time. Brrrr...
But – and here I sigh – I still keep reading every month, hoping to get closer to the conclusion of Ciel’s revenge quest. Partly, that’s because as Neil Gaiman’s Loki says, ‘”You know what sticks people to something? The desire to know how it's all going to end.”’ But also, it’s because the ending of the anime was, at once so emotionally harrowing and satisfying that I just wonder if the manga is going to go with something similar.
But, when I think about it, the fun of this event is coming more from its mechanics than its tangential connection to Black Butler. Basically, I outright instruct and point out things as little as possible, letting people accuse each other depending on what they personally feel is a clue and telling people their role in the game through private messages.
As to the Black Butler manga itself, my feelings towards it have always been a bit weird. It's well-written, well-structured and beautifully drawn. Each plot arc blends almost seamlessly into the next. But, beneath all this I have two problems with this manga. The first isn't a deal-breaker. No, my first problem is the silliness of the manga's nostalgic presentation of the Victorian age. But, really I don't ask for historical accuracy from this sort of thing, and I can laugh at the idea of the Victorian era as one of twee decadence, where it was totally likely that a woman could become a doctor. I can especially forgive this silliness because of the way that people are given interesting arcs - particularly Sebastian, whose arc does not really consist of any changes that we see, but ones that are hinted at, considering his impenetrability.
But now we're getting to what my real problem with this manga is, and that's that it's ... well, it's kind of creepy. And I don't necessarily mean stuff like the way that the same manga can both have its twelve-year-old protagonist order the murder of a hundred children and have those supposedly adorable asides with his fiancée. Though that that is weird and feels wrong. Instead, I would say this manga disturbs me out of a sense of general wrongness.
Let me elaborate: a friend of mine at uni came to visit me once while I was reading the latest chapter. He asked me what it was, so I pointed to Ciel and said that he had made a deal with a demon (the butler of the title) to get revenge for the murder of his parents. To which, my friend's reply was 'That's a boy?! Because I would totally tap that!' This was an especially interesting response, given the manga's having dressed that character as a (very convincing) girl twice. Then, there's the butler himself, who, granted, is supposed to be creepy. But, just, almost everything about him comes across as sexualised. I'm serious. It is really really weird. I mean, in one story, he even gives someone a hand job for information. It's like the manga tried to corner both the shounen and deviantart markets at the same time. Brrrr...
But – and here I sigh – I still keep reading every month, hoping to get closer to the conclusion of Ciel’s revenge quest. Partly, that’s because as Neil Gaiman’s Loki says, ‘”You know what sticks people to something? The desire to know how it's all going to end.”’ But also, it’s because the ending of the anime was, at once so emotionally harrowing and satisfying that I just wonder if the manga is going to go with something similar.
