Black Butler, Vol. 23

黒執事 [Kuroshitsuji] #23

by Yana Toboso

In the heart of London stands Sphere Music Hall, a venue that enjoys immense popularity amongst the populace. However, the fervour with which its visitors return causes consternation in the mind of Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, who suspects the organisation of cult practices and sends Earl Ciel Phantomhive and his impeccable butler, Sebastian, to infiltrate the hall. They are met with none other than the disgraced erstwhile prefects of Weston College and an otherworldly fortune-teller called Blavat, who takes one look at Sebastian and divines his true nature without faltering...!

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Comics, Historical Fiction, Graphic Novels, Supernatural, Mystery

176 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 27, 2016

About the author

Yana Toboso (枢 やな Toboso Yana) is a female Japanese manga artist born in Warabi, Saitama Prefecture, Japan and currently resides in Yokohama. She is best known for Black Butler (黒執事 Kuroshitsuji), a popular shonen manga series.

She has also written yaoi under the pen name Yanao Rock (簗緒ろく).

Appearance
Yana Toboso draws herself as a devil with a black body and horns, a white head, and a pointed tail. She has never uploaded a picture of herself, so her actual appearance is unknown.

Reviews

[Mira · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the most enjoyable reads in my life! I am speaking here about the manga in general, from chapter 1 till 120 not just this volume! The plot, maybe not the most original there is, but its handling is amazing in my opinion. The art is very beautiful. Character development is solid! The pace is just right, not lagging or rushing through events, which makes the series a pleasure to read! also, the humour is subtle and very good! What more can one ask for really?

On top of all this, the mangaka really spared no effort in researching her material; the actual, real-life historical references to the Victorian era is just a treat!

I recommend this manga really to everyone, young and old! It has drama, tragedy, humour, fantasy, mystery, crime, murder...really, everything!

I honestly cannot find one thing I dislike about the Kuroshitsuji manga, which is a first really. I am usually very critical of the material I read, so, maybe after all I am a bit biased here because I love it so much, but well...what can I do? :D

[Yasamin Seifaei · Rating 4 out of 5]

کاش سباستین رو بیشتر با گربه ها ببینم. خیلی کیوت میشه !! 3:

[Azriel Najeh · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Marc D. ✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 estrellas.

Releí estas partes después de casi 10 años (sí, DIEZ AÑOS) y la emoción estaba intacta, o quizás me emocioné más de lo que debía al llegar a las partes que no había leído por más que ya me sé todos los spoilers.
Pero es que me encanta, Kuroshitsuji me encanta, por siempre mi manga favorito.

[Tamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where to begin with the latest volume of Black Butler? As always, Yana Toboso delivers with her weird blend of modern life mixed in with the Victorian era England, this time in the form of a boy band which appears to have a nefarious agenda. The parallels made between fandoms and cults was a clever delight to read.

The humour was spot on in this addition to the series with the big extravagant reveal, to Sebastian being at his most amusing with his love of cats.
I am especially thrilled to see Lizzie and Edward around again, though I admit I fear for Lizzie's safety this time around. And it is always an absolute joy when Grelle pops in, but I admit I was most pleased to see Lady Sullivan and Herr Wolfram again. They are a pair I find as a most enjoyable addition to the series.

Lesser points about this volume aren't many, not sure I care much about Aberline being back, nor do I really care about yet another Reaper being introduced even if it is to imply that this arc is leading into something big.

All in all, it was a great volume.

[Nea Poulain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bastante buen inicio de un nuevo arcoooo. Me está gustando. Y mencionan estrellas.

[Dani St-Onge · Rating 4 out of 5]

For more reviews and bookish content: http://literarylion.ca/

Review to come.

[Yvensong · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another fabulous volume in the Black Butler series. Yana Toboso has truly proven herself to be a great story-teller and wonderful artist. The intricate artwork, alone, is enough to make it worth picking up. Add to that, the intriguing characters and an interesting story, and it's easy to understand the millions of fans drawn to Black Butler.

This volume started out a little slow for me, but I think that was more my fault. Lack of sleep after a night of rocking and rolling earth has made me pretty brain-dead today. After a little ways in, I was totally captivated by this new story arc.

[Rosenblue · Rating 5 out of 5]

lovely as it usually is...

[gabi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, I really have no clue as to where this story is going. It is too big of a mystery for me to figure out.

[Alice4170 🌙 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5 ⭐️

[DonutKnow · Rating 4 out of 5]

The start of a new arc. Things are just starting to get curious...

But I appreciate the commentary on the flip side/falseness of something being completely free- there is always a catch...

[Madhumita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beginning of this volume was a bit strange with the P4's return and odd transformation. Blavat is an interesting new character though. Looking forward to seeing where this arc goes. Of course, the scenes of Sebastian and cats are hilarious and adorable as usual.

[Holly Letson · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

This took a little while to get interesting, so I won't rate it 4*.

[Puffin Master · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible. Black butler seriously makes me shake my head sometimes, but i love it! Who would have ever thought Pop Idols and Blood Transfusions went together? It's good to see Lizzie again too

[Ash (BooksToAshes)]

Some of the visuals still bother me. It feels a little creepy at times and makes me unsure if I want to continue it.

It’s an interesting choice to give an 11 year old girl a fascination with sex, and make sexual jokes. Adding onto the other things involving underage characters (like some illustrations), I’ll have to see if it bothers me too much to continue.

Regardless, this volume was kind of funny. I never would have expected THAT to be the outcome of our prior characters. Also, I’m kinda curious about our tarot card reader, he seems like an interesting character and would like to see more of him despite his weird comments as well.

[Mahdiye HajiHosseini · Rating 3 out of 5]

اپدیت ۹ شهریور ۴۰۰-
این جلد همزمان خیلی meh و خیلی مسخره و خنده‌داره XD.
بیشتر ایجاد سوال‌هایی بود که قراره تو این ارک جوابشون پیدا شه. و مقدار زیادی جنگلولک بازی.
سباستین هم یه کم نفس‌راحت میکشه در تنهایی.

[pareidolia · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
Victorian boyband! Sebastian being distracted by cats! Ciel being disgusted by people having fun! Beautiful, detailed artwork as usual. And Grell's back!
And who would have thought that shinigami had a forensic department?

There's a lot of singing going on that doesn't translate too well into written text. I'd really like to see this animated - I hope we'll get there some day.

[Ciruelapa · Rating 5 out of 5]

.

[Reibekah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ha Sebastian came across some cats

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, is it silly? Sure. Is it a little ridiculous? ...yeah. There were definitely some CHOICES made in this volume lol
But chapter 141 was so interesting!! I'm really excited about this new arc!!

[Jaye Berry · Rating 2 out of 5]

This new arc is... interesting... to say the least. It's fun the author takes me on such a roller coaster journey because never would I have expected the ex-prefects from the school arc would return and invent boy bands. Absolutely hilarious how my ratings for each volume has gone so up and down.💀

I really wish it would stay consistent like pls be really bad or good, I'm so tired of every other story arc being gas.

Like HUH?? I know we are always on some wacky time period shit but this fucking Backstreet Boys One Direction ass group.😭 The dancing, the singing, the screaming fangirls, the POSING. The cult??

Like I fear we have reached new levels of stupid and that's saying something after we fought a WW2 tank in the last arc and spend three volumes on a cricket match before that.

Again, go one single volume without putting Sebastian and Ciel into weird as fuck situations. Sebastian suddenly jumping at him in the carriage and ripping Ciel's clothes off because he smells blood?? Surely we could have not been weird about this.

Side note I love Sebastian's little fangs.😭 They are so adorable. He's also just like me when he absolutely lost his shit at seeing a cute cat on the street.

[Lanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had forgotten just how much I absolutely adore "black butler".

XD XD XD XD XD XD XD XD XD XD XD XD

& a Victorian Era boy band? Lol. That's hilarious.

While this doesn't seem like it's going to be quite as impressive as the circus arch or the Germany one, it was still highly entertaining. :) I could be wrong though. It could turn out to be brilliant. ;D especially with the bits about the Undertaker. What the hell is up with him?!?!?!

I absolutely adore Ciel & Sebastian is hilarious. Him and the cats? Absolutely fucking perfect. :D

The art is as stunning as ever. Seriously. This is probably the most detailed artwork I've ever come across is a manga series. And the facial expressions are wonderful.

Can't wait for the next volume is printed! Damn you, yen press! I can't believe that i only get two a year! :'(

It's ok though. :) I have an manga reader app, so I can read the next few volumes for free before they're available in actual book form. The scans and translations suck, but i'lol still get the story. :) and I'll of course still buy the books, even if I can get them for free. I love my black butler (and manga in general) to much to not have physical copies. :)

Seriously, if you're a manga fan and haven't read this.... Read it! Or if you've watched the TV show. Read the series! It's so amazing and the mess of the TV show simply does NOT do it justice.

Although, I will admit that the "book of circus" adaptation was almost perfect. ;)

Recommended for all manga fans but especially if you like the darker stories like "attack on Titan" and "Tokyo ghoul" I am totally rereading the entire series very, very soon.

Happy reading all!

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hmmm... not quite sure where this new arc is going but I'm certainly intrigued! Any my baby Soma made a, very brief, appearance! Wish we could see more of him again.

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

This volume just falls flat for me as it revisits the group of proctors from the boarding school story arc. They didn't make an impression on me during their first appearance, and I recall nothing about their personalities. This volume does little to jog my memory and certainly doesn't make me care about their current situation. The series seems to have reached a status quo of solving a mystery, having an interlude and solving another mystery, with the central mythology not being advanced in any meaningful way. I'm afraid I'm losing interest in the increasingly dull adventures of the little rich boy and his demonic butler.

[Mer Mendoza (Merlyn’s Book Hoard) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of my favorite volumes, but I am definitely interested in knowing how Blavat was able to identify Sebastian and the extent of what he understands about who Sebastian is. As ever, I look forward to seeing more from Grelle and the reapers. I think the most frustrating part of this volume is that there is a lot a lot of singing, and it just didn't translate to text as well as it needed to do to remain suspenseful. I suspect if the anime ever catches up to this plot line, it has a chance to surpass the manga for once.

[Haruko Mochizuki · Rating 5 out of 5]

C.109 - C.114

C.109 - ”Aún es demasiado pronto para despertar” Entonces si fue al RCiel al que le dio algo de beber, ¿Ciel está conectado por ser gemelos? ¿Es por aquello que mencionaron los Shinigamis?

Regresaron los ex prefectos, no se porque esa reunión me trae un mal presentimiento, no se muestran esas cosas a la ligera, incluso la presentación de Sr. Bravat, a este punto, está claro que todo tiene un motivo detrás, y que a parte esté en la portada ya dice que será importante…

Ya decía yo que era raro, ahora con la llegada de la carta de la Reina y la desaparición de Lizzie deja bastante claro que algo está sucediendo, y no se si Bravat sea el único causante o no lo es…

C.110 - Después de unos cuantos spoilers que me comí por accidente, lo que le dijo a Lizzie tiene tanto sentido, aunque claro, sin saber lo que sucede, es fácil no entender lo que dice e incluso encontrarle otro significado.

Tiene algo que ver con haber dado su sangre no? ¿Brillo? Incluso su mirada cambió desde que terminó de decirle aquello… no creo que el sea del todo humano, o al menos no uno normal. Incluso Sebastian lo dijo, nadie de ese lugar parece tener algún tipo de deseo o sentimiento negativo que uno suele tener.

QUIEN ES ESTE TIPO!? HAN DESCUBIERTO A SEBASTIAN!!!

C.111 - ¿Lo hizo a propósito para separar a Ciel de Sebastian? Que no Sirius es una estrella gemela? sirius A y sirius B, siendo esta última muy pequeña, y al estar al lado de la primera es completamente eclipsada por el brillo de su hermana...Maldita sea Yana realmente piensa en todo.

Los amuletos también son algo sospechosos, se noto desde antes y lo vuelven a recalcar.

"esta presencia es de... Un gato!" jaja pensé que Sebastian sabía que era el Adivino o había sentido la presencia de algo más hasta que vi al gato jaja no miento al decir que extrañaba esos momentos de Sebastian con los gatos, es que, su expresión!!! no puedo jaja

C.112 - ¿Que estoy leyendo?
Idols del siglo XIX

Sin duda hay algo raro aquí, por anteriores arcos, los ex prefectos no se comportarían de esa forma ni cantarían con show y todo…

Sebastian rechazado por el gato que prefirió el salmón jaja

Aunque ya había visto ese panel antes de Sebastian bailando, no sabía que venía de este arco, igualmente me sorprendió. Y las caras de Ciel y el hermano de Lizzie (olvidé el nombre) jaja
No puedo esperar a que animen esto, con suerte luego del Arco de la Bruja Verde…

Un mensaje en las canciones?? es un culto lava cerebros, con estrategias de marketing y con canciones subliminales?

Los amuletos son distintos, al menos el de Ciel lo es… Entonces, los distintos amuletos, o en este caso, las estrellas que dijo que te protegen es cada una de las puertas???

C.113 - Me encanta y preocupa como cada vez más hacen referencia a una posible guerra…

Ciel va a tener que ir solo a la reunión, lo cual es algo preocupante. Ay no, jaja pobre Ciel las vistas que está teniendo jaja
¿Un olor? ¿Somnífero? Y por su puesto Sebastian aprovecharía para estar con gatos… me da risa el gato arañando su cara jaja

Ahora ese comentario sobre que era un culto tampoco es tan raro, los cuerpos encontrados y según las apariencias que tenían, ahora si me preocupa más Ciel… No creo que las muertes sean al azar entre los que van a las reuniones...

Por un momento pensé que las ventanas eran similares a cuando apareció el Undertaker dándole algo a Ciel pero luego de regresar me dí cuenta que son distintas, aún así…

¿¡Lizzie!? ¿No poder salvarlo? No lo noté al inicio, y después de terminar el capítulo lo sospeché así que regresé este panel para verlo mejor y es genial como ya nos mostraron al verdadero Ciel y no muchos se dieron cuenta, pues uno tiene el flequillo hacia la izquierda y el otro hacia la derecha… Entonces Ciel si está de alguna manera conectado a su hermano, RCiel?

A todos los duermen… Me asusté, igual algo no se siente bien…

Hay… son demasiados… cuerpos hermosamente dejados, sigo pensando en Undertaker pero no se si los ex prefectos se verían envueltos con él otra vez, a menos que los engañe…

C.114 - Ahora se nota más la falta de Undertaker para obtener información de los muertos…

¿¡Tomaron su sangre mientras dormía!? Ahora realmente creo que Undertaker está involucrado, la habrá tomado para RCiel??? No puedo con la reacción de Sebastian, hasta me puse alerta jaja

¡WOLFRAM! ¡Sullivan! Sus inventos, no puedo jaja se me sigue haciendo tierna aún jaja
No ha pasado mucho que acabe el arco pasado y ya la extrañaba.

“Sácate la ropa y ven aquí. Después de todo ya nos conocemos íntimamente” jaja sus ocurrencias y perversiones aún impresionan jaja

Una transfusión!!! Que bueno que explicaron que en ese entonces sacar sangre era algo raro, me confundí que creyeran que lo drogaron aunque se entiende porque pensaron eso… Entonces si es para RCiel!!? Y los cuerpos fueron drenados? no se notaría?

Entonces esto básicamente es una extracción ilegal de sangre, ahora tiene sentido la lectura de fortuna con la sangre, la cosa de las estrellas es para saber el grupo sanguíneo? Siendo Ciel O- como uno de los más raros...

Othello, un nuevo Shinigami, a parte hay un departamento forense, ahora realmente me interesa saber que otros departamentos hay, e incluso quién es el Jefe de los Shinigamis…

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not completely sure what to expect from this arc, but over the past few volumes - I’ve learned to never doubt Yana Toboso.

[cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

New arc.
Music hall yg memberikan hiburan baru untuk semua orang dari semua kalangan, termasuk peramal keren bernama Blavat. Tp terlalu banyak keanehan di situ....

Lalu Lizzie menghilang.

Aku suka premis cerita arc ini, semoga tidak mengecewakan... #kapanterbitlanjutannya

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed it this time around more than the first time I read it. Probably because I didn't inhale it in one sitting but allowed myself to experience it over several days. I totally get the stuff with Elizabeth now with hindsight.