Shelf Challenge Review: Black Butler

This year, I've taken part in Teacher-Librarian Colleen Graves' Shelf Challenge. How it works: you choose a shelf in your library that you want re-acquaint yourself with and read as much as you can in the month of April.

 

I decided to try a shelf in the Manga area as I run a popular Manga club every week and find it hard to keep up with all of the material.

 

This week I read through a few volumes of Black Butler.

It follows Ciel Phantomhive, a 13 year old business prodigy and head of a rich family.

 

Tragedy strikes when Ciel's parents are murdered and he is tortured by those responsible.

 

As an act of revenge, Ciel makes a pact with a demon named Sebastian. Acting as Ciel's butler, Sebastian will help track down the criminals that took Ciel's loved ones away.

 

There's just one catch. There's always a catch.

 

After Sebastian has disposed of the murderers, Ciel has agreed that Sebastian will be given permission to consume his soul. It's right there in the contract, it's kind of like when you buy a pair of swimming trunks because they looked awesome in the store but then you get them home and they make you look like something even a shark would reject biting into. You try to return them but the store won't take them back because the girl at the counter knows you've tried them on and she won't touch them with a ten foot pole.

 

Ciel & Sebastian's contract is that rock-solid, there's no getting out of it.

 

I wouldn't recommend this to younger readers, but there's enough suspense, comically-styled violence and comic relief to keep older readers coming back for more. I should know, because it's probably the most popular manga series we have.