「その執事、入場」 (Sono Shitsuji, Nyūjō)
“That Butler, Entry”

Well, finally, the elephant has a use, as a fire truck of sorts. My question is, where are the teachers and headmasters in all of this? The only one I see is Sebastian, and he’s the one who helped start the inferno. Come to think of it, I haven’t really seen any other instructors. Which I suppose could be because the focus of the arc is on Ciel manipulating his way through the student body to solve the mystery rather than a daily slice of school life. A mystery which only gets thicker than the smoke pouring out of Purple House. Not only are the boys nowhere in sight, Sebastian can’t even detect their souls, meaning that Purple House was just a red herring. Something is certainly fishy, with Violet protesting the fire brigade’s entry and the secret P4 huddle. The only thing left to try is a direct confrontation with the Head Master.

If at first you don’t succeed, then try, try again. Indeed, Ciel gets his turn to try again after the literal dumpster fire smoking out the missing boys. Ciel’s second chance comes in the form of the cricket competition, wherein the MVP of the tournament gets a special Midnight Tea Party with the ever elusive Head Master. Unfortunately for Ciel, Blue House’s brains are bigger than their brawn and they never win, not to mention, his physique is on the weaker side. It’s not like he can even predict how the MVP will be chosen, as the criteria changes every year- the only thing to go off of is that the boy must demonstrate gentlemanly behavior. I hope we get to meet the Head Master sooner rather than later, he sounds like one hell of a whacky dude, which Yanase is skilled at creating in her works.

Ciel gets chosen right off the bat to be on the cricket team for the big day, thanks to Sebastian putting in a good word. I had to chuckle at what a stubborn booger Ciel is “I hate to praise Sebastian, but…”. I just love the sickening sweet act– you can tell how much Ciel hates doing it. I say this all the time, but I will never get tired of Sakamoto Maaya’s brilliant performance as Ciel in all his Jekyll and Hyde glory.

Kuroshitsuji tips it’s top hat to Harry Potter yet again, with an Inter-House Tournament, which of course, isn’t complete without its own goblet of fire. The team procession was fun to watch, each house tapping into their respective quirks. The Round Table- I mean- Green House leads the way in knightly armor. As the romantic philanderer, Redmond and his Scarlet team naturally come out in Henry the 8th attire– though in this game, it’ll be balls rather than heads that roll. Prince Soma makes into Scarlet House’s final line up due to his cricket prowess, which itself was originally brought to his country by England, so things come full circle. Purple House channel their weird vibes, showing off their prime Death Eater forms. Sapphire house ends the parade, looking like they raided Great Grandfather’s attic for some 18th century digs, with cool owls.

When family runs amok at social functions, embarrassing stories will follow suit. Bluewer’s sisters seem hellbent on humiliating the poor chap as much as they can- there’s no way to escape from that many sisters. Of course, Lizzie and her brother could give the sisters a run for their money with the scene they make over Ciel. I find the whole sister complex thing annoying- just shut up dude. Lizzie for her part can be hard to tolerate at times, but I also find her intriguing because her frivolity belies a different, menacing side. Hell, she knocked out her athletic brother- the girl’s clearly stronger than she looks, and I wish we’d see more of that. If they developed that, that would have some interesting possibilities as the reverse of Ciel, with Lizzie soft on the outside and tough on the inside.

At every sizeable party, there’s always that select person or two you absolutely want to avoid at all cost, with all of the awkward ducking and hiding that entails. For Ciel, it’s Aleister Druitt who always pops up at these sorts of functions. Not surprisingly, he also has connections here, as the uncle as Redmond, though he’s the last person who should be allowed to attend a school event, creep that he is. For Sebastian, it’s Lady Scotney and her sharp tongue. However sour her attitude may be, she does have the sense to not blow their cover. Lizzie however, is a walking hazard- discretion a foreign word to her.

The ending leaves us with an “Oh wow” moment, courtesy of a flashback revelation that Ciel’s father also attended the hallowed halls of Weston- in the same Sapphire house as Ciel, and just as enthused about the rules. It doesn’t take a genius to guess that the Sapphire Miracle of Blue House’s only win had something to do with Father Phantomhive.

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