Black Butler, Vol. 32

黒執事 [Kuroshitsuji] #32

by Yana Toboso, Tomo Kimura (Translator)

Baldo and Lau have uncovered the blood collection scheme at the Athena Sanitorium for Former Servicemen in record time, but the situation is not as cut-and-dry as they had assumed. While chief nurse Ada wants nothing more than to wash her hands of the whole affair, her duty to give the best care possible to her fellow veterans keeps her shackled to the Aurora Society. After all, the atrocities of war and the guilt of survival are heavy burdens to bear―ones that Baldo himself knows all too well…

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

178 pages, Paperback

First published July 27, 2022

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

[Victoria ✮⋆˙ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I miss when the chapters were longer than like 10 pages…still though the art is what keeps me coming back and seeing the backstories of these characters we’ve been following for so long is fulfilling

[Ashima Ahmed · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished everything now what am I supposed to do? These last few chapters were so devastating. Learning about Baldo's history wrecked me.

[tig :3 · Rating 5 out of 5]

actually embarrassing how many tears ive shed over this manga -,,-

[TheBookishHobbit · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like the series is starting to stall out a little bit here. It has been nice to get the backstory on the some of the main cast, however, I feel like this is being drawn out way too slow. As if the author may still not really know how to end her series. Like she is trying to give herself as much time as possible to come up with a conclusion. I honestly don't foresee this series going beyond this current arc. Either way, the story was entertaining and the art was beautiful. I look forward as always to the next volume and I really hope she does not end up not finishing the series. I love this series and would hate to see it die out.

[María Amparo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seguimos con Bart, nuestro soldado cocinero. Él es el protagonista de este volumen...
Continua la lucha contra la sociedad Aurora, y como en los dos tomos anteriores, se nos presenta un muy interesante personaje femenino: ADA. La narración alterna el presente con flashbacks sobre flashbacks de Bart, sin decaer. No es el más interesante de los tomos, pero engancha y nos ha dejado la acción en un "to be continued" que nos obliga a esperar. Por desgracia, los tomos no salen con la frecuencia que una desearía.

[Ash (BooksToAshes)]

We learn more about the cook in this volume (despite the cover not being of him)

Honestly, I almost cried at the end of this one. This series is getting darker in the later half and I'm liking it, but it's also giving me a little emotional damage.

[marianina]

Bard is dilf material

(Finally catching up but it's been so little progress in the plot since I was last reading it in 2020? which is kind of disappointing)

[~ Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Se non ci sono drammi e storie strappalacrime non ci piacciono 😆

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Baldo's backstory is here for your enjoyment. I feel like Yana Toboso sees the end of the series and has decided to make sure we know the history of the side characters. That said, it is very interesting to me and I am enjoying it. The story is not moving at the pace it was before, but there is lots to still enjoy. The art and character development is clutch.

[Nea Poulain · Rating 2 out of 5]

Qué les voy a decir, lo de la enfermera y el man del ejército no está siendo mi arco favorito sólo deseo que YA POR FAVOR SE ACABE LA PUTA MADRE.
Luego hay una parte medio racista CARAJO. Esperemos que mejore pronto.

[ollie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hopefully Ada can join the Phantomhive crew 🙏 She’s a little misguided at the moment, but so were the Phantomhive servants. She’d be a great doctor alongside Sullivan!

[Hey! Lucia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lloré con la historia de baldo. Siempre voy a amar el ver a los sirvientes convivir y sus primeras experiencias dentro de la mansión. Extraño ver a Ciel, ojala en el próximo tomo pueda verlo.

[Anastasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

SO SAD BARD OH MY BABY

[Doc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Breaking Point

Continuing the backstory of Baldo I do have a warning for sensitive readers. Like others members of the Phantomhive household Baldo's past is one with a dark origin when it comes down to how he became so efficient at his combat skills and may cause some discomfort though by now tragedy is kind of the bread and butter of the series just as some humor is good to diffuse difficult subject matter and plenty of action is available to distract the readers.

Now with his story told Baldo is offering Ada a chance to avoid being one of his latest victims as the Phantomhive's continue to put the squeeze on the Aurora Society's illicit blood gathering activities. With time running out and a potential disagreement in the works between partners we are left with a cliffhanger that once again I have to wait for, buy the individual chapters, or go fishing on one of the pirate boards still illegally hosting chapters that have come out in Japan and got fan translated. Considering doing the last thing will probably just lead to new cliffhangers I think I will wait for the legit professional translations.

As for the art Yana Toboso is as amazing as ever depicting everything from serene farm life to bloody war and I particularly impressed by Baldo's breakdown as his happy memories are shattered like glass even as his old life was burned away by the flames that took everything from him. Pretty powerful stuff considering and I do enjoy a chance to look into the past of characters from the series but I am looking forward to seeing how the regular story will turn out from here. :)

[Jaye Berry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Damn of course Baldo got that tragic backstory.😭 We learn all about it and his first days at Phantomhive manor where like everyone else, he struggled to do his work while Sebastian tries his best to train.

Sebastian is so father I'm sorry. He birthed and raised these servants himself.😭

Is there a character at the manor without a tragic backstory?? Goddamn this was dark and I take it back, I no longer want the backstories of the servants!!! But still, very good to finally learn about them after all this time, even though devastating.

I really miss when the chapters were longer. They seem so impossibly short now it started to annoy me like half the time it continues the scene anyway so why didn't you just keep going sis.😭 I fully believe how this series has been running for over 15 years like damn lets get to the point already.

I think I am just getting stressed because I am nearing the end of the published volumes and this arc doesn't seem anywhere close to finishing up.

[**Sognatrice di libri** · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finalmente ricomincia a riprendersi ma soprattutto si spiega il passato degli altri personaggi che mi hanno sempre incuriosito.

[Vic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Od tego momentu jestem na bieżąco z Kuroszem! Sukces!

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve really enjoyed these volumes that have the Phantomhive servant’s backstories. These backstories really add another layer to the story as a whole.

[Jeżor · Rating 5 out of 5]

To było traumatyczne... Boli

[Phantomº]

BLACK BUTLER SEASON 4 ANIME ANNOUNCEMENT
So yep, have to catch up with the manga.
Bard's backstory is interesting, sad and I was afraid that it was pro-colonial for a second but thankfully it is not. Even after all these years, the art is one of the greatest encountered in a manga.

[Morganeuh · Rating 5 out of 5]

J'aime beaucoup ce nouvel arc. Il change beaucoup des autres arc qu'on a pu avoir . On est plus centré sur les personnages secondaires et on voit leur passé en profondeur 💓. J'espère quand même que cette enquête permettra de s'approcher de la fin du manga parce que j'ai un peu l'impression que le manga s'étire sans fin et vu le rythme de parution des tomes on y est encore dans 10 ans voir plus...

[M. Langlinais · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. I actually enjoyed learning Baldo’s story, but found the jump back to the “present” a bit jarring. There is such a gap between volumes that I don’t always remember where we left off. And there’s so little of the current story tacked in to the end of this volume that it doesn’t make much progress at all.

[Nott · Rating 4 out of 5]

я сохранила ВСЕ страницы

[KSena]

Oh, Baldo… Dearest man, your backstory broke my heart. *wipes tears*

I’ve read every single one of the Black Butler books so far, and it just keeps going darker. How is it even possible? Peak darkness might have been the 27th book (gawd damn), but it still keeps in the dark territory for sure.

It’s fascinating how Toboso gets away with it, for sure.

When thinking back on it, the story has grown really really dark the more we find out, the more we read. It was quite a lighthearted goth story at the start. But now, with the knowledge we have, to think back that all THIS was in the background? Wow…

Anyway, Baldo. Poor poor Baldo. What a backstory. We knew he was an American soldier, and as any history buff would know, the colonization of America was a violent affair. As it should. Native americans were nearly wiped out. And Baldo, as it turns out, sure has a lot of those lives on his conscience. Who knew that the poor man had a family once? That he was a father? That would explain why he is so attached to Ceil. Not only did he give Baldo a reason, a purpose, he is about the same size as his kid when said kid died.

And with so much blood on his hands, it’s no wonder he fits in with the others in the Phantomhive household. He is though so very very human, despite all that. He has no superpowers or anything. He just happened to be a very very very good soldier who is very very good at killing. Baldo does remind me a lot about Rambo in that way...

Lovely look on Baldo. I really love that character.

[Kastie Pavlik · Rating 4 out of 5]

With the amount of time that goes between volumes and the amount of backstory we're getting in recent volumes, I don't remember what the heck is going on in the present day. When this one opened with Baldo's origin story, I was frustrated and thinking that these back stories would've made much more sense earlier in the series as we were getting to know the characters instead of tens of volumes later. I still feel that way, but the slow start picked up and it got more interesting (and fun and tragic), and then it shifted to the present and I distantly remembered the current basic premise. I also noticed a change in the art style. Still beautiful, but Sebastian seems a bit rounder in the face and hair. It's subtly different. This is a series that could go on for forever in many directions. I'm glad we're finally learning about the staff. However, I feel like we should've gotten these stories much earlier and with better integration so that they don't take over most of the book and disrupt the story flow as they are now. All that said, Baldo's backstory is very believable and his the feels, and it all rings true to his character as we've known him thus far.

[Mindi · Rating 5 out of 5]

My heart. Black Butler is pulling out all the stops lately, and this volume definitely had me shedding a few tears.

This is my final binge volume. I am now caught up to the series in real time, and now I have to wait for volume 33 to be released in English. And I cannot stress enough how sad that makes me. This series has been so fun to binge this year, and I had no clue that I would be caught up this quickly. I also didn't expect to love this series as much as I do. The character development is fantastic, and this volume is a great example of that. We get Baldo's back story here, and I seriously cried. That's the wonderful thing about this series. Baldo has been a regular character since the very beginning, and so as a reader you already like him and are invested in him. Then Toboso throws a gut punch 32 volumes later and reveals how he ended up at Phantomhive Manor. This is fantastic storytelling, and I cannot wait for the next volume.

[Mathou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fourneaux infernaux

Quelle joie de reprendre cette série!
Nous voilà replongés dans l’univers de ce majordome particulier. L’histoire continue autour de l’institut pour anciens combattants, dans lequel se fait la prise illégale de leur sang.
Le récit n’avance pas beaucoup puisque, comme dans les derniers tomes, il nous est plutôt proposé de découvrir les personnalités des différents serviteurs du manoir, et ce qui les a amenés à prendre cette vie de domestique.
Dans ce tome, c’est au tour du cuisinier : l’histoire est drôle, touchante, tragique, on passe par tous les registres. Les planches de dessin avec l’atmosphère ainsi que les mouvements et expressions des personnages sont toujours aussi belles.
Déjà hâte de connaître la suite!

[K.S. Trenten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much of this book was about Baldo/Baldoroy; how he came to the Phantomhive manor, the development of his rivalry with Sebastian, his friendship with Finny and Meyrin, along with how it all ties in with his past in America. Taking on a slightly different feel to match Baldo’s perspective, it felt closer to a shounen manga than previous volumes, without deviating from this series’s particular tone. I found the observation of breasts a little icky, yet it was perfectly in keeping with the character. We got away from the action of the main storyline to delve deep into Baldo, but we returned to that plot with an energizing cliffhanger which left eager to find out what happens next.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the Sanatorium arc might be my favourite so far with the different missions between the 4 teams, between Baldo's backstory and both Lau and Baldo being the most interesting characters out of all the supporting characters, although I really enjoyed Meyrin's backstory from the previous arc. However I don't love the current arc with the orphanage as it really does feel like Promised Neverland. I do enjoy Finny and Snake a lot and the stakes being higher because of the callbacks to the Circus arc.

[Veronica Ika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Baldo's Past
Before serving the Phantomhive estate, Baldo was known as the "immortal soldier," a title earned through his military prowess and resilience.

Transition to a New Role
The narrative explores what led Baldo to leave behind his life as a soldier and trade his musket for a chef's knife, becoming a loyal servant and chef at the Phantomhive estate.

Mission and Memories
As Baldo undertakes a mission at a hospital for veterans, it triggers memories from his past, bringing to the surface his experiences and the reasons behind his dramatic career shift.