Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd. (株式会社スクウェア・エニックス・ホールディングス) TYO: 9684 is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series. Its headquarters are located in the Shinjuku Bunka Quint Building in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo.
I can't really say "I finished reading AND understanding everything" since, unfortunately, this beautiful guide is in Japanese only and the translation is not out yet -or ever-. Nevertheless, this little book is a must for all KS fans. I purchased the hardcover edition and it is so pretty! At the beginning there is a tiny little poster of the same drawing in the cover, full color.
The guide has these chapters:
1. Characters: which are Sebastian, Ciel, Tanaka-san, Meyrin, Finny, Bardroy, Madame Red, Grell, William, Undertaker, Elizabeth, Lau and his sister, some members of the police, some members of the Circus (bleh), the guy from the mafia Azurro, Agni and Soma.
[I almost forgot about Ciel's past... and it made me wonder again if he suffered from sexual abuse when he was a child? the night when his parents were killed... please don't, Toboso-sensei, don't make it happen. But if he was "humiliated'... hmph, I don't even want to go there.]
2. Art works from Toboso-sensei: sketches by her own handwriting, and WOW, are they amazing or what. It is obvious she had so much fun drawing the clothes, their different postures, the hairstyles. I personally love Sebastian with a 7:3 hairdo
3. Making ...: which is the BHS of Toboso-sensei and her editor. She looks so cute and funny in her "demon" form.
4. Variety: quizzes and a little game about the series. Never before I wanted to read and understand fluently Japanese so much like I did this time. I am dying to play the game and answer the quiz but I could understand only a few of them, and it does not work because at the end of the game, you can see which "type" you are (i.e., Ciel type, Soma type, etc.)
My favorite quotes:
Sebastian Michaelis:When he gets tired of dealing with humans... it's healing time with cat's paws. Because of the soft, cute cats that doesn't exist in the demon world, Sebastian thinks that life in the human world isn't all that bad either. Incidentally, Ciel's cheek feels identical to a cat's paw.
Grell Sutcliffe: (when he was asked to leave a message to Sebastian) Last time we finished half way, so next time we'll go all the way. I'll longingly wait for it *blows kiss*! I love Grell and his masochists, crazy manners Poor Grell does really want to be a girl, he admits he wants a sex change O_O
I am sure this guide was very useful for the musicals. There is a -mouthwatering- drawing of Sebastian and Grell, "Aka vs. Kuro", just like there is a song in KuroMyu I (which was awesome, btw).
**Once there is a translation of this book, I'll change my rating to 5 stars**.
Black butler! "I'm simply one hell of a butler." is the quote in this Graphic Novel. It is well known in japan, but here not really so get other people to read it. this book is mostly out of fan-dome.If your the type to see a demon as a butler (sorry for typo's that i may have missed.)anyways.. then you may want to look for this as well as the anime. (I wouldn't want to watch the anime first it's confusing.) Though this would be more for a muter audience, basically ages 15 and up please don't show kids lower then that age other then that you should have fun time.
Ich liebe ja Black Butler und finde auch die Extras dazu mega toll, aber dieses Buch muss nicht sein. Es gibt eine Beschreibung zu den uns bekannten Charakteren mit kleinen Anekdoten. Es folgt eine sehr schöne Skizzen Galerie, ein kleines Making Of und dann ein wenig von allem. Das Quiz am Ende fand ich sehr gut gemacht.
Ich bin trotzdem der Meinung das der Preis nicht der Qualität entspricht. Es war einfach nichts neues dabei, es waren alles Sachen die man schon über die Figuren wusste. Tode Figuren hatten mehr Seiten als lebendige, ich würde lieber mehr über den Undertaker erfahren als über jemanden der schon längst keine Rolle mehr spielt!!
Ein absolutes muss für jeden Black Butler Fan! In diesem Buch erfährt man nicht nur über die Hauptcharaktere etwas, sondern auch über Charaktere die nur einmal oder selten aufgetreten sind. Das finde ich persönlich sehr spannend :) Die Skizzen von der Mangaka und die Entstehung der Charaktere zu sehen ist einfach nur toll! Auch das Quiz am Ende und der Persönlichkeitstest sind gelungen! Ich habe herausgefunden, dass ich wie Prinz Soma bin :D haha Für die Aufmachung hat dieses Buch 10 Sterne verdient!