25th May 2010

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Ciel Phantomhive (Kuroshitsuji)

I admit, going to Cosplay Party 2.0 and seeing the multiple Ciel cosplayers got me to do this. So, we’re gonna go into the head of Ciel Phantomhive, one of the main characters of the hit series, Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler. He comes off as emotionless, but protective of others when he needs to be.

Why is he the way he is? Ciel has experienced things that most children should never go through. He was a victim of child slave labor. Ciel received a lot of emotional trauma from being a slave and ended up swearing a blood oath with a demonic butler named Sebastian Michaelis. In exchange for protection from Sebastian, Ciel offered his soul as compensation.

In essence, Ciel is a master of multitasking. He runs a company, attends fun events, and solves mysteries all over England. Him being able to run a company can be an after-effect of his time as a slave. When you’re a slave, you learn many things such as:

-Exploiting others for profit (Ciel has no problems of using others as pawns)
-Insensitivity to others (During a murder case, Ciel didn’t seem to care too much about the victims. He only cared about catching the killer.)
-“Strong slave” favoritism. (Ciel looks down upon his staff because of their lower class status at times and favors Sebastian.)
-Childlike dependency on others. (In a recent storyline, Ciel meets a man who brainwashed children for his own purposes. Ciel was greatly affected by this due to his time as a slave and decides to set the children “free” by killing them.)
-Achieving & maintaining efficiency & effectiveness at all costs. (Ciel’s venture into a Food Division is a good example of this.)

Is being a slave a good thing? No, it’s not. At the same time, if you get good support & meet some good people, then something good does come out of it. However, society does tries to portray people in a bad light, which in a sense, can be “slavery”.

Ciel probably decided to do all the things that he does, because that’s how you get ahead in society. Society controls everything. You are a “slave” to society, no matter what. Slavery creates a lack of upward mobility. I think the media provides preconceived notions about people a lot and that’s why we look down on them. I believe there is a sense of “slavery” even to this day and that’s why we have some real-life Ciel Phantomhives out there. Children see/hear things from others, buy into that propaganda, and become elitist to escape “slavery”.

Children need to be taught that not everything is black and white. There is some gray in-between and that gray can make a huge difference in their development as people.

Tagged: Yana Tobosoanimemangapsychology of slaveryshonen ganganmanga psychologyBlack ButlerKuroshitsujiCiel Phantomhive