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juushikaI finished Kuroshitsuji II yesterday. I would say "review coming," but as soon as I do that I jinx myself. I do have thoughts, though—the most finicky and least relevant but nonetheless pertinent of which is all about plot holes. Riddle me this: If a demon's contract is so binding that Sebastian is bound permanently to Ciel* when trapped in the quandary of Ciel's "you are my butler until you take my soul" and "now I have no soul," how was Claude able to kill Alois and harvest his soul (nevermind that he didn't outright om nom nom** it) before fulfilling the contract? And if Claude was able to do so, if he was able to terminate the contract and kill Alois as if he were just any regular mortal, just as long as he didn't om nom Alois's soul, isn't the contract between Sebastian and Ciel terminatable? Moreover, isn't it already terminated? The contract was that Sebastian would aid Ciel until he had achieved, and in the matter of achieving, his revenge, and in exchange Ciel would forfeit his soul for Sebastian to consume. Not only has Ciel already achieved his revenge, Ciel no longer has a soul and so he cannot fulfill his part of the bargain, and so the bargain should naturally dissolve.
Don't get me wrong, the idea of ageless demon Ciel and his eternally-bound demon butler is a damn fascinating one, but given the events of the series it just doesn't make sense. More often than I'd like, it feels like Kuroshitsuji II is governed half by the rule of cool*** and half by "we're making it up as we go!" The former is all fine and good, and sometimes results in sheer awesomeness (thy name is Teggan Toppa Gurren Lagann), but the latter leads to plot holes, especially in a series where rules and contracts abound—and those holes make the other motivations and mechanics a little too transparent, a little too visibly desperate. "This would be so awesome! It's awesome, right? You like it? Do you like it as much as you did the first one? What if we bring back Mr. X? What if we make him a demon? No it doesn't quite make sense, but it sure does look cool! Oh god please say you like it."
It looks awesome-cool, Kuroshitsuji, but that's tainted by your desperation to hear me say so.
Criticism comes easier and makes a better post; you don't get the line by line commentary of the parts which I thought were intriguing and skillfully wrought—like Alois, all of vulnerable little Alois; like lovelorn Sebastain, and what it meant for his character and his relationships. You get my ranting, instead. Kuroshitsuji II was worth my time to watch, and I should write about why. But oh, did it also have problems.
* I now have no problem spelling Ciel's name. Goddamn you, stupid lame mnemonic.
** Even when talking about this show in person, I call it "om nom soul om nom." You'd think things like Faustian contracts would necessitate more serious words like "consume," but I just ... I just can't. I don't even know why.
*** Yes, I do live my life via TV Tropes.
Don't get me wrong, the idea of ageless demon Ciel and his eternally-bound demon butler is a damn fascinating one, but given the events of the series it just doesn't make sense. More often than I'd like, it feels like Kuroshitsuji II is governed half by the rule of cool*** and half by "we're making it up as we go!" The former is all fine and good, and sometimes results in sheer awesomeness (thy name is Teggan Toppa Gurren Lagann), but the latter leads to plot holes, especially in a series where rules and contracts abound—and those holes make the other motivations and mechanics a little too transparent, a little too visibly desperate. "This would be so awesome! It's awesome, right? You like it? Do you like it as much as you did the first one? What if we bring back Mr. X? What if we make him a demon? No it doesn't quite make sense, but it sure does look cool! Oh god please say you like it."
It looks awesome-cool, Kuroshitsuji, but that's tainted by your desperation to hear me say so.
Criticism comes easier and makes a better post; you don't get the line by line commentary of the parts which I thought were intriguing and skillfully wrought—like Alois, all of vulnerable little Alois; like lovelorn Sebastain, and what it meant for his character and his relationships. You get my ranting, instead. Kuroshitsuji II was worth my time to watch, and I should write about why. But oh, did it also have problems.
* I now have no problem spelling Ciel's name. Goddamn you, stupid lame mnemonic.
** Even when talking about this show in person, I call it "om nom soul om nom." You'd think things like Faustian contracts would necessitate more serious words like "consume," but I just ... I just can't. I don't even know why.
*** Yes, I do live my life via TV Tropes.
