Black Butler volume 27 continues right where the previous left off, showing the tragedy of the Phantomhive family. If you haven’t read that one yet, go buy that one before this one. Most fans will almost certainly want both of them, but this one is a step down. (And again, last time I’ll place this warning: huge spoilers.)
The truly big revolution — that the young boy we have been following isn’t the true Ciel, and somehow the real Ciel has returned — isn’t tackled here. Obviously, based on the previous volume, this one was going to be flashback-heavy, but I had figured by the end, we’d check back in with the two Ciels. Being a full flashback volume isn’t inherently bad, but many of the events depicted here we’ve seen in part before or have pieced together. But now those things are shown in full detail.
Full, horrible detail. Black Butler has never shied away from people’s depravities in its many arcs, but watching things happen to the protagonist is going to evoke a stronger reaction than with other characters. The manga stays within its target demographic, but whether it’s legs seen in certain positions or butterflies metaphorically mobbing the twins, readers will get a nauseating feeling when seeing what happened in this month. This isn’t gratuitous violence; Black Butler consistently delivers on horror you cannot avert your eyes from, and this one is a standout on that front.
The story here ends with a short chapter about (fake) Ciel entering into a covenant with Sebastian. Again, we knew most of this information, but the chapter elaborates on the terms of the contract. However, the length (13 pages) was a disappointing note to end on. It felt like the volume sizzled out on any momentum it had.
At least it was interesting to see the devil naturally. It (he?) is not bound by the covenant to Ciel and his role as a butler, but yet we still see the “Sebastian” in the devil. Cruel enough to rub the fact that true Ciel is dead, tricky enough to try to con his contractor into a bad wish, yet off-beat enough to have his “personal aesthetics” against two contractors at once. Seeing the young boy trying to find ways to outwit a devil under such extreme circumstances makes me excited to see the eventual ending of the series, to see what happens when Sebastian tries to claim Ciel’s soul.
The main purpose of this volume is to explain why the younger twin took his older brother’s name. It does a fairly good job on that front, but his real name is still a mystery. My guess is that’s another thing to be saved for the series finale, whenever that is. Considering there’s still so much left to be revealed and how good these last few volumes have been, I’m not too anxious on seeing everything wrapped up soon.