Kuroshitsuji 黒執事 One demon butler and two evil angels
As said, I've been taking a seminar on Evil this semester and, a few minutes ago, I've finished watching Kuroshitsuji (the first series, at least). In this anime the play on christian religious symbols as are angels and demons, and the attempt to use them in a creative way, non the less seems to fit into a tendency which is already very common these days. From Evangelion to the movie of Constatine, comics like Hellboy or falling down to trash-TV like Supernatural. These days it just seems cooler to be on the devil's side rather than trying to be an angel. But what does it mean to be on the devil's side, and what's cool about it? In many cases, it would seem to be a simple reversal. A reversal which in the cases of Evangelion and Constantine, however, does still follow most of the premises of the original christian discourse and only points out rather twisted conclusions of it. In the case of Kuroshitsuji, I'd say the reversal is not symmetric because the logic itself is not consequent, even somewhat ignorant towards the original christian discourse. Yeah, I can't say it's a great anime, but I can't say I didn't enjoy it either.
As a forespan to my main argument, first of all one can notice that western culture in general is represented only through a limited knowledge. This results funny in most animes, which become rich cross-cultural phenomenons¹. It's not that great in the case of Kuroshitsuji, though, because the series itself also does a great deal of boasting about its relation to high and classic western culture. Sebastian teaches Ciel to play chess, to dance waltz, swordplay, and his desserts are neatly presented as a parade of culinary culture. He also claims to be a perfect buttler untill the dire end.
For that very reason, it's quite painful to see him throwing plates and silver forks to opera music, a scene which is rightout vulgar and corny. The series is full of corny gags which m
ight seem to "lighten" the gloomy gothic atmosphere - but what do you create a gloomy atmosphere for if you're going to crash it yourself? Other scenes out of place include the mere existence of a plural Shinigami federation instead of a single Grimm Reaper, the fact that Ciel is actually a girl's name, the overly motherly attitude of the lady "adopts" Aberline, the constant preference of Japanese, Chinese or even Indian themes instead of consistent English references, the nationality, tea and goofy transformations of Tanaka-san, and of course the bad-taste parade which are characters like Maylin, Pluto and Ciel's fiancée. In general, I can't shake the feeling Sebastian and his master are rather a pair of Japanese wandering England in cosplay.
Now to my main point, which is how this reflects at the level of religious and moral discourse. For one thing, then, the basic relation on which the story rests is that of a pact with the devil. Or, more specifically, with a demon.
Of course, it couldn't be THE Devil in an animistic world model like the Japanese. On the other hand, if the most classic referent for the pact with the devil in western culture is Goethe's Faust, in this story we can also find that Mephisto describes himself as "a part of that power"(v.1335), and God also talks to him as just one "of all the spirits that deny"(v.338). In any case, although this detail may seem fitting, it is not distinctive.
This motive, however, already points the moral discussion in an interesting way. The demon and his master are at a first level accomplices in evil, but the demon is only serving the master in the hope to finally claim his soul. This does not only meen the demon acts malevolently out of self-interest: the more meaningfull dimension of "claiming a soul" actually means to crush his moral and turn him evil himself. This sort of relation then tends to develop into an ambiguous competition for hierarchy, since the demon is always trying to control his master through cheating. Whence he is a false servant, who at all times retains more power than his master, both power of free will and supernatural power. In Kuroshitsuji an additional dimension that represents this tension visually is Ciel's age and stature - a master weak in himself who can only sustain his power through a strong personality. A master, in the end, who entirely depends on his state of mind, whose only choice and purpose is to fight for his soul.
On the other hand, Ciel does not really resist against loosing his soul. And what does it mean to be evil in Kuroshitsuji, what part of his soul is there really to lose? From the first episode we can see that he attempts to avenge his dead parents. The only other thing that he has motivation to do are the investigation
assignments of the Queen. As most followers of mystery fiction, he does this more as a deadly sport than for any interest in earthly reward or to help the living². In fact, Ciel categorically rejects every sentimental relation with the living, he is harsh to whoever crosses his path, his aunt, his servants, his fiancée and even towards Sebastian. The butler also manipulates his master to deepen in this tendency, whence the demon abandons Ciel when he shows mercy for the queen(22) and returns to his side when he orders to slay Pluto in cold blood(23). But the moment where this is radicalized (to a somewhat unlikely degree, one must say) is in episode 18, when he rejects the vision of his parents in Heaven in order to keep his thirst for vengeance alive. He does not reject it for being an illusion, but truly for the sake of vengeance, which he describes as the essence of his self. This vengeance has become more important than its original motivation, then, and he leaves the love for his parents also in a second plain. Hate and death has entirely replaced love and life in Ciel's soul at this point. A counterpoint to this, however, is the fact that this vengeance is also necessary to keep Sebastian tied to his side. The reason why Angela creates this vision is precisely to dispel Sebastian. Whence, while Ciel is rejecting everyone else around him, he seems to do it to strengthen the relation with his butler. “Akumade shituji desukara”, a demon, of course, but also a person in the series, which allows interpreting it all, if not on the fujoshi side³, at least as a very tight human bond. Ciel's rejection towards everyone as well as his vengeance is represented in a light that, despite all the surroundings, taints it as an act of love. Sympathy for the devil, but sympathy none the less. Remember, once again, that the devil is only such by the effects it causes in the human's behavior which have, at this point, become very ambiguous. This would, at least from a certain angle, still find an association with the concept the series itself has already defined as good.
The counterpoint to this is the discourse of the angels. Returning to my first argument of cultural discontinuity, the angels are maybe the most evident sign that something in the comprehension of western culture went somehow wrong. It is not only the fact that they are in the position of antagonists, as if they were evil. What is evil in this case anyway? Certainly not the same evil that Ciel pursues, but we will have to go deeper to really understand the moral concepts that are in play.
A more substantial defference is that these angels are not, as the etymology of the word would demand, messengers. They do not serve any higher power, there is no primordial, universal consciousness, no capitalized God. To the contrary, angels and demons alike, just as the shinigami, are presented as small, self-sufficient deities, free parts of an ongoing world without hierarchies. This, of course, responds rather to the animistic worldview of shintoism than to any form of monotheistic western religion.
Since these angels do not respond to any God but are gods, they have a personal agenda that does not hold any interest in the world as creation or the humans as chosen creatures. The cult they initiate, shown in episode 17, preaches about purity, not about a god, not at all about love. They find guilt in everything: if there are no bad deeds, there is still sloth to be pointed out as a capital sin. Anybody not initiated in the cult, whatever his origin or history, is called "filthy". They are led by the concept of original sin as something ever present, which can only be cleansed through constant penitence or through fire. "Destroy the impure" is their mantra, and it is what leads them to the constant pursuit of Ciel. It also motivates them to attempt to start a premature world war which, they argue, would help to cleanse the world and start anew. This would again go under the
assumption that humans in general are evil by nature, that the more of them can be slain, the better. In conclusion, these angels are enemies of humanity and harbingers of death. Far beyond Ciel or Sebastian, they are incarnating the elements we had defined as evil in the series, and are certainly incapable of loving. During the final confrontation of episode 24, they do as well assume the psychotic grin and small pupils which are characteristic of extremely evil characters in anime⁴. The only things they have of an angel now are the name and the wings. Fallen angel? Angel of destruction? Nothing similar. Rather kamis on a rampage, Japanese spirits for whom good and evil is quite relative⁵.
There are, however, a couple of more things, which are part of the traditional angel image, but look very different here: the distance from human, the asexuality. These last couple of things actually do a quick connection to the fact that also demons in christian tradition are often represented as ambiguous and estranged. Add the intermingling of human bodyparts in search of perfection, visually grotesque but based on the same concept. Only this, I would say, is a truly transvalued element, while the rest is a mere change of labels. And beyond the labels and defined by their actions, Ciel and Sebastian clearly appear as less evil than the angels.
That's all we could say considering the author's enunciation point and yet, if we look beyond the author, there is more. Considering the setting in Victorian England, I couldn't help as well associating the case with the puritan movement. It's obvious that the puritans, just as the angels in Kuroshitsuji, would pursue purity. They would not go to the extremes of starting a war to rid the world of humans, and yet, they did believe in original sin as a cornerstone of their religion and were also firmly convinced that only through renunciation and by fleeing the company of common men they could save their souls. They thought the world as a whole had followed a history of decadence and that it was close to its end⁶. So, although Kuroshitsuji left out key points as are god, faith and salvation, the religion of the angels is in many aspects not far from historical reality.
At the same time, decadent artists like Oscar Wilde would satirize the puritans as hypocrites who are only trying to point out other people's faults. Thus we have characters like Lady Chiltern in An Ideal Husband, who has a hard time to accept her husband and herself the way they are. On the other hand, the protagonist of this play, Lord Goring, is an immoral dandy, an impure sinner who, towards the end, manages to reform and redeem himself partially because of his love towards Miss Mabel. This redemption through love can be found in a more radical way in other of Wilde’s characters as are Dorian Gray, the Canterville Ghost or the protagonist of The Ballad of Reading Gaol, who all end up facing a tragic death. Redemption through love and a beautiful death, like the one of Ciel Phantomhive. Of course, unlike Wilde’s characters, who are extremely sensitive and full of lust for life, Ciel always tries to deny and conceal his emotions, and whence the ending of Kuroshitsuji is even more graceful in its fatal subtlety.
Wilde learned his religious views from Greek paganism, but would towards the end of his life associate with catholicism⁷. It's fascinating how radical the inner contradictions of "christianity" can be. The theme of Kuroshitsuji, in any case, matches these ideas of Oscar Wilde pretty well and thus connects through an unlikely side back unto Victorian England.
As a conclusion, I could say that beyond the labels of misunderstood christianity, Kuroshitsuji presents a shintoist worldview in its gods and demons, which ultimately however responds to a true historical moral problem of Victorian England. It supports a decadent form of ethics which might be called pagan or catholic, as you like it, but in which Ciel and Sebastian’s love turns out to be the only remaining form of good.
NOTES:
¹From Baccano! (Brain’s Base, 2007) and Heroman (Bones, 2010) back to Candy Candy(Toei, 1976)
² Link, Daniel, comp. El juego de los cautos: literatura policial: de Edgar A. Poe a P. D. James. Buenos Aires: La Marca 2003
³ The suggestion of homosexual attraction is obviously intended in the anime and would be rich material for an analysis of gender studies, which is however not what I am doing right now.
⁴ Darcia from Wolf’s Rain, Grimjow from Bleach, Higurash no naku koro ni, Mello from Death Note, the Valentine Brothers from Hellsing, just to quote a few.
⁵ “Kami” in wikipedia, points back to many further sources. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kami
⁶ Elliot, Emory, Ed. Historia de la literatura norteamericana. Madrid: Cátedra 1991
⁷ Ellman, Richard. Oscar Wilde. Random: New York, 1988. As for fujoshis, consider the fact that Oscar Wilde and some of his characters were also gay.
As a forespan to my main argument, first of all one can notice that western culture in general is represented only through a limited knowledge. This results funny in most animes, which become rich cross-cultural phenomenons¹. It's not that great in the case of Kuroshitsuji, though, because the series itself also does a great deal of boasting about its relation to high and classic western culture. Sebastian teaches Ciel to play chess, to dance waltz, swordplay, and his desserts are neatly presented as a parade of culinary culture. He also claims to be a perfect buttler untill the dire end.
For that very reason, it's quite painful to see him throwing plates and silver forks to opera music, a scene which is rightout vulgar and corny. The series is full of corny gags which m
ight seem to "lighten" the gloomy gothic atmosphere - but what do you create a gloomy atmosphere for if you're going to crash it yourself? Other scenes out of place include the mere existence of a plural Shinigami federation instead of a single Grimm Reaper, the fact that Ciel is actually a girl's name, the overly motherly attitude of the lady "adopts" Aberline, the constant preference of Japanese, Chinese or even Indian themes instead of consistent English references, the nationality, tea and goofy transformations of Tanaka-san, and of course the bad-taste parade which are characters like Maylin, Pluto and Ciel's fiancée. In general, I can't shake the feeling Sebastian and his master are rather a pair of Japanese wandering England in cosplay.Now to my main point, which is how this reflects at the level of religious and moral discourse. For one thing, then, the basic relation on which the story rests is that of a pact with the devil. Or, more specifically, with a demon.
Of course, it couldn't be THE Devil in an animistic world model like the Japanese. On the other hand, if the most classic referent for the pact with the devil in western culture is Goethe's Faust, in this story we can also find that Mephisto describes himself as "a part of that power"(v.1335), and God also talks to him as just one "of all the spirits that deny"(v.338). In any case, although this detail may seem fitting, it is not distinctive.This motive, however, already points the moral discussion in an interesting way. The demon and his master are at a first level accomplices in evil, but the demon is only serving the master in the hope to finally claim his soul. This does not only meen the demon acts malevolently out of self-interest: the more meaningfull dimension of "claiming a soul" actually means to crush his moral and turn him evil himself. This sort of relation then tends to develop into an ambiguous competition for hierarchy, since the demon is always trying to control his master through cheating. Whence he is a false servant, who at all times retains more power than his master, both power of free will and supernatural power. In Kuroshitsuji an additional dimension that represents this tension visually is Ciel's age and stature - a master weak in himself who can only sustain his power through a strong personality. A master, in the end, who entirely depends on his state of mind, whose only choice and purpose is to fight for his soul.
On the other hand, Ciel does not really resist against loosing his soul. And what does it mean to be evil in Kuroshitsuji, what part of his soul is there really to lose? From the first episode we can see that he attempts to avenge his dead parents. The only other thing that he has motivation to do are the investigation
A more substantial defference is that these angels are not, as the etymology of the word would demand, messengers. They do not serve any higher power, there is no primordial, universal consciousness, no capitalized God. To the contrary, angels and demons alike, just as the shinigami, are presented as small, self-sufficient deities, free parts of an ongoing world without hierarchies. This, of course, responds rather to the animistic worldview of shintoism than to any form of monotheistic western religion.
Since these angels do not respond to any God but are gods, they have a personal agenda that does not hold any interest in the world as creation or the humans as chosen creatures. The cult they initiate, shown in episode 17, preaches about purity, not about a god, not at all about love. They find guilt in everything: if there are no bad deeds, there is still sloth to be pointed out as a capital sin. Anybody not initiated in the cult, whatever his origin or history, is called "filthy". They are led by the concept of original sin as something ever present, which can only be cleansed through constant penitence or through fire. "Destroy the impure" is their mantra, and it is what leads them to the constant pursuit of Ciel. It also motivates them to attempt to start a premature world war which, they argue, would help to cleanse the world and start anew. This would again go under the
assumption that humans in general are evil by nature, that the more of them can be slain, the better. In conclusion, these angels are enemies of humanity and harbingers of death. Far beyond Ciel or Sebastian, they are incarnating the elements we had defined as evil in the series, and are certainly incapable of loving. During the final confrontation of episode 24, they do as well assume the psychotic grin and small pupils which are characteristic of extremely evil characters in anime⁴. The only things they have of an angel now are the name and the wings. Fallen angel? Angel of destruction? Nothing similar. Rather kamis on a rampage, Japanese spirits for whom good and evil is quite relative⁵.There are, however, a couple of more things, which are part of the traditional angel image, but look very different here: the distance from human, the asexuality. These last couple of things actually do a quick connection to the fact that also demons in christian tradition are often represented as ambiguous and estranged. Add the intermingling of human bodyparts in search of perfection, visually grotesque but based on the same concept. Only this, I would say, is a truly transvalued element, while the rest is a mere change of labels. And beyond the labels and defined by their actions, Ciel and Sebastian clearly appear as less evil than the angels.
That's all we could say considering the author's enunciation point and yet, if we look beyond the author, there is more. Considering the setting in Victorian England, I couldn't help as well associating the case with the puritan movement. It's obvious that the puritans, just as the angels in Kuroshitsuji, would pursue purity. They would not go to the extremes of starting a war to rid the world of humans, and yet, they did believe in original sin as a cornerstone of their religion and were also firmly convinced that only through renunciation and by fleeing the company of common men they could save their souls. They thought the world as a whole had followed a history of decadence and that it was close to its end⁶. So, although Kuroshitsuji left out key points as are god, faith and salvation, the religion of the angels is in many aspects not far from historical reality.
At the same time, decadent artists like Oscar Wilde would satirize the puritans as hypocrites who are only trying to point out other people's faults. Thus we have characters like Lady Chiltern in An Ideal Husband, who has a hard time to accept her husband and herself the way they are. On the other hand, the protagonist of this play, Lord Goring, is an immoral dandy, an impure sinner who, towards the end, manages to reform and redeem himself partially because of his love towards Miss Mabel. This redemption through love can be found in a more radical way in other of Wilde’s characters as are Dorian Gray, the Canterville Ghost or the protagonist of The Ballad of Reading Gaol, who all end up facing a tragic death. Redemption through love and a beautiful death, like the one of Ciel Phantomhive. Of course, unlike Wilde’s characters, who are extremely sensitive and full of lust for life, Ciel always tries to deny and conceal his emotions, and whence the ending of Kuroshitsuji is even more graceful in its fatal subtlety.Wilde learned his religious views from Greek paganism, but would towards the end of his life associate with catholicism⁷. It's fascinating how radical the inner contradictions of "christianity" can be. The theme of Kuroshitsuji, in any case, matches these ideas of Oscar Wilde pretty well and thus connects through an unlikely side back unto Victorian England.
As a conclusion, I could say that beyond the labels of misunderstood christianity, Kuroshitsuji presents a shintoist worldview in its gods and demons, which ultimately however responds to a true historical moral problem of Victorian England. It supports a decadent form of ethics which might be called pagan or catholic, as you like it, but in which Ciel and Sebastian’s love turns out to be the only remaining form of good.
NOTES:
¹From Baccano! (Brain’s Base, 2007) and Heroman (Bones, 2010) back to Candy Candy(Toei, 1976)
² Link, Daniel, comp. El juego de los cautos: literatura policial: de Edgar A. Poe a P. D. James. Buenos Aires: La Marca 2003
³ The suggestion of homosexual attraction is obviously intended in the anime and would be rich material for an analysis of gender studies, which is however not what I am doing right now.
⁴ Darcia from Wolf’s Rain, Grimjow from Bleach, Higurash no naku koro ni, Mello from Death Note, the Valentine Brothers from Hellsing, just to quote a few.
⁵ “Kami” in wikipedia, points back to many further sources. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kami
⁶ Elliot, Emory, Ed. Historia de la literatura norteamericana. Madrid: Cátedra 1991
⁷ Ellman, Richard. Oscar Wilde. Random: New York, 1988. As for fujoshis, consider the fact that Oscar Wilde and some of his characters were also gay.
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