A Kuroshitsuji second season? Good! Bad! Good! Wait.

[amanuensis1]

They've greenlit a second season of Kuroshitsuji. My mixed feelings of "I so want more of this series" and "Nooo don't mess up a perfect ending" are elaborated a little behind the cut.



As the end of the first season approached I had two wishes:

1) I want more of this above all, but--

2) -- when it's time for an ending, do not fuck up the ending. Ultimately Ciel has to die.

The series gave us option number two, and gave it perfectly. Ciel, through the series, never shied from his duty or his fate. A debt was owed, Ciel meant to pay it, and never thought of cheating his death or his demon.

And no, the ending was not ambiguous. The entire second half of the last episode lays Ciel to rest; even for the "Don't believe it until you see the body" rule of adventure fiction, we got to see the body every damn time the end credits rolled for ten episodes. The intent is there, even if we don't actually get to see Sebastian chewing.

And now the announcement of a second season. Guys, I've decided I'm going to be happy about this. I love this series, despite its flaws; as odd and confusing as some of the episodes became, the characters are riveting. It isn't a jewel of coherent storytelling like Death Note or Code Geass, but I wanted as many stories about Ciel and Sebastian as this series agreed to churn out, because they're delicious, and peripheral characters such as Undertaker and Grell and Pluto are cracked-out eye-candy to flesh this mad thing out.

Possibly the second season will not contradict the ending of the first. Ideally we'll get a series of insert mysteries that fill the spaces between the other stories; even if that doesn't happen, well, I have had all the emotional impact of the ending of the first season, and no one can take that from me. The authorial intention seems too explicit, from the ending of season one: we were meant to have the emotional effect that Ciel died. So I can look at anything that occurs post-ending as fanfiction, if I want, and enjoy the hell out of it, and just be happy that Kuroshitsuji has proved to be so popular that the demand for more can't be ignored.

Comments

[noveltynovelist.livejournal.com]

You know, I still think the idea is ludicrous, and that a majority of fans demanding for a second season means they completely. Lost. The. Fucking. Plot. But hell, since everyone else is crossing their fingers for special appearances of their favourite characters, I'm saying that Viscount Druitt better be in there.

And someone better be gettin' molsted.

[noveltynovelist.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, I'm not even going to correct that typo. It looks vaguely German or Russian.

[crescent-moony.livejournal.com]

How exactly does one get "molsted?" XD

[noveltynovelist.livejournal.com]

Turn your head and cough.

[crescent-moony.livejournal.com]

*cough*

[noveltynovelist.livejournal.com]

gfdgdjfkgd

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I like it and I'm going to use "molsted" all the time now. I'll spell it with an apostrophe, thus: mol'sted!

[white_aster]

Oh man! I've got...yeah, mixed feelings about that! I hope that they don't retcon the ending, is all.

Personally, I want to see all kinds of fun and pr0n-subtexty adventures where 'eating' Ciel's soul was just a metaphor for "mmmmmm tasty human soul shake that I keep around tosip off of every now and then as we ramble around the human world trying not to get bored" and now Sebastian is the master and Ciel the servant. :D

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Your scenario sounds scrumptious. :D Yeah, like I said, the authorial intent of the ending was, "He's dead; Sebastian got what he bargained for." So they can't take that impact from my memory.

[oneminutemovies.livejournal.com]

Maybe he's not quite dead yet!

Like so?

[noveltynovelist.livejournal.com]

Re: Like so?

[oneminutemovies.livejournal.com]

Hee, exactly.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

HE'S GETTING BETTER.

[daigranon.livejournal.com]

I know, I'm still skeptical about it, but glad that we'll get more Kuro anime--no matter what they do with it xDD

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Simply summarized, yes!

[somnia-lustre.livejournal.com]

Code Geass...coherent storytelling? XD
Only kidding, it pretty much was apart form the odd plot twist that looked like an ass-pull. I felt alomst the same way as you when they announced the sencond season, on one hand it's Ono Daiske saying "Yes, my lord!" some more, on the other, how do they work around a story that was presented as already being resolved?

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know Code Geass gets a lot of flak, and there's the one moment of disbelief-suspension I've never completely accepted ("oops, Geass went rogue right at the moment I'm saying the worst thing possible to the worst person possible"), but, man, did they tie everything up. All the "this isn't even in character for this person" stuff turned out to be plot, and I fell for it hard, both before and after.

"Yes, my lord!" MMMMMM.

[faynia.livejournal.com]

They can do that? >.o I hope to hell they just do insert episodes because what the hell?!

I've already cried. -.-

Maybe it'll be the secret adventures of the household staff! Because we never actually saw them die.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Blearg, I wouldn't tune in to watch them. :D

[nehalenia.livejournal.com]

I'm actually glad to hear they're making more. While I really liked the last episode, I guess I'm too much of a purist and I had problems with the way the anime really screwed with canon. Filler episodes are one thing, but the way I look at it, at this point there is manga-canon and anime-canon. What I'm wondering is if they'll do what Full Metal Alchemist did and just re-start the series, this time sticking to manga canon. I *really* want to see the current Noah's Ark Circus ark animated. Whatever they do though, I like it from the POV that we get more of the characters (especially Sebastian.)

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes, I can imagine that if one were following the manga from the beginning one might be put off. ^_^ (Meanwhile, I'm reading the manga because the anime is/was over, and I'm going, "Pfft, this wasn't in the anime. Bored now." Plz don't hit me! :D )

[crescent-moony.livejournal.com]

2) -- when it's time for an ending, do not fuck up the ending. Ultimately Ciel has to die.

That's just the thing. If they make this season two, and they DO contradict the ending to season one, they'll have just royally fucked things up. In a worse way, I think, than if they'd just given us a cop-out to begin with. (If they'd have just given us a cop-out to begin with, and then offered up a season two, I'd be all "Oh. They planned ahead. There will be more. Maybe THIS time..." But as it is, they're doing what I HATE MOST OF ALL-- ruining an already completed series by ripping off the "the end" and continuing it because it's popular.)

And yes, we'll have still had the emotional impact of the end of season one. But it won't mean much of anything now, will it? Because it was a lie. ( "Young Master, I'm not allowed to eat your soul until our ratings drop... So are you up for some more jolly ol' shouta-flavored adventures in Victorian England?" *holds up corset*) It will have cheapened all of the emotional intensity of that last scene... It will have cheapened everything the storytellers/characters/etc. worked for and succeeded in giving us, emotion-wise.

I dunno. If they make this a pre-season one season two, or even a in-the-middle-of-season-one season two, I will forgive them. But until they make that very obvious, I am going to be cranky and pissy about this, because the best thing for some series is to just LET IT GO. And unfortunately, very rarely does that actually happen. Stupid fans and their STUPID NOT GETTING IT.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

And yes, we'll have still had the emotional impact of the end of season one. But it won't mean much of anything now, will it? Because it was a lie.

Mm, no, not to me it won't. I can't expect everyone to feel that way, granted! But I can look at that ending and say, "This was their intention. They had no idea if they'd get a second season and their intention was to create an ending where Ciel does indeed die and give up his soul. No vagueness, no 'but it was over too quickly'--they gave it resolution and denouement and tenderness and tons of screentime, and they foreshadowed it with the damn titles, beginning and/or end, for every damn episode." The authorial intent was there, and even if they retcon it they can't take that from me. It won't be the same for everyone who watches this series in the future, knowing there's another season, but for me, I had my Grail, I drank from it, and I'll never lose the taste of its contents. (Metaphor Girl loves to belabor.)

( "Young Master, I'm not allowed to eat your soul until our ratings drop... So are you up for some more jolly ol' shouta-flavored adventures in Victorian England?" *holds up corset*) *laughs ass off* *quotes everywhere*

[(Anonymous)]

Well thats one way to put it.
My way of how I would have the second season would be: Them showing Ceil's soul in hell of something along those lines.
(Maybe even a bit of M&S in hell with are favorite Butler ^^;;)
Another way of the second season would be showing what happened or like another comment said "Sebastion and a new master" that would be intersting. What if it was a girl too? But then again we loose the beautiful chacacter Earl(Ceil)

[moon-child02.livejournal.com]

I definitely can say i'm excited, but I understand completely what you're getting at. My theory is it might be a "Sabastian and new guy who summoned him" series, there is no "look, Ciel's not REALLY dead", which would just suck because as you say, there is no ambiguity in the ending.

Otherwise i'm not too sure how it would work, I did posit that it could be a "Ciel becomes his sidekick" or something, which works because at some point I decided that Sabastian without Ciel (and Ciel without Sabastian) is just weird.

Long story short, I can't wait to see what they're going to do.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

My theory is it might be a "Sabastian and new guy who summoned him" series

I wonder if they could make me like that? Right now I'm too "Sebastian/Ciel OTP eeeeeee no one else ever!" to think I would want that, but I won't say I would never like that. It's like you say, one without the other is just weird wrong. :D I'll bet they could make me like Sidekick!Ciel, though!

(And I'm SO HAPPY you like the series!)

[fragilistikal.livejournal.com]

Hiya, came across this post a couple months too late, but have you seen the new OAV? Seems like a big clue how they're going to do the new season, for better or worse.

And okay. I would please like to talk about this series as I have no one I know watched it (!!) but. I totally got the emotional impact of Ciel dying. It was amazing and awesome and I felt a great satisfaction that his character was seen to so completely--that *he had made a deal* and paid for it. But. But. At the same time I STILL feel--upset? That Sebastian to the end was also so true to his character--that is, a demon. Sebastian found a mortal, made a deal, looked after him, SEEMED to feel a sort of affection for Ciel, and in the end eats him and...that's it? The end to that relationship? I just found that aspect hard. Great--Ciel made the ultimate sacrifice, but in the end, he's dead. WITH NO SEBASTIAN. =/

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I can see the point of what you say! Part of the evolution of the series was how Ciel would always surprise Sebastian, how pleased Sebastian was to be surprised at Ciel's actions, the respect he was gaining for his young human master. And perhaps that should have caused Sebastian to change his plans? Slightly?