It's Monday! I'm joining my blogging friend, Alison from Alison Can Read, on her manga meme Manga Mondays where bloggers can discuss manga we've read. I'm very much a newbie when it comes to manga and I like experimenting with different genres and series. Today I'll be reviewing the volume 6 of Black Butler.

Description (from the book's cover): The cheer of the holidays has passed, but the Noah's Ark traveling circus has been making the rounds, bringing fun and joy to children of all ages. However, as the ringmaster's cries fade away, a disturbing trend begins to surface in the wake of the colorful entourage. Children seem to disappear whenever the circus packs up for its next destination, and there are no clues . . . or corpses . . . to be found. But when the situation calls for Ciel and Sebastian to infiltrate the big top, will Sebastian's inhuman skills be enough to see him and his young master through a treacherous tightrope act that may well end in death?

Review: My favorite aspect of the Black Butler manga series is that it is really unpredictable. The overall story arc is very dark and moody. Ciel Phantomhive is about 12 years old sole survivor from a deadly accident which claimed his entire family. Bound together by a dark ritual (hinted at but never shown), Sebastian must serve Ciel until they find who murdered Ciel’s parents and get revenge. Only then can Sebastian claim Ciel’s soul for his own.Without tongue in cheek humor and action, this manga series could easily turn into a morose read. Volume 6 highlights the manga's humor while keeping an underlying sinister mood in tact.
  Ciel has a new assignment from Queen Victoria. There are children going missing right after a certain circus comes to town. He and Sebastian have been tasked with finding out if the circus is involved. In order to investigate, Ciel and Sebastian are to infiltrate the very unusual circus. Needless to say that this circus has its own quirks. Everyone in this circus have some kind of issue, at least two are missing limbs, replaced by ceramic prostheses. All of the people who work at the circus were at one time an orphan who was 'rescued' by their big brother who is never seen in this book but talked about. There are definitely some secrets hidden within the circus.
  I really liked the concept behind the circus. It allows Ciel to be in a situation where he can't rely on Sebastian's supernatural powers to help get him by. We really do get to observe Ciel's vulnerability not just due to his age and his physicality, but his struggle to interact with people. Due to his dark past, he is unable to warm up to people, more of out of defense than again. It was sad to see Ciel struggle to let others help him when they have no intention to hurt him at all.
 The plot of this volume is engaging. The excellent drawings pull you into the story and the vague clues piques your interest. There were a few nice twist and turns in the book. Unlike the other volumes, this one ends in a cliffhanger and lucky I had the next volume on hand to find out what happens next.

Rating: 4 stars

Words of Caution: There are some disturbing images, crude humor, and language. Rated OT for Older Teens. Recommended for mature teens and up.

If you like this book try: Black Butler Vol 7 by Yana Toboso, Blue Exorcist by Kazue Kato, Soul Eater by Atsushi Ohkubo

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