The shota at first did squick me, because the convention is majorly strong with this one. But once Ciel opens his mouth and you see him in action, then there was a disconnect for me, between this much-older-in-tone and younger-in-looks... and eventually I no longer saw Ciel as "just some precocious twelve-year-old"... and then I could see all the subtext because I wasn't so busy doing my best to a) expect it and b) block it.
Curiously, rewatching the second season makes me think that... whots-his-face, Alois, whatever -- is what Ciel would've been had he been written by, y'know, the usual groupthink animation committee process. He would've been far more emotional, far more obviously damaged (and thus expected to be more sympathetic for wearing his heart on his sleeve), and possibly slightly insane. I think the insanity is to amp up the empathy, or at least pity, because if he's insane he can't possibly be responsible for such horrendous decisions as contracting with a demon. Like a loophole for redemption, at least in the viewer's eyes.
But it also stands as major contrast, because Alois and his butler seem to genuinely hate each other, but face-to-face they're far more genteelly/superficially caring than Ciel and Sebastian ever were/are. They're a complete flip -- or more like, they're the existing mold that Ciel and Sebastian broke free from. And when it comes to Alois and his butler, that kind of dynamic I have seen elsewhere (though, again, only amongst the bad guys).
Very good points about Abberline being that rare creature, the second-lead who is genuinely a good guy, and worth picking if you fired the scriptwriter and actually chose the good one. Of course, there's also a cultural element in here, since I've seen my share of jdramas, kdramas, and anime where the second lead really is the better guy, and the main guy is just plain jerkface but Love Conquers Allllll wah wah wah, but I also sometimes do get second-lead syndrome. In western stories, the second lead usually gets a lot more negative markers to remind us he's bad down deep while the appears-bad boy is good down deep. (I guess it's also that jerkfaces seem to be 'romantic' or something, in a lot of Asian storylines, similar to how Stockholm Syndrome via rape was a big hit in the average 80s bodice-ripper.)
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Date: 1 Sep 2011 02:06 am (UTC)Curiously, rewatching the second season makes me think that... whots-his-face, Alois, whatever -- is what Ciel would've been had he been written by, y'know, the usual groupthink animation committee process. He would've been far more emotional, far more obviously damaged (and thus expected to be more sympathetic for wearing his heart on his sleeve), and possibly slightly insane. I think the insanity is to amp up the empathy, or at least pity, because if he's insane he can't possibly be responsible for such horrendous decisions as contracting with a demon. Like a loophole for redemption, at least in the viewer's eyes.
But it also stands as major contrast, because Alois and his butler seem to genuinely hate each other, but face-to-face they're far more genteelly/superficially caring than Ciel and Sebastian ever were/are. They're a complete flip -- or more like, they're the existing mold that Ciel and Sebastian broke free from. And when it comes to Alois and his butler, that kind of dynamic I have seen elsewhere (though, again, only amongst the bad guys).
Very good points about Abberline being that rare creature, the second-lead who is genuinely a good guy, and worth picking if you fired the scriptwriter and actually chose the good one. Of course, there's also a cultural element in here, since I've seen my share of jdramas, kdramas, and anime where the second lead really is the better guy, and the main guy is just plain jerkface but Love Conquers Allllll wah wah wah, but I also sometimes do get second-lead syndrome. In western stories, the second lead usually gets a lot more negative markers to remind us he's bad down deep while the appears-bad boy is good down deep. (I guess it's also that jerkfaces seem to be 'romantic' or something, in a lot of Asian storylines, similar to how Stockholm Syndrome via rape was a big hit in the average 80s bodice-ripper.)