So I wrote this for school about Kuromyu 2013 vs. 2010 

(So, I wrote this paper for school and my teacher was so impressed, I feel the need to post this online. )

Kuroshitsuji: The Most Beautiful Death in the World: A Review

 
Friendship is one of the strongest bonds that we can experience. Two people come together, despite having been born in different places and times, and achieve a level of closeness that allows them trust one another –  perhaps even sacrifice everything for them. If what you’re looking for entails an immortal death god with a fatal disease (also, with a full time job) and a friend willing to commit even murder for his sake, look no further. Based off of the popular anime and manga series created by Yana Toboso and directed by Sakura Fukuyama, Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler): The Most Beautiful Death in the World, takes place in Victorian era England and follows the friendship of death gods Eric Slingby and Alan Humphries through the eyes of Earl Ciel Phantomhive, a child that has made a deal with a demon in exchange for his soul. There are occasional livestream events of the show, and I had the luck of catching both the original production in 2010 as well as this year’s performance. Whether or not you’re a fan of the original series, the strong friendship between Eric Slingby and Alan Humphries will touch your heart through thoughtful metaphors involving the erica flower and beautiful music - that is, if you can get around the recent cast changes.

This year’s performance saw an almost entirely new cast – with the exception of a few actors that have performed their roles since the very first Kuroshitsuji musical. These changes irrevocably altered the characters. The most significant (and unfortunate) of these changes were the changes made to the actors that played Eric Slingby and Alan Humphries.

In contrast to Shinya Matsumoto, Masataka Nakagauchi is far too tough and far too old for the role of Alan Humphries. Speaking in terms of appearance alone, he’s like an Alan on steroids. Matsumoto was much thinner and shorter – and was bookish and mousy, too.  In the original performance, Matsumoto portrayed Alan as a soft and sweet individual that, despite his disease, was very strong. Though he was a hard worker and somewhat demure as a person, Matsumoto showed that Alan can by very strong during a crucial scene where Alan goes to attack the demon, Sebastian. He pushes himself to attack even when he knows that the “Thorns of Death” – a fatal disease that sometimes infects a death god – will be triggered.  His performance elicited despair from the audience at his fate, and as he clattered to the ground, gripping his death scythe, sympathy swelled among those in the audience. However, Nakagauchi’s performance was not so impressive. His attempt to show Alan’s struggle with the “Thorns of Death” was lacking, and it’s hardly believable that this Japanese Hulk version of Alan could really be an expert on hanakotoba and the erica flower.

As disappointed as I was by Nakagauchi’s performance, there is no greater disappointment than the absolute destruction of Eric Slingby’s character done by Shinji Raichi’s performance. Not only was Raichi far too young to even be considered for this role, his babyface and whining, Muppet-esque vocals reduced Eric from Alan’s loveable, cheeky superior that was rough around the edges to a spoiled, crying brat that was worthy of no sympathy. Eric’s charm largely comes from his cool demeanor and willingness to support his work-partner, Alan, but this is lost within Raichi’s performance. In particular, before Alan goes to sing his theme (Sei to Shi no Sukima/The Crevice Between Life and Death),  he’s breaking down about his condition. Isn’t it funny, he asks Eric, that an immortal death god should be struck with such a condition? In the original, Taisuke Saeki delivers a half-hearted, almost joking, “Nah, not really.” But the interpretation done by Raichi is far more serious and dark, which does nothing for his likability as a character.

Despite the horrible casting job of this version of the Kuroshitsuji musical, the script and score were masterpieces. Hand in hand, they complimented each other in a way that I’d never seen a live-action adaptation do. In particular, there were two things that totally blew me away: the use of the erica flower within the story (and how it always seemed to relate to the conveniently named Eric Slingby and his relationship to Alan Humphries) and how Eric and Alan’s relationship developed over time.

Hanakotoba wa Kodoku (Eric no Theme) – in English, The Flower’s Meaning is Solitude (Eric’s Theme) –  is a song that all about Eric’s struggle with Alan’s disease. It’s very melancholic, as it should be; we first hear it when Eric ends the lives of two women in order to move closer to his goal of collecting one thousand souls. The lyrics paint an image of Eric, looming over Alan’s coffin and placing a kiss upon his cheek – erica flowers decorating the coffin. This is the first mention of erica flowers within the play. This song not only represents how the erica flower is seen in hanakotoba (the Japanese language of flowers), but how Eric himself feels about Alan’s impending death; Alan’s death would bring his fate of solitude into action. Let’s also note how Eric seems to be named after the flower itself.

The second mention of the flower comes when Eric, attempting to reap Earl Ciel Phantomhive’s soul, accidentally kills Alan. Something called a “cinematic record” (its released whenever a scythe strikes someone and is a small memory that is released for all preternatural creatures to see) beings to play. It’s a memory of Alan, struggling with his work. He was upset that the person they’d had to reap was so young and is crying. He notices that they’re standing before a field of erica flowers, and this is when Alan tells Eric the nature of these flowers: “Their meaning is ‘solitude’.” He then goes on to say that like we are all born alone and die alone, and he understands why we are not meant to interfere with someone’s death. Eric, however, disagrees. He says, “What do you mean, they’re lonely! There are so many of them blooming together. And maybe we are alone we are born and when we die, but, just like these erica flowers, there’ll always be someone blooming beside you – forever.” The wind blows and petals soar with it, together. Alan says it’s beautiful – like snow.

As the memory comes to a close, Erica and Alan sing Unmei (Fate) together, which combines the lyrics of both of their lonely sounding themes (Hanakotoba wa Kodoku and Sei to Shi no Sukima). The result is a beautiful and warm harmony that reflects that they were not alone as they thought. “Let’s go on a journey,” they sing, “and pile up the erica flowers’ lonely shadows. I was born alone in this world to meet you; the reason I was born alone was to lean on you.” The memory quickly breaks and replays the scene with Eric accidentally killing Alan, and he begs Sebastian Michaelis, Earl Phantomhive’s demon, to kill him. He does so – with Alan’s scythe – and Eric’s body drapes over Alan’s as he dies. Exactly a thousand  souls burst from his body (the sound of wind accompanying it) and drifts across the stage. Earl Phantomhive says they look like snowflakes, and in the background we can see Eric and Alan push off of the ground and depart the stage – together.

Erica flowers throughout this entire play, represent the imagined loneliness that these two feel when Alan is dying. However, just like the flowers, Eric and Alan were never truly alone. They went on a journey together through the Death God Dispatch – as partners – and bloomed with each other. Alan’s sickness kept them from being together fully, however, because Eric was unable to accept it. He murdered a thousand people trying to save him, and in the end, only murdered the one he cared so deeply for. What the magical part is about all of this is that death was the only thing that would allow them to truly go on a journey. In fact, we can even say that their lives together during the time of the play actually represent the births of their afterlives and their deaths was the journey they were looking to take together – their souls blown off together much like the petals of the ericas all those years ago. Free of all of the worries that come from being rooted down to the ground, or to sickness. They were finally free to be together.

The very first performance of Kuroshitsuji the second musical did a great job of representing this. It was believable and heartbreaking. The re-run that I saw this year horribly misrepresented it and squandered the beautiful script and score. In fact, I wasn’t really even thinking about the flowers too deeply in the second run; I was too busy fussing over the Swedish Chef vocals from the pair of rookie actors that took on Eric and Alan’s roles. This is a huge loss for the play.

Is it still worth seeing? If you have a chance to watch it through livestream, I would still encourage you to watch it – despite the casting choices. Though, I would also encourage you to watch the filmed edition of the very first run of it from 2010. It’s such a shame that these actors really can do so much harm to such a thought-provoking script. If there were more suitable actors for these roles (or perhaps actors that could at least give a single shred of character to their roles that was fitting), it would be a splendid piece. As it stands now, the performance is second rate. The script is first rate. Return to the old cast and it’d be golden.