This volume is just too self-indulgent. Nothing of importance happens as the creator slowly, slowly, slowly clears the stage of details left over from the just-ended excursion to Germany detailed in previous volumes. The final chapter is a horrible waste of time wherein the most popular characters (as chosen in a fan contest) are shoehorned into what I assume is supposed to be a comic situation. ( )

This is the end of the Emerald Witch arc. Wolfram (Sullivan's butler and bodyguard), who was raised as a soldier since birth and given a name only after he was assigned to Sullivan, is miraculously saved. Ciel and Sebastian transport Sullivan and Wolfram to England. Ciel gives Sebastian one week to turn Sullivan into a young lady fit to meet the queen. Hilarity ensues. Wolfram is only permitted to complain about Sebastian's treatment of Sullivan if he can do so in English. Lizzie arrives and briefly thinks Ciel is cheating on her with Sullivan, but that gets cleared up pretty quickly. Ciel instructs Sullivan to give the queen the formula for mustard gas but to carry the formula for SuLIN to her grave - it's a way for her to secure funding for future research while limiting the horror she looses upon the world. Sebastian deposits the SuLIN samples deep underwater (that doesn't seem like a very good idea unless they're all sure that it won't affect the water, but whatever). The inside cover bonus this time around is "Black Diver."

As usual, Toboso ends the arc with a bit of comedy. I was glad that Wolfram survived, and watching Ciel torture Sebastian by forcing him to do the impossible, turning Sullivan into a lady and teaching Wolfram English in only a week, was fun. And then Lizzie arrived and forced Ciel to undergo some of the training too. Ha!

This volume included a wacky multi-page bonus comic based on the Japanese character popularity rankings. A character's ranking affected their page-time in the comic, so higher ranked characters got to appear more often. This led to them scheming to steal each others' rankings, which only ended after Sebastian took multiple character rankings to defeat Snake's ranking-superpowered snakes. Like I said, wacky. It ended on a surprisingly melancholy note, as the Undertaker tried to bring Ciel's father, Vincent, back to life by gifting him with a higher ranking. Which made me wonder about Vincent and the Undertaker's relationship, and whether that would get touched on in the next arc.

Another intriguing bit: the end of this volume indicated that Vincent might still be alive. I somehow doubt it - the wording was ambiguous - but I look forward to seeing what Toboso has in store for readers.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )

This was a transition novel for this series. Mostly this wraps up (or at least starts a new chapter in) the Emerald Witch storyline. Some of the story is serious but there is also a lot of humor as the Emerald Witch prepares for her presentation to the Queen.

We get quite a bit of backstory on the Emerald Queen’s butler as well; this makes him much more engaging as a character and gives the reader more perspective on the father/daughter type of relationship he has with the Emerald Queen.

The illustration remains beautiful and I really enjoy looking at these. This wasn’t one of the stronger books in this series but it was still an entertaining read and I enjoyed it.

Overall a good addition to the Black Butler series. I would recommend this series to manga fans who enjoy historical fantasy/paranormal reads. I can’t wait to see what the next volume holds. ( )