#kuroshitsuji chapter 132

[noirshitsuji]

Pitching in on the O!Ciel name theories a billion years late

(Posted: 26/12/2024, Edited: 27/12/2024)

Greetings, Kuroshitsuji fandom - longtime lurker and fan here.

One of the things I love the most about this fandom is the amount of theories and how rewarding theorising has been (with regards to 2CT specifically). I've been observing people doing it for years on the sidelines, and as I've been getting back into the fandom again over the holidays, I thought I might finally put together a post about my own headcanon about O!Ciel's name. A bit late to the party, I know, but it's dear to my heart and I thought people might find it interesting.

I've had this headcanon for a few years now that's been inspired by some of the existing theories/hunches that fits best with the manga theming around the twins from what I've seen so far. I haven't this HC anywhere else, though please let me know if you have.

Without further ado - my vote for O!Ciel's name is...

...Mond Phantomhive.

Let me explain.

I agree with many people who've said that Sebastian saying in chapter 11 he 'swore to/made a vow by the moon' is significant. While in context it makes sense as a return Romeo and Juliet reference on the one Grelle makes (see this post here), Sebastian is specifically talking about the day he became 'Sebastian' and concluded the contract, i.e. swore his service to O!Ciel. There are any number of ways he could have found out O!Ciel's real name by that point, whether through the magic of the contract, manor records, or simply having interacted with people within the Phantomhive estate who remembered both twins.

In German, Mond means 'moon'. However, it is also only one letter off from monde, which is French for 'world'. This gives us two different connections to the sky (ciel) with thematic meaning. I will touch on both, though the moon one is more important - if I'm correct, though, then there's some very clever thematic wordplay here across two languages, so it makes sense to explore it!

The moon that shines in it only when it is 'night' - i.e. the darkness or death of the sky. While his brother's death was a tragedy within a tragedy, it also meant that O!Ciel could finally 'shine' after growing up feeling that he was just a spare who would never inherit the estate, or be worthy of doing so (flashbacks from chapters 130-140, e.g. the below from 132).

Ciel is another way to say the heavens in French as well - that which we look to in the sky, and also an important fixed contrast to Earth, or le monde (heavens and earth). This contrast can have many meanings, but in our case it can relate to the other-wordly (i.e. the dead/supernatural R!Ciel) and the wordly (O!Ciel, who is still alive and embodying the Phantomhive legacy). People are right to point out the connection with star symbolism - it's all part of the same astronomy-based thematic group, and O!Ciel's name being related to both the Moon and the Earth fills in more elements.

(As a bonus, both Mond and monde are masculine nouns in German and French respectively, just like how ciel is in French, so I think that they would've been a better pick for a boy's name than, say, lune, which is a feminine noun in French. My vote is on Mond because of the moon connection, though I wouldn't be disappointed with Monde. Astre does not appeal to me personally, although - point in favour - it is also masculine.)

Another interesting connection comes from chapter 149. After we see a conversation between Othello and Grelle about the blood types, with the twins tied in both in Othello's explanation and the panel art, the transition of Othello sending a pigeon messenger takes us to R!Ciel looking at a bird flying against the moon. Seeing this, he reaches towards it.

R!Ciel collapses, and tells Undertaker that he wants to go to his brother's side, and then has a vision of O!Ciel standing at the windowsill when they were little. In other words, we're given a direct parallel between reaching for the moon and reaching for O!Ciel, and then a juxtaposition of O!Ciel and the window. In a way, it also functions as a metaphor of him having escaped to the outside (where the moon that R!Ciel can't reach is) and no longer being constrained to the inside of the manor like he was as a kid - if I'm correct about the name, that is.

(Also, in using the symbolism of one twin as death and one as life in the previous panels during Othello and Grelle's conversation, we again have the supernatural/earthly contrast that heavens/earth gives us.)

Well, there you have it. I like this headcanon because a) it gives us a masculine name, b) it gives us extra wordplay across both French and German, c) it incorporates all the relevant symbolism. Also, I like how it sounds, for what preference counts.

Let me know what you think of this/if I've missed anything big.

Bonus:

We know from Vincent (chapter 132) that neither twin has a traditional English name/one common on the country's territory (which is how Pastor Rathbourne phrases it). I've seen at least one person speculate (though I can't find that post now) that giving the other Phantomhive twin a German name to cement the family's strong connection to that part of the world (via Diedrich) would make sense. I know this is isn't really based on evidence, but personally I find that a compelling extra reason as well. Rachel was the one to pick the names, and while I don't think Vincent would have been so overt in showing affection to Diedrich by giving his son a German name, I think she might've.

Bonus Bonus:

Pastor Rathbourne may have provided us with another clue, actually. The following is half-sourced and half from my own general knowledge and love for classics.

Clergymen in the Victorian era (as was the case for a long-time before that) were normally highly educated people, and certainly if they were leading parishes of their own (as Rathbourne was). Virtually all of them would've received their education at Oxford or Cambridge, which may have included some kind of foreign language (most likely: French, which was still the diplomatic language of the period) and definitely included Latin (because: ecclesiastical duty) and also Hebrew/Greek.

It was one of the easy, almost default choices for sons of nobility who wouldn't inherit titles because of the good status and education attached (which all of them would've been receiving anyway). This is why it's one of the first things R!Ciel thinks his brother might do in Chapter 132 (and not just because they happened to be at the church when they were having this conversation).

Now, this is where we enter slightly more into speculation, but bear with me. Any clergyman worth his salt would be able to, at the very least, recognise French vocabulary by virtue of it being a Romance language as well (because they all learned Latin), and be able to differentiate it from vocabulary from a non-Latin language even if they didn't know what it was.

Ciel is a very common word in French, an inheritance from Latin, so the chances Pastor Rathbourne was aware it was derived from French are extremely high. He would've probably been able to recognise any other French (or even Romance language) names as well. Yet, when he's talking about both of the twins' names, he says that they have unusual names for the region of England, not that they have French names. If both of them are French, why use a weaker highest common denominator (foreign names, which includes names derived from other languages), when the most simple and obvious alternative is to say that both names were/seemed to be French? The obvious reason is because the twins don't both have French names, meaning that O!Ciel's name is not French and can only be grouped with his brother's as part of a broader category of non-traditional English names.

A counterargument here would be that Yana was simply trying to hide that O!Ciel's name was also French, but then why engineer this conversation in this way in the first place? It serves no other purpose in this scene than to describe what the twins' names are like (and to set up something ominous with Vincent's reply about a 'new age').

Also, I don't know what the original Japanese dialogue is, but it would seem from the translation that the emphasis is on the foreignness/unusualness of the names relative to England. This leads me to think it's more likely they're both derived from foreign languages, rather than one of them being French and the other one being e.g. a very weird Germanic/Old English name that simply isn't in use anymore.

Either way, though - if I'm right and the subtle implication here is that the twins don't both have French names, then that doesn't just mean that O!Ciel's name is maybe not French, but that it definitely isn't.

(This also discounts the possibility of Monde as a potential name spelling, though not the thematic implication/wordplay).

[keyrajaeger]

About Kuroshitsuji’s Chapter 132.

Here I am again with a new post about the last chapter of Kuroshitsuji. I think I’ll write my thoughts for every new chapter of this manga from now on, so if you’re interested and you want to share your opinions with me, please follow my blog and let me know what do you think about this amazing manga!

Let’s start !

SO DAMN CUTE ! 

I love Vincent and the twins all together, this is a very beautiful and sweet picture, thanks Yana-sensei! But most of all, let’s look at that book: “Celtic Mythology”. That’s the same book Our Ciel really like in the manga. He also found inspiration for the name of his servant Finnian (Finny) in that book. 

Also, Celtic Mythology was really cool in the XIX century: just think about the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood; in this century, every country started to discover its own past and its own myths and traditions. That’s why we see Neo Gothic style and Gothic Revival in art, painting, architecture, clothes, and more. Yana Toboso is really careful about this! Well done! 

______________________________________________________________________

From cuteness to sadness.

“Franny” just thinks Our Ciel is not good enough to eventually become the Earl instead of Real Ciel if something should happen to him, because Our Ciel’s just too much sickly and fragile. On the other side, Vincent says if that should happen, they “may have to relinquish the watchdog’s duties and our estate to the crown”.

At first I thought he’s so kind, he’s worried about his son’s health, he doesn’t want him to force himself and his bad health to carry on the duties of Earl Phantomhive so he prefers his son to the estate, but then I had a different thought: maybe he would do that because he also thinks that Our Ciel wouldn’t be capable of being an Earl. I don’t know, but Our Ciel seems very sad about it.

_______________________________________________________________________

CUTENESS RETUUUUURNS !!!!! OMG LOOK AT THEM !!!!!!

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Look at Vincent.

Our Ciel says “Even sheep will go elsewhere if they have no grass to eat”. Vincent understands that is the same as his son: Our Ciel would go elsewhere because he has no “grass to eat” at the manor, ‘cause he will never be Earl. 

_______________________________________________________________________

Soooo Our Ciel’s name is as rare and weird as “Ciel”. Please Yana-sensei, tell us!!!!

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The Toy Company!!! Oh god!! He made it!! Aah and that’s so cute (again). 

Also, Real Ciel is so worried about Our Ciel to leave. He doesn’t want to live without him, so cute… But Our Ciel is right: “I want to become capable in my own right”. Probably, Real Ciel can’t understand how Our Ciel should feel about it, because he’s the first son, he will become Earl for granted, while Our Ciel has to build his own future. 

Mmh let’s wait for the next chapter, shall we?  Let me know what do you think about it!

[blackbootyler]

Ahhhh!!!! They are so cute!!! Only two more days!!!

[dreaminglyyou]

Why do I feel something that can’t be describe in this scene?

Vincent standing behind a door with light illuminating and the Twins running to him.

And Vincent smiled. HE SMILED.

[keepcalmandbeonepiecetrash]

Me:

[mantomhive]

THESE

[traditionisabsolute]

Things that bother me. RANT

Since 132 came out just today, I realised what bothered me most of all about this arc and Kuroshitsuji right now. Things are’t heading forwards and are far too centred about Ciel. These past few chapters are just: “Ciel’s a twin. Ciel’s a twin. Ciel’s a twin.” over and over again without actually forwarding the Blue Cult plot. It’s been an infuriating past few months without hearing anything about the actual plot of this arc. It appears to me that all the characters Yana created and “revived” are just to throwaway to only lead up to the big reveal of Ciel’s a twin. There are so many things I want answered and I had so hoped that eventually we will tie off all the ends in this arc. The worst part to me is that this arc had SO MUCH POTENTIAL. Return of the Weston characters? Yes. Into that. New “villain”? YES. Interesting plot concerning blood collection and cults? YES YES YES. But all of that has suddenly screeched to a halt. I’m sure that in due time, this whole “background and stuff about Ciel” will end and we will hopefully return back to the arc. Until then, I’m rather sick of all this “background stuff”. I’m fully aware that this is probably all in Ciel’s thoughts and spans maybe no more than several minutes in his mind. But even so, is introducing a twin REALLY vital to the plot? If it is, well then, I retract everything bad I’ve said about this arc. But until that happens, I couldn’t care less about Ciel and his twin.

[softsoapclowneryfish]

Do you guys want me to buy this month's Kuroshitsuji chapter?

^^^^ pls tell me so I can preorder it in advance

[flangobear]

[kurotwins]

I wondered if anyone else thought Frances knew that Our Ciel was not really the real one? This has been in my head since chapter 132. She seems to be the only relative who actually realizes the existence of the younger twin. This is something else that bothers me. We see the memories of relatives like Lizzy and Madame Red and it seems that only Real Ciel is wanted. It is certain that he is the heir of everything, but he is not only son, nephew or cousin. It's as if Our Ciel was nothing.

Yes, Francis has been on the list of people who might have known all along that Our Ciel was not the real Ciel Phantomhive for a while.

It’s a small bit of evidence, but in Chapter 14, after their hunting competition, Francis hesitates twice before referring to Our Ciel as ‘Ciel’.

Regarding Our Ciel being ‘nothing’ to the rest of the family:  The way I see it, he was born a second son, the ‘spare’, while his older twin was the official ‘heir’, so during this time period, it was common for the heir to get more attention overall when it came to the heir’s upbringing.  However, we have seen in the manga that both children were loved equally and (it appears) educated equally.  Now whether Vincent or Francis gave Real Ciel some ‘extra’ lessons offstage somewhere or not remains to be seen, so for now, we’re assuming they received the same education.

That having been said, we have also seen that Our Ciel had an inferiority complex when it came to his brother, and in his mind at least, the adults in their lives preferred his brother.  He was sickly and weaker than his brother as well, so that reinforced the feelings of inferiority.

In the above sequence from Chapter 132, I think Francis was trying to convince Vincent to consider making someone else the next one in line for the Watchdog position should something happen to Real Ciel (perhaps Edward or Lizzie).  Our Ciel overhears much of the conversation and this probably also reinforced his feelings of inferiority.

In Chapter 137, these feelings are brought to the forefront as Our Ciel considers how he should return to the household.

So did Francis know when he returned that Our Ciel was not the real Ciel Phantomhive?  I think she knew, but decided not to say anything.  She probably wanted to see if he could handle the duties of being the head of the household and the Watchdog…and subsequently was pleasantly surprised.

[relatablerealciel]

[kurorealciel]

“It was always me , who watched you from behind , but this time , watch me , ciel !”

[nanammanan]

FUNTOM Since 1886

[dreaminglyyou]

First of all, he looked so much like Sebastian. And I’m still not believing the theory that states Sebastian is Vincent.

And, HE DEFINITELY KNEW WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN

Something tells me that he and Undertaker had some plan regarding the new age

[keepcalmandbeonepiecetrash]

I hate how the call him a "spare."

[eridankmemes]

(Chapters 42 vs 132) I don’t think anyone’s pointed this out yet but I could be mistaking, I was rereading the last few chapters and I realized O!Ciel named Sebastian’s character in the murder arc after the pastor he met when he was little with his family this is too sad