#Gem claude black butler series
#Gem claude black butler tv

#Gem claude black butler series

The fact that he employs body doubles (human or demon) in his schemes such as the eye gouging series of incidents, and the suggestion that he is able to change his appearance is supported by close-up shots of his earlobes – free in episode 1, attached in episode 9, free in OVA 6. I’m not sure whether the animators just got lazy in the middle of the series, but given the frequent, deliberate close-up shots on Claude/Claude look-a-likes’s ears, I doubt it.Īt first, I thought the zoom-ins on Claude’s ear was because of an ear fetish of Alois’ (he licks Ciel’s left ear, which has an attached earlobe, btw). This is also suggested when his face continually changes while meeting Alois for the first time, morphing into more humanoid forms, one of which eerily looks like the former Earl Trancy. From OVA 6, we know that Claude possesses more than one pair of glasses, suggesting possible alter egos. I wonder if that has anything to do with Alois’ reluctance to let him stray too far.Ĭlaude wears frameless glasses, has golden eyes and black hair. Unlike Sebastian’s contract seal, which is permanently visible, Claude’s contract seal is visible only if he’s close to Alois. Given how old Claude is, it is likely that he founded the Trancy house and is the real Queen’s spider, or at least, chooses who the next Spider will be. The Trancy crest has a spider on it, which is a strange coincidence (or maybe not). We don’t know if he has been working for Earl Trancy, who the Queen refers to as the Spider. Physical AppearanceĬlaude is the spider demon or “Spider Butler”. I’ll also look at how OVA 6: Spider’s Intention changes the meaning of past events, and assess whether it threw a wrench into the story.Ĭlaude’s motifs appear in many subsequent animes, and I’ll track a few of them to identify the running commentary on Claude’s character by other mangakas (manga authors)/anime producers. In this blog entry I’ll attempt to analyse whether Claude is still alive, whether he ever considered himself a Trancy butler, what he does with souls, his possible alter egos and whether he is a traitor or a faithful butler. Things start to get very interesting after Alois’ “murder” in episode 8.

#Gem claude black butler tv

Moreover, demons appear to lie quite a bit. The result is something that looks like a reality TV show. Or rather, the authors are geniuses and masters of subtlety, but appear not to have omniscient information about their characters nor their characters’ (incomplete) understanding of each other. Claude Faustus seems to be the most interesting character, besides Alois Trancy. While Hal (the anime) showed its plot twist explicitly and may require a second viewing to appreciate, BB2 had me pausing, taking notes, and watching at least 3 times. Black Butler 2 is one of those rare animes that will unravel to show deeper and deeper layers the more you ponder it.