The "witch" (of questionable supernatural quality) noticed the demonic contract mark on the character Ciel's cornea and asked if he had been sacrificed to summon a demon, to which Sebastian answers truthfully, "yes".
Seeing the same mark the back of Sebastian's hand, she asks if he was sacrificed too--but she cuts off his answer, and thus fails to learn he's the demon that was summoned, not the sacrifice.
btw, Sebastian is the most sympathetic character in the Manga. I interpret him as a personification of pride--a virtue that can cause someone to insist on doing something well even when nobody is watching, but which in excess can become vices such as conceit, overconfidence, perfectionism, or hubris. By being a hyper-competent servant, he provides an opening for the humans around him to achieve ambitions they otherwise might find impossible; those prone to excess or abusiveness thus out themselves and suffer the consequences of their revealed character flaws.
The anime diverges rapidly from the Manga. The second season of the anime is particularly problematic and many manga fans sort of pretend it never existed.
I don't understand all of anime's devices and conventions, so I'm sure that I'm not picking up on all the subtexts in Black Butler. So far, I tend to view Ciel and Sebastian's relationship as a power struggle that Ciel, no matter how haughty, has already lost. Sebastian is both wicked and wickedly funny, whereas Ciel has a mean streak and lacks a sense of humor.
It's interesting that Ciel, a trickster, has enough faith in his contract with Sebastian to ask the demon to watch over him while he sleeps. The Black Butler does take pride in his work.
I agree with you on the characters in the anime. My overview is based more on the manga, though as you said Ciel is the loser in a power struggle between the two. But what would you expect of a 12 or 13 year old kid dealing with a multi-thousand (at least) year old demon?
In the anime, Sebastian approaches Finny with an offer of good pay and benefits, but Finny doesn't care about the money. He goes along because he wants to see the sun.
Mey Rin is dangerous with furniture polish, as well as with guns! I want to find out if she's less of a comic foil in the manga.
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Seeing the same mark the back of Sebastian's hand, she asks if he was sacrificed too--but she cuts off his answer, and thus fails to learn he's the demon that was summoned, not the sacrifice.
btw, Sebastian is the most sympathetic character in the Manga. I interpret him as a personification of pride--a virtue that can cause someone to insist on doing something well even when nobody is watching, but which in excess can become vices such as conceit, overconfidence, perfectionism, or hubris. By being a hyper-competent servant, he provides an opening for the humans around him to achieve ambitions they otherwise might find impossible; those prone to excess or abusiveness thus out themselves and suffer the consequences of their revealed character flaws.
That's my take on the series, anyway.
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You can read scanlations of the Manga online.
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I don't understand all of anime's devices and conventions, so I'm sure that I'm not picking up on all the subtexts in Black Butler. So far, I tend to view Ciel and Sebastian's relationship as a power struggle that Ciel, no matter how haughty, has already lost. Sebastian is both wicked and wickedly funny, whereas Ciel has a mean streak and lacks a sense of humor.
It's interesting that Ciel, a trickster, has enough faith in his contract with Sebastian to ask the demon to watch over him while he sleeps. The Black Butler does take pride in his work.
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Mey Rin is dangerous with furniture polish, as well as with guns! I want to find out if she's less of a comic foil in the manga.
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