I've finished volume six of Kuroshitsuji already and I loved it. It's so much better than the anime, which I watched with aionwatha this week. We're up to episode fourteen or fifteen now and I can only think of a handful of positive points of the anime. The first is that, despite reading the manga, we're never entirely sure what's going to happen next. The second are the few times some of the best scenes are recreated in the anime. The third is that the outrage generated is quite fun. :)

The deer, straight from the manga! I loved that scene. I confess that at that point I thought the anime back on track.

Queen Victoria was one of the best characters in the curry arc (apart from Agni and Souma, obviously). Where was her horse? WHERE WERE THE HANDPUPPETS, DAMMIT!?

Curry zombies? WTF? That just didn't make any sense. It also reduces the importance of Agni's character. The point is that Sebastian spent days trying to be as good as him and in the end it was still up to Victoria. Not the zombies.

Agni's voice is lower-pitched than Souma's. I see what you did there. Guess it ends any arguments about who tops.

Sebastian doesn't sing "God Save The Queen" (the very appearance of which had me squirming in my seat). Despite the need they have in the anime for people to randomly burst into song, I found this point kind of interesting.

Actually, I really like the new ending theme.

And now my take on Kuroshitsuji 6.

Undertaker is back! And bowling! He's one of my favourites and, for all my rubbishing of the anime, Suwabe's voice added even more to his character for me.

Ah... the tiger! It was so funny when (it seemed that?) Sebastian was only volunteering so he could play with the big kitty. Unfortunately, what happened next had already been spoilered for me. Not fair.

It looks like Toboso-sensei is highlighting the fact that Sebastian is there for Ciel's soul.

Undertaker (to Ciel): "Each person gets only one soul... You should take care of yours."

William (to Sebastian): The truth is, it's in a demon's nature to be hungry.
Sebastian: Om nom nom. [Note: Not a literal translation.]

Another character describes Sebastian as acting like Ciel's mother, which I liked. We're getting away from the Sebastian x Ciel shippiness of the anime.

Knife-throwing scene when Sebastian helps out.

Love the costume designs, including the circus versions of Ciel and Sebastian.

In book six, I have finally found my ship. William and Sebastian. I feel a bit awkward about liking William because I've used that name on other messageboards for over a year now. Plus I look quite similar facially, with the same glasses too. So. I'm going to ignore that and enjoy the fact that Sebastian has a proper rival now who can keep him in line.

I'm considering cosplaying one of William's circus outfits for Summer Comike since they're actually different from what I usually wear. Anyone have a colour picture? For some reason, I keep imagining that his jacket is green and his tie red.

The only downside I can think of is the rampant Kyoto-ben of the circus folk. I don't think I have ever had so many problems with a Japanese dialect (that's not saying much, admittedly).

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I didn't download Hetalia Axis Powers because I can't play Media Player files. But! As it happens, Youtube has it now.

Hetalia 1 (English subs)

The opening scene is done at such speed I assumed that the original copy had downloaded strangely, until I realised it really was supposed to be like that. If it weren't for the subs, I'd have had to rely on my memory of the manga. Speaking of which, my memory is telling me it's word-for-word from the very beginning, excluding the Chibitalia section. Because of this, the latter was the only bit that really got a laugh out loud from me (not to be confused with a LOL, which are frequent.). In five minutes, that's a pretty good hit ratio.