Tuesday’s Top 5: Sebastian Moments in Black Butler

There’s no denying I really love season 1 of Black Butler, and a lot of that love comes from an overall love of the demonic butler, Sebastian. So my list this week focusses on my top 5 moments with the guy who makes everything look easy and he does it while being pretty easy on the eyes as well.

Please Note: There will be spoilers for season 1 Black Butler in the list below.

Honourable mention: Every encounter Sebastian has with a cat (seriously, who doesn’t love a guy who loves cats).

Number 5: Episode 24 – Sebastian fights Angela/Ashe

It is kind of an obvious moment given it is the final fight of the season and its demon butler vs angel butler. Still, this had the potential to be the usual kind of overpowered fire fight where the characters suddenly turn into coloured lights and mash about in the sky giving the audience almost no sense of the battle. Instead, we get a rare glimpse of Sebastian’s true demonic side and while the details of the fight are hidden, you almost feel it is better that way (Ashe certainly would agree).

Number 4: Episode 2 – The signature cutlery flinging

This became a fairly standard move by the butler, to the point where it was totally ripped off by wannabe demon butler  Claude in season 2, but this is the first time the audience sees this move and it is pretty awesome. Admittedly, I’m not entirely convinced of the credibility of using serving trays to stop bullets, nor am I convinced that forks and knives have the penetrating power shown in this sequence regardless of how hard they are tossed, but it is still Sebastian showing off his very classy self and to be honest, it looks amazing.

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Number 3: Episode 20 – Angela tortures Sebastian

After being ordered by Ciel not to take any action, Sebastian undergoes torture by the angel herself. It is an odd moment for the character because he is being true to his absolute loyalty to his master, and yet still acting in a way that is totally contrary  to his sense of self-preservation. What is great about this moment is that while Angela might be the one dishing out the torture, you can’t help but feel that Sebastian is the one winning in this scene.

Number 2: Episode 1 – Sebastian locks the guest in the oven

I absolutely adore the first episode of Black Butler. It starts out with darkness but quickly switches to fairly mundane and innocent acts of stupidity and basically makes you wonder where it is going. It becomes more and more sinister but it isn’t until the moment when Sebastian speaks to the guest in the oven that you really appreciate how dark this series will get at times. For all the stupid, goofball comedy moments, for all the ordinary investigations and politics and business, at the heart of this story is a pact with a demon and episode 1 makes that clear in one simple scene that ensures you never forget Sebastian’s real nature.

Number 1: Episodes 5 + 6 – Sebastian fights Grell

For all the times when Sebastian looks cool and unruffled by whatever problem that has recently been thrown toward his master, his fight with Grell was one of the few times it looked like he might lose his studied calm. Admittedly, he still had the upper hand for most of the fight, but he was forced to resort to a few cheap tricks and wasn’t overly impressed with the measures he had to take to follow Ciel’s orders. For Grell’s part, Grell is just an awesome character and this was really the audience’s introduction to Grell’s very entertaining presence. Definitely one of my favourite Black Butler moments ever, and my favourite moment with Sebastian.

Over to you – which Sebastian moment is your favourite?

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Karandi James

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