Ciel manages to catch the Sphere Music Hall in the act of dumping a body - it turns out that his new music hall and the Phantom Five were part of a plan to limit the Sphere Music Hall's blood supply and increase the likelihood of deaths, in order to force this opportunity to happen ASAP. However, breaking up Blavat's operation (acquiring and typing blood for safer transfusions for a group of rich old men in renal failure) doesn't bring Lizzie back, for some reason. There's an encounter with Grelle and Othello, and Prince Soma admits that he knows Ciel doesn't consider him a friend and is keeping him at arm's length. He's determined to stay close to Ciel and help him somehow reconnect with the world. The volume ends with Agni seeing something shocking in an old family photo of Ciel's, and with Ciel (?) pulling a gun on Prince Soma.

I'm intrigued by Lizzie's continued absence, and I want to know what Blavat's true goal is. Also, what did Agni see in the photo scrap? And ooh, Soma turns out to be more perceptive than I thought. He's been comedic relief for so long that I forgot he had a serious side to him.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )

I was on the verge of dropping this series with the last volume, but when the protagonist explains his plan to stop villainous phlebotomists with a rival prefab boy band using power point illustrations and math I was drawn right back in. The cliffhanger at the end is also top notch, making me grateful I have the next book on hand from the library already. ( )

This was the 25th volume in the series. It was a strange mix of light-hearted dance halls and bloodless bodies. It wraps up part of the Sphere Music Hall story arc but doesn’t completely tie up this story. It wasn’t my favorite Black Butler volume but it was still very good. It had a very “Ocean’s 11” vibe to it at the end.

I continue to really enjoy the illustration throughout this series; it is beautiful, highly detailed, and fun to follow.

The story was a bit slow, but started to move forward at a good clip towards the end of the book.

Overall a great installment in the Black Butler series. I really enjoyed it and look forward to future volumes in this series. This is one of my favorite manga series right now! ( )