Harlequinade13 | (ABS MEP) BLACK BUTLER x “Everyone thinks that we’re perfect” @Harlequinade13 | Uploaded January 2015 | Updated October 2024, 2 days ago.
My part for the AnimeBendersStudios Dollhouse MEP; link below! We were encouraged to use fanart/manga for this MEP, and I thought I would attempt to edit the Black Butler manga, focusing on the Jack the Ripper arc because this part reminded me of Madam Red. This part does not contain plot spoilers for anyone who has seen the anime but not read the manga. :)

Props to anyone who regularly edits MMV. It is DIFFICULT! And took forever. But I had a lot of fun with this part and will probably edit more soon. (Would you guys even be interested in seeing more of something like this?) I actually felt encouraged to mask and use the cookie cutter effect, though masking actually felt more precise. At first, I thought I would just zoom in to particular panel but that was actually more trouble than it was worth most of the time. Lol! I quite like how everything turned out.

I used Ciel and Madam Red for this part because the lyrics as well as the theme of putting up a façade for society suited them. I think they do try to be themselves as much as possible, but both are well versed in putting up masks (pleasant or unpleasant) and hiding the darker aspects of their lives from other people.

I felt that Ciel was very sincere at her funeral, but the whole ‘Jack the Ripper’ thing and the nature of her death (and Ciel’s part in it) do cast a different sort of shadow over things, though probably aspects of the Underworld Ciel is used to hiding. I can’t help but believe Ciel wishes to preserve her image somehow, practical aspects aside. For Madam Red, I liked the focus on brother and sister, and perfect pictures. She is torn between her love for her sister and wanting her to be happy- and her love for her sister’s husband. She puts up a cheerful front for her sister, society, and for herself (though I do think she is honestly happy that her sister is happy, and for the nephew she received from the union of her sister and brother-in-law). She continues to love her brother-in-law even though she can’t have him, but does so quietly and from afar. She does not overstep her role. I interpreted ‘brother’ was ‘brother-in-law’, so I hope that came across alright.

Big thanks to littlemissfiretruckx for betaing and for showing me how to get rid of the text in the scans!

If you have any questions about the narrative or something, feel free to ask.

FULL MEP: youtube.com/watch?v=Ed2HeAxVbec
Song: Dollhouse
Footage: Black Butler manga
Character(s): Ciel ; Madam Red
Program Used: Sony Vegas Pro 10
Time Taken: About 10 hours