
No, strike that, his past is messed up. His family is messed up. Selfishness, greed, apathy for other members of the family. It's fucked the kid up, and Ranzou is no better, being mentally handicapped from what I can see. His father taking advantage of him (who knows how long the molestation had gone on for, and yes it's molestation even if Ranzou had 'come on' to his father, though I highly doubt it) as well as Touma's mother being batshit crazy. Both parental figures were selfish and caught up in their own problems and didn't think for a second about their childrens', which is beyond frustrating for me. The butler obviously took advantage of Touma's vulnerability and desire for comfort, and transferred his desire for Touma's mother onto him. Like, it's a good story, but I absolutely hate all of these adults for fucking up these kids.

I did not enjoy that surprise. It's an anachronism that I hope will not play a huge part in the story after this. I like Black Butler to be like Kaori Yuki's Count Cain series, you know, dark and unforgiving, ~90% accurate historically (obviously impossible to be completely accurate when BB is about grim reapers, zombies, and the like), with a bit of comedic relief. That was just...out of left field and again, it killed the mood for me. I don't read this story for THAT, I read it for the things I've listed. I hope that extreme 180-switcheroos in tone will be rare occurrences in the future.

i agree and i miss the darkness of this manga. the boy band is just plain ridiculous

The original poster just wants a more serious and dark story. Just as it has been presented from the beginning.
Why are you even retaliating like the poster has the wrong way of life?
Hidden messages or what-not, using idols just killed the mood.
And it's "bid" not "bit"

..but Kamina being this goofy, straight-forward and well-put together actually makes sense because he's from America. Everything from our way of addressing coworkers (first names) to our sense of personal space (playfully affectionate with Makino) keeps reminding me that he's not fully Japanese and is still firmly American. It makes the character seem that much more real to me. I can't wait to read more!
It's interesting to see that the brothers actually outgrew their teasing and bullying of Ayeshaya as it makes them more well-rounded, believable characters. The step-mother isn't hand-rubbing wicked but she's still got blood on her hands from her actions. This story is much less melodramatic but still dramatic in a refreshing way.