001. The Butler, Skilled

The Butler, Skilled
Japanese title	その執事、有能 Sono Shitsuji, Yūnō
Volume	1
Chapter	1
Anime episode(s)	Episode 1
Arc	Black Butler Arc
Release date	September 16, 2006
Chronology
Previous chapter	N/A
Next chapter	The Butler, Very Skilled

The Butler, Skilled (その執事、有能, Sono Shitsuji, Yūnō) is Chapter 1 of the Kuroshitsuji manga.

Summary

Sebastian Michaelis wakes Ciel Phantomhive for the day and tells him what the day's events are. Outside, Ciel and the servants ‒ Mey-Rin, Baldroy and Finnian watch Sebastian fight an unnamed individual, and Sebastian states that because he won, Ciel has to do his day's work. The other servants congratulate him on his victory, and Ciel awards Sebastian with a glass of lemonade.

After drinking it, he asks the other servants why they are not working and then sends them off to do their jobs. Ciel then tells Sebastian that he is expecting an important guest that evening, and Sebastian goes off to prepare. The other servants observe his work and decide they would like to show Sebastian how useful they can be, making their own plans for the evening.

When Sebastian returns from a call from Ciel, he discovers that the others have destroyed all of his work, and thinks up an alternate plan. The servants follow his orders, and shortly thereafter, Ciel's guest, Chlaus, arrives. Chlaus is impressed by Sebastian's preparations, and is seated for dinner, where he reveals that his reason for the visit is to bring Ciel a game.

When Mey-Rin goes to serve the wine, she gets distracted by Sebastian's attention and spills on the tablecloth. However, before Chlaus can notice, Sebastian removes the cloth, without disturbing the items on top of it. Chlaus compliments Ciel on Sebastian's excellent skills, and they have dessert.

Characters in Order of Appearance

• Sebastian Michaelis
• Ciel Phantomhive
• Tanaka
• Finnian
• Mey-Rin
• Baldroy
• Chlaus

Trivia

Out of Universe

• Tanaka's "special" lemonade is made with "Ajixmoto." Ajinomoto is the name of a Japanese food and biotechnology corporation and its original trade-marked monosodium glutamate (MSG), AJI-NO-MOTO (味の素, "essence of taste"), a flavor enhancer with an umami taste.

• After Sebastian removes the tablecloth, Finnian calls him "Macha●ki." This is a reference to Masaaki Sakai, a popular Japanese performer from Tokyo whose show-business nickname is "Machaaki." He has a party trick in which he removes a tablecloth from a table with various things on it.