I finished rewatching Kuroshitsuji season 1 last night. It was the first time I'd seen it since it first aired. Apparently I had missed a few things and remembered a thing here and there incorrectly, as it happens. But, most importantly, as Ciel and Sebastian were
floating down the river in the final scene, I was sobbing. Literally crying my eyes out. it isn't like I thought it was the end or anything. (Obviously, since the season 2 BluRay discs were within reach.)
I think it was the way he approached his life so head-on, without regret for his choices and without looking back. He decided on an action, then set Sebastian about doing it. Yes, well, even if that action was tying his shoes, he still set Sebastian about it. But how many 12-year-olds can summon a demon and tell them to tie their shoes every day until they exact the same measure of pain and suffering upon their transgressors that they suffered at the hands of those they seek to destroy?
It's why I will always hold Ciel Phantomhive, ファントムはイヴ 伯爵 (Earl Phantomhive), 女王の番犬 (Jouou no Banken), as my favorite anime character of ever. (And those gorgeous stockinged legs and short shorts are more than a little enchanting!)