Sphere Music Hall

Sphere Music Hall is a popular venue that hosts a social gathering every Saturday night at eight o'clock in London. Its competitor is Funtom Music Hall.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 118, page 30 In November 1889, the Penny Illustrated Paper reports on Sphere Music Hall's illicit activities. Since then, the music hall has ceased operations.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 124, pages 4-6
==Design==
Sphere Music Hall is a massive building. Upon its roof is a horizontally stretched sign bearing the words "Sphere Music Hall" in cursive writing.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 116, page 4 Directly inside the front entrance is a large reception hall with a stage.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 109, page 15Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 112, page 6 Hidden in the back are four doors, which have constellations on them.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 116, page 10 Each door leads to the same ring-shaped private room, where the Starlight Four would put on performances for those who attend the closed events.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 116, page 11 Said room contains an abundance of recliner chairs set in a circle facing a magic lantern.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 113, page 13 To the side of the room are double doors; through them is a check-patterned hallway.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 116, pages 18-19
Beyond the hallway is a door, through which is a facility where blood transfusion experiments are conducted; the facility contains a wide array of advanced equipment, tools, and beds, as well as numbered cabinets where bottles of blood, organized by names of stars (Polaris, Vega, Canopus, and Sirius; the amount of Sirius blood is the lowest compared to the other three), are stashed.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 117, pages 15-18 Beyond said facility is a corridor from which doors lead to the rooms of "those with the names of stars."Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 117, pages 19-20
==Overview==
===General Information===
Tradesmen enter and leave the music hall on a daily basis, transferring various items such as costumes designed by Hopkins' Tailor Shop.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 115, pages 13-15 Nina Hopkins has been commissioned to create costumes for everyone, ranging from the Starlight Four to "those with the names of stars," at Sphere Music Hall.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 116, page 7 She also makes Grecian robes for the special event attendees. The robes, with their loose silhouette, have a unisex look that, according to Nina, can be worn by virtually anyone of any gender or age.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 116, page 9
While the Starlight Four are highly regarded at the music hall, four individuals, who are sometimes called "those with names of stars," are superior to them. The four individuals are Lord Sirius, Lord Canopus, Lord Vega, and Lord Polaris. They are considered the embodiments of the four guardian stars.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 116, page 10
The music hall receives financial support from people with vast wealth to cover the expenses for its gatherings, where entry, food, and drink are free; bracelets of pure silver; and facilities where blood transfusion experiments are carried out.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 115, page 9 Some of the patrons of the music hall are members of the military, the House of Lords, and Scotland Yard. The reason they fund the operations is that many of them suffer from renal failure. Thus, they pay for their thickened, toxic blood, which their failing kidneys are unable to filter out, to be replaced with fresh blood à la blood transfusions. The replacement process is carried out by certain machines stored in a half-built second music hall in Bath.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 125, page 34
===Gatherings===
Sphere Music Hall allows every individual, regardless of their social class, to attend the parties organized there every Saturday night, as long as the person wishing to attend has a written invitation;Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 109, page 7 the written invitation is a slip of paper, upon which reads: Sphere Music Hall on Saturdays at eight o'clock. We would like you to invite you to come and enjoy with us. Please feel free to invite your family and friends.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 109, page 18
The parties the music hall throws are unprecedented because class discrimination is discouraged there. The parties are supposedly so captivating to the masses that the road in front of the hall tends to teem with carriages on Saturday nights. Men and women of all ages, whether they are aristocrats or laborers, mingle together and appear to be infatuated with the multitude of festivities.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 109, page 17 The attendees, as observed by Sebastian Michaelis, are "fanatics" whose fervor would not be quelled, even if the music hall were to be destroyed.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 117, page 21
The parties feature music, singing, dancing, free food provisions, which are especially sought after by poverty-stricken children,Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 109, page 9 and Blavat Sky's fortune readings, which are renowned for their outstanding accuracy.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 109, pages 11-12
These parties customarily commence at eight o'clock and would end at eleven o'clock, but before the assembly of people is dismissed, everyone would sing a song together, as a traditionKuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 109, pages 13-14—the practice is referred to as "carolling."Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 111, page 16
There are a couple of exceptions regarding the customs at Sphere Music Hall. Every fourth Saturday, for instance, a special performance by the Starlight Four would be arranged.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 111, page 17 Moreover, while the Saturday meetings are open to anyone, there are closed events that only those who have had their fortunes told can attend; they are permitted entrance into a certain room as long as they have the bracelets of pure silver Blavat gives out.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 112, pages 30-31
===Blavat's Divination===
Blavat Sky, through his fortune readings offered at the music hall, determines which of the four stars (Sirius, Canopus, Vega, and Polaris; Sirius is the rarest, as it is a star of the first magnitude) the person is under the divine protection of,Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 111, page 11 and every individual who has their fortune told receives a bracelet of pure silver.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 111, page 14 The design of the bracelet is based on whichever star the wearer is protected by.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 111, page 16
For his divination, Blavat mainly uses a cup engraved with horoscope symbols; the cup would be filled with a special clear liquid.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 110, page 22 He carries a needle so that his customers can prick their fingers—since dropping blood into the cup is a required step for him to read his customers' fortunesKuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 110, page 10—as well as some gauze to treat the bleeding fingers.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 110, pages 8-9 He also has a bucket, where he would dispose of the blood-tainted liquid.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 111, page 14
In reality, the divination is a ruse, and Blavat is actually blood-typing the music hall attendees. A chemical reaction activates when a person's blood comes into contact with the special clear liquid, and, from that, Blavat is able to classify the person's blood type.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 124, page 15 Blavat asks leading questions and uses cold reading in order to deduce facts about the person and claim that he is reading their fortune.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 126, page 4
===Starlight Four===
The Starlight Four or "S4" is Sphere Music Hall's choir. They are mandated to perform every fourth Saturday to the general public at the music hall, and regularly at closed events. The S4 are composed of Herman Greenhill, Edgar Redmond, Lawrence Bluewer, and Gregory Violet. Blavat Sky produces their songs and clothing, and is always present at their fittings.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 116, page 6 He also supervises them during their rigorous dance lessons.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 115, page 16 Both the S4 and Blavat are considered "charismatic celebrities" to the populace of London.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 117, page 26
During their fourth-Saturday performances, the Starlight Four would typically be accompanied by a supporting choir, who would sing the hymn with them. After the hymn is sung, the supporting choir would exit the stage. The Starlight Four would, then, remove their robes, and perform their own song.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 118, pages 14-15
Its Funtom Music Hall counterpart is the Phantom Five.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 118, page 24
Since November 1889, the Starlight Four is disbanded. The Scotland Yard is currently pursuing them for their involvement in Sphere Music Hall's unlawful activities.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 125, pages 9-10
===Closed Events===
Sphere Music Hall hosts closed events reserved for those in possession of the pure silver bracelets Blavat Sky distributes.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 113, page 5 These events are held on different days of the week: Polaris on Mondays and Wednesdays, Vega on Tuesdays, Canopus on Thursdays, and Sirius on Fridays.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 113, page 8 There is a large area in the back with four doors, where the bracelet owners would go. They would be made to change into a Grecian robe, and continue through one of the doors to a private room, where a meal and an exclusive performance by the Starlight Four would be provided. Those attending the closed events would typically be drugged to sleep by a "perfume,"Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 113, page 29 and their blood would be secretly drawn.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 113, pages 11-20 When the attendees eventually wake up, they would be handed snacks and juice.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 113, page 31
===Blood Transfusions===
Sphere Music Hall covertly performs blood transfusions on their attendees during closed events and stores their blood at a facility in the back of the building. The quantities of the four different blood types are skewed disproportionately: Polaris makes up 44%, Vega 44%, Canopus 10%, and Sirius 2%.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 124, pages 15-16
The success rate for blood transfusions is extremely low,Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 114, page 22 and, thus, the number of fatalities is quite substantial. The music hall buries their corpses in Epping Forest, East of London.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 114, page 8 According to Inspector Abberline, the corpses are "near pristine," for they do not bear any external wounds, and postmortem bruising is scarce.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 114, page 6 The classes and professions of the deceased greatly vary.Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 114, page 7 Their deaths are the result of "multiple organ failure due to loss of blood."Kuroshitsuji manga; Chapter 115, page 7
==Trivia==
* The four star signs are used in place of the modern-day classifications of A, B, AB, and O for blood types.
** Polaris and Vega likely represent A and O, with Canopus as B and Sirius as AB, going by how rare blood types are.
==References==
it:Sphere Music Hall
Category:Locations
Category:Blue Cult Arc