Many of us would wish to have someone to do everything for us. Be it a family member or a friend who is generous enough to do anything for you. However, this is not the case for a butler, as a butler is paid to serve his master, instead of out of pure generosity. Some of us have personalities that allow us to be absolutely horrible to our butlers if we had them, and some would only use them for when they need them most. There are also those people who have grown up with a butler all their lives, and don’t know a life out of luxury or royalty. If butlers were demons, serving human masters who had formed a contract with the demon, where the butler would complete a life-long goal of the master, and then consume the master’s soul, would people still be willing to have butlers? The story of Black Butler or Kuroshitsuji, revolves around this particular scenario filled with tragedy and mystery. Angels, demons, butlers, and shinigami all exist in this world, and are in constant conflict over the human race.
It is 1900’s England, and one particular company rules over them all. This company is the Funtom toy company, whose head is none other than Ciel Phantomhive; the twelve-year old mastermind and only remaining member of the Phantomhive family. Ciel and his four servants, one of whom is a demonic butler by the name of Sebastian, are also the Queen of England’s guard dog, shouldering the responsibility of being a detective force for the kingdom. The young Phantomhive’s only wish is to avenge his parent’s death in the tragic burning of his mansion some years ago, and will go to great lengths to solve the mystery behind their deaths. The duo encounter many mysteries along the way, with entertaining side characters and plots, however the main storyline gets postponed a bit too far into the series and starts feeling rushed by the end of the series. Going into the second season, the plot again gets sidetracked by Alois Trancy and his butler, as well as a train wreck of an ending for the second season. Although the series gets sidetracked, the various plots in the story keep the story going, and grab the viewer’s attention. But yes, the endings could have been done much better than they were done originally.
The cast of Black Butler is quite large, considering every arc has its own list of characters to be introduced other than the original duo and companions. For now, there is our main protagonist Ciel Phantomhive. As mentioned previously, he is a twelve year old boy orphaned from the mansion fire which killed both his parents. He has a motivation to avenge their deaths at all cost, even by forming a contract with his demon butler. From this contract, Ciel has a bright purple seal over his right eye, which he covers with a black eye patch to hide the contract. Ciel can be stubborn, arrogant, and full of himself, as he prefers to be called a man instead of a boy, as he is the head of the Phantomhive family, and the head of the Funtom company. He is tactical and able to solve mysteries easily, rightfully earning him the position of the Queen’s guard dog. Next up we have Sebastian Michaelis, Ciel’s demonic butler. Sebastian is a loyal demon, with good taste in souls, as that is what demons consume. But Sebastian yearns for Ciel’s soul as it has been “cultivated” with tragedy and is still young. Yes, his motives are slightly off if you look at it from a normal perspective, but reasonable for a demon. He is a tall figure, with red eyes and the contract mark on his left hand along with his black fingernails of a demon. As a demon, he has an alternate true form, and refrains from having his master see him in it as he describes it as horrible. Along with having the abilities to fight, regenerate, and defend his master efficiently, Sebastian also is humble and when complimented will pull out his signature line; “I am simply one hell of a butler”. This main duo is also followed by the four servants in the mansion, and a slew of side characters from various arcs in the series. Ciel’s character is well developed, and his back story is covered, yet Sebastian’s is left shrouded in mystery, which makes you wonder if they will ever uncover his past.
The soundtrack for Black Butler was done by Taku Iwasaki, who has done other works such as the soundtracks for Gurren Lagann and Soul Eater. The soundtrack fits the setting nicely, as much of it is music suitable for dance at that time, and the orchestral pieces fit the battles well. Electronic effects are mainly left out of the soundtrack, which is a good thing since a trance soundtrack would not fit the series at all. The opening, Monochrome no Kiss, by SID stays the same through the first season, and the only thing that changes is the opening animation, however the song suits the series well, so no issues there. The second season also puts in play the same alternating of the animation, and has one opening for the shorter 13 episode season, being Shiver by The GazettE. Both dubs are well done, and the British accents in the English dub fit well.
The animation for the series was done by A-1 Pictures, and looks great through the series. The opening and endings fit well and are well animated, and the character designs are well done. Animation in the series gets better as the series progresses due to increased budgets, and newer technology as most other series with multiple seasons, and one aspect of the series they did well was designing the food through the series. Food in Black Butler looked appetizing, not just pieces of coloured foam like with some other series, so compliments for that. Any effects for characters were also done well, and fit in well with the rest of the animation, so it was not jarring for the viewer.
Overall, Black Butler is a very entertaining series, with its pros and cons with each category as with other shows, however it is still a solid anime. Yes, many fans of the series may argue that the anime does not follow the manga’s order of events in the least, however as it is an adaptation, not a copy, viewers need to adjust as with any other adaptation. So, considering the categories of sound, animation, story, characters and my personal enjoyment, Black Butler, or Kuroshitsuji receives an overall score of 8.34 out of 10 with a recommendation to stream rather than buy. If you are already in love with the series, then by all means go and buy the series to your enjoyment. But for people just getting into the series, Black Butler is available to stream on Funimation’s website and YouTube channel, as well as Canadian Netflix and has been given DVD and Blu-Ray releases with Funimation.
And that’s a wrap up, thank you for reading. Reviews will be posted daily through the month of November, so stay tuned!
-Takami
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