Review of Black Butler
Of all the anime I have watch, which is probably a lot less than the other people here, but still a large amount to say the least, i'd have to say that Kuroshitsuji is perhaps one of the best in several departments. Although, as a lot of fans i've seen seem to think, I prefer the manga, the anime was something I thoroughly enjoyed. I went into it thinking that it probably wasn't going to be all that good, seeing as I'd never heard anything about it(good or bad), and a friend of mine said they had wanted to watch it as well(and her tastein anime isn't the same as mine), so I figured I was probably going to be bored with the series very fast. I was incredibly wrong.
Kuroshitsuji's characters are, to me, very unique and capturing. I'm sure there a lot of anime about pretty little boys and almost insanely handsome demons out there, but something about the personalities of the characters just pulls you in and makes you love each one of them, no matter how annoying they are made to be. One of the two main characters, Ciel Phantomhive(I can't truly call him the main character, as that spot belongs to Sebastian, in my eyes atleast), has a personality that just about everyone would hate in real life but, as I always do, and i'm sure a lot of you are guilty of this too, are drawn to in fiction. His past is, without a doubt, very dark and interesting, which is very heavily involved in the story and plot of the anime, and to me, makes his personality completely understandable. Sebastian's cat-loving character trait never ceases to make people laugh and love him even more, along with his outstanding loyalty to his duties and his general all-around mister handsome demon personality. I don't want to go into depth about it here because, honestly, I think it's something fun to find out through the series.
The story of the series could've been better, but to me, it was alright. It doesn't really leave many plotholes and gets involved in Ciel's past very fast. When I was watching Kuroshitsuji, I always looked foreward to the surprises in the story as well--I knew the basic plot and thought that was just about it, but no, it's far more when the story comes into play. There are parts of the story that I never expected and would've never guessed would be there that come out in the series. Overall, it's pretty good, despite the small things that sort of turn me off of it. The large difference between it and the manga sort of bothers me, and the fact that it's so short makes it seem a little rushed.
The art of Kuroshitsuji is by far some of the best art in an anime i've ever seen. I was immediately drawn to it and it was almost always amazing and well done, very fitting to the setting of the series. I never once thought "ew, they made that look really awkward" or "oh god, why does this character's body look so disporportioned?"--I don't have anything about the art to complain about, really, so i'm keeping this part very short. Outstanding work on the artwork and animation is all i've got to say.
Of all the amazing things in this anime, the music is the loveliest. Always so interesting, fitting to the moment, and beautiful, I absolutely adore the soundtrack. The themesongs and ending songs were very well-chosen and well-animated, along with the background music. Aboslutely OUTSTANDING. I highly doubt you will be disappointed in it.
Overall, if you're debating on whether or not to watch Kuroshitsuji or not, I'd say, go for it. Even if it's not your type of anime, it's a great show--I didn't think it was much of my type, either, and I still thoroughly enjoyed it.