Review of Black Butler

Everyone makes it sound like Kuroshitsuji is the anime you HAVE to watch - the anime that you ABSOLUTELY CANNOT miss. Whether it's fangirls fawning over Sebastian Michaelis, or fanboys debating Ciel's sanity and maturity, there certainly has been a hell of a lot of reputation this one has packed up, huh? And, through my watching of this - my first anime, actually, but it's been over a year - I could certainly see why! But haha... It's not perfect in any way. In fact, sometimes I wonder why people claim Kuroshitsiju to be such a wonderful anime. In my opinion, it's originality and style ispretty average, since there have certainly been some revenge and demon animes.

Overall, however, it's not a bad runthrough, but if you didn't like the first Kuro, then don't even bother with the second season, because it's twice as bad. Personally, I, however, enjoyed it, but looking at it in a critique's eye says otherwise.

Story: (6/10)

Kuroshitsuji's story actually isn't all that interesting - just another revenge anime that adds a few unique twists with the Victorian setting and 13-year-old Earl of the Phantomhives. Sure, a few nasty plot curves change the overall ending of this revenge story, but that doesn't change the fact that it is STILL a revenge story.

Art: (8/10)

One reason I rather found myself enjoying this anime was the art style and animation. Kuroshitsuji uses a gloomier palette on most occasions, setting a mysterious, dark mood on eerie moments. For the majority of the first Season, this creepy setting was used, and it helped add to the suspense. Not only that, but it was downright gorgeous in delivery!

The main characters - Sebastian Michaelis and Ciel Phantomhive - were pretty consistent in terms of art style and design. However, Ciel's eyes could often be oddly proportioned on his face, although that may just be me.

Sound: (9/10)

Since Kuroshitsuji takes place in such a time era, it was appropriate that the music style fit in well with the setting. In my opinion, Kuroshitsuji didn't fail on this part - in fact, they nailed it. All of the soundtracks were incredibly engaging and on point. In particular, it had a few very memorable soundtracks that sounded like it came straight from Victorian London. Being a Victorian nerd in that way, it pleased me to see how much dedication went into the music through this anime.

Character: (9/10)

This was another one of the biggest reasons I ever started watching this. All of the characters that were introduced from early on in this anime - granted, it doesn't have an extraordinarily big cast - were developed in an interesting and unique way. Both Ciel and Sebastian were layered characters that revealed two completely different takes on cruelty and darkness: Ciel withholds silent malice while Sebastian is an obvious demon to be reckoned - even the Manor Servants are obviously intimidated by the Butler, despite knowing what he truly is.

However, this anime also had its ridiculous share of annoying characters. Pluto - the stupid dog from early in the anime, Elizabeth or "Lizzy" - Ciel's cousin/fiance, and the servants themselves. Pluto, the Demon Hound, not originating from the manga, was basically a replica of a Sebastian fangirl that wasn't incredibly plot-important. He should never have existed, in my opinion. Lizzy, on the other hand, had a bit too much enthusiasm, and I do sympathize on her part of being a young girl - but she is completely ignorant of Ciel's obvious distaste to her. And the servants, the cook, the gardener, and the maid: are physically incapable people that fail on the most simple of tasks and make fools of themselves so that the fantastic Demon Butler Sebastian could shine in front of the audience time and time again and win the attention of everyone in the anime.

Enjoyment: (8/10)

Kuroshitsuji, given the uninteresting story and somewhat bland side characters, was a thrilling watch as we unwrapped the secrets behind Ciel's past. The character interactions were entertaining enough, granted that mostly happened between Sebastian and Ciel. However, a lot of the episodes were slow and many were irrelevant to the plot.

Towards the middle of the anime, things slowed down a bit and many parts were uninteresting - for example, when Ciel was separated from Sebastian and forced to work with that news reporter, whoever he is.

Overall: (8/10)

To wrap things up, is Kuroshitsuji a good anime like everyone claims? Definitely. Is it a fantastic anime that needs to be sent tribute and praised by the Sebastian fangirls? Definitely not. While this anime is a good mystery/revenge story that could definitely use a hit, it's not as moving or powerful as everyone claims it to be.

Now, that may be only my opinion, but it is still a far cry from amazing or perfect. Anyone that rated this as a '10' is obviously a Sebastian fangirl, because there are definitely a few things wrong with this anime that should be considered.

And Ciel acting immaturely at the weirdest times IS one of them.