Review of Black Butler

Black Butler was an anime you couldn't really go anywhere related to anime online without hearing fans gush about it to some extent in the 2008 - 2012 period. It had quite the fan following. The impression I always had of it at the time was it was just another edgy grimdark series with a thin layer of Teeaboo love for 1800's high society British Culture. After watching 2 - 3 episodes I felt that my original assumptions were fairly spot on, however as I watched on beyond these initial episodes more depth arose one might have missed if they dismissed it too quickly. The plotactually thickens, with a number of interesting and entertaining episodes.

Many of the characters were hard to like with their eccentric and dramatic personalities that just come across as the writer trying too hard to make them super unique or memorable based on quirks and gimmicks, rather than allowing their place in the story and some depth of character do so.

The art and animation are quite good, being of consistent quality which is always commendable, as some series really do fumble the ball in this regard. The soundtrack was definitely rather good too, it captured and conveyed feelings rather effectively.

Overall it wasn't amazing but it equally wasn't terrible. I would say it's worth a watch but it's far from being essential viewing.