Review of Black Butler

Kuroshitsuji, or Black butler. What an interesting concept. Supernatural beings living in the 1800s London. Having a demon as your butler, living in a mansion, doing detective work for the queen her majesty. I have not watched any of its sequel yet, so I'm reviewing this based purely on the first season. STORY (Concept 4/5, Development 2/5) Story is a fairly weird part of the show. The structure of the arcs reminds me of Darker than Black and Cowboy Bebop. Every episode or sometimes every two episodes concerns of a certain event that involves certain characters. The problem is, instead of leaving the arcs tothemselves, the writer keeps elements presented from these arcs weaving around until the very end where the grand finale that draws all the things happened before together.

I dislike shows that doesn't have a continuous plot, so I don't like how the story is told in Black butler.

The main problem I have with this type of story is that, the author tries too hard to make all the connections, but fails to make the individual arcs interesting.

---The following paragraph may be considered a semi-spoiler for some audience---

The Indian Prince arc for example, serves a purpose of introducing the Queen's butler. Not that there is anything wrong with it, it is just that the butler barely got any screen time in the arc. This leads to the problem that when Queen's butler actually becomes a major character, nobody knows anything about him and the "connection" the writer tries to make starts to feel forced.

---Potential Spoiler Ends---

What frustrates me the most is that the ending of the series is actually really cool and awesome. Despite the fact that I forced myself to go over the series so hard before I reached somewhere around episode 16, the ending did make me say "Wow."

Another thing I'd like the mention is that most of the time I always thought this is a slice of life anime. It just doesn't feel serious enough with all those fooling around by Ciel's servants and other trolling characters. Which means this anime cannot, and should not be marathoned if you want to enjoy it to the fullest.

All in all, I think on a grand scheme the story is actually pretty good. But when you actually go in and enjoy it, it fails to grab my attention and it was BORING.

But why would so many people love this series so much? Let's go in to the characters.

CHARACTERS (Design 5/5, Development 3/5)

The main Characters are Ciel and Sebastian.

The mighty Sebastian is really a virus. I do admit I fangirled him quite a bit as a healthy heteralsexual male. He is simply so cool and calm and awesome. He is artistic, gentle and occasionally, inhuman on both emotional and physical levels. Sebastian Serves as a ultimate weapon that only unleash his full power at critical moments.

That alone is already great enough for people to stay in front of the screen and watch the show. The problem is however, Sebastian never needs to consider any potential danger serious matter until the very last arc. This bothers me a little bit since Sebastian did not change at all throughout the plot: His relationship with Ciel doesn't change and his ideology stay intact.

Ciel is a 12 year old noble who is the last seed of the grand Phantomhive family. By making a contract with Sebastian, he escaped the fire that killed both his parents. As a young noble who suddenly becomes responsible for his family pride and duty, he grow as a determined child over the course of time spent with his Butler. Ciel, unlike Sebastian, did change his ideology and experienced some personal growth from the events, which is quite pleasant.

Ciels' other servents, (A chef, a gardener, a maid, and a recorder) all serve as plot relieves. Even though they are eventually introduced with background stories at the end of show, they are... irrelevant for the must part of the show.

Other characters such as grim reapers' association, which acts as a third party that always help (except the first arc) Ciel and Sebastian unintentionally, is an interesting addition as well. Nothing such as development can be considered, so they are purely for the supporting role.

To wrap things up, the characters are interesting, and I see how the female audience enjoys it so much. But objectively speaking, they are not that well presented.

GRAPHIC (Art 5/5, Animation 2/5)

The art is very beautiful. It shows the wonderful landscape of the old England. The character are also very pretty and appealing, Ladies are pretty and the men are cool, especially Sebastian. However, many scenes are way too simplified and becomes like kids' comic style drawing. I suppose this is just my personal dislike since some people like lots of funny and plot relieves.

The animation however, fairly weak. The action scenes are not well rendered, which makes them... fairly boring. That said, Sebastian's power are still amusing to watch. Still images are literally found anywhere to the point where I felt closing my eyes and listen to the anime is more enjoyable.

Art is very good, but the way they animated isn't that great.

SOUND (OP/ED 2/3, OST 2/3, Dub 4/4)

The opening and ending, to be honest are very great songs. I actually like them so much that I don't skip them and enjoy the beautiful combination of animation and sound. However, if you remove the graphic and listen to the songs by themselves... They become quite forgettable.

OST are also on a okay level. Definitely not memorable. But they are not trash either. They are simply too plain and doesn't stand out with the dialogues. But after all, they are only OSTs, they are just supposed to be served as background in the show.

Ha. I have no freaking idea why you should resist the dub at all. Unless you are a native British person who hates American people try to speak in British accent, there is absolutely no reason to not like the dub. This is not saying the Original Japanese is not good however. Both are very emotional and well acted. But why would you NOT want BRITISH English in a show that has the old BRITAIN as the stage???

ENJOYMENT (6/10)

I did not like it for the majority of the show, but the ending sort of made everything up. As a person who loves serious, continuous plot, I don't find myself enjoying the series too much. This is not to say that it is not good. If you watch them maybe 2 episodes a day, it should be fairly enjoyable. If you are a fan for Sebastian... Well, good for you, you will love it.

Again, for the last 8 episodes, I did enjoy them. The story became serious and interesting. So, I felt it was a good series after I completed it, but during the time I watched it, I didn't.

OVERALL (7/10)

I can see why people loved it. The concept was simply unique and brilliant. But if you look at it in a critical point of view, it kinda... failed to be a respectable piece of entertainment.

Don't get me wrong, I think everyone should watch it. After all the ending is great and for people don't mind episodic stories and easily get intrigued in the settings, this show is golden. For others, it is still worth a shot since it has a very unique concept and style comparing to the rest of the animes.

Peace.