Review of Black Butler

I was debating on whether or not I would even venture into writing a review for this show. To get the general facts out of the way: this was one of the first animes I ever tried watching and the first anime I actually ended up dropping. I guess I gave in to the immense hype surrounding Black Butler and was ultimately disappointed by it. I would like to think I'm not alone. Story- 6 Where do I begin? This story had so much potential. I loved the idea of a demon butler who caters to his master's every whim, I guess. As well as the writer'sdedication to keeping all of the titles uniformed with "His Butler, ..". It's charming. If only said writer would have stopped after episode 24.

Now, I'm writing spoiler-free here, but there was an incredibly obvious way of making Black Butler an amazing 24 episode anime. Well of course that can't happen though, can it? Not when you can rake in even more money off of a tired plot!

Listen, season 1 is something great. It was enjoyable. Does it make you feel empty on the inside sometimes? Does it make you question the characters' and your own morality? Well, yes. But that doesn't deduct from the quality of the show and the potential it had. Like I said, what ruined it for me personally was the stretching of the show and the tugging on a clearly worn story. For this, I feel the show is overly hyped and not worth it.

Art- 9
Black Butler's artwork IS the best part of the show. It helps reinforce the plot and adds to the dark feelings within the show. Everything seems to be dimly lit and extremely lavish which I feel is a positive description of Sebastian, the butler, and Ciel, his master, as well as other socialites within the show. But we'll talk more about them later.

Sound- 8
The soundtrack is similar to the artwork for me where it fits the show entirely and moves the plot along. Not bad.

Characters- 7
Why only a 7? What did they ever do to you? Well, honestly, they made me feel a bit dead on the inside.

Sebastian Michaelis- I loved him for the majority of the season but after a bit he gave me trust issues. Does he want to protect and serve his master or does he just want to take their soul? In my opinion, with Sebastian being a demon, he's not trust worthy. Even when the show painted him out to be Ciel's hero and fans painted them out to be boyfriends, I still felt creepy undertones of soul sucking. Demons, right? But overall, Sebastian actually was one of the strongest characters and his personality was typically consistent.

Ciel Phantomhive- His name rolls off the tongue and is enjoyable to hear but Ciel himself puts me off. To put it lightly, he's had a rough life aside from the fact that he's incredibly rich. His hardships are what cause him to come in contact with his butler, the aforementioned Sebastian Michaelis. Ciel makes a contract with said demon butler because why quit while you're behind? It becomes painstakingly obvious that Ciel is more intelligent than most 12 to 13 year olds when it comes to matters of business. Almost unrealistically so. It becomes even more painstakingly obvious that he's aware of this and though his ego has advanced with his knowledge of the business world, his pride has not. He's such an absolute brat and there doesn't seem to be any character development within him throughout the 24 episodes that I have seen. Which, in my opinion and like I stated previously, should have been where the series ended.

The Phantomhive household- Seemingly misfit house workers who have taken care of Ciel take a drastic turn a few episodes in. They're still very lovable despite these turns of events. With all of their equally strong personalities, they add an air of humor to the usually calamitous plot line.

The Trancy household- A complete mess in and of itself but they still keep the story moving along and make you want to continue on with the show.

Elizabeth Ethel Cordelia Midford- Or Lizzie for short. Ciel's, at times, token love? Yes. Also Ciel's cousin? Yes. She too adds some comedy to the show but her relationship with Ciel still left me feeling a bit sad. It all comes across very dry as she is incredibly vapid and Ciel never seems to have any interest in her or what she says or does. If and when he does something for her it usually has some kind of benefit for himself.

The Nobles- All of these characters have some kind of connection to Ciel due to his social status and all of them have differing opinions of Ciel. They usually make you ask yourself if they're trustworthy people.

Grim Reapers- You thought you could trust them hahahahaaa.

AND there are more characters that I won't even bother going in depth on because they're all too shakey.
There are so many characters in this series and the show doesn't always go in depth on each one. Most of them remain flat or get dropped within a matter of an episode or two.

Enjoyment- 6
So yeah, I was loving this show until the last few episodes. That's when the final episode of season 1 did me in. I feel like I'm beating a dead horse here but honestly, the story had the perfect ending laid out. Could you foresee it? Yes, but it still would have been a satisfying ending that tied all the loose ends together. Which brings me to my overall score of a 6. You can watch Black Butler for yourself and you may love it as many others have but, personally, this show left me feeling a little empty and sad.