A Review of Kuroshitsuji a.k.a. Black Butler

WARNING: May contain spoilers

Ah, Kuro... Where to begin...

Kuroshitsuji is set in Victorian England. It is about the young earl Ciel Phantomhive. To the outside world, he seems like any other member of nobility, albeit a bit young. In reality, he serves as the Queen's Guard Dog, taking care of various underground cases. Often times, this gets hims into trouble, and he has been kidnapped more than once. Usually this would be a big problem, but that's where Sebastian comes in.

Two years prior to the main story line, Ciel's parents were murdered and their manor burned down. Ciel himself was taken away and tortured for the better part of a month. The cult who took him attempted to perform some sort of ritual, which most likely would have killed Ciel. However, young Ciel summoned a demon. He formed a contract with said demon, which would allow him to take revenge on those who did this to him, but when his revenge was complete the demon would get to eat his soul. To make sure this contract goes according to plan, the demon, whom Ciel names Sebastian, becomes his butler.

These two become our main duo. They undertake various cases including Jack the Ripper and the Hound of the Baskervilles, all while trying to find who murdered Ciels parents and put him through utter humiliation. Along with our two main characters, we have a wonderful sidecast including Mei-Rin, the clumsy maid; Finnian, the tremendously strong gardener; Bard the loyal yet terrible cook; and a flamboyant shinigami obsessed with red.

Now, I have to warn you that the anime strays quite a bit from the manga, which is still going. Not only does it follow a different plot, but it is also far more comedic. That being said, I still find it quite fun to watch.

Overall, I give this series an 8/10. I find the idea behind it interesting, the characters fun to watch, and just plain entertaining. The downside is that the anime is quite comedic when it could have been so much more. The manga is less so, and is still going. It also seems a lot better in my opinion, as it incorporates more characters and delves into far more detail than the anime.

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~Reptar-Bar