Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
ThatCrazyElitist
Black Butler is an odd mix of comedy, drama, fantasy and yaoi undertones. There are few anime out there that can combine comedy and drama without ruining one of these elements, sadly enough Black Butler is not one of these shows. The comedy totally ruins the drama and is often unfunny and immature, the bishies and yaoi tropes were unnecessary and the fantasy didn't make sense. But for some reason, this anime is in the top 50 most popular anime on MAL, why? Probably because it had bishies, a hot butler, nice music, pretty animation and a gay death god that tries to make senpai notice him, oh so hilarious.
~Story~ 3/10
We meet our main character, a 10 year old boy (who looks like a girl) and gives his soul in exchange for revenge against the people who killed his parents and tortured him.…
Read at the sourceNameWithheld
To be completely honest, this show sort of pisses me off.
The main problem I have with this show is the two main characters. Let's start out with Ciel. He sold his soul to a demon, which is bad enough, but it wasn't even to save a life, it was to get revenge. I can never look past it. I hated him from the first scene I saw him. Thankfully, this show is not stupid enough to frame the decision as a good one, or Ciel as a good person. But it's hard to ignore the center of the plot.
Then there is Sebastian. I grew to dislike him more and more as the show went on. I know the ladies love him, but that smile is something that makes me want to gag. The catchphrase "one hell of a butler", which is actually pretty cool, gets ruined with incessant repetition. I don't find him charming.
The story is…
Read at the sourceBlazestar
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 to themselves, 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…
Read at the sourcedefunctmaluser
Obscured by a veil of feathers, a boy floating above a sacrificial altar is warned by a crow that if he rejects the faith even once, the gates of Heaven will forever stay closed to him. The boy responds by saying that if he was truly among the faithful in the first place, he never would’ve summoned the crow. The two parties then make a contract and the screen fades to black so that the intro can start playing. Immediately after the intro however, we’re treated to the same child waking up for the morning and a tall, handsome man in a jet black suit as his enigmatic butler performing his duties. After the title card pops up, we’re then treated to the comedic antics of his other servants styled like it was ripped straight out of Fullmetal Alchemist.
The above paragraph sums up the first 5 mi…
Read at the sourcelesfleurs
Where to begin with such an interesting, heart-wrenching, emotional, hilarious, and macabre anime such as this?
Well, not on any plane that Kuroshitsuji stands on. Those descriptions are saved for other anime that actually live up to those qualities.
A while ago, I heard about Kuroshitsuji, A.K.A. Black Butler, kicking up a storm for most of the younger viewers in the anime audience. This does not include the entirety of the audience, just a large portion of it. I became interested in it, seeing as how somewhat lurid, supernatural animes are very interesting when done correctly. Before investigating further upon the animation, I read a few volumes into the manga. I enjoyed the art style and found the characters to be quite complex and entertaining in their own little quirks. Of course,…
Read at the sourceguillaumec
Kuroshitsuji or black butler was one hell of an anime. the mix of mythical creatures such as shinigamis, demons, angels with the Britain history is well done. The story is based on some historical facts but of course 99% of the serie is fictive. One great example of a historical fact that they used is Jack The Ripper. The way that they explain those cases with those mythical creatures, is just as it could’ve happened in history without that anyone would’ve noticed it. So basicly they use those creatures to let those cases make a lot more sense.
Ciel Phantomhive is however he is still a child the head of the Phantomhive house/company that does all kind of underground work for the queen. The fact why he is the head of the corporation is because his mansion was fired and both his parents die…
Read at the sourcektulu007
Kuroshitsuji was written by Toboso Yana, published by Square-Enix and had an anime adaptation from A-1 Pictures, a studio that I have never watched an anime from. So, let's take a look at the series and get a vague idea of what the studio is made of.
The story is pretty simple. A boy named Ciel Phantomhive, the orphaned son of a wealthy family, is on a quest to get revenge on his parents' killers while making his business a success. Naturally, he sets up a cave hideout and puts on a garish costume after training his mind and body extensively... Wait, that's a different orphaned son of a wealthy family. No, Ciel takes a more supernatural route. He makes a pact with a demon. The demon will serve as his butler and protect him until he has his revenge at which point Ciel's soul will be forfe…
Read at the sourceMrDoe
If this was a one-line review, it would be "A great premise but sadly a bad execution." This anime struggles to find a balance between it's serious overarching story and the less serious comedy of it, a comedy that's often immature and just plain unfunny. Around every turn the anime is clearly struggling between being serious and being immature, resulting in a weird mix of the two that's just not appealing at all.
The overarching story has amazing potential, when I read the premise I thought that this might be the not-so-famous cousin of Code Geass, but I was sorely disappointed. While the overall premise of Kuroshitsuji looks great on paper, the execution is clearly lacking.
The overarching story of Kuroshitsuji is quite serious and you'll notice that early on, in the first few episod…
Read at the sourcenayama
I will start by saying that I have mixed feelings about this anime.
I read the manga beforehand, which means that I already had my ideas about the characters and knew how the story would develop. It also means that I am biased. If you don't care about the manga you might consider reading a review written by someone who has seen the anime first (or only that), it will probably be less biased.
The strong points of Kuroshitsuji are the characters and the story. Add to this good animation, great seiyuu and beautiful music and you get this anime. All in all I recommend it, especially if you fancy the genre, but as a fan of the manga I can't avoid making comparisons.
The story, set in Victorian England, is essentially dark and manages to skillfully mix together mystery, drama, angst and humor.…
Read at the sourceGilgaki
I can understand why this series is so popular.
I actually really enjoyed watching this because it was whimsical and had it's dark moments as well. However, the reason why I rated it as an overall six is because the story fell apart last minute and just didn't make much sense.
So - Story 5/10.
The story had so. much. bloody. potential. I wanted to rate it higher, but like I said, it sort of fell apart at the end. What was happening just wasn't making sense and this series would have benefited from a little more attention to filling in plot holes. Or at least, exploring the characters a bit deeper. It would have been nice to see some more on the Death Gods society and the pasts of Ciel's servants than what was presented. Even if they didn't explain the whole motives of the antagonist,…
Read at the sourcename93
Usually I wouldn't waste any energy on reviewing such a bad product of entertainment industry, but I, like all people, sometimes just need to let myself go and get the burden of my back. Let me apologise beforehand for such an obnoxiously long review. So let's go.
If there is one sentence that could perfectly describe this series it would be: "What an utter waste of potential!"
The premise is a boy selling his soul to a demon and then solving mysteries related to the underground society in Victorian-era London. What an epic anime it could have been; a mix of Death Note, Hellsing and Sherlock Holmes - a guarantee of success. But it became the school example of wasting potential instead. Some series just don't have the premise that could make them good. But this - man I was disappointed!…
Read at the sourceCopyNinja89
Ok, my first review. please be kind! English is not my native language so please excuse any spelling or grammatical errors.
Okay, first of all I will be comparing this series to the original manga, mostly because well I'm following it and it is pretty awesome, but also because I began to read the manga when this series first aired and I wanted to know what it what about before I saw the anime.
I'm going to start with animation and music, and then end with story and characters.
The animation is good but not great. The animations style is very similar to X an anime series released in 2001, which had fantastic animation. However there are two problems with the animation in Kuroshitsuji compared to X. The first and biggest problem is that the quality of the animation is not consistent. Som…
Read at the sourceLindle
As of late, Kuroshitsuji is essentially the poster-boy for thinly-veiled fangirl bait. Kuroshitsuji (or Black Butler, whatever floats your boat) has tons of yaoi tropes, and has the word bishie plastered all over it, so you may think that being somebody who does not like these things, that I hate it because of that. So let's make this clear now: No. That has nothing to do with it. There are plenty of legitimate reasons not to like Kuroshitsuji besides that, so before you reach for the Not Helpful button, please think for a second: are you doing that because my review is badly written, or just because you don't agree with my score? So, at the very least, just read the rest of the review first, OK?
With that sadly necessary disclaimer out of the way, let's discuss Kuroshitsuji. Kuroshitsuji…
Read at the sourceRey00
This is my first review and I choose to write it about the anime "Kuroshitsuji" Or "Black Butler". So let's get on with it, yes?
~STORY & CHARACTERS~ Both rating 8/10
The story itself was overall enjoyable, though it's not something "completely" unheard of before. The anime "Chrono Crusade" has a slightly similar plot. I think what makes Kuroshitsuji different was the characters. To me the characters were mostly all lovable, even Ciel was, though at times he was an annoying little brat. But that was part of his charm ^^;; I absolutely LOVED Sebastian. I mean, there's literally nothing he can't do xD. And he's always so cool and calm about it :P
~ART~ Rating 9/10
I loved the art. I think I loved the outfits the most due the old Victorian era feel to them. Especially Ciel, Elizabeth and S…
Read at the sourceRi-chan
I wrote this review on my blog for the anime and manga, and i figured I'd post here:
At first this series annoyed me to hell. Not because I'd read it, mind you. But because every time I'm go to check for some freaking updates there would be Kuroshitsuji at the top of the list, taunting me and singing "na-na-na-na you don't read me!". The obvious solution would be to read it but I was stubborn and the title looked like a shounen which i was not in the mood for.
Finally I gave in and clicked the link on onemanga, which gave me the most misleading synopsis I'd ever read. It went:
"To what extent must a housekeeper do things to be acceptable? One of the noble families of England: Phantomhive's butler: Sebastian Michaels has got unquestionably perfect knowledge, manners, talent with material…
Read at the sourceTheFukoMaster
Kuroshitsuji is an awesome anime. It is filled with darkness, and even a bit of humor. It is very good for people wanting a thick plot that leaves you with answers and wanting to figure everything out. Thankfully, there will be a second season coming out to (hopefully) explain everything.
STORY: 9
All right. Kuroshitsuji had a strong plot. It was full of twists and surprises. It started pretty light at first, but it kept getting darker and darker. If you're looking for something like Hayate no Gotoku, then DEFINITELY stay away from this. Ciel Phantomhive is a spoiled kid who has a demon butler. Simple, right? Not at all. We learn that although Ciel is only a child, he can get into some pretty deep stuff. Unfortunately, because of his age (12), it was a little hard to believe. But you wil…
Read at the source-Naami-
---The review contains spoilers---
So, Kuroshitsuji is an anime that is labelled “shounen” but I don’t really know why - it’s filled with bishounens, pretty clothes and the fancy Victorian age backdrop with massive shounen ai and shota undertones. Oh, and the obvious gay shinigami who keeps trying to kiss the butler.
The story starts off with an eerie atmosphere, showing a 10 year old child who exchanges his soul for a demon butler to help exact his revenge against the people who killed his parents and humiliated him. Two-three years later they are still together; Ciel Phantomhive the 12 (later 13) year old Earl also the head of his house and company and Sebastian Michaelis, the demon butler who could do anything and together working for the Queen to solve mysteries and at the same tim…
Read at the sourceRampant
The real crux of why this anime fails to have any impact is the characters. Not a single one is capable of pulling off the swagger they purport to have, summed up by the incredibly terrible "catch phrase" of the butler being "one hell of a Butler," which is always said so apathetically that it makes it even more boring. The main shota-boy is the worst of all, as Ceil manages to pull off nothing at all. Ceil is constantly bratty without being really grating or especially irate because all he likes to do is complain. The series plays up his parents' death making him ungodly fixated on revenge, but even that passion is never actually displayed in the series. Another good example of a purely character related flaw is how much time people spend blushing over Sebastian, each time being groan wor…
Read at the sourcecheropteran
The thing that sets Kuroshitsuji apart from a lot of other shows, especially the over-hyped shounen anime that most people (myself included) have gotten used to, is just how damn dark it is. It’s a show where evil triumphs… and that’s a good thing. It’s a show that isn’t afraid to kill off characters. And just when you start thinking that maybe Sebastian, for all his demonic powers, isn’t such a bad guy, his utter apathy for the death that unfolds around him shocks the viewer back into the realization that the hero of the show is just plain evil. In fact, it seems that most of the characters are shady bastards with hidden agendas, leaving the audience rooting for the forces of evil. Ah, the refreshing feeling of evil winning. [insert maniacal laughter here]
In most anime worlds, revenge i…
Read at the sourceeneri
This anime is one of the most breathtaking, gloriously beautiful masterpieces that I have ever seen. It manages to mix in character development, humour and action at the same time. They are all well balanced, so there isn't too much of comedy and such. Though it may not look like it, Kuroshitsuji is a dark series and thus there are lots of thought provoking themes and symbolism. The series is such that you could be crying with either happiness or sadness with the character. To be frank the show had me crying at times I thought I wouldn't. Though there are some questions left unanswered at the end, it is still worth watching.
Story [9]
Indeed, the storyline was unique in its own way. The beginning arc is by far one of the best I've seen. But after it strayed away from the manga, it got a…
Read at the source