Black Butler Forum

A couple friends warned me that I wasn’t going to enjoy BLACK BUTLER but, surprise surprise, I enjoyed it a lot (even jumping into the middle of the series.) Maybe my only qualm about the show is that the Ciel kid looks grossly out of the place in turn-of-the-century London. Eye-patch and top hat? Sure, that fits. Blue hair and piercings? That would get him beat up on the street. I can see why he needs the Butler around to protect him.  Much like CHRONO CRUSADE, I’m really perplexed by the setting of the show. Historical fiction, steampunk, that all fits… but this seems like the creators just found the setting cool the way a fashion designer might suddenly find Scottish kilts cool as an items for a runway show. Like I said, turnabout's fairplay when it comes to cross-cultural appropriation but, still, as a Westerner I can’t help but be amused when the Japanese see a historical setting like this as something so cool to use.

The second volume of the first season of BLACK BUTLER is coming out soon from Funimation (like in a week) and I received the disc set from them just recently. I haven’t watched any of the prior episodes, so there’s definitely a lot I’m not getting here, but I could catch enough of the general thrust to want to see more. Unfortunately, the series is only (officially) streaming up until the fourth episode, so this is as far as we’re going to get.

Focusing on what I can comment on, I enjoyed the face-off scene between Sebastian and the Indians; especially how quickly and cordially the prince’s allegiances shifted once he figured out who was the actual aggressor in the situation. I don’t know exactly how many of the same people are involved, but considering how Square Enix is hosting and this is advertised as being “from the same people who brought you FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST” I couldn’t help but see some similar currents with the Ishvalens’ predicament.

Anyway, like I mentioned, this episode is the thirteenth and it’s titled “His Butler, Dependent.” You can’t watch it online, but you get the DVD it’s featured on here.

Tom Pinchuk’s the writer of  HYBRID BASTARDS!  &  UNIMAGINABLE . Order them on Amazon   here  &   here .  Follow him on Twitter:  @tompinchuk

Nyaa~ My favourite series!! <3 Just wait for the second season. You think it's weird Ciel walks around with piercings and blue hair? A 14 year old boy prances around in booty shorts and tall high heel boots licking chess pieces and poking people's eyes out. XD

The earlier episodes are available for streaming on Funimation, if you want to do a Watch and Learn starting from the beginning.

People told me that I wouldn't like this anime either... Now I want to watch it!

I've only seen a couple of episodes, but I'm up to vol 4 of the manga, so I am interested in checking the whole series out.