Black Butler
Whilst I certainly have some bias from nostalgia, given that it was the first I ever watched (in High School one very ill-advised night, when I binged the entirety of the first season...), Black Butler remains one of my all-time favourite anime series.
I can’t be certain what year it was that I initially watched it, so I’ve speculated a little based on likely timing, but I’ve since rewatched it multiple times over the years.
My most recent rewatch of the entire show was in 2024 with a friend, as we’d planned to do so in advance of the Public School Arc releasing (after so painfully long since Book of the Atlantic).
Season 1
The first season of Black Butler is captivating and interesting, whilst also being particularly long at 24 episodes. Of course, at the time of the first season’s release, there was not as much source material from the manga as there is now, so only 9 episodes of the season follow events from the manga, with the remaining 15 telling its own story for Ciel Phantomhive, involving an angel, a hellhound, and providing a concrete end to the season.
Ultimately, I really enjoyed this when I first watched it, and I still think it’s a very enjoyable story to watch; there are, however, some aspects to the plot which are incongruent with the canonical truth (and the fact that subsequent seasons require pretending a lot of the first season did not happen) do mar this somewhat.
Season 2
The second season attempts to continue from the custom ending of Season 1, and thus doubles-down on the non-canon universe. Ultimately, I think the story of Alois Trancy - even with its clear parallels to Ciel’s own - is an interesting one, and the similarity is used in the plot, indicating an awareness in the writing. Overall, this was a really good follow-up to the first season, especially considering the lack of source material to use for this!
Alas, all of Season 2 being non-canon means that it is explicitly retconned by the subsequent releases in order to ‘recalibrate’ with the source manga, which is unfortunate.
The OVAs for this season are also particularly unusual, with Ciel in Wonderland’s 2-part OVA being an absolute fever dream; admittedly, it took until my 2024 rewatch in advance of Public School Arc to finally watch these!
Book of Circus
The first of the reboot-style, Book of Circus much more closely follows the Circus Arc from the manga series, and attempts to establish a new precedent wherein Black Butler’s anime reflects the story told in the manga. This third season is visually spectacular, featuring absolutely incredible characters and plot twists, alongside finally sowing the seeds of the eventual twist that is revealed in the manga (but which the anime is nowhere near to as yet!).
I very much enjoyed this season, and have considered the reset it provided for the series a very good decision.
Book of Murder
The first of the longer-form ‘episodes’, where Book of Murder is composed of two 1-hour OVAs (that is, effectively a movie!), Book of Murder was an incredible watch and a very fun story. Combined with the Pied Piper theme from Book of Circus, and the Titanic / Frankenstein / Zombie themes of Book of the Atlantic, this movie fully asserts that the ‘Book’ sequences for Black Butler are strongly rooted in folklore, history, and pop culture.
Book of the Atlantic
Book of the Atlantic finally provides another counter to Grell’s incessant sexuality, and a new hot superpowered character in the form of the Undertaker, who takes on his mantle as the series’ antagonist from this point. This further elaborates on the seeds of doubt relating to Ciel’s identity from Book of Circus as we learn more about Elizabeth’s past and her childhood relationship with Ciel.
Visually, too, this full movie ups the ante yet again with some absolutely beautiful scenery.
Public School Arc
I watched this pretty soon after release with a friend (after we rewatched everything before it!) in mid-2024, and we noticed some visual adjustments to Sebastian (in particular) whose eyes appear to have been redone in a subtly different art style. In particular, eyelashes throughout the series seem more detailed, and other visual elements are very well animated.
Narratively, I think the season is an interesting watch and demonstrates Ciel’s & Sebastian’s schemes well, but I also observed that - stymied by the restrictions in place by the school setting - Ciel felt somewhat lacking for parts of the season (though this isn’t necessarily an overly bad thing).
Overall, this was a very worthy successor to Book of the Atlantic, and the established continuance of this canon-following reboot looks to be fantastic.
