Before I begin, I just want to get one thing out of the way: yes, this is technically a continuation of the first season which picks up the manga's story where the first season left off (which is around Episode 16-onward). HOWEVER, Book of Circus is inexplicably formatted as if it was geared toward newcomers to the franchise. This is of course both good and bad. The good is the fact that you don't have to sit through the first 15 episodes of the first season to actually familiarise yourself with the characters and the like since any events that happened within the first season are quickly recapped for your convenience. The bad news is that if you are in fact, a complete newcomer to the franchise... chances are that you might get a bit lost somewhere down the road. Keep in mind that this is only 10 episodes long though, so you should just kind of roll with it if you're watching and look it up later if you really are that curious.
Aside from the stuff I mentioned before, another reason why people don't give Kuroshitsuji a chance is because well... the concept sounds kind of boring in hindsight and that's something I really can't defend because truth be told, it DOES get boring. HOWEVER, that's not entirely the case with Book of Circus. Book of Circus adapts the much-lauded Noah's Ark Circus portion of the manga's story which is where Toboso actually cut all of the superfluous bullshit and actually focused on giving us involving plot that sucks us in. Here's the deal: a travelling circus comes to London, but the problem is that children keep getting abducted in every city that the circus has been in. Considering Ciel's reputation as the Queen's guard dog, it was only a matter of time before he's ordered by Her Majesty to conduct an investigation.
Right off the bat, we have an awesome set-up. People unfamiliar with Black Butler tend to dismiss this show as a slice-of-life supernatural comedy taking place in Victorian England, which couldn't be farther from the truth. The biggest reason that I can think of as to why people tend to have this misconception is because the first half of Kuroshitsuji's first season REALLY dialled up the comedy which really affected the overall tone of the story. The manga does retain a similar style of humour which mostly consists of visual gags and slapstick, but it's far less prevalent. Considering the fact that the vast majority of this show takes place in a circus, it's no surprise that there would be some hint of a light-hearted tone with a little bit of comedy present. However, that's mostly evident within the first four episodes where the Noah's Ark Circus is being introduced and the mystery was being touched upon.
As the show progresses, the mystery surrounding the Noah's Ark Circus is gradually explored and good GOD does it get morbid. I'm not even joking when I tell you that there's actually a point in the penultimate episodes where there actually was censorship put into effect for a good 20-30 seconds (parts of the screen end up being blacked out). For people who come into Kuroshitsuji expecting some kind of bishie festival full of yaoi subtext and shota undertones full of over-the-top comedy akin to something like say... Ouran HSHC, this will be a MAJOR shock to the system. Whenever Yana Toboso actually gets to work on an arc with a serious story that has the potential to suck you in, she more or less drops most of the bullshit and actually focuses on developing the story with minimal interruptions whatsoever. Speaking of which, there's actually not a lot of shota/yaoi subtext throughout the entirety of the Noah's Ark Circus. I mean... there's bits and pieces of it here and there, but it's a hell of a lot more bearable than that fucking corset scene from Episode 4.
As for the pacing, the actual mystery surrounding the Noah's Ark Circus is handled quite well, which you might think is rather surprising given that this is a 10-episode season. HOWEVER, the entirety of the Noah's Ark Circus portion of the manga was only 13 chapters long to begin with which means that it's adapted at a ratio of about 1 chapter:1 episode ratio. Keep in mind that's also roughly 468 pages of material to adapt, where each chapter was around 35-40 pages long. I'd say that 10 episodes was enough to work with to give this part of the manga a fair adaptation. It's not a perfect adaptation though, given that the first episode is more or less an introduction to Ciel, Sebas-chan, and everyone else and has next-to-nothing to do with the Noah's Ark Circus until the end of the episode. I still found it pretty entertaining though, although that mostly stems from my fondness of Sebas-chan (and of course, the amazing visuals/OST that A-1 Pictures provides).
Moving over to the character side of things, let's take a look at Ciel and Sebas-chan first. Ciel is for lack of better words, a 13-year-old Bruce Wayne but with an eye patch. The thing is that he suffers from a REALLY traumatic past (which actually DOES get explored in Book of Circus), but it's that traumatic past that causes him to constantly brood and never know when to lighten up... you know, unless he's faking it for the sake of Her Majesty. He will lie and cheat if it means that whatever he's doing for the sake of the Queen will go further which is clearly evident whenever he has to weasel his way out of some less-than-ideal situations. For the most part, Ciel doesn't really change throughout Book of Circus but that's kind of understandable given that he BARELY changed throughout the entirety of the manga (I'm 97 chapters in, and I can safely say that he hasn't had all that much character growth).
Now we get to Sebastian Michaelis, affectionately referred to as "Sebby" by the fans and "Sebas-chan" or "Bassy" by Grell (depends on whether or not you watch sub/dub). He's one hell of a bishie demon butler who made a contract with Ciel to help him exact revenge on those who wronged him in exchange for being able to consume his soul once the deed is done. In all honesty, I love Sebas-chan as a character. In many ways, Ciel and Sebas-chan have a relationship similar to that of Integra and Alucard from Hellsing. At the same time, Sebastian likes to toy around with his master and keep things fresh and entertaining for him.
A lot of people don't like Sebastian because of the fact that he's overpowered, but that's like hating on the Gundam franchise because it involves giant robots. The biggest draw to Sebastian is his personality and his approach to the various situations that he gets put into. The terms of the contract that he has with Ciel are only effective if he's alive... but just barely. Ciel also has to be very careful about what he orders Sebastian to do, otherwise he'll just do whatever and get off on a technicality. So in that sense, it keeps the relationship between the two of them fresh and is just a joy to watch on-screen... whenever there isn't any shota subtext. Much like Ciel, Sebas-chan really doesn't change throughout Book of Circus and that's kind of the way he is throughout the vast majority of the manga. Well, then again this manga's been going on for like eight years via monthly serialisation. It's no surprise that Toboso hasn't quite fleshed out the characters yet.
As for the new characters introduced in Book of Circus like Joker, Beast, Doll, and Snake... they're all pretty interesting to say the least. With the exception of Joker, Beast, and Doll, the vast majority of the Noah's Ark Circus characters aren't really developed all that much (with the possible exception of Snake, but he shows up later in the manga's run WAY past the end of the Noah's Ark Circus). Well... then again, this is a 10-episode long series that adapts a relatively short part of the manga. I guess it's only natural for character development to not exactly be up-to-snuff. I will say this though: Episodes 7-9 which feature this show's main antagonist will DEFINITELY catch you off-guard. On another note, Episode 8 features the Phantomhive servants kicking ass like they did in the episode "His Butler, Engaging Servants" from the first season and I have to say... I NEVER get tired of Mey-Rin without her glasses on. I can't wait to hear Monica Rial voicing her in the English dub.
On the technical side of things, the art/animation for Book of Circus is absolutely GORGEOUS and is quite possibly some of A-1 Pictures' best work to date. This season alone makes the other two pretty damn hard to watch. I guess it's similar to The Boondocks where the art/animation quality continuously improves throughout each season. I honestly can't wait for the Book of Murder OVAs to come out so that I can see how A-1 Pictures is going to top themselves. What I really love about the art/animation is how A-1 Pictures actually implemented stuff like shading and lighting to quite a realistic degree in a vein similar to Death Note. Now if only A-1 Pictures' adaptations were as good as Madhouse's. Whatever, that's none of my business *drinks a cup of Earl Grey tea* As for the art/animation for the OP and ED, I quite like the OP but the ED felt a bit too... fangirl-pandering for my liking. Whatever, this is Black Butler... fangirl pandering is something that's part of the course and it's something I've made peace with a long time ago.
On the sound side of things... I REALLY wish that the Book of Circus OST was released by now because there were a LOT of BGM tracks that I happened to pick up on and thoroughly enjoy. Now if only they retained the song "Si Deus Me Relinquit" from the first season. Speaking of which, they actually got SID back to do the opening for Book of Circus (these are also the guys that did the first ED and fifth OP of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood). "Enamel" has to be the catchiest OP theme I've heard yet, and this is coming from a guy who couldn't get the fifth OP for Naruto PT1 out of his head for a good six years (and I REALLY wish that was hyperbole). I also quite like the ED track, "Aoki Tsuki Michite" by AKIRA... although to be brutally honest, it's the visuals I don't quite care much for and is the main reason why I skipped over the ED altogether. If it were just you know... just a black screen with text in the foreground, I'd stay around and listen to the song because it really is that good. There is no English dub to speak of at the time of writing, but on the subtitled side of things, we've got familiar faces like Maaya Sakamoto and Daisuke Ono voicing Ciel and Sebas-chan respectively. In other words: REALLY good performances from these two. Considering the fact that Funimation licensed Book of Circus for simulcasting, I'm guessing that the dub will be the same as the first two seasons. In other words: Brina Palencia and J. Michael Tatum voicing Ciel and Sebastian with fake British accents. I'm game for that.
Would I say that I enjoyed Book of Circus? Absolutely. This was actually the show that got me to pick up a Kuroshitsuji volume because I couldn't stand waiting for episodes every week while watching the show when it was still airing. If a show manages to get me to read something, it gets a pass from me. As for how much you'd enjoy it? I'd say that you'd probabl enjoy it quite a bit, maybe not as much as I do, but chances are that it'll probably exceed your expectations. Like, if you have some REALLY low expectations for the Kuroshitsuji franchise, I can't think of a better series to watch than Book of Circus. If you had a sour taste in your mouth because of the first two seasons, I heartily recommend watching this one as it will more than likely change your preconceptions about this series.
