Kuroshitsuji: Book of Murder (Black Butler: Book of Murder)

At the behest of the Queen, Earl Ciel Phantomhive hosts a lavish dinner party attended by several of the finest members of polite society—as well as struggling author, Arthur. But as the party reaches its high, a terrible murder takes place and none other than the Earl himself is suspected of the crime.

As a violent storm rages on outside, the death count continues to climb. The Phantomhive household and their eminent guests find they must cooperate in order to solve this mystery before they too fall prey to the mysterious murderer. However, it seems that not even the perfect butler, Sebastian Michaelis, is safe from this horror.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Episodes 1 and 2 were previewed at screenings in multiple cities across Japan on October 25 and November 15, 2014. The DVDs and BDs were released on January 28 and February 25, 2015.

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Kuroshitsuji
Prequel:	Kuroshitsuji: Book of Circus
Sequel:	Kuroshitsuji Movie: Book of the Atlantic

More characters
Characters & Voice Actors

Michaelis, Sebastian

Main

Ono, Daisuke
Japanese

Phantomhive, Ciel

Main

Sakamoto, Maaya
Japanese

Grey, Charles

Main

Kimura, Ryouhei
Japanese

Arthur

Main

Asanuma, Shintaro
Japanese

Undertaker

Supporting

Suwabe, Junichi
Japanese

Finnian

Supporting

Kaji, Yuki
Japanese

Mey-Rin

Supporting

Katou, Emiri
Japanese

Midford, Elizabeth

Supporting

Tamura, Yukari
Japanese

Snake

Supporting

Terashima, Takuma
Japanese

Tanaka

Supporting

Fujimura, Shunji
Japanese

More staff
Staff

Abe, Noriyuki

Director

Toboso, Yana

Original Creator

Sinclair, Ian

ADR Director

Mitsuda, Yasunori

Music

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"Monochrome No Kiss" by SID

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No ending themes have been added to this title. Help improve our database by adding an ending theme here.

More reviewsReviews

Mar 30, 2015

2 of 2 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 8

CecaniahCorabele (All reviews)

47 people found this review helpful

There is a truth that not needed to discover for our own good

Bringing the old tradition of the classical detective story theme, Book of Murder covers right after Book of Circus arc. The story starts in Phantomhive manor, the queen order Ciel Phantomhive to held a banquet in his manor. The banquet was poisoned by a homicide that quickly turned the banquet into a death zone. Ciel must unravel the truth within the homicide.

This OVA actually did their job well. Although there is no "mystery" in the genres, Book of Murder offers the genres. The mystery have both predictable & unpredictable things, but despite of read more

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Apr 7, 2015

2 of 2 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 8

eskimoseb (All reviews)

28 people found this review helpful

In a match made in heaven, the Japanese interpretation of English aristocracy finally meets one of the most English of inventions, the mighty Sherlock Holmes! This is Black Butler’s most serious and mature arc yet. Fear not though, because it’s also one of its best. Book of Murder’s two hour long episodes are a very worthy addition the Black Butler universe.

Book of Murder places a stronger focus than is Black Butler’s norm on the details of the storyline, so I am happy to say that story-wise this is one of the strongest entries to the series yet. Chronologically, Murder sits right after the Book of read more

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Mar 18, 2015

2 of 2 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 8

djfred8 (All reviews)

21 people found this review helpful

As I am a adept of mystery anime and gore stuff I was looking forward a lot to this OVA, especially after this delicious book of Circus. If I gotta say something now, it would be UTTER DISAPPOINTMENT storywise.

I like to predict plots and event in anime before they happen and see of things will go how I planned it or they will be innovative. This OVA went perfectly as I planned, nothing too mysterious nor threatening, I predicted the whole thing since I saw the picture on MAL and it happened what did happen. Too many clichés but it was still Kuroshitsuji-style. There was read more

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Jul 16, 2015

2 of 2 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

ren6 (All reviews)

8 people found this review helpful

What do you think of being invited to a party and then find yourself trying to solve a murder case?
A-1 Pictures bring to us now "Book of Murder", this two-part OVA, after the so commented "Book of Circus", both, the true sequels for the first Kuroshitsuji anime.
Book of Murder have a very simple plot: solve a mysterious assassination case in a mansion, in which all the suspects are trapped inside it on a rainy day. Everyone can be the murderer, you can't trust anyone.
Strongly inspired in the Sherlock Holmes stories, Book of Murder have everything the fans of policial mystery can ask: suspense, supernatural, awesome tricks and to add a little more, a bit of comedy.

STORY
After the events of Book of Circus, Ciel is now asked by the Queen to give a party and receive some guests. A succession of events lead to a case of murder in his mansion, and then, him, the remain guests and the servants, will have to solve this case in a stormy night.
The story is very interesting and you might even caught yourself trying to solve the mysteries they show in the anime, seems like everything was well planned by the murderer and you keep trying want to know exactly what happened.
The way the whole story starts to develop is simply very smart, at the point that when we come to the conclusion, you just feel completely tricked by all the characters and by the own author.

CHARACTERS
The characters are very interesting itself, of course, we have Ciel and Sebastian, enigmatic as always, as well as the known servants and some other faces we already know; there's new characters introduced then, the "Double Charles", which are the servants of the Queen; they will make part of our story, to be specific, Charles Grey, who might look as a random character but will take an important role in the story; there's Arthur, who is kinda like our "main" character in this arc, since is him who's telling us the story (which can be noted in the beginning of the OVA), and well, other minor characters that go to the party, they don't really have a huge role in the story but are somehow enjoyable.
What I liked the most is that you can't read some characters at all, a characteristic of those mystery stories of course, and well, they totally fit for the atmosphere of the story, I personally liked Grey's character the most, he's so funny but at the same time such an enigmatic guy.
Arthur is also very smart and he acts like our detective (he's actually a very nice mix of Conan Doyle and his own creation, Sherlock Holmes, and honestly, I think this made the character much more original and enjoyable); well, he's definitely my favorite character of this arc and of course, someone who take an important role in the conclusion of the story.

ANIMATION
Not really my cup of tea, but I have to say this OVA have a great animation. There's not even comparison between the 2009 Kuroshitsuji and the 2014 Book of Murder. Yet, A1 is not the best when it comes to animate long distance scenes, the characters always seems weird somehow, but they make up when it comes to the rest, especially sceneries, the whole mansion scenery and the outdoor scenery, the details of the tableware, everything is perfectly done. And well, of course, the characters eyes and hair are something, everything is so shining, it's actually stunning and I absolutely loved the new design of them.

SOUND
The OST's are good, mostly recycled from Book of Circus, but they're actually appropriate to the scenes. We don't have an opening or ending song, but the theme present in the credits is nice, it actually fit the atmosphere of the whole story of the OVA.

Overall, Kuroshitsuji Book of Murder was a great sequel for Book of Circus, and definitely the cup of tea of all the Kuroshitsuji fans. It's definitely a must watch if you're already a fan of the series, but I also would recommend to everyone who likes mysteries, murder cases and puzzles. Book of Murder might look very different from the other Kuroshitsuji stuff you have seen so far, or what you already know of the series, but that's what makes it interesting and awesome.
Then, what are you waiting to know who the culprit is?

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