Kuroshitsuji: Kishuku Gakkou-hen

At the request of Queen Victoria, Earl Ciel Phantomhive goes to Weston College—a prestigious public academy for boys, known for its traditions and outstanding curriculum—to search for a relative of hers who has not returned home in months. Thanks to his noble status, the 13-year-old Ciel is swiftly able to enroll as a student, while his devilish butler Sebastian Michaelis assumes a teaching position at the school.

Ciel does not anticipate being unable to locate the Queen's relative on campus. To make matters worse, he cannot request a meeting with the headmaster of the college, who may be the only person that knows anything pertaining to the disappearance. The only ones in frequent contact with the headmaster are the heads of the college dormitories, known as the Prefect 4 (P4): Edgar Redmond, Lawrence Bluewer, Herman Greenhill, and Gregory Violet.

Ciel must concoct a plan to get in the P4's good graces if he wants to use their connections to succeed in his mission. But the distinguished college and its students hide much that is unseen, making this task more improbable than he could imagine.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Michaelis, Sebastian Main

Ono, Daisuke Japanese

Phantomhive, Ciel Main

Sakamoto, Maaya Japanese

Sutcliff, Grell Supporting

Fukuyama, Jun Japanese

Undertaker Supporting

Suwabe, Junichi Japanese

Finnian Supporting

Kaji, Yuuki Japanese

Mey-Rin Supporting

Katou, Emiri Japanese

Midford, Elizabeth Supporting

Tamura, Yukari Japanese

Snake Supporting

Terashima, Takuma Japanese

Kadar, Soma Asman Supporting

Tachibana, Shinnosuke Japanese

Tanaka Supporting

Mugihito Japanese

Fukushima, Yuuichi Producer

Kurosaki, Shizuka Producer

Takahashi, Kanako Producer

Itou, Yoshito Producer

Reviews

Jun 24, 2024

SacredArrow2000

Recommended

An unexpected renewal of a beloved anime classic. An enjoyable, while slightly disappointing experience.

This 'Public School Arc' was created for the fandom to embrace nostalgia. Listening to the original English dubbed cast bring our favourite characters back to life, while ushering in a new era for Black Butler franchise. With exquisite animation, a solid rock-based OST (That reminds audiences of the original series), and positive character-development behind the two male protagonists. It was refreshing seeing Ceil and Sebastien work alongside one another so effortlessly, while simultaneously not being dependent on one another. Both are able to act alone to move the plot forward. This made ... the two appear as equals for the first time, not only as master and servant, nor as demon and prey.

It should be stated that this season is a pale comparison to the original plot line. Not having the same menacing undertones as the previous three seasons, it didn't shake the audience with unforeseen twists or create a void of despair (as the demon butler Sebastien craved) after the affects of Lord Phantomhive's orders.

No, this was a far more lighthearted and predictable story. We see Ceil masquerading as a young student in high society and excelling among his peers, never neglecting the heartlessness of his true nature, but presenting a relatable side to his usual arrogance. Likeable side-characters, with unfortunately underwhelming motivations. The concept of old English traditions, social edict and shameless brainwashing was present, but also exhaustingly drilled. The humour and wacky actions to move the plot were delightfully placed throughout the season, making each episode enjoyable (though, lacked real impact).

One large benefit to this adaptation was that it able to create ties between 'The Book of Murder' OVA and 'The Book of The Atlantic' Film. Relinquishing their tags as meagre cash-grabs.

Regardless, this is still a recommended watch. With an open ending after the 11th episode, audiences are excitedly awaiting a follow up season. Hopes are high that we may see the ruthlessness and sheer devastation of the original, since it's obviously laying down the foundation for something much bigger to come.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jul 5, 2024

aramis03

Mixed Feelings

I'm not so satisfied with the anime, there are very few fight scenes, I really liked season 1 & somewhat of season 2.

The renewed art is cool, they could avoid using English in a mix of Japanese, if you ask me, please refer to season 1 & develop the upcoming sequel.

I miss those in-house characters, and the dominance of Ciel is missing, if you notice, in seasons 1 & 2, he is strategic & he is like the singular power, but not in the public school arc, it is a bit down in this season.

The story was a soft reboot, but they could've pitched ... more.

Thank you.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jul 4, 2024

red-artist

Not Recommended

Funny

I started this series without knowing that this actually has prequels. Not that it would change my review, even if I watched the previous season/movies. Except for MC and his butler, almost all the other characters are new and introduced in this arc. Except for the last episode, which is more of a filler / fan service episode.

Plot
The story seems to involve a young detective MC who has made a contract with a demon. The demon is MC's butler and helps him with his investigation by joining the school as a teacher. MC joins as a student. The case dealt with in this season ... is a "missing person" mystery in a school ruled by 4 student council members (or something like that).

Review
Anyway, this is not a season that has much to talk about. The art and animation was good.

The mystery was meh from the very beginning. But the way it is solved is downright insulting. At times, I had to wonder if this was a parody of mystery novels.
MC just gets information by asking other students, and/or using his powerful butler to gather information. Its not like MC derives any cool insights from the information he gathers. Its literally just gathering mysteries, hatching plans and executing them...

The worst part was probably the cricket match episodes and the final reveal. MC displays some of the worst sportmanship possible by cheating his way through the game and the anime shows it like its a deserved win smh. And that final reveal of missing person.. oof. Almost made me quit right then and there, but I had to power through as I was so close to the end.

Considering the all boys school, and our MC with the male butler, I didn't realize it at first. But reading other reviews it finally struck me.. This is a yaoi bait manga. Although some students straight up look and sound like girls, its all still boys. There was not much in terms of romance tho, so it is still bait and doesn't commit to any actual yaoi content.

Finally, I think you can watch this series if you turn off your brain, but why would you do that in a mystery show? More importantly, except for the butler, the rest of the cast lack the charm to engage the audience's interest. They are all boring one dimensional templates with very predictable dialogues.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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