Kuroshitsuji II

Being an avid fan of Kuroshitsuji, and seeing the entire first season, OVA as well as being an avid manga fan, I must say that I'm disappointed in this series for several reasons. This is merely an opinion, but I found myself hating the storyline behind season 2 entirely.

Below are the good, bad and ugly of this series:

The good

The series has amazing artowrk and beautiful sound.The animation was crisp and clear and the music was amazing, especially with songs coming from Yuya Matsushima and Nightmare.

The bad, and the ugly.

As several reviewers stated before, it does not follow the manga, but I don't consider that bad ... because a lot of anime follow this trend. The storyline had actually stopped following the original manga plot during the Drocell arc in season one.

Also, this series started off with a filler episode as the second episode. That is a big no-no for any anime. You start off the series by building up the plot, not doing a filler episode that, regardless of whether you watched it or not would still understand the story.

Out of character moments. There are several large out of character moments and things that were brought up and dropped. In one of the episodes, Viscount Druitt (who has a medical degree and offered to sell off the protagonist, Ciel Phantomhive in pieces on a black market auction) fainted at the sight of blood. It was rather vague on if he was extremely happy in seeing it, since he had sadistic reactions to the previous battle, or if it was because he was woozy but I found it very out of character. There are several other moments in Ciel, Sebastian and a few other characters that I found out of character.

Unexplained changes to characters. Several relationships and things about the characters were not explained or elaborated on, which made a very obscure plot and caused general confusion among fans who had been following the series faithfully.

Fan service. To be honest, in my opinion, and don't kill me on this, but this series was written like bad fanfiction and left many answered questions. There was also a huge amount of fanservice and hardly any of it was presented in a way that I thought was well thought out or tasteful in the slightest. The setting and time period for this show went from elegant to trashy and it caused the series to lose it's appeal.

There were also too many of what I call 'scenes of convenience'. Several characters had the opportunity to be interesting and have a good amount of spotlight but were disposed of in poorly executed ways. Viscount fainting was a poor excuse to get rid of his character during an important scene where he could have taken active role in the plot. He was actually promised a very good storyline with watching over Alois but it was disregarded shortly after wards, which was a let down to me, as a personal fan of the characters. Also, as good as the first episode was, shoving Ciel and Sebastian in it all too quickly, as if the say 'Look! They're still in this season!' Because the writers were afraid of fans not being interested was a poor decision in execution as well.

The show had overall poor execution and a lot of things were unexplained or left off. The episodes got more and more ridiculous after a moment in time and I couldn't find myself watching it after a while. It became a chore and not an enjoyment. As a Kuroshitsuji fan, I'm sorely disappointed in this season. As an anime fan whose critiqued anime for 4 years, this is the worst I've seen in a long time.

It's nothing but a case of bad fanfiction turned into an animated series. I expected a lot more from Kuroshitsuji. It only got worse as the series ended. If they make a season 3, I might not even give it the time of day. There are better anime out there, I implore anyone who reads this to stick to season one, or they might end up just getting angry.

Last week I looked at Kuroshitsuji. This week I'm looking at the sequel. What's odd about Kuroshitsuji having a sequel is that the first series is complete. It tells the story of Sebastian and Ciel beginning, middle and end. Going into this, I have no idea how they could make a sequel, unless it's some kind of spiritual successor. Well, let's take a look at the series and find out how they handle it.

You can't see it, but I'm face-palming right now. Given the quality of the first series, I gave them credit. I didn't think they would go for a true sequel, but ... I was wrong. This series is a direct continuation of the first. With Ciel and Sebastian both making return appearances. Why, just why? The first series may have had an ending that was obvious and kind of rushed, but it was also suitable for the series. Why would you take a series with a pretty satisfying conclusion and add to it? That's actually my biggest issue with the story in this series. It's unnecessary. You have a young man named Alois Trancy with an impossibly talented butler. One evening they're visited by a strange traveler covered in heavy clothes. The man is revealed to be Sebastian and he's brought Ciel along in a briefcase. He steals something from the mansion and makes his getaway. I'm not going to give away the reasons behind all of this, but they're kind of stupid. After that Ciel and Alois gain a lot of animosity for each other so that there can be a plot. Now, let's start with the negatives, aside from it being an unnecessary addition. The first is that the retcon is very poorly handled and the plot that's added in to explain it is weak. Then there's the ending. It's pretty terrible. The story itself is lazy. A lot of it is just devoted to the rivalry between Sebastian and Claude. The series does have some episodes devoted to Ciel, Sebastian and the rest of the characters from the first series that are entertaining. It also has some plot elements that have merit, but they aren't really handled well enough to be as interesting as they could've been.

But at least the characters are still good, right? Well, kind of. Sebastian and Ciel are still good characters, although not nearly to the degree that they were in the first series, probably because they retread a lot of the same ground and development that they already covered with less competent writing behind it. Ciel's staff still provides the same comic relief they did before, albeit less of it since they barely show up. On the downside, Grell reappears with the same problematic elements from the first series. Then we have the new characters. Alois, whose an obnoxious and very annoying brat with little personality aside from being a sociopath. We also have Claude whose incredibly dull. we also have Hannah, a maid in the Trancy household. When you learn what her motivations are the sheer stupidity will likely make your head hurt. We also get some triplet servants in the Trancy household. They have no personalities whatsoever.

The art is still well done. The character designs are still good, for the most part. The backgrounds are still well done. The action sequences in this one really aren't as good. Part of that is just that they involve a lot of awkward scene transitions.

The cast is still really good. Tamura Yukari, Hirano Aya, Sakamoto Maaya, Ono Daisuke and most of the other actors all give strong performances. Fukuyama Jun is still a weakness based solely on the fact that the character he's portraying is ridiculously exaggerated. Mizuki Nana has the same problem, although she does a little better at putting some nuance into the performance in spite of it. Sakurai Takahiro doesn't give his best performance either, largely due to his character having less emotional substance than a tapeworm.

The yuri factor is still a 1/10. there's no yuri here.

You probably deduced this already, but I didn't care for this one. It has some of the elements that made the first one great, but most of them are either weakened by idiotic contrivances and/or terrible new characters. My final rating is going to be a 4/10. It's a sub-par piece that doesn't stand well either on its own or as a continuation to the Kuroshitsuji. Next week, I'll look at Usagi Drop. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is next on my request queue, but I'm not going to have time to finish all of it in time. So expect that on the 29th.

I've watch this anime in a random order and I really hate as in Dreadfully hated this anime, what irritates me is the spoil brat who was protected by a demon and nobody can do anything about it except those who wanna try to kill the spoil brat,

Though, I love the way the characters were drawn and so as the setting of the anime, but I really like the way Sebastian was drawn, he looks like Cho Hakkai from Saiyuki and the other character from Ouran High school Host club, Kyouya Ootori.

Sound: Nothing to criticize about.

Character: all dreadful pertain to their role

Enjoyment: its a ... 2.

Overall: a 2.

And I'm not watching anymore of it.

This is my first review, so I apologize for any mistakes.

I watched the 1st season which was awesome and also received 10 from my side. But I was really disapointed upon the 2nd season (I expected that).

STORY: starts with the most annoying character(s) in Kuroshitsuji franchise but in the 2nd episode everything was almost the same like in the 1st season. From about 5th or 6th episode the story started to lose it`s sense; the ending didn`t have it anymore so I give it 4.

ART: that`s the only thing I enjoyed while watching the anime; it was clear, detailed (especialy in gore moments) and enjoyable ... to watch. Score: 10

SOUND: I don`t pay too much attention to sound but it was alright and the soundtrack was good to listen. I give it 8.

CHARACTERS: They`re the same as in the 1st season + new characters (Alois Trancy and his servants) but some of the old characters didn`t appeared much during the season. Almost all new characters were really annoying, but toward the end their true selves were revealed and I liked that. Score: 5

ENJOYMENT: Despite the mistakes and whole sense of this series I still enjoyed in it because of action, development of story along with the characters. Score: 6

OVERALL: this season wasn`t necessary because the story was already finished in the 1st one and yet the developers decided to stretch it. I give it 3 because of annoying new characters and story without sense, but also very good action and plot twists. If you watched the 1st season and enjoyed it, I disrecommend watching this one because it`s not worth of your time. Score: 3

Black Butler II turned ten years old two weeks ago, which is quite surreal to think about considering how recent it feels. There's a rather peculiar phenomenon that happens in popular culture with time. It would seem that stuff that was popular ten years ago tends to age poorly, and yet 20 years later, we laud it as a retro classic. Given that, we must ask ourselves whether or not history will vindicate Black Butler II. Indeed, it wasn't the most critically acclaimed at the time of its release, and yet there was this rather notable subset of the fandom that tried to find the ... good in an extremely controversial second season. Even so, some would argue that this show's transgressions are so unforgivable that what little good this season accomplished would never be enough to justify all the nonsense viewers have to endure. I am one of those people.

My initial impressions of Black Butler II were not positive when I first watched it. Even if I try my damndest to forgive the show for its many transgressions, I can't find myself feeling anything except visceral disgust. Do not be fooled; there is no merit to be found here in Black Butler II. What little good that it manages to accomplish boils down to mere coincidence and aesthetics rather than any sincere attempt at telling a coherent story involving characters who have compelling narratives. I'd even go so far as to say that this show is the perfect example of a "cash grab sequel" considering how much shit the viewer has to wade through before finding anything remotely close to what the first season had to offer.

That's something I'd never imagine myself saying, much less in a long-form review. Though the 2008 anime is flawed to high heaven, I can at least respect the fact that it tried to branch out into newer concepts. While its ending wasn't satisfying for me, it felt like an airtight conclusion to the Faustian tragedy about a victim of circumstance and his pursuit for revenge. It's common knowledge by now that the 2008 anime ended with Sebastian about to devour Ciel's soul, how the fuck can anyone make a sequel to that? Unfortunately, I can't go into too much detail about that due to spoilers, but I will say this: the explanation feels like it was ripped straight from the depths of some shitty headcanon on Tumblr or FanFiction.net than Yana Toboso's mind.

While it was challenging to try and find anything about this show's marketing, the general assumption that one could make at the time its pilot aired was that this show would be about a new young master and a new demon butler. Of course, we all know that setup was a fake-out as the real story this season has to offer is a battle between old and new. The new young master Alois and his demonic servant in Claude are now locked in a struggle with Ciel and Sebastian as we watch this marvellous chess game unfold in real-time. At least, that's the best way that I can try to describe this sad facsimile of a plot positively.

The thing is that Black Butler II tries to set itself up as this grand battle of wits between eerily similar nobles where we can see just how far Ciel could have fallen were it not for the way his circumstances played out. It doesn't achieve that effect whatsoever and instead plays out more like a sadistic child psychopath bitching about why everyone hates him. Ciel wasn't the epitome of characterisation in the 2008 anime. However, it was still relatively easy to root for him considering how Ciel still had his moments of humanity shown (i.e. his affection for Lizzie, his acceptance of Soma and Agni, his bond with the servants of Phantomhive, etc.).

I want to give Alois the benefit of the doubt because I get no joy out of hating him. However, I cannot tolerate his presence on the screen for more than mere minutes at a time and no amount of great voice acting from the likes of Her Highness, Luci Christian can ever change that. Alois is quite literally Ciel if he had no redeeming qualities whatsoever and any attempt this show makes to paint Alois in a sympathetic light falls flat on its face when you take his actions during the anime into account. How the fuck can I feel any modicum of sympathy for a child who gouges out his maid's eye for a simple mistake?

What's more, is that the anime tries so… fucking… HARD to make the audience feel sympathy for Alois to the point where it just comes across as fucking stupid rather than compelling. I don't give a shit how tragic your character's backstory is; sympathy is earned rather than given. Ciel's actions in the anime and manga are indeed morally questionable at times. Again - he's still got those crucial moments where you can look past his Bruce Wayne facade and see a child who's ultimately a victim of circumstance. You want me to see the light in Alois? How about you portray him as something other than a sadistic, psychotic child with the telltale signs of histrionic personality disorder in the present day and present time?

I don't give a rat's ass if Alois was abused and defiled like Ciel nor do I give a shit about his background as some impoverished child; shitty people, in general, don't deserve our sympathy. Alois's entire motive boils down to an obsession with what Ciel has that he doesn't have. Indeed, this feud between Ciel and Alois gets even more ridiculous when Claude decides to take an interest in Ciel after tasting his blood. Get this: Alois is such an irksome shitstain that his demonic servant who is contractually obligated to serve him leaves for the superior protagonist. That's how you know you're an utter failure as a person.

There is an argument that I've seen some people make that Alois was an excellent villain specifically because he got you to hate him and in a vacuum, I can understand that logic. The problem with this train of thought is that merely hating a villain doesn't automatically make them compelling. Wrestling heels evoke the ire of the audience on purpose, but there's a clear distinction between a heel like Randy Orton and a heel like X-Pac. Hell, I'd wager that Alois isn't even in the same league as X-Pac. He's more like Roman Reigns in that the larger audience hates him and yet A-1 Pictures decides to pull a Vince McMahon and continue pushing Alois despite the sheer volume of disapproval.

What makes all of this even more disgusting is how far A-1 Pictures tries to go with its pandering. I stated before that I'm grateful for Yana Toboso deciding against making Black Butler into a BL manga. Now, we get into the part of this review that goes into great lengths about why. The fan service in Black Butler was uncomfortable, but it never got downright nauseating like its cash-grab sequel does. Hell, put the two shows side by side, and you can make an argument that the first season was tasteful with how it handled its fan service. Again, that's a statement I never thought I'd say out loud, but here we are.

Alois's backstory involves him getting exploited sexually by the former Earl Trancy. If you think that's bad enough, we get treated to several flashback scenes where we see Alois seducing him in excruciating detail right down to the ugly bastard sucking his toes. We get treated to countless views of Sebastian pandering to Grell's lust for him by striking poses while she takes photos of him beating up the bishonen triplets. Speaking of which, we get treated to many scenes of these mute triplets who exist for two reasons: padding out Alois's servant lineup and also fan service for all the fujoshis who couldn't get enough BL material from the first season. You know, because why bother telling a compelling story when you can amp up the number of pretty boys in your narrative and have the fujoshis buy the BDs in droves? Don't think they're the only ones who get in on all the pandering either, because Hannah exists specifically to cater to perverts who lust after a one-eyed maid with huge tits.

It gets to a point where Claude is the only character introduced that I can find myself rooting for in some manner. Why? Because he reacts precisely in the way that I would if I got beckoned by a child psychopath. I'd just put in the bare minimum necessary to get the kid to shut up and ditch him when I get the first chance. Ordinarily, I'd take umbrage with Claude's lack of charm or charisma. However, that would imply that all demons in the Black Butler universe are exactly like Sebastian. Is it that much of a stretch to assume that demons can have different personalities and aesthetics? Plus, Jason Douglas does a fantastic job voicing him, so I can't find myself being too hard on him.

What baffled me when I was watching this was how I saw so many comments on KissAnime deriding Claude for not caring about Alois, but I feel like we're missing out on one crucial detail here: Claude is an expletive demon! His only vested interest is in Alois's soul, not Alois himself. That's also the reason why Sebastian went through so much trouble to reclaim Ciel after Claude kidnaps him! This utterly stupid fandom seems to forget that demons view humans as food and nothing more. Sebastian and Claude didn't fight for Ciel's love; they were effectively fighting over who gets the last slice of pizza! The only reason why Sebastian ever act in a remotely paternal manner to Ciel in the first place was due to Sebastian's dedication to the butler aesthetic. Claude had no such commitment to any aesthetic, so it makes sense that he'd act in a vein similar to other demons.

I've seen other reviews of this show saying that they liked how it cut back on the gag comedy that plagued the first season. What's more, those same reviews praised this season for being darker and taking risks that the first season didn't. Like I said in my analysis of the first season: it's pretty fucking dangerous to romanticise risk-taking. Why? Because it leads to people accepting abject rubbish as genuine quality when all it's doing is being edgy for edginess's sake without any care for storytelling or characterisation. To be fair here, it's not like the manga was devoid of edge, but there's an obvious distinction to be made here.

Whenever we get a look back at Ciel's time with the cult shortly after Vincent and Rachel Phantomhive get murdered, the manga treats these moments with absolute seriousness. Sebastian even says that Ciel was calling out for help "in sorrow, in anger, in despair, and terror" and that "he spits out curses that fall like flames from his tongue." We don't see Sebastian as a knight in shining armour rescuing his uke like so many awful drawings on DeviantART, Tumblr, and Pixiv make him out to be. Instead, we get a picture of a predator masking his prey drive with a Faustian contract. Sebastian does save Ciel from the cult, but not without reminding him that his soul is forfeit when the time comes. If Ciel ever has a traumatic flashback to the cult, Sebastian comforts him just enough to bring him back to sanity (or he'll opt to scare him out of it in the recent chapters). It's not because of any vested interest in Ciel beyond the contract. It never was, and it never will be.

If Black Butler II were to recreate this type of scene, it would instead feature Alois crying out for Claude never to abandon him while he's wearing boa, hot pants, and no shirt. Oh and don't forget to throw in some flashbacks of Alois's hilariously oppressive past to garner more sympathy and some shots of Hannah staring at him wistfully while the triplets stand there doing nothing. If it still seems a little too sterile for you, why not throw in some shots of the old Earl Trancy and his harem of underage boys along with Alois's quest to usurp the Earl? That'll surely make the audience root for Alois. You might think I'm exaggerating here, but that's literally how all of these "dark" moments play out in the context of the show.

Moving away from all that ranting about the story and Alois's numerous transgressions, let's talk about the other characters. While Ciel and Sebastian make a return in this season, their involvement in this season feels forced beyond all belief. All our beloved Bassy wants to do is eat his dinner in peace, but A-1 Pictures couldn't even afford him that luxury. Still, there was a part of me that was happy to hear Brina Palencia say "This is an order!" only for J. Michael Tatum to follow it up by saying "Yes, my lord." Given that, I guess that's one positive point in this show's favour.

Unfortunately, that positive is immediately followed up by another negative in that the remainder of the returning cast has absolutely no purpose whatsoever. Lau even makes a return despite visibly dying toward the end of the first season, so it's not like A-1 Pictures even cared about consistency. Perhaps most insulting is how Fred Abberline now has a twin brother... who looks and behaves precisely as Fred does in the manga, right down to the moustache. Mind you, Episode 20 of the first season explicitly stated that Fred lost his entire family when he was young. Where was the twin all this time? Directly from some coked-up executive's anus, perhaps. I think the best part about the twin is that he completely undermines Fred sacrificing his life to save Ciel from impending danger. Thank you, A-1 Pictures for completely ruining one of the few poignant scenes from the first season. We don't need compelling narratives involving characters we care about; we want more BL fan service! But, I digress because I've been blathering far too long about this. Let's take a look at some of the more superficial aspects of this show. Maybe then, I won't have so much venom to spare.

Due to the shorter season, there was a much higher animation budget which pays off quite well this time around. There's much more action in this season which admittedly is a refreshing change of pace considering how slow the first season was. Even more surprising is how fluid these action scenes are. It was quite a marvellous sight to witness Sebastian throwing tableware at random goons in the first season, but now we get full-on brawls between Sebastian and Claude.

Still, there are quite a few inconsistencies with the animation that isn't as apparent in the first season. The CG horse carriages returned, as did the CG teapots. What's more, they've come back in droves. Let's play a drinking game: take a shot every time you see some conspicuous CG in the show. The first one to die of cirrhosis won't have to suffer for the rest of the show's run. Thankfully, that's the worst I have to say about the animation. There aren't any instances of the animators going off-model that I could make out while watching the show, so that's a plus.

Unfortunately, the audio has taken somewhat of a downgrade from the first season. There is no iconic song like "Si Deus Me Relinquit" from the first season in Black Butler II. The only iconic track from the OST in this season is the OP, ironically enough. "Shiver" by the Gazette is a decent song. It does pop up in my head every so often, but it's not the type of song I'd actively seek. Still, upbeat J-Rock songs are always okay in my book. The dubbing this time around is also much more tolerable, though that could be due to the lack of exaggerated Cockney accents from the likes of the Phantomhive servants. I just wish that Funimation didn't waste Her Highness, Luci Christian's talents on such an awful character, but that's a comparatively minor gripe in the scheme of things.

Now we get to my favourite part of this review: enjoyment. It should be apparent that I fucking hated watching this show. Even when I first watched it back in 2014, I didn't care too much for it. However, I wasn't quite able to vocalise how I felt because my thoughts were far too abstract for me to piece together. Coming back to Black Butler II six years later has given me the capacity to precisely vocalise the sheer contempt that I feel toward this failed abortion of a cash-grab sequel. Unfortunately, this came at the cost of my entertainment. To date, this is the only A-1 Pictures show I've ever watched that I didn't enjoy in any capacity whatsoever. Not even in that ironic "so bad it's good" way.

So many people say that this season had potential. Do not be fooled; there was never any potential to be had with this awful show. Its very premise relies on breaking an airtight conclusion from the previous season. Even worse, it amplifies all the worst aspects of the first season from the fan service to the sheer volume of uncomfortable BL subtext between Alois and Claude or Ciel and Sebastian. Hell, there are even some moments where A-1 Pictures tries to shoehorn some subtext between Ciel and Alois too. The only way Black Butler II could've ever been good is if A-1 Pictures decided to adapt the Circus arc of the manga. We didn't even get that for a good four years after this travesty aired.

The whole time I was watching this, I couldn't help but ask myself one question: "why am I not watching Black Butler: Book of Circus?" In so many ways, that is the superior sequel. I'm not even trying to be a manga purist at this rate. I'm all for a show deviating from its source material if the creators of the programme are willing to put in the effort to develop their stories and characters. However, A-1 Pictures had no intention whatsoever of giving us any of that. This show isn't an attempt at genuine quality; this is the finished product that we receive when coked-up executives try to cater to the lowest common denominator. That's pretty fucking insulting when you consider just how rich and deep the manga's lore is.

While all of this drama was going on in the world of the anime, the manga was flourishing. Do you want to see Sebastian challenged in his duties as the Earl of Phantomhive's butler? You don't have to watch this season to witness Sebastian struggle. We get treated to countless moments where Sebastian isn't so peerless after all. He didn't even know how to treat Ciel's asthma when he had an attack during the Circus arc. Sebastian's superhuman endurance also gets pushed to its limits during the Luxury Liner arc as he tries to protect the young master from danger approaching him at all sides. All of this was happening during the time that Black Butler II was airing. Imagine being one of the poor sods who watched this season and came out of it pissed, instead of being one of the people who had the luxury of enjoying a proper story from start to finish.

Should you watch this show? Absolutely fucking not. Even if you're sceptical of my praise to the manga, there are still other shows in this particular genre that are worth watching. Pandora Hearts started airing the year before Black Butler II came out and while I do have my grievances with the series as a whole, it's a far more satisfying experience from start to finish than Black Butler II is. Alternatively, you can turn to Karneval and get a similarly brief show that makes some modicum of sense. In a landscape where shows of genuine quality exist, there is no reason whatsoever as to why you should give this season a chance.

Finally, I have a little message I want to give to this incredibly bizarre fandom that I begrudgingly associate with due to my love of the series as a whole. If you thoroughly enjoyed Black Butler II, if you liked Alois, Claude, Hannah, or any of the other characters that this show introduced, or what have you: that is 100% okay. However, you should do us all a favour and not conflate your sense of enjoyment with actual quality. While it is true that anime is an art form, there is a baseline for what does and doesn't work within the context of a particular show. Black Butler II has so many holes in its writing that it plugs with fan service to the point where people have gone out of their way to write fan fiction, not to mention the full-on roleplays on websites like Tumblr. I can't even begin to fathom why anyone would even bother with that. It's not the duty of us as fans to fix the mistakes that the writers made. Your headcanon won't change the fact that this show sucked so hard that you had to resort to making headcanons in the first place. Similarly, you may be able to roleplay as Hannah or Alois without making either character insufferable; even so, that won't change the fact that their characterisations were so mind-numbingly awful in the show itself.

Black Butler II is a blight upon the franchise and isn't worthy of the Phantomhive name whatsoever. Not even those admittedly hilarious bloopers or the OVAs can justify this abomination's existence. If you don't opt to heed my warnings, don't be surprised if you come out just as crestfallen as I am.

Read the manga

Don't watch this. It's like they shredded the plot and characters through an AI and asked it "write the worst possible thing in existence", used its script, and animated it while drunk. Strange, abnormal amount of fanservice, weird fujoshi bait (for EVERY pairing you can imagine) and some wildly unnecessary gore. The timeline is so messed up I don't even understand how the animators understood what they were doing--it's not messed up in a fun, creative way, just in a bad, messy way.

So watch it if you want to get an all around experience of Black Butler, but make sure to read ... on the correct chronological order of the animated series. You shouldn't judge this series as a whole based on this season, as, as you know, it isn't manga canon.

This was really a one of a kind experience. This makes the manga's writing feel like a holy script upon an alter. Just read it. The art is better, the plot is better, and there is no Alois (god bless). The music goes HARD though.

I'm going to be honest. I went into this season totally ready to hate it, but did find myself enjoying certain aspects of it. Does that make it actually good though? Not... really.

The biggest problem with this season is also the most obvious one: it doesn't have any reason to exist. It follows after the first season of Black Butler, which itself had a very definitive ending, and the excuses they come up with to continue the story are weak and frankly ridiculous at times. They desperately try to bring back old characters that had their character arcs end long ago, and all of that ... so they can come up with an ending that isn't nearly as satisfying as the original one.

Even with that in mind, though, the story just doesn't make much sense when you get down to it. The narrative has a pretty big ego when it comes to disclosing important plot points, and often doesn't reveal them until a lot later than it should. Heck, there's a piece of information regarding how this story could happen in the first place that isn't revealed until episode 11, (and may I remind you, this season only has 12 episodes). I have a feeling they did this to make the narrative seem more interesting, but if you're going to tell your story like this, it should make more sense the more information you get. Here, it's surprisingly the other way around. This may be especially because the reasonings for a lot of the most important plot points are never properly explained, nor is it ever built up or foreshadowed that they are possible. (This gets especially jarring with the ending.) It also doesn't help that the first episode is immediately followed by two very blatant filler episodes that don't explain the plot at all, (although episode 3 was admittedly the highlight of the season to me).

Other than that, this season introduces a new kid and a demon butler, the psychopathic brat Alois Trancy and the cold and uncaring demon Claude Faustus. These two characters are glorified way too much, to the point where they get more control over the plot than the original main characters, Ciel and Sebastian, almost like if this was a fanfiction where the writers inserted their own OCs, (which, in a way, it kind of is, considering that this season has nothing to do with the manga the series was originally based off of). Now, this wouldn't have bothered me if they truly took over the spot as the main characters, but they did not. The story still mostly focuses on Ciel and Sebastian, but neither of them get to be as interesting as in the last season, especially Ciel whose character development from the last season has almost entirely vanished by plot convenience.

As for Alois and Claude themselves, I'm a bit conflicted. Alois is definetely a terrible person, but he is a bit interesting regardless, (which, to be fair, is rather similar to Ciel). It's clear he has been through some terrible things, and his motivations do become understandable as the story goes along. The problem, though, is that at no point is he really likable. Even in his backstory he's already a psycopath. I still did get somewhat invested in this character, and even sometimes felt sorry for him, which is more that I can say about Claude, who is definitely the blandest of the main characters. His personality is essentially a cheaper version of Sebastian, but less passionate about what he does, and his motivations are laughably simple. At one point in the story his motivation even changes at the flip of a coin and he breaks the rules simply because he wants to.

With all of that said, though, there are a few things I like, as mentioned earlier. In my opinion there are three saving graces in this season.

First off is the visuals. The animation and the artwork are a big step up from the previous season. With Book of Circus having come out afterwards, this is no longer the most beautiful Black Butler has ever looked, but it was for a while. All the environments are gorgeous to look at, and the action is more bad-ass than ever.

Second is the voice acting. Obviously the voice actors from the first season do just as good of a job now as they did then, and still portray their characters perfectly. Maaya Sakamoto, the voice of Ciel, does an especially good job in the last three episodes, where a rather wide range is required from her, and she still pulls off her acting flawlessly. The new actors also do a very good job. Even though Alois is a psycopathig brat, his voice actress does a very good playing a psycopathic brat, and Claude's voice actor pulls off the demon butler part almost as good as Sebastian's voice actor does.

Third is Grell. Just Grell. She is honestly becoming one of my favorite characters, she's just so much fun, and in this season she is being particularly delicious and her voice actor sounds like he is having so much fun doing the part. Even when the series was pissing me off, I couldn't help but smile anytime she showed up.

So, in the end, there are a few things to enjoy about this season. If you want my honest recommendation, don't watch it, as it is mostly just a waste of time. But if you've seen everything else from the series and have a Black Butler-shaped hole in your heart you desperately need to fill, I guess this series is a harmless waste of time.

The ending is very likely to piss you off, though.

I personally thought this was a nice follow up to the first season. The only reason I give it a bad review was because of personal reasons. I absolutely hated Alois Trancy who was a sick little kid with an angelic face that smiled when people died and Claude just because Sebastian's better. I personally thought the two of them were cheap imitations of Ciel and Sebastian. To anyone who wants to watch this feel free. The review is purely based off of my own feelings. I have known people who have liked Alois.

Though I strongly suggest you read the manga instead.

Black Butler II, was absolutely horrible. I think it would've been a good anime if it wasn't Black Butler they were trying to sequel. They really should have let the series end where it did with season one. Straight forward, sad and LOGICAL. BBII made mad more times than I care to count, mainly because of how much I hated the new characters and how much they altered original characters. Ciel being the main altered personality. In season one he was a little reluctant to kill Queen Victoria. He knows killing isn't right and it bothers him a little. WELL NOT IN SEASON TWO. Now ... *SPOILER* he willingly shoots some random guy in the face and stabs Alios. Poor character structure and poor plot line is what made me mad through out. Now, the ending. Oh the ending was... the worst ending ever. It put a bad name on endings and anime both. *SPOILER* I mean, how come the writers cannot just let Ciel die?! He is the one character that from the very begging is supposed to die at the end. But nope. He never does. It was possibly the worst anime I have ever watched. It took 3/4 of the series to get me interested. I wish I had never learned that there was a second season.

-Black Butler II has a LOT going for, but only if you ignore the final few episodes of the previous season. I already had some mixed feelings about the ending of the first season, but that's for a different review somewhere else, and to see a continuation after such a concrete ending is definitely a red flag already for those wondering about seeing the second season.
-The story here is an absolute MESS. It feels like a first draft written by a intern than it does something that can be similar to Yana-sensei's original artwork in her manga. There's so many continuity issues, plot holes ... and dropped side plots that it's almost pathetic here. A character is alive despite clearly dying in the last season, it is never explained how Sebastian knows Claude, another character gets a random twin brother that looks/acts more like their manga counterpart despite the original character stating they were a lonely orphan, why did Claude pick Sebastian of all people to make Alois think he needed to act revenge on and what happens to the Trancy estate by the end of it. There's so many here i feel like this review would go on forever here. It's just a flat out mess and definitely needed either 12 more episodes (making it 24 like the last season) or maybe even 2 more. 12 episodes were just not enough to fix the issues. For those wondering as well, no OVA fixes any of these plot issues as well.
-The art this season is at it's all time low. The first two episodes are really great with their animation but the rest it is extremely inconstant. Look at the style of episode 4 and then to episode 7 where there is a clear change in style and lighting. It almost looks like two different people drew different episodes. Not to mention the awful errors i noticed and pretty poorly drawn faces not even in the background. I noticed a heavier use of CGI this season as well. Last season i didn't notice it but this one was way more prominent especially with the train and horses. You would think with how much they made off the first season that they would actually have a higher budget, but no apparently. The promotional art is a million times better than the art in the actual anime unfortunately.
-Music is pretty good this season, a lot of fast paced violins and a few pieces from the first season's soundtrack do make a return occasionally. A enjoyable classical style though i find a few rock-sounding songs don't really fit the tone of Black Butler at all outside of the opening. Speaking of which, the openings (2 for this season) are both pretty good and i enjoy the song quite a lot.
-The characters have a LOT of potential. Alois Trancy and Claude Faustus are the most interesting characters this season and are a fascinating pair considering they are almost a opposite/dysfunctional version of Sebastian and Ciel. However their characters never really get a opportunity to shine. We never see Alois and Claude on their own and how Alois' position with the queen really works. I honestly feel that maybe Black Butler II should have focused solely on these two instead of trying to shove in Ciel and Sebastian (Perhaps make this season like Yu Gi Oh GX where the torch is passed to someone else). The other newly introduced characters are the demon triplets, but they don't talk and very underdeveloped so it's hard to properly judge them. I suppose they're alright, but it's hard to judge characters only in the background. There is Luca, who is Alois' brother (though we honestly have no clue if it's biological or adoption) and the reason behind his motivation. He's quite adorable, to some his motivation MAY be a little psychopathic but he is a small child with no sense of right/wrong so...
The last character introduced is Hannah Anafelloz - the worst newly introduced character. Sure she had done her job and had faced compelling forces, but her motivations made no sense. She wanted Alois and to attack Claude, it makes no sense for her to go after Sebastian as well when he has done nothing but defend himself (and even said something decently polite to her when they first met). It also makes no sense for her to hide what she knows, all she would have had to do is say the truth when Alois was most vulnerable during a fit and then none of those would have happened! She just feels like a awfully written foil character and while they try to make us feel bad for her, her negatives outweigh her positive ones. Everyone else is the same, except Lau made no sense. He had done some awful things to Ciel yet continues to still work for him? That felt immensely desperate that i almost wonder if he was a Easter egg for a species from the manga (as the atlantic arc was written around the same time i believe). Everyone else's roles were too small to judge but they are from the original cast and i still enjoy them (such as Finny, Lizzy, etc)
-Overall Black Butler II is almost a guilty pleasure. It's a mess and completely awful to watch but the characters of Alois and Claude honestly make up for it just a little bit. I still don't recommend this unless you are a major Black Butler fan and just want to see Ciel and Sebastian do anything even just standing and breathing. For regular fans, i don't recommend this. Just skip this and watch the reboot.

I have too simply write a review about this anime even though it has been several years since my only viewing because it is one of those sequels that just should not have existed.

Original sequels to animes have always been the bane of my very existence so I am slightly biased in this matter but I decided to give it a go because hey I enjoyed the first half of the original season, ha ha have I never regretted a decision so much. Firstly the plot is so half assed and genuinely unneeded that it makes you wonder if they just decided too churn this ... out too get that kuro-cash, secondly it actually made me hate the characters whereas before i had kept a level of love and hate between sebastian and ciel because they both had their redeeming and awful qualities but this season just made them both hit the shitter.

And lastly this is its only redeeming factor, its OVA's. The OVA's and the amusing appearances of the reapers is all that saved this anime for me (and also some parts were so bad it became amusing), but because even the OVA's and the season isnt canon there isn't really much point in watching it except for mild entertainment.

But yeah watch the OVA's but not the whole season the new characters were unlikable and sebastian got nerfed.

4/10

I am very late to the Kuroshitsuji train. About ten years too late. Whilst all of my friends were gushing over animated demons, I was re-watching Free! for the thirteenth time, and now, after four years, I have finally finished the ever so divisive Black Butler. And, though I quite enjoyed season one, season two was definitely not a very enjoyable experience. Most people had told me to avoid it, and continue on the the much better Book of Circus, and I wish I had, for this season very much ruined a lot of my perception of the show and ... the fanbase surrounding it.

First off I was not opposed to the idea of Black Butler receiving a sequel, even after finishing its predecessor. From a critical standpoint it probably wasn't the best choice, but there was still a lot of material to cover from the manga, and I wasn't quite satisfied with the ending of season one (for solely emotional reasons, as even though it fit well in with the story, it ripped my heart into pieces). It not following the manga wasn't much of an issue for me either since I've never finished it, so overall it didn't pose any problem with me.

As the story progresses however, you begin to see jarring flaws with pacing and development of the new editions to the cast. In the first episode you are introduced to Alois Trancy, head of the Trancy household, and survivor of much sexual, emotional, and physical abuse throughout his life. Despite this however, he is entirely unlikable, and an over all tragic character, both in his construction and his actuality. His butler, Claude, is equally as unlikable, but not for any main reason other than him just being like a slightly less appealing Sebastion, lacking in originality down to his design. Their house staff and the entire concept of the Trancy household is designed to be some sort of opposing side to the Phantomhives, and this is where one of it's main flaws resides.

Black Butler, from my analysis, is about the balance of good and evil, and about the sacrifices you have to make in order to have a balanced world. You cannot have the good without the bad, and sometimes the honest, noble, holy people aren't always good-intentioned. This is illustrated plainly throughout the second half of the first season, with the episodes featuring the church and other symbols of purity. You literally root for the devil because, while his motives are selfishly rooted, he is on the right side of the story, advocating for balance as opposed to achieving good through dangerous methods. What Kuroshitsuji II does is more so pit bad against bad. Ciel and Sebastion are, generally speaking, the bad guys. They are the protagonists, but in theory they are connected with darkness. By pitting these two houses against each other, it creates a confusing sense of conflict, to where you don't know who is really on the right side. It relies solely on the attachment built up with the original cast to create conflict, which may work for fangirls, but makes the average viewer question their entire perception of the show and it's characters, and left me confused and upset at whoever green-lighted the season. This also makes Claude and Sebastion's battles quite conflicting, because they both essentially want the same thing, and are basically just two guys fighting over their next meal. Instead of creating a proper counter for the darkness of the Phantomhive Estate, they tried to create a textbook antagonist, which doesn't work when the main characters are technically evil within themselves.

Characterization is another big issue I had when watching. Part of what makes Ciel such a good character is that his actions are justifiable. He acts the way he does because of his past, but did not lose qualities of basic human decency in the process of coping with his trauma. He is arrogant and troublesome at times, but his behavior is backed up by his willingness to do the right thing and bring people to justice who have wronged him and those he cares about, even if his motives behind it are selfish. Alois is the exact opposite, displaying traits of narcissism even before undergoing years of abuse, and while that isn't a problem for an antagonist per-say, it makes him incredibly insufferable for his whole run on the show. He treats his staff as verbal and physical punching bags, and then turns around and starts tap dancing. This, again, wouldn't be such an issue if the show didn't try to garner sympathy for him, by showing the backstory with his brother and all. It's as if the writers couldn't decide if they wanted you to love him or wish death upon him, and his character was ultimately created as a big ploy for Claude's motives, without giving you time to fully understand his character. And don't get me started on Claude. He gets a special spot reserved on my least favorite character list, due to the fact that I literally wanted to kick his teeth in every time he made an appearance.

Claude and Alois's relationship also left me very unsettled, and was a product of this poor character development. Ciel and Sebastion's relationship is one of mutual understanding, beyond that of their contract. Sebastion understands Ciel's need for revenge and helps him achieve so, while serving and protecting him in the process, and eventually caring about him as much as his demonic intentions allow. Ciel knows this and is fully accepting off the fact his soul will be taken in exchange for his service, as he has been broken to the point of no return. It is an exchange, whereas Alois and Claude's is an unhealthy desire for protection. Claude enables Alois's toxic behavior, and uses him as a stepping stone for his goals, whereas Sebastion and Ciel have a mutual understanding of each-other and their true intentions. This makes sense, as they are designed to be polar opposites, but is done in a rushed and very shallow way, caked with fan service and dancing metaphors. It also helps perpetuate the fandom's very toxic view of Alois's character, treating him as some damaged baby, when he's more of a sadist brat then anything else.

The show has a plethora of other flaws, particularly the ending, which I will not go into for spoilers sake. The ending was incredibly disappointing for a number of reasons, and left me very, very sad for just about every character in the show, leaving a bad taste in my mouth. On the plus side, however, the artwork is stunning as usual, with the quality improving even more so from the already gorgeous first season. The designs for the newer characters are okay, though I particularly enjoyed Alois's attire with his shorts and fancy boots. The OP was quite forgettable, which saddened me as The Gazette is a band which I know and enjoy from time to time. The ED and music throughout the show, however, were both very high in quality, with this ED being my favorite next to "I'm Alive" from season one.

Overall, Kuroshitsuji II was quite disappointing. The show had flaws to begin with, and then it was completely blown out of the water with the incredibly upsetting ending, leaving viewers with an abundance of negative emotions. I regret watching it, as it has tainted my impression of the show, and while it was fun to watch given its stunning animation and decent soundtrack, in the end it left me feeling less to be desired. Though I don't think this season needs to be completely ignored, I like to consider it a poor spinoff of a very strong show and manga. Whether to watch it is up to your discretion (and whether you like it or not is your opinion!), but I wouldn't recommend it if you have any sort of respect or enjoyment for the original Black Butler, because you will just be let down and disappointed.

Kuroshitsuji II is unfortunate - the best way to describe it. Stellar animation and sound can't make up for the poor plot line and bad characters. I won't address this as a sequel to the first season, but as it's own because I still want to make this fair.

Unfortunately, it falls very flat for me. Much like the second half of the first season, the second season features no manga material, but putting that aside, it lacks everywhere. We're introduced to a new demon/master pair, Alois Trancy, and Claude Faustus. Immediately, we see Alois has had a not so great past featuring some pedophilia, ... which could have set him up to be a good, fleshed out character, but his cruelness and selfishness outshine what sympathy I could have had for him as a viewer.

Unlike its predecessor, the second season features much more violence and blood, not that the first didn't have any, but it's different in its usage.

A rivalry is set up between Ciel and Sebastian (the returning master/butler duo) and Alois and Claude, for a very poor reason and tries to escape the inevitable end of the series (i.e Ciel's death at the hands of Sebastian) by using a cheap fanservice tactic that could be read in a bad fanfiction.

The storyline is just sad - and not in the way it intends to be. The writing fell flat where it should have and the entire storyline feels ridiculous in the latter half and drags out too long. It's twelve episodes but each episode feels like a drag to get through. There was no comic relief in this season at all, making it a depressing, disturbing and sad anime.

When I say disturbing, I mean a scantily clad fourteen-year-old teasing and making sexual advances on his butler. The entire thing just feels like such ill taste, considering the past this character has seen.

Overrall, as Kuroshitsuji fan, I won't be going back to this season. If you like darker anime then you might like this season, but if you're looking for a sequel with the feel and atmosphere of Kuroshitsuji, I'd say give this one a pass.

After watching season 1 of Kuroshitsuji, I was confused as to why there would be a need for a second season as it had a pretty satisfying conclusion. But my curiosity got the best of me, and so I decided to watch season 2.

Honestly, I was extremely disappointed with the outcome as the plot was mainly too convoluted and the characters were just cringe-worthy. I was hoping to see how Alois and Claude would turn out as they seemed kind of promising in the first episode, but all they managed to do was to get on my nerves.

It was rather interesting at first to see ... how Claude was willing to break his contract with Alois to fight Sebastian for Ciel's soul, but what annoyed me to no end was how Alois still seemed to revere him? And don't get me started on his relationship with Hannah. Alois was very abusive to Hannah, which is evident when he gouged her eye out in the first episode, leaving me to wonder why she still tolerates his abysmal behaviour. In the end, it was because of her love for Luka that left her at the mercy of wanting to make Alois happy, just like what Luka aspired to do. But then Alois formed a contract with her, and then shit just got even more messier.

When Sebastian won the duel with Claude, Alois' soul was consumed by Hannah and Ciel was brought back to life. But as a demon. Yes, a demon. Like why would you do that? It is understandable that that was done so that Sebastian can no longer consume Ciel's soul, but it also means that you sat through about 300 minutes of complete plot wastage. Lots of characters and events were underdeveloped (Abberline's brother, Lau still being alive etc) for the sake of having more screen time for Sebastian and Claude's battle for Ciel's soul, only to have neither of them consume it in the end.

That managed to make me pity Sebastian in the end, as you can see how hard he worked (though his intentions were purely on consuming Ciel's soul rightfully as bound by his contract with Ciel) to have been roped in as his eternal slave. His misery was clearly evident and I too felt the same discontentment at how the story turned out.

Another thing worth mentioning was how Ciel's amnesia was hardly developed throughout the story. It was enjoyable seeing how the people around Ciel had to put on a facade and pretend the events from season 1 didn't happen, but all this was only really mentioned in 1-2+ episodes, and that was it. The rest of the time, it felt like his amnesia was only a convenience for the plot to continue.

I implore anyone who has read this to only watch it if you want to see two attractive demon butlers fight over the soul of a very muddled boy or if you just want to waste a lot of time that would be much better spent re-watching the first season or reading the manga itself.

Kuroshitsuji 2 is the worst anime I've ever watched to completion. Not only does it completely fall flat as a sequel, it's also just poorly crafted. The story's pace all over the place, moving from intense developments to nothing happening for episodes on end. In that respect, it almost feels like 2 different shows: one is a half-assed and really boring sequel, while the other is a disturbing but kind of interesting story that is constantly interrupted by plot contrivances. Really the only strength it has is an interesting antagonist, but I feel like he would have thrived much better in a different show with ... a much more adult tone (something more along the lines of Berserk than a Kuro sequel). The writing is pretty abysmal, and the story's conclusion is an absolute unsatisfying mess. In my opinion, it's not worth watching. Go read the manga or watch Book of Circus.

i enjoy all generes of anime and follow many diferent art styles and voice actors, yet if a cast of charecters make me angry at the main characters actions then i will not watch any of it.
this happened within the first five minutes of kuroshitsuji 2. as i watched this part i grew from appaled, to disgusted, to furrious with the cruel and intolerable way that the main character treated those who made his way of life possible.
his serveants were regarded with cruelty and contempt. the main even went as far as to physically absue those around him.
this tone of arisocratic injustice was not well ... recieved to me after the much more lighthearted and complacent ways of the first season of this series.
while this one provides a feeling of insanity and dispare the fisrt created a feeling of possible hope and joy blooming past the sorrows. overall i couldnt watch past the five minute mark of this anime as it irked me so, and there fore give it an average score of three brought up only by its rt style from a one.

I think the first time I saw Kuroshitsuji was something like 10 years ago. It was on TV every day after school, and it is probably one of the first anime I’ve ever seen with FMA, One Piece and Bleach… I’ve seen so many anime since, still I had very clear memory about this one. A few days ago, I decided to watch it again.

I like Kuroshitsuji. I like the characters, the butler, the shinigamis (especially the red one), I like the story, I like (love) the OST, and most of all I like the 1880s London’s context. Historical references are various, and as ... a civil engineer I was so pleased to see the Crystal Palace in this anime (it burned tragically in 1936).

And I guess there is nothing more to say… If it wasn’t for S2. Seriously, what happened? What is this? The ending in S1 was perfect, why did you need to do this? Ok you get that. I hated this season and I’m gonna tell you why in three points.

###### FIRST: INSIPID NEW CHARACTERS
Take Ciel. Make him taller. Make his character the exact opposite (i.e., a psycho, an evil piece of *). Call him Alois.
Take Sebastian. Call him Claude (Pronounce “C-L-O-D-O”, as a French person, this makes me laugh so much).
The way they interact together: you have probably seen S1, so you’re familiar with the “Yes, my Lord” (nice though sometimes a bit repetitive)? OK OK “Hey bro it seems the fans loved that so let’s do the same in S2 with a new pair Earl/Butler!” How the hell did they come with this stupid idea… I mentally vomited every time I heard “Yes your Highness”.
I don’t want to mention this lame blue woman with huge breast. She is pure garbage.

###### SECONDLY: APPALLING PACING
Bad timing, bad rhythm… Even the battle scenes look fake, either too long or too short, nothing is at its place… I have friends who write fanfic infinitely better than this… I’m sure that even the seyuus have been hating this season.

###### THIRDLY: damaging the original story and characters.
Hahaha. Maybe I wouldn’t be so mad if this wasn’t a sequel. This season has slaughtered Kuroshitsuji, its story and its characters. It has made Sebastian unconfident and flawful, completely destroying his character, and it has made Ciel an annoying spoiled child you want to smash in the face. Other characters have been mysteriously revived (no spoil here, it’s just in the beginning of ep1), and perversity has reached summits (well Kuroshitsuji has always been somehow borderline, but in S2 the limit is largely exceeded).


Voilà, I don’t mind anime that don’t follow the original material, I also like original anime without material, but honestly this one seems to have been made by some random drunkard in the street at 4am. I wouldn’t say everything in the concept is bad though, eg I liked the introducing of another demon willing to steal Ciel from Sebastian, and I like the final image of this season. If you just saw S1 and want to watch another season of this great anime, I do you a favor: skip this and just go look for Book of Circus which is awesome.

This season was not as good as the first. I liked first one better. This one had a good character and backstory, but they kind of wasted him like they do with a lot of good characters in anime. It was a rip off of Kingdom Hearts.


Season 2 was disappointing.

-Story- 3/10
Apparently Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler II is not canon to the manga so it isnt needed to see this as a 'Season 2'. In an episode of the show apparently Ciel and sebastian are seen, nothing more. In my opinion if it was an actuall season 2 it should have left from where season 1 stopped

-Art- 10/10
I really felt like the artsyle was more clean in a way than in the first season, characters were somewhat more pleasant to look at (in comparison to last season)

-Sound- 10/10
Clean and nice, OP was one of the good things Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler II had

-Character- 2/10
The main character left a really ... bad first impression on me, he was extremely annoying, one of the reasons why i decided to not continue watching the show

-Enjoyment- 2/10
Not even 10 minutes in the show and I felt uncomfortable and cringed too many times, maybe it would be a good idea to see this if you have patience or you can handle elements that make most people uncomfortable

-Overall-3/10
Nothing to say here, i believe its self explainatory

Black Butler 2

After the catastrophic result of the first season, I had practically no hope of recovery, and thank God I was taught better.

The second season is the direct (not canon) sequel to the first season and the official conclusion of the (not canon) seasons. Everything that comes after that is based directly on the manga.

This season managed to refresh in almost all areas. First and foremost, the plot has been given more background and more individuality. The characters got more intelligent, charismatic and personality. The visual representation, fluid animations, and music that accompanied the scenes have also been improved well.


The actual plot was not ... convincing, but it was a considerable improvement. Due to the various backgrounds that were distributed over episodes, there was a better insight into what was happening. This also made it possible to understand the opponents better, as well as their motives. Despite the clichéd plot, it was quite entertaining.

And the fact that the characters were finally given more personality gave my heart almost joy. Sebastian looked less like a lifeless doll that should just look -smug-, but more like a sarcastic and devious butler. Ciel also had more charisma and no longer acted as senselessly as usual. As mentioned, the antagonists were understandable because of their backgrounds and motives. And Cloud was even reasonably interesting.

The osts in the respective scenes have gotten better and were used somewhat more often. The intro kept almost the same individual style as its predecessor but was less appealing.

Surprise surprise, I really didn't expect it.
Despite its flaws, this is still a surprisingly positive sequel to the story. Of course, the result is always better if you adapt a completely thought-out story. However, despite a distress Canon season, this season has become almost average.


Story - 3
Art - 6
Sound - 6
Character - 4
Enjoyment - 5
Overall - 4