Ciel Phantomhive, a boy who had undergone all sorts of hell, makes a contract at his desperate moments with a demon. This demons vows to never betray him, to forever stay by his side as he lives, a demon that does his everything bidding to the fullest. A demon: named Sebastian, who shall forever be his loyal butler and carry on his plan to avenge the ones who done him wrong while serving under the Queen of England- until the moment that goal is achieved, that revenge sated, and his soul... eaten.
But we already know that.
Story:
The Queen of England has ordered Ciel Phantomhive to investigate in a case. In this case, children are suddenly mysteriously disappearing every time a certain circus comes by, and Ciel must catch the culprit and bring down justice. That's basically the story. But, wait, isn't there more? Yes, there is. It's basically another plot that technically takes place after the Curry arc back in the first season, but it, once again, is like no other. However, as you watch the first episode, it's nothing but the same thing that basically happened in the first episode of the first season. It's so... simple, awfully bland, not off to a great start. We all know that the formula is going to be along the lines of: Ciel investigates, tells Sebastian to do everything for him, finds culprit, Ciel is about to die, Sebastian saves his butt, "Yes, my Lord.", and Sebastian kills everyone. But as we delve deeper into the plot, perhaps this circus isn't so much laughs and fun as it claims to be. And perhaps... things will be different this time.
Oh, what am I saying? We all know clowns are scary.
Art:
The art... it's the same as the previous seasons. It is by all means not bad at all. In fact, I love it. It's beautiful. But, I want to stop here for a moment, and just comment on the opening for a bit. It's... astounding. Amazing. Like I said before, this opening is incomparable to the previous seasons. When you watch this opening, you have this feeling of suspense and it carries the dark tonality that Kuroshitsuji had all along. The animation is extremely fluid, the colors and desaturated and faded, giving off that eerie dissonance, while at the same time, still has that excitement contained within. Oh, what can I say? It's fabulous.
Characters:
There isn't much character development. But, does this mean that they aren't interesting to watch? No, not at all. Though Sebastian is still the perfect demon he is, and Ciel the ruthless prickly brat he is, we have to remind ourselves that this is a supernatural show, a show about suspense, AHA! moments, blood, gore, horror. And wow, does this seriously do a good job on those aspects. The horrors Ciel gone through, the horrors the side characters gone through. And speaking of side characters, you do get a new cast of colorful side characters. You have Joker, Beast, Snake, Doll, Dagger. They first appear as quite a mix of rainbows, but not before too long will these rainbows wilt and drop dead to the ground. And you will feel with them, you will cry with them, you will pity them. For this is a story of tragedy. A story of suffering. A truly sadistic story.
Sound:
The soundtrack is pretty nice. Though not too memorable, but the opening, the sound is equivalent in praise as the animation.
Enjoyment:
How could you not enjoy this beautiful third season of Kuroshitsuji? Simply put, it was an absolute shock to me on how good it was. It takes the brilliant potential the show had all along, expanded upon it, built upon it, explored upon it, made it colorful and brilliant, exactly how the first and second seasons should had been all long. My final verdict: You will watch this. You will like this. The suspense, horror, blood, tragedy, sorrow, pity and fast paced story will keep you interested until the show is over. Don't be fooled by the slightly giddy first episodes. The ending ties everything you've seen into a nice little bow on a nice little Halloween present.
Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you Kuroshitsuji: Book of Circus.
His Butler, recommends thee.
