Until he dissipates into a sniveling excuse of a train wreck along with the rest of the cast. Let’s hope all those fanfics you read late at night conditioned you to characters acting OOC.
Contrary to all the warnings I was given before viewing Kuroshitsuji II, I began with high hopes. It’s Kuroshitsuji, after all. How can it fail? Surely Alois Trancy’s creepy-as-hell demeanor would get the ball rolling. His juxtaposition to his stoic demon butler, Claude, was promising. But despite all the possibilities Kuroshitsuji II could have embellished upon, it fell flat. The character relationships so intrinsically built up in the first season came crashing way, way, down. It seemed as if Sebastian and Ciel were tossed into the plot just to please the fangirls. Character development for the debuting servants of the Trancy household is stagnant to nonexistent. The season begins with shameless fillers—starting in the second episode, no less—and later thrusts itself into a plot woven flimsier than one of Claude’s spider webs. The romantic 1800s London time-setting of the first season seems to disappear from plot significance. Like the rest of the season, you really don’t know what’s going on anymore.
By the time the plot weaves into a labyrinth game show you could’ve sworn you were watching Kuroshitsuji and not the Kids’ WB.
And don’t even get me started on the amnesia ass-pull.
But don’t let me senselessly bash. The art is still great, but not as flawless as the first season’s. Both versions of the OP, set to the song “SHIVER”, were stunning, with dazzling animation. (Especially Alois’ version—oh my god, can you say impressive?) Needless to say, Kuroshitsuji has THE best anime OST I’ve ever come across. Alois Trancy's theme, "The Slightly Chipped Full Moon", is as beautifully disturbing as he is. But don’t expect to hear the flawless soundtrack of the first season all throughout this sequel. You’ll have to make due with cartoon sound effects tossed behind every “comedic” fast-dash movement.
Comedic. Right.
Hahaha. Aha.
Successful comedy in this season is rare, but its rarities are frequently supplied by Viscount Druitt. His idealistic ravings are hilarious, albeit ill-timed considering they most often arose during what could’ve been considered a more serious fight scene in the anime.
The relationship that Ciel and Sebastian built up season one came tumbling down faster than my expectations for this sequel. (On another note, Daisuke Ono’s voice is like God whispering sweet nothings into your ear. Have you heard Sebastian’s character song, “Aru Shitsuji no Nichijou”? Woah baby. On second, thought, go hear Ronald Knox's character songs. And the entire Kuroshitsuji OST.)
Hinted shotacon is evident, but nothing you can’t endure. Characters you thought were gone are back, characters you thought would show up are nowhere in sight, and the characters present—namely Sebastian, Ciel, Alois, and Claude—surprisingly leave the show unsatisfying.
And if you thought Lady Elizabeth couldn’t get any more annoying, think again.
I know that it’s biased to compare a second season solely to its former, but the only reason I managed to stick it out until the end was…well, it’s Kuroshitsuji for God’s sake. Especially considering that this season didn’t follow the conclusive events of the first season’s at all. It really felt as if this season was expecting to generate success solely by the loyal fanbase built up from the first. I’m a major fan of the first season, but my loyalty can only take me so far. I really didn’t know it was possible to slaughter a series like this. I really didn’t. Creating a sequel is always a risky process. This risk should’ve been left alone. The season quickly became tedious to watch. Season 1 also had a brilliant ending. This season’s ending left a lot less room for interpretation, but it really doesn’t matter how tight an ending is if it stinks. The characters provided this season with so much potential, but just couldn't hold up. But that being said, Alois Trancy is enchanting, and Ronald Knox (though his screen-time is pathetically minuscule) is an epic cutie pie.
I never thought I’d be giving anything of Kuroshitsuji a 5. But a 5 is really all this second season deserves.
In short, Kuroshitsuji II managed to take everything the first season stood for and drive it into the pits of hell. But don’t worry, at least Sebastian will be waiting. Along with the season’s production staff.
Burn, baby. Burn.
