I'll start off by saying what this show reminded me off: it's like somebody took a concept of an inhuman butler from Hellsing and inserted it into the Ouran High School Host Club type of the show. The feel of the show for the most part is extremely alike to that of Ouran, despite the different setting. And although both are supposed to be comedy, I didn't actually laugh at anything. The comedy elements simply give both shows a light feel instead of causing you to roll on the floor in fits of laughter. However, Black Butler wavers from comedy in its few last episodes considerably and quite unexpectedly. And that's a good thing.
PLOT - 7:
The structure of the show consists of a few arcs, followed by a few ending episodes where plot finally appears and some elements introduced in those arcs are joined together. The arcs seemed questionable to me, because in general I do not like disjointed arcs at all, but that's my preference and nothing more. Everything paid off in the end, I just really wish that the whole anime was like that, with a solid ongoing plot (I didn't read the manga, so I won't compare).
One minor complaint that I have is that some things were way too convenient in those story arcs. Ciel goes somewhere, meets somebody, and later she or he turns out to be an important character. That happened a few times, although he seemingly met them by accident. That didn't seem like a very good device for introducing important characters to me, one accidental meeting I'd understand, but later ones could be shown as orchestrated by somebody else or in any other way inevitable, instead of accidental. This way the overall story wouldn't feel as disjointed, and the arcs would feel more meaningful.
CHARACTERS - 10:
The butler seemed a bit of Marty Stew for me, but it looked ok surrounded by the comedy-like atmosphere. I mean, c'mon, riding the canon ball in the sea to chase for a ship, how could anybody even take that seriously and start complaining? In retrospect it even sounds incredibly funny, although at the moment of seeing it my jaw must've dropped a little. Just like it happens with many funny moments in real life: at the time when something funny actually happens it's a shock rather than fun.
The butler was wearing the same expression on his face most of the time, making it hard to read. I kept thinking: is he really slightly nice like that or is he a cold demon in disguise? The same can be said about his behavior, I couldn't decide: was Sebastian actually slightly caring or was he pretending at all times? The ending gave answers to these questions, so I'd say his character was portrayed well, if the original intention was to confuse the viewer (which I believe is true at least to some extent).
Ciel. He starts off as a mean child who behaves like he knows the worth of his status and how to use it to his advantage. Soon you see that he's really helpless on his own and he knows it very well, but he can afford to put on a show of courage because he knows that his pawn is invincible (another parallel to Hellsing and this time to Integra). I kept thinking: what would you be, if not for your butler and your status? Some part of me wanted him to be stripped of all that, just to see his reaction, and that wish was granted by the show.
MAJOR SPOILERS START HERE
And that's when Ciel's character really started to shine for me! He was left alone, a spoilt rich child, without knowing anything about how to live in the world. The moment when he finally cracked and asked himself "Why do I even have to return?" was golden, finally he showed some depth of character and an inner struggle. It's notable that his behavior from the moment he was left alone was very realistic, it didn't feel forced for the sake of creating some drama! Although when he still departed to London I was a little perplexed, because his motives weren't shown too clearly (or maybe I missed that), so I almost started to think that he plunged forward because it was needed for the story to progress. But the ending put everything into perspective, explaining why Ciel persisted in his goal despite having all he lived for crushed: he wanted his death not to be meaningless. If you think of it, this is quite scary: a person is cornered, he knows that he's going to die soon, the only thing he's left is to die meaningfully or meaninglessly. So he chooses to go on with his previous wish of vengeance, even though it already stopped being important for him, as he explicitly says. He doesn't want it anymore, but stopping to care would make his decision to trade his own soul to a demon meaningless and stupid, right? And so he chooses not to stop.
Another remarkable thing in this anime is relationship between Sebastian and Ciel. At first I didn't think of it as anything outstanding, and I was incredibly surprised at how mistaken my initial assumptions of it were. With Sebastian and Ciel being equally confusing to read, there were still some hints that they cared for each other at least a little bit. But the ending revealed the truth: they absolutely did not. Recreate in your memory the moment they were sailing down the river and Sebastian gave Ciel the diary. Now ask yourself, why did he do such a cruel thing? That diary was supposed to shatter Ciel's very last "meaning of life" into its final pieces. Ciel managed to follow his plan for revenge, despite the desire for it no longer existing, but giving him that diary could serve no other purpose than crushing even that. It couldn't be kindness that drove Sebastian to give him the diary, it was an exceptionally cruel act.
After that you start remembering their interactions, and they're remembered in a new light. So Sebastian was merely playing a butler with no room for personal attachment, awaiting Ciel's soul patiently. And Ciel was aware of it and referred to him as his pawn not out of bitterness, but because he saw the truth of it: Sebastian was never anything else but a pawn whose goal was to eat the king.
SOUND - 10: I honestly don't care for sound in anime, so I won't try to elaborate... I gave music a perfect score, because I didn't want to accidentally give it a lower score than it deserves. :)
ART - 10: It was obviously supposed to be very appealing and succeeded at that. The anime is a feast to the eyes.
ENJOYMENT - 9: One of the cases when the overall enjoyment score doesn't reflect the truth, because I enjoyed the last part of the show at 10 and other parts at lower scores. But a great ending imprints your mind with the final impression that overwrites the earlier ones.
