Monday, May 30, 2016
Black Butler is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yana Toboso. Since its debut on September 16, 2006, it has been serialized in Square Enix's shōnen manga magazine Monthly GFantasy.
The series follows Ciel Phantomhive, the thirteen-year-old (as of chapter 14) head of the Phantomhive family, an aristocratic family known as the Queen's Watchdog, and tasked with solving crimes in London's underworld. Ciel has formed a contract with Sebastian Michaelis, a demon who has taken on the disguise of Ciel's butler, to seek revenge against those who killed his parents and resulted in him being kidnapped and tortured. In exchange for Sebastian's service, he will be allowed to consume Ciel's soul. The series has been licensed by Yen Press in North America and published in Yen Press' August 2009 issue for the magazine's first anniversary.
A 24-episode anime adaption, with 3 seasons, directed by Toshiya Shinohara and produced by A-1 Pictures, aired from October 2008 to March 2009. The second season, Kuroshitsuji II, aired in 2010 spanning 18 episodes with two new main characters, Alois Trancy and Claude Faustus, following the aftermath of the first season. This series was the anime's own adaptation and did not feature in the manga. A live action film adaptation was released in Japan on January 18, 2014. A third anime series, titled Kuroshitsuji: Book of Circus, was broadcast between July 10 and September 12, 2014. A two-part theatrical OVA titled Kuroshitsuji: Book of Murder screened in Japanese theaters on October 25, and November 15, 2014.An animated film for the series was green-lit, and will be released in early 2017.
In Victorian-era London lives the young boy, Ciel Phantomhive. On the night of his tenth birthday, a fire engulfed his manor house, his parents were murdered, and he was captured by a mysterious organization. After a month of enduring excruciating and humiliating torture, Ciel returns to the Phantomhive household with an enigmatic black-clad butler, Sebastian Michaelis. To others, it seems that the butler is simply the best at his craft, from anticipating his young master's needs to carrying them out to the best of his inexplicable abilities.
Little do they know, Sebastian is actually a demon that has entered into a contract with Ciel, promising to help the boy achieve revenge on those who have wronged him in exchange for his soul. As the Queen's guard dog and standing at the top of the British underworld, Ciel solves the crimes plaguing London while waiting for the day he will exact his revenge.
