One of the noble families of England - Phantomhive, has a butler, Sebastian Michaelis. He has unquestionably perfect knowledge, manners, talent with materials. martial arts and much more. But for some reason, he serves a 12 year old master.
Story & Characters
Story:
A butler with perfect knowledge, manners, talent and extraordinary fighting skills, meet Sebastian Michaels! Sounds
perfect, but why is he serving a 12 years old boy?!
The plot seems simple, but it is actually interesting. As the story goes on, more interesting revelations are made that
makes you want to watch more until your eyes give up.
Although the story mainly focuses about Ciel and Sebastian, the fascinating but sad story of the minor characters is
also shown that builds up more interest and understanding of the anime.
Characters:
Every character in this anime is really likeable. The almost perfect yet patient butler Sebastian Michaels and his
arrogant, stubborn but kind hearted master Ciel Phanomhive really stand out since they are the main character. When the
two of them are together, you can’t help but adore their great partnership. Although when they aren’t together, each
of them still have their own unique character that makes them really amusing. The minor characters are also notable. The
anime shows how important their roles are and gives each of them their own “moment” to stand out.
One of the major characters, Ciel Phantomhive, is really mysterious but cute. Although he usually shows his arrogant,
mature, tough and calm side, you could still see that he is also a stubborn but gentle boy. His serious attitude also
adds humour into the anime that makes him more likeable. His voice and appearance is really cool but not a new thing,
since he resembles some anime character like Ryoma Echizen from “the Prince of Tennis”. However, he is still
appealing because of his cool looks and tough but childish behaviour that are combined together to have a unique
character.
On the other hand, his demon butler Sebastian Michaels is his opposite in some ways. They both look cool and mature, but
Sebastian is different because he is more patient, humble and gentleman yet charismatic. Even though he is a demon, you
still can’t think of him as an evil person, instead a strong and smart individual who is only doing his job. His looks
may be plain, but is still rare. On the contrary, this aspect of him gives you a scary and mysterious feeling that
actually makes him a good character.
Now let’s go to the minor characters! Because the story is really serious, the minor characters are used to create
humour and enjoyment. They also have distinctive traits that make them adorable. A great example would be the members of
the Phantomhive household: Bardroy, Finnian, Maylene, Tanaka and Pluto. They seem useless but when you think about it, a
rich person would not hire an ineffective servant (just watch to see what I mean). Besides, without them, Kuroshitsuji
would be really boring.
Lau and the girl he is always with are other characters that are mysterious but amusing. Madame Red, Prince Soma, Agni,
Elizabeth, viscount of Druitt, Queen Victoria, Fred Abberline, Angela, Ash and the death gods: Grell, William and
Undertaker are the other minor characters that add humour, drama and suspense into the anime.
Overall, the characters are all easy to like but hard to hate. They all made Kuroshitsuji a nice and enticing anime.
Rating: 10
Art
One of the things that would draw your attention in this anime is its classic, detailed and dark but loving
art.
It is really interesting how the artist made the cute yet sophisticated clothes of each character. Because it is set in
England during the Victorian era, more details are needed compared to modern clothes. However, this anime did a great
job in creating a classic but unique art with a combination of dark and bright colours that suites the time period,
storyline, and the audience that it is targeting.
When it comes to the character, the art is also impressive. They all look very different from each other that made them
easier to remember. The colours and style that is used for every individual harmonizes with their personality.
It is also the same with the background. The colours, style and details goes with every scene.
Rating: 10
Sound
The voices don’t only match the characters; the voice actors also did a great job in showing the emotions needed in
their voices to make it sound realistic.
But the problem in the Japanese dubbing is their accent. Since different cultures, like Indian and Chinese are shown,
their accent should also suite the culture of the anime to make it more realistic. It is indeed hard to do especially
because the Japanese accent sounds really close to other Asian accents, but it would be really great if they can do
that.
If proper voices are chosen, an English dub for this anime would be great. This is because its setting is in an English
speaking country during the old times, so a simple but formal English language would make it sound even more
realistic.
The opening and ending themes are also fantastic and matches the anime as well. They are like combination of classic and
modern music that made it suitable for the anime yet appealing to the viewers.
Actually, you don’t need to watch the anime for you to like the songs, since they are composed really well. However,
using them into an anime would give you more feeling and understanding of the song.
Rating: 9
Presentation
? Uniqueness and enjoyability
Action, drama, friendship, romance, comedy, mystery, family love, fantasy, history and many more, name it and
Kuroshitsuji has it. This anime contains most of the elements that you are looking for that makes it more entertaining.
Naruto and Bleach are some animes that also have those elements, but what makes Kuroshitsuji unique is its overall
presentation. A great story, outstanding characters ,classic and detailed art and cool sounds: put them together and
you’ll get an exceptional anime with a new taste.
Kuroshitsuji may be a serious type of anime, but finding boring moment will be certainly hard. If you are not moved by
its sad and touching story of family, romance and friendship, you will find yourself laughing with the characters’
hilarity. Even some parts of the anime is predictable, great suspense and amusement is still present because of its
action packed scenes.
Rating: 10
Final Verdict
9.8333 (excellent)
Reviewed by dwarf, Dec 10, 2009