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Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Black Butler: Public School Arc
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MFrontier
Posts: 13642 |
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Nice to have the show back and Maaya Sakamoto and Daisuke Ono haven't missed a beat as their characters. The way they drew out that "Yes, My Lord" because they knew everyone was waiting for it...
I think I kind of liked the Book of Circus style more but this is still pretty solid visually. It feels weird having SiD do the ED instead of the OP though. |
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Everlasting Coconut
 Posts: 316 |
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Ah, it's been 7 years since the last Kuroshitsuji anime, but it feels like we're right back at home.
This arc also happens to be one of my favorites. Much like with Noah's Circus, one of its biggest strengths lies in taking these characters we've already come to know and love and placing them in an unlikely scenario where they're out of their element. Seeing Ciel trying to act like a normal, cheerful student is as funny as it is uncanny. Not to mention that the limitations created by the school's traditions (mixed in with a touch of teenage rivalry and jealousy) are a source of good drama. It's also just funny to see Sebastian playing the role of religious teacher 
Now that Studio CloverWorks is handling Kuroshitsuji, this is probably the best the anime has ever looked... which is not saying much, but hey, a small win is still a win. I particularly like the animation style used for the ending, which was directed by Okazaki Oka. Rebecca, if you're reading this, I think it'd be interesting if you could keep pointing out any historical inaccuracies (or notable accuracies) that might slip past the untrained viewer's eye like myself. I've only ever noticed two inaccuracies in the earlier chapters of the manga, but they were both pretty obvious, back when Sebastian was using cellphones and Prince Soma was watching TV (death scythes don't count since they're tied to the supernatural). Speaking of Soma, it's so good to see him back. This show has a very strong supporting cast, so it's a joy whenever Yana is able to bring them back without it feeling forced. I do have one big nitpick, which is something that everyone and their mother has been complaining about in social media, and it's that we were robbed of the much more funny (and contextually accurate) translation for 寮弟. Crunchyroll gave us "drudge," the manga gave us "fag" I'm holding out hope that the dub will right this wrong, but chances are slim.
PS: I like the little hint they give us that Maurice is probably forcing his good guy voice. When Redmond says he wants to invite Ciel to the Gazebo, Maurice's real voice slips up for a second when he says, "Huh?" |
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NeedMoreCats
 Subscriber Posts: 333 Location: Westchester, NY |
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Yeah, I can see why they wouldn’t use the historically accurate “fag” since it’s now considered a homophobic slur. Still, I wish they had chosen something that had more British/Victorian flavor (flavour?  ) to it. Like maybe dogsbody or skivvy. Drudge feels too, I dunno, glum? On the nose? Something. It certainly took me out of the story a bit.
Oh, well, I’m just glad to have my boys back after all this time! And I’m stoked that Rebecca is the reviewer. I second Everlasting Coconut’s request for notes on the historical stuff. |
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yeehaw
 Posts: 539 |
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I really like Rebeccas reviews and I would love to get more historical facts in the reviews, but I don't think they really count as innaccuracies when BB is definitely not supposed to be historically accurate
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MFrontier
Posts: 13642 |
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Let this be a lesson...never tick off Ciel Phantomhive. Especially when he has a Hell of a Butler who can do anything he wants him too and he'll reap the rewards.
But hey, even Souma came through in his own way! I also liked Ciel's understated reaction to McMillan trying to genuinely help him. He's still not used to that sincere kindness. |
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Everlasting Coconut
Posts: 316 |
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I really like how Black Butler strikes a balance between the grim and the humour. Just because we've infiltrated this school to investigate the mysterious and ominous disappearance of students doesn't mean we can't have fun in the process.
Enter Prince Soma. Just like Lizzy and the Phantomhive servants, Soma loves Ciel and wants to do everything in his power to ease his burden. He quickly reveals his relationship to Ciel not because he's dumb but because he thinks being straightforward is the best way to help him (although he obviously takes pride in being his friend as well). It's heartwarming to know that our protagonist is surrounded by so many people who genuinely treasure him, but it's also depressing when you remember Ciel constantly chooses to reject their love. When you've already sold your soul to a devil and your days are numbered, it's painful to get attached to others. Anyway, seeing Soma ramming an elephant into Maurice's room was as hilarious as it was satisfying to see Maurice at the end of the episode realizing he did not know who he was messing with. As for Ciel working in service of the Queen, I sill think it'll eventually come back to bite him in the butt. I'm of the belief that, much like in season 1 of the anime, the Queen will be revealed to be the one who plotted the murder of Ciel's parents. For what reason, I still don't know, but she's no saint. And I'm not saying that just cause she's the Queen of England. She's making a little kid do all her dirty work, and even if Ciel chose to become the Queen's watchdog, he's still a child. Let's also not forget that she personally sent Charles Grey to kill Sebastian in order to punish Ciel for not meeting her expectations during the Noah Circus arc. Moreover, there's her mysterious butler, John Brown, who showed up at the end of the circus arc in the anime but made his debut earlier in the Indian Butler arc in the manga. Charles Grey and Charles Phipps are definitely human, but we don't know anything about John Brown. An angel maybe? I always thought it was weird how during the curry contest he got run over by a horse and was completely fine afterwards. It was probably just slapstick and I'm just overanyzing things, but we know how sneaky Yana can be with her foreshadowing. Gotta cover all bases 
(manga spoiler) spoiler[Lastly, we know that the Undertaker, who loves the Phantomhives, has a strong dislike for the Queen. Coincidence? I think not!]
Just one small correction. Ciel is now serving Clayton, who in turn serves Bluewer. |
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danpmss
 Posts: 781 |
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The slur part was a great meme in the manga, but honestly, is kind of a non-issue when nobody is speaking old English nor any sort of older Japanese in Kuroshitsuji in the first place to care about this sort of accuracy anyway.
Were the series to be something like Drifters (in which all characters speak in patterns relative to their era, the protagonist himself being a pain to read in Japanese at times, since there's kyuujitai in the writing lol), I'd understand the complain about not using it, but honestly, they rarely really get purple prosy with elegant/old speech in this series, and it's usually a mix with clear modern japanese. |
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tintor2
 Posts: 2112 |
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So that's the censored word that made no sense to me when I read the manga
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MFrontier
Posts: 13642 |
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I like the touch that Edward, knowing exactly who Ciel really is, immediately realizes what is going on when he keeps asking about Derrick Arden.
Also Ciel and Sebastian have a bad habit of committing arson in a building with kids in it. |
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tintor2
Posts: 2112 |
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Some kids just want to see the school burn
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tintor2
Posts: 2112 |
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I love how Ciel's aunt is the only person able to scare a freaking demon.
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redvelvetdoll
 Posts: 65 |
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Definitely looking forward to Cherami Leigh showing up in the english dub! |
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MFrontier
Posts: 13642 |
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I definitely get the sense there might be something hidden in Purple House.
Clayton's a good dude. Good thing Ciel didn't consider killing him for long. You gotta give the school credit, they are masters of presentation. This is a pretty male-heavy arc so...here's all of Bluewer's sisters to make up for it! It was nice to see Lizzie and her family again and that both Midford women have a better sense for Sebastian than the men. Also Joji Nakata and Show Hayami in the same episode! |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11584 |
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I don't know what Ciel has up his sleeve for the next match, but I was pretty disappointed in the plot for the first one (even if it was just chocolaty X-lax and not poison). I was expecting some more direct supernatural intervention from Sebastian, like unobtrusively flicking a bit of gravel at the ball to alter its trajectory or some other creative shenanigans only he could pull off. Forcing a forfeit with laxatives was lame.
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MFrontier
Posts: 13642 |
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I want more Vincent Phantomhive after that flashback.
It was nice to see the whole gang together again, along with Tanaka's new VA (RIP Shunji Fujimura). Never expected to hear Junya Enoki say "it's not cricket" in English. This is the arc that really made Edward grow on me as a character, even if he's still fighting for his little sisters' affections against Ciel. |
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