Within 52 seconds of this anime we get an inside look into Ciel’s past and his summoning Sebastian. I love this already, anyway. Let’s back up for a moment. As many of you may be familiar with the Kuroshitsuji series, it’s had 2 previous animes and a bunch of OVA’s but how much of that was true to it’s original material? How much of the anime matched up to the manga?
To be frank? Like, less then 10% of it was faithful to the manga. The first 5 episodes and then like episodes 8-10 were the only things true to the manga. Fast forward to now, Kuroshitsuji: Book of Circus, animating the much loved circus arc of the manga. Can the animation team step up and give the fans more then the fan service garbage that made up the first and second seasons? Let’s find out.
What to say about this first episode? It’s a lot like the episode one of the first anime, roughly the same plot though it has it’s differences that make it a lot better. I’ll try to give you a brief summery of the episode in case you didn’t see the first anime. Ciel is expecting a guest at his house for…business relations. The guest comes over and they talk, then it’s revealed he’s an arms dealer that wants Ciel as the Queen’s Watch-dog dead.
First off, the addition of Lau to the episode strung the story together a lot better. Having him bring the guy to the house, and pretend to be on his side while working for Ciel the entire time really makes the episode plot come together.
Second, the design of the villain of the episode made him look more normal and less like some crazy Mario like guy. The way they handled the henchmen was a lot better as well.
Let’s talk about the characters, a lot of my problem with the first anime actually stems not from the bullshit fan-service they tried to feed us was in the characterization of certain characters, in particular, Sebastian. Even in just the first episode of this new anime I can tell you that they have fixed this. His personality is a lot closer to the way it was in the manga making it more enjoyable.
Sadly, since there wasn’t a lot of new content this episode it gives me very little to talk about. However, the ending when Lau comes in with the circus tickets excites me, on to the new content next episode! Also, we end the episode with the opening animation, which looks fantastic and a nighttime scene of Sebastian and Ciel that really outlines their relationship. I can’t wait for this!
Possibility of watching: High
Possibility of blogging: MINE, MINE ALL MINE. PROPERLY ANIMATED NON-FANSERVICE BUTLERS ALL THE WAY!