annonymouscritic Review of Black Butler II

Black Butler II (2010–2011)

Not as great as the first season, but still good.

[7/10 · 27 October 2017]

Black Butler season 1 was met with a lot of praise and people wanted more. So in 2010, Black Butler's second season was released with much anticipation. After it ended a lot of people had mixed opinions on it. Many loved it, and some others hated it, and some people are somewhere in the middle. The shows plot happens a little over a year after the last season concluded and we are given two new antagonists, Alois Trancy and Claude Faustus. Claude is a demon butler like Sebastian, but Alois is very different to Ciel. Unlike Ciel who despite being arrogant still cares about others like Elizabeth and the servants and fights for the good of England, Alois is sadistic and cruel and oddly cheerful all the time. As it turns out at the end of the first season, Sebastian never actually took Ciel's soul but instead Claude has stolen it but hasn't devoured it yet. Ciel suffers from memory loss and can't seem to remember what happened in season 1, like, ANYTHING that happened in season 1. So it's up to Sebastian to retrieve Ciel's soul so he can devour it himself after Ciel had completed the contract between him and Sebastian. This season doesn't have as many great moments as season 1, but still has it's fair share of plot twists and shocking moments. Alois' backstory is tragic, and the twist at the end is shocking but feels a little dumb (but damn is it a good twist!). This season has a PAINFUL amount of filler episodes for such a short season. It has 12 EPISODES. 12. That's pitiful because it's not even technically counted as a mini-series! The filler episodes are still fun to watch but because there are so many of them I'm just waiting until the story starts again. Regardless, despite the filler, this season is still good. It has the same voice cast in Japanese and in English (English is the best way to watch Black Butler) and the new voice actors for Alois and Claude are...decent. Claude is good but Alois' voice straight up annoys me. But this season is still passable. It's definitely the weakest of all the Black Butler's but it still does a good job at shocking and entertaining the audience. Not a must watch as it's not really considered canon as it isn't based off the manga in any way, but definitely a passable and decent season. A shame that everything else from the franchise is so much better though.