Review for Black Butler: Series 1 - Part 2 (Review)
Tuesday, 18th October 2011, 15:42

Page 1 Page 2

Introduction
Extreme hyperbole by its definition often accompanies damp squibs, but in the case of Part 1 of Black Butler, it's fair to say that I'm the damp squib, not the show. Black Butler has a large and established fanbase; a loyal following that appreciates the adventures of a damaged young aristocrat and his elegant and devilish butler, as they go about their business of investigating the supernatural occurrences in Victorian Britain's criminal underworld. It's a blend of drama and comedy that, with animation from Aniplex, speaks of high production values, sharp writing, and a wonderful attention to detail. I'm just not the target audience. In fact, by releasing Black Butler on UK shores, Manga Entertainment continue to cater for the predominantly female anime fan demographic, a demographic that hasn't always been accounted for with UK anime. With that in mind, I prepare to give Black Butler a second chance.

Ciel Phantomhive was born into a life of privilege, scion of one of the most influential and powerful families in Britain. He's cultured, he's rich, he wants for nothing. Of course he was witness to the brutal murders of his parents, before he was abducted and tortured to the point where the only way that he could save his life was to make a deal with the devil. He sold his soul for a chance to find and mete out vengeance to his tormentors, which is why he is now constantly waited on, hand and foot, by the (literally) devilish butler Sebastian. The Phantomhives have been the watchdogs of the British Empire, and with Sebastian's aid, Ciel has taken on that mantle. Together, master and butler venture into England's underworld, to seek out and remove those who would do evil on England's green and pleasant land.

In this collection, Ciel and his satanic valet encounter an Indian prince and his divine manservant. Speaking of princes, there are a couple of ghostly ones in one of Ciel's properties, and he needs to arrange an eviction, or an exorcism. A mission to investigate and deal with a doomsday cult turns into something far more personal for Ciel. Then Ciel's company is implicated in a drug smuggling operation, and he's labelled an enemy of the state. Finally Ciel is drawn to Paris, where the truth about his parents' deaths will become clear, and the payment of his soul to Sebastian will finally become due.

Manga Entertainment present the concluding episodes of Black Butler across two discs thus.

Disc 1

13. His Butler, Freeloader
14. His Butler, Supremely Talented
15. His Butler, Competing
16. His Butler, in an Isolated Castle
17. His Butler, Offering
18. His Butler, Transmitted
19. His Butler. Imprisoned

Disc 2

20. His Butler, Escaping
21. His Butler, Engaging Servants
22. His Butler, Dissolution
23. His Butler, Up in Flames
24. His Butler, Fluent
Bonus Episode: His Butler, Performer

Picture
Black Butler gets a 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer, which courtesy of Madman Entertainment in Australia, comes to the UK in native PAL form with the requisite 4% speedup. The image is clear and sharp throughout, no problems with ghosting and the like, with only the smallest hint of aliasing along fine edges. The animation itself is fluid and vibrant, Black Butler is a decently budgeted show, and it certainly comes across on screen. The character designs are a mishmash of generic and stylised, certainly the more otherworldly characters make a greater impact on screen, but Black Butler is a show that exhibits the curious dichotomy of a comedy horror, taking the show to some quite dark places, before pulling back and delivering pure comic moments. Victorian England comes to anachronistic life with a pleasant and recognisable world design, albeit one with motorcars, electricity, and car phones. For a moment I thought I was watching D. Gray-Man.

Sound
You have the usual options of a DD 5.1 English track, or a DD 2.0 Japanese track, with translated subtitles and a signs only stream. The 5.1 upmix certainly makes for a pleasant surround experience, but as always I opted for the original Japanese track, which was more than adequate. Black Butler gets its music from Taku Iwasaki, and his score certainly elevates the show with its scope and grandiosity.

But then there's that dub. Let's put it in context. A UK company could make a show, with British actors, set in America, with everyone speaking in American accents. Depending on the quality of the actors, most of the UK audience would accept that show. But try selling that same show to the US… Black Butler is an anime show set in Victorian England, and Funimation have created a localised dub with accents, with a predominantly US cast, and for US audiences. You can hear it in the commentaries when they talk about giving the characters British accents and not English ones. For them, British accents amount to upper class, and cockernee. Sebastian and Ciel are tolerable, even enjoyable to listen to, but the supporting cast leave a lot to be desired, and when they start throwing in Irish and Italian accents my ears start to bleed. In this volume, I was particularly offended by some woeful Indian accents, many of which sounded Mexican. Hey, Khan in Star Trek 2! In an ideal world with loads of money in, it wouldn't just be Ghibli's Arriety that would get separate US and UK dubs.

I noticed this time that on disc 1, between 18:05 and 18:15 into the runtime, that the subtitles were out of sync by one caption.

Next Page