sterry - 2016-07-20 19:50:29

Its Nice Perfect Has A Nice Ending .. 

qstroman - 2016-03-09 21:21:04

My review is addressed to people who saw the first season or read the manga (if this is not the case, start with this I do not see the point otherwise) and I would argue about the usefulness of the serie as a result and his script rather than the atmosphere, graphics and music are consistently good (or excellent in the case of the OST).
As in the first season, Sebastian and Ciel have class and the English part glue well with the dark atmosphere and the characters are always so charismatic.

The manga progressing rather slowly (one volume every 3-4 months) and season 1 by hosting a large part, here, we proposed us a special issue. But experience shows that rarely are the special editions that show inspired enough to not stay a sanitized parenthesis to the main story; they greatly suffering from the lack of progress of the main characters, which can not possibly evolve beyond the limits imposed by the original work/author. 
The writers therefore creates an original story detaching completely (and definitively in view of the end) of the original manga and setting up as a mirror frame screenplay confrontation with a new demonic butler and a new count.
Alone accounting for 90% of airtime, these 4 characters form the core of the series.

We find with pleasure, Ciel and Sebastian, always equal to themselves, but doing here face a disproportionate enemy, embodying their nemesis by equal rank and power.
The plot quickly launch and we find that motivations Alois and Claude, and their relationship are more obscure than expected; more chaotic than the relationship uniting Ciel and Sebastian. The interest and suspense (omnipresent during these 12 episodes) resident in that square characters that interact in the shadows ambiguously.

Yet sometimes reveals some inconsistencies in the characters and decisions of Claude and Alois, making certain aspects of their psychologies somewhat disturbing (some also can love this look a little psychotic of antagonists).
But it is their deep personalities and (especially) news, faced with those well known of Ciel and Sebastian in a struggle to subdue the enemy, all supported by a thrilling story that will make the series so attractive.

Too bad the end part is cantilevered with the original series making any connection with the manga impossible and condemning the season to stay apart. 

I put the note of 9, taking into account that only those who have seen the first season will turn to this suite, which deserves to be seen if one has enjoyed the first, given the scenario efforts and characters creations made here.

leola.monahan - 2015-09-25 04:50:20

Critic's Log - Earthdate: May 3, 2013. Review #45: Black Butler II (Kuroshitsuji II)

Whenever I review something, I usually don't demand anything. I just sit down and try to enjoy a show as much as I can. While I am watching an anime, I keep a handy journal in my hand and a pencil in the other hand, after I am done viewing the show. I then evaluate the show with whatever I marked down and I then count up all the scores and then I give my rating. Please keep in mind that all my reviews are solely based on opinion and not fact. I try to be as honest as possible as I can while I review an anime. Please be assured that I am not extremely harsh towards someone for liking a show I don't think is great. I will admit that I believe that there are some animes that really do stand out from the average anime, Such examples are

Cowboy Bebop

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

and Legend of the Galactic Heroes

Don't know what Legend of the Galactic Heroes is? Expect me to go over that one soon.

You can agree with me if you'd like, but you don't have to completely agree with everything I say. Assuming that you're an anime fan, I am a fan of anime too, I have just as much fun watching a show and I take the time to write these reviews and post them for you to enjoy before you watch a show as well as after you watch the show I reviewed. Honesty is key for me, because if I wasn't being completely honest when reviewing a show, what kind of anime critic would I be? With that said, allow me to be of great service to you while I review Black Butler II (Kuroshitsuji II)

In late-nineteenth century England, one year and three months after the dramatic events that took place in the first season of Black Butler, Black Butler II introduces a new butler and a new young master. The sadistic yet cheerful Alois Trancy has went through hell. He was kidnapped as a baby, and was forced to work in a village as a slave. Gradually, he lost his parents, his best friend, and everyone he knew. Alois eventually returned home and became the head of his mansion, but seemed to exhibit some strange behavior ever since. Even more curiously, he returned with Claude Faustus, an enigmatic, emotionless butler with unfathomable talent...

To be technical, this is an A-1 Pictures production and just like the first season, they do not disappoint in the art department except that they did take some shortcuts that are painfully obvious and I hate to say this but the first season is a bit better in the animation department. I don't have much to say regarding the animation here.

The music by Taku Iwasaki is fitting in the show but isn't as memorable as the first season, there is not much to say about this either. It's a soundtrack that doesn't have much to offer I guess.

When it comes to voice acting, The Japanese Cast is pretty good. Daisuke Ono is terrific as Sebastian just like the first season. Maaya Sakamoto is also terrific as Ciel Phantomhive. As far the new faces being voiced, Nana Mizuki is pretty good as Alois Trancy and Takahiro Sakurai is pretty damn good as Claude Faustus. Also, Aya Hirano is in this and she plays Hannah. Jun Fukuyama proves in this show again that he is delightfully terrific in the show as Grell Sutcliff. As far as the English Dub goes. J. Michael Tatum proves once again that he is one hell of a voice actor as Sebastian. Brina Palencia is pretty good as Ciel Phantomhive. As for the new faces being voiced, Luci Christian plays a pretty good Alois Trancy, here's a voice you might not be too familiar is Jason Douglas. He voices Claude in this show, if you want to know what role he played that got him pretty good recognition in anime dubs was his role as Lord Ilpalazzo in Excel Saga. He does play Claude very well. Here's a surprise, Hannah was voiced by Caitlin Glass in the dub and I didn't know it was her until I looked up the dub cast. Then of course we got Daniel Frederick's delightfully fun performance as Grell Sutcliff. This show is pretty good on either version.

I already mentioned that the animation and music is great as well as the voice acting on either side is great as well, Well that's where the show is only good for because everything that the first season was decent for went totally wrong in this second season. First off are the three new characters. Alois Trancy's backstory was ok but I really hate this brat. He comes off to me as some bratty spoiled kid that I just want to beat the shit out of. Secondly, we get Claude Faustus (The Trancy Butler) He comes off to me as a rather bland adversary to Sebastian and there's really not a whole lot of redeeming quality for him, which is kind of a damn shame for this anime, and then there's the other butler Hannah who I find severely underdeveloped and uninteresting in the whole bunch throughout the whole show. I know I may be nitpicking, but these new faces did not improve the series up one step, instead they bogged the show down in expectations,

If there is a major disappointment with Black Butler II, it is the story. The writing is half-assed, as well as being poorly directed by Hirofumi Ogura. the story goes nowhere at certain points and it can be quite boring from time to time. I actually found the story decent in the first season, but Black Butler II was half as long and full of problems. Everything with the first season that made the story decent goes to the depths of hell with a half-assed continuation of plot. if you gave up before the ending, then I'll save you the trouble without spoilers... It all leads to an ending that makes no damn sense and will have you watching Black Butler II much less than the first season.

Black Butler II is available by Funimation. The Black Butler II OVA's are also available by Funimation and were released alongside Black Butler II.

With all that said, Black Butler II turned out to be a real disappointment as a followup to a decent series. It may have nice music and some really good-looking animation, but the Story and Character development and writing quality plunges the series into the depths of hell with it's half-assed plot and weak character development. speaking of characters, remember those familiar faces like Mey-rin, Bardroy, Tanaka and the bunch? You won't be seeing them much in this sequel, GOOD JOB CREATIVE STAFF! I'm sorry, I can't really recommend this sequel. Watch it if you want, but I can't guarantee you'll be satisfied with this continuation.

I give Black Butler II (Kuroshitsuji II) a 4.9 out of 10, It is NOT REALLY GOOD!

Feel free to leave a comment and Have a great day.

meta65 - 2015-03-31 00:17:12

Didn't enjoy the first Kuroshitsuji, and didn't expect to enjoy this one. Alois was an excellent foil to Ciel and my preferred series MC hands down. Worth checking out if you found the story of the first anime interesting enough to warrant a sequel. 

ebert.joaquin - 2015-02-22 18:06:58

i just feel sad for sebby-chan that's not fair (๑◕︵◕๑)

laurine.bins - 2015-02-17 04:57:43

The most important thing to note is that this season does not follow the manga, which is synonymous with the bible amongst dedicated Kuroshitsuji fans. However, while it is my personal opinion that this season never happened in the timeline, it is still a very entertaining arc if it isn't taken too seriously. If you were a fan of Kuroshitsuji I, go ahead and watch this. Even if you don't like the new cast, there are plenty of fun moments between the characters we already know and love. If and when you feel utterly betrayed by the conclusion, Book of Circus will heal you and you will be able to look back on this with a Smile. Or contempt. Depends on the individual I suppose. 

pearl19 - 2014-09-29 04:01:13

BlackButler II is a major let-down to me, being a huge fan of both theanime and the original manga. Season one had ended perfectly,something that isn't really easy to accomplish, but then Black ButlerII had to go and mess everything up.

Thebiggest problem Black Butler II has is that it tries to continue astory that had already concluded. At the end of the first season,Sebastian ate Ciel's soul after Ciel got revenge for his parents.There, everything finished. Black Butler II ends up being confusingand illogical in the first few episodes when it tries to justify thereason that Ciel is back.

Problemtwo is the two new characters. I don't care what anyone says, AloisTrancy is ANNOYING. Just flat annoying. He's helpless, spoiled,sadistic, childish, and he cries a lot. What's even worse is thatthey try to justify his insanity! How stupid is that? His motivesdon't even make sense. Even as a villain I hated him, and that is alot coming from me. I have a philosophy that villains should be hatedso that you are more invested in the hero's victory, but in this caseAlois isn't even formidable in the first place. It's his creepybutler Claude who does everything. Now, Claude is not as bad asAlois, in fact, as a villain he is a pretty good character. Butbecause Claude does everything that Alois tells him to, he ends upalso being annoying.

Theway Black Butler II ends is a perfect example of how nottoend something. It is completely open-ended and inconclusive, andpretty much rules out any chance of Black Butler ever ending if theydecided to continue it.

Overall,Black Butler II just has this odd feeling and I was reallydisappointed me as I watched it. I had a whole argument with my bestfriend over whether or not Alois was annoying, so I know there arepeople out there who actually liked Black Butler II, and I am at a loss as to why. Well, to each hisown, I guess.

Onthe bright side, animation and music are as good as always! (Sidenote: The Japanese dub is better than the English dub).

Recommendation:Ido not recommend Black Butler II. Watch Black Butler: Book of Circusor read the manga instead of wasting your time with thiscontinuation. It is better off forgotten.

OverallConclusion: 3/10

kerdman - 2013-12-25 06:56:20

Okay, you can say a lot about Kuroshitsuji II as a sequel to Kuroshitsuji. But at least it has BALLS.

In today’s anime, in which it’s very difficult to come up with really interesting plots and storylines, and people rather try to stay at the tried and true, Kuroshitsuji came, made optimal use of its creative freedom, discarded the manga it’s based on completely, trolled just about everyone who watched it and came up with quite an interesting concept for its sequel. This lead to many good things, but also many bad things.

But still, out of all of the series that premiered during the past summer season, I really can’t deny that Kuroshitsuji II had the best plot out of all of them: it made the best use of its episodes, it was the least afraid to include some caring yet thought out plot twists, it was very good at building up its own storyline and actually using this and overall I have to say that I enjoyed most of it.

But the biggest selling point of this series is without a doubt the new cast of villains, especially Alois and Claude. The two of them are like a trainwreck: completely derailed but yet so interesting to watch. Especially the antics of Alois are consistently captivating, and you can see that the creators had a lot of fun portraying him as this insane teenaged noble. The creators realized this very well, and so they prepared a number of plot twists that really attempt to bring the best out of these two characters.

On the flip-side, this is a series that likes trolling its viewers. This is especially noticeable in the way that it follows a very awesome first episode with a completely disappointing and badly executed second episode. And in fact, the first third of this series has just about everything that made the fillers of the first season so tedious to get through. Episodes 2 to four are a bit of a test of patience, they’re necessary for the plot and all, but this series makes no attempt at hiding its vast array of annoying characters.

After that though, this series really gets better than ever. Its humour gets snappier, the way the series uses its unique selling point of god-mode butlers gets used better than ever, both for the serious purposes and the over the top silly ones (which work more and more as the series goes on).

This series also has the weirdest allocation of animation budget I’ve seen in a long while. The animation in this series ranges between average to very smooth,like what most series do. However, the creators have this very interesting tendency to spend the most frames on the most random scenes, especially on hands or lip-syncing, while the action-scenes usually have average animation. And don’t get me wrong here: it actually works pretty well. Those detailed scenes add an interesting amount of life to the characters, and the action scenes are kept interesting by the plot twists anyway, so they don’t really need any stellar animation.

I have ranted about Kuroshitsuji, I have ranted about the fillers, and I have ranted about the ending of this sequel (which, the more I think about it, was actually pretty good), but really: we need more series like this. Series in which the creators disregard any conventions and just go with a bunch of interesting ideas that actually lead to some unique stories.

lillie.grady - 2013-10-07 02:20:06

The original Black Butler is a fast-paced, mood whiplash inducing thrill ride of an anime which, although is strange and seems to only appeal to people with a certain acquired taste, was at least extremely entertaining in it's own unique way. The sequel attempts to bring the same feelings as the original, but sadly it fails. I think the problem lies mainly in bringing back the previous season's main characters, Ciel and Sebastian and trying to tie them back into a new story with another young aristocrat/demon pair. Perhaps if this series had decided to focus on Alois and Claude alone, it would've turned out better.

Aside from the story/writing, there are other some drops in quality like with the animation, character development, sound, etc etc. Yet, even then, I still found some of the episodes enjoyable.

winifred.waelchi - 2013-06-28 01:02:48

As a huge fan of the manga, I do not like the direction they decided to go with this season.

A lot of the manga-canon characters are completely out-of-character here. This was a problem in the first season, but it's even worse this time. Claude and Alois, the new leads for this season, aren't well-written characters. It's not Alois' tragic past that bothers me, it's the way it's written. It feels gratuitous. Claude is just a creeper - also gratuitous (and literal - spider symbolism!)

The gratuitously creepy parts aren't just those characters. There's so much in the story that's like that, particularly at the end. There's no reason for it to be like that, and I find it contrary to the spirit of the manga. At first glance, you might say this manga is anything but subtle. But the more you read it, and especially if you reread earlier parts, you would realize there's really a framework there holding the madness together that's careful, deliberate, and at times defined by its subtlety. All of that is lost in this season of the anime.

The animation is fine, and the voice acting is great, but they don't make up for the faults in the writing and overall problems.

The OVAs aren't shown as part of this season here, but they are boxed with this season on DVD, and they alone make this worth buying. If you like Black Butler in any way, you will not regret watching those OVAs.