Black Butler (anime)

The first anime adaptation of Kuroshitsuji.

Character sheet is here.


 * Abnormal Limb Rotation Range: The Dolls.
 * Adaptation-Induced Plothole: Because the manga had not progressed very far when the first anime was made, there are a number of noticeable differences between the manga and the first two animes. In the manga, to recount some examples:
 * Ciel is more mature, intelligent, and devious and counts as a real Villain Protagonist.
 * Sebastian is more emotional, and his true form is different.
 * Grell is less goofy and more serious.
 * Undertaker's character is very different Behind the Mask.
 * Queen Victoria looks very different and does not employ Ash, who doesn't appear in the story.
 * The circumstances of Ciel's parents' deaths were different.
 * Ciel did not inherit a family business but founded Funtom when he was ten.
 * Note that after the sequel Kuroshitsuji II the anime adaptations drop the anime continuity and start adhering to the manga again.
 * Alternate Continuity: Starting at episode 7, the anime no longer follows the manga.
 * Even before that point there were divergences, such as a pair of filler episodes that added a new inhabitant to the Phantomhive manor.
 * Arranged Marriage: Ciel is only 12 years old, yet he is already engaged to his cousin Elizabeth.
 * Brains and Brawn: Subverted with Sebastian and Ciel. Although Sebastian is also smart like Ciel, he is the one who fights against their enemies while Ciel is usually played as The Chessmaster.
 * British Accents: What else did you expect the dub to do?
 * Butterfly of Death and Rebirth: All over the place in episode 20. Fitting, considering Lau's story and
 * Catch Phrase: There are several:
 * Sebastian: "I'm one hell of a butler."
 * Sebastian: "Yes, my lord."
 * Sebastian: "It is only natural that a servant of Phantomhive would be able to (do whatever impossible thing he just did)." This one is frequently overlooked because the subtitles keep translating it differently.
 * Agni: "Jo agya." ("Yes, my lord" in Hindi.)
 * Chess Motifs: Chess imagery is used frequently.
 * Children Are a Waste: A prostitute goes to a doctor to get an abortion with this as her excuse.
 * Cooking Duel: The curry contest. Queen Victoria has the final word on it.
 * Curb Stomp Battle: Whenever Sebastian gets to face an arbitrarily large group of mundane humans. Agni gets to stomp once too.
 * Dances and Balls: Ciel, being an aristocrat, attends these. One of the more memorable ones was when he had to be disguised as a girl while doing it.
 * Deal with the Devil: Between Sebastian and Ciel.
 * Death by Origin Story: Ciel's parents.
 * Deceased Parents Are the Best: Ciel's parents, of course.
 * Disguised in Drag: Ciel has to dress as a girl to infiltrate a party. He is not pleased.
 * Dish Dash: Sebastian frequently ends up catching falling dishware, food, and other items due to Mey-rin's clumsiness as a maid.
 * The Doll Episode: One of the anime-original episodes.
 * Does This Remind You of Anything?: The infamous corset scene.
 * Driving Question: Who killed Ciel's parents?
 * Elegant Gothic Lolita: The show has renewed an interest in this style in Japan and there's a line of clothing directly based on what the characters wear.
 * Fan Service: So, so much.
 * Foreign Language Theme: "I'm Alive!", the first English ending theme.
 * Ghost Amnesia: The ghost of King Edward has this.
 * Gratuitous English: Sebastian's "Yes, my lord."
 * Historical Fantasy: At least at first.
 * Human Sacrifice: Ciel was used for this, but ended up making a deal with Sebastian instead.
 * Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: "The/That Butler, ______."
 * I Didn't Mean to Turn You On: Undertaker in the anime loves the feeling of the moisture leaving his body. Unbeknownst to Grell, who tosses him in salt and keeps him buried neck-down.
 * I'm a Humanitarian: Subverted..
 * Innocent Innuendo: The infamous corset scene.
 * Kissing Cousins: Ciel is engaged to Elizabeth, who is his cousin. This was rather common in the Victorian Era.
 * Light Is Not Good: You know something's wrong when the demon butler is easier to see as heroic than the angel in the series.
 * Lost Him in a Card Game: In season 1, Ciel loses a game of chess and
 * Malevolent Masked Men: Those well-dressed people in black-feathered domino masks, found around demon summoning rituals and illegal slave auctions, situations where it pays to avoid getting recognized.
 * Mood Whiplash
 * Mugging the Monster: Subverted and then almost immediately double-subverted. Curb Stomp Battle ensues.
 * Multiple Demographic Appeal: There are a number of Seinen themes (villain protagonists, child abuse, violence and gore, etc.), an art style not unlike that of a Shoujo series and a lot of subtext, but is published in a Shounen magazine - though the themes of a Deal with the Devil, as well as the style of action, are not foreign to the Shounen genre.
 * Of Corset Hurts: Ciel doesn't enjoy having to put on a corset.
 * Of Corsets Sexy: The corset scene, combined with Innocent Innuendo.
 * Old-Timey Bathing Suit: In episode 7.
 * Our Angels Are Different
 * Overtook the Manga
 * Pimped-Out Dress: Lots.
 * Playground Song: "My Fair Lady", better known as "London Bridge Is Falling Down". The tune shows up all over the place.
 * Please Wake Up: Ciel when because it ended up being.
 * Running Gag: Sebastian and his obsession with cats. And then, Ciel's (both hateful and allergic) reactions to said cats.
 * Shout-Out: Episode 7 has a few nods to the Sherlock Holmes novel The Hound of the Baskervilles.
 * The famous painting The Isle of the Dead, by Arnold Böcklin shows up as a landscape.
 * Spot of Tea: Lots. This is England, after all.
 * Stealth Pun: In one episode in the first season the rest of the staff are trying (and failing hard) to get a photograph of Sebastian. They plan ways to set up the shot and distract Sebastian on a scale model of the house marking Sebastian's position with the figure of a black sheep, which is Kuro Hitsuji in Japanese.
 * Super-Deformed: The first ending has the characters portrayed in this style.
 * Tanaka gets to the point of it being a Lampshaded Running Gag.
 * That's an Order: When Ciel really means it, he likes to add "this is an order" to his commands to Sebastian.
 * The Thing That Goes Doink: This Japanese mainstay appears in the Phantomhive garden as a part of a temporary Japanese theme.
 * Too Kinky to Torture: Sebastian, Grell, and Undertaker.
 * Utopia Justifies the Means:  for purification? Okaaay.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: Type 2 is one way to interpret Ciel and Sebastian's relationship.
 * Whip It Good: In Episode 20, pleases all the fangirls by whipping Sebastian.
 * Whip It Good: In Episode 20, pleases all the fangirls by whipping Sebastian.