Black Butler (film)



Black Butler is a 2014 Japanese movie very loosely based on the manga of the same name.

In near-future Asia, Earl Shiori Genpou is a girl who has made a contract for her soul with the demon Sebastian. Shiori is pretending to be a boy called Kiyoharu because of a tradition that only a man can inherit the prosperious family business Funtom Co. Ltd. (There is no explanation for how this kind of rule is legal.) Shiori, who lives in the East, also in secret holds the position of the Queen's Watchdog, doing covert missions for the Queen of the West, whose name is never mentioned. (The world is divided into two blocs called East and West, which makes things simple to understand, but turns out to be irrelevant as far as the rest of the movie is concerned.)

What matters is that people have been found dead and somehow mummified. Cards with pictures of the Devil have been left next to their corpses. Shiori has to find out what is going on and stop this so-called "Devil's Curse".

Before the movie came out, the movie was expected to be hugely controversial within the fandom, with people expecting that there would be a rift between Shiori fans and those who preferred the original work. Instead, the fan reactions were remarkably consistent, with most considering the movie some shade of mediocre or at best So Okay It's Average. Shiori did not get a fandom, and the live-action Sebastian having been made to look creepy and frog-eyed rather than sexy killed the shipping potential.

The only comment from the mangaka about the live-action movie was to mention that she had had nothing to do with it.


 * Adaptation Name Change: Only two characters retain their names, but of the rest only Mey-rin -> Lin is really reasonably similar enough to fit this trope.
 * Bald of Evil: Kujo.
 * Battle Butler: Sebastian.
 * Bifauxnen: Shiori.
 * Big Fancy House: Shiori's manor.
 * Bomb Disposal:
 * Bridal Carry: Sebastian carries first the injured Lin, then the injured Shiori.
 * Candlelit Bath: In a flashback Hanae takes one
 * Carrying the Antidote
 * Color-Coded for Your Convenience: The pills.
 * Corrupt Corporate Executive: Kujo.
 * Damsel in Distress: Shiori has a chronic case of this.
 * Deal with the Devil: Shiori with Sebastian.
 * Did Not Do the Research: The superstitious (Christian) foreigners hold an "exorcism" because of the "Devil's Curse". This "exorcism", which is held in a church with many people attending, looks suspiciously like a solemn memorial ceremony for the victims. Clearly the people responsible for the script have little idea of what an exorcism is.
 * Distaff Counterpart: Shiori to Ciel from the original manga. Though, Shiori isn't nearly as competent.
 * Dojikko: Lin.
 * Evil Corporation: Epsilon
 * Evil Gloating:
 * Evil Laughter:
 * Fan Service: Shiori and Sebastian almost kiss (cue intended fangirl swoons). There is a non-romantic reason, but Sebastian didn't really need to solve the problem that way.
 * Shiori being a girl was very likely chosen to appeal to the female demographic, overlooking how popular her male counterpart Ciel is in the manga. But at least that way the almost-kiss isn't gay.
 * Hanae gets a nude scene that shows practically nothing.
 * Food Porn: Sebastian serves some very pretty dishes.
 * For the Evulz: The only sensible explanation for how This is doubly non-rational, as he is very much depending on the police continuing to be useless. Having connections only goes so far, especially given that
 * Freudian Excuse: gets one.
 * Guns Akimbo:
 * Heterochromia: Shiori has one dark eye and one blue eye. There is no indication that either of them is magical.
 * Holographic Terminal: The only futuristic technology seen.
 * Human Resources:
 * Identical Grandson: It's never said outright if Shiori is Ciel's descendant or if Ciel even existed in this world, but we know that the Genpous used to be called Phantomhives, etc.
 * In Name Only: The film takes from the original manga half of a premise and some general concepts. Ciel having been turned into Shiori and the time and place having been changed from Victorian England to near-future generic Asia is only the start of it.
 * Just Between You and Me:
 * Legacy of Service: Lin's family has been serving the Genpou family for generations.
 * Magic Antidote: within seconds.
 * Man in White: Kujo.
 * Ninja Maid:
 * The Password Is Always Swordfish: Or in this case, the PIN is always an important date.
 * Plot Hole: There are so, so many.
 * Police Are Useless
 * Sequel Hook: The evil conspiracy is still there. Not that there will be a sequel.
 * Tainted Veins: The initial effect of Necrosis.
 * Technicolor Toxin:
 * Terrorist Without a Cause: We never learn what, if anything, was trying to accomplish.
 * Time Bomb: It even has a digital countdown.
 * Twenty Minutes Into the Future: There are Holographic Terminals and the wind power takeup has apparently increased, but otherwise everything looks like it could be contemporary. However, there looks to have been a major political realignment at some point.
 * Twenty Minutes Into the Future: There are Holographic Terminals and the wind power takeup has apparently increased, but otherwise everything looks like it could be contemporary. However, there looks to have been a major political realignment at some point.