English Dub Season Review: Black Butler: Public School Arc

Overview:

At the request of Queen Victoria, Earl Ciel Phantomhive goes to Weston College a prestigious public academy for boys, known for its traditions and outstanding curriculum, to search for a relative of hers who has not returned home in months. Thanks to his noble status, the 13-year-old Ciel can swiftly enroll as a student, while his devilish butler Sebastian Michaelis assumes a teaching position at the school.

Our Take:

If you read any of my episode reviews for this series then you know that this is my first experience with this series but I’m pleased to say that I don’t think it will be the last. Black Butler never stood out to me before and I wasn’t interested. That’s one of the many reasons I love this job because sometimes it requires me to watch an anime out of my comfort zone and more often than not I find a new show to love.

I’m pretty sure Black Butler was another series with a big lag between seasons. But we don’t have to worry about that because a continuation has already been confirmed. If you love this series you won’t have to wait long, 2025 will be here before you know it.

One thing I instantly loved was all the characters using English accents. Now don’t get me wrong there were a few that were awful but that’s bound to happen in a series like this. Brina Palencia does a great job with the accent, I was instantly sold with her as Ciel. But the best voice work of the series has to go to J. Michael Tatum as Sebastian. His voice is so silky smooth already and then you throw in a near-flawless English accent and it’s game over.

The story and animation were good, and there were some interesting twists and turns. But there were a few silly things that brought some of it down for me. I still enjoyed the season a lot and will be starting the series from the beginning. I wouldn’t recommend starting here, if the series interests you at all then just start from the beginning because there were a few things I was lost on. The ending to the season was also a little lackluster. After all the build-up at the school, I was disappointed with how it ended but ultimately I had a good time with this show.