Otaku Digest: Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler – Book of Murder
Another Sunday means another installment of Otaku Digest, this week I am taking us back to the 2014 winter season and the release of the ever fan anticipated “Book of Murder” Arc from Kuroshitsuji, or Black Butler. For some reason although released in the winter season I couldn’t find a subtitles source for this but after months of looking and partly weeping I can officially dive into what has to be one the best arcs from the Kuroshitsuji manga “Phantomhive Manor Murders” – does the anime do it justice?
The Kuroshitsuji anime itself had verged away from the original story of the manga in the very first season so when fans continued the manga and got to such amazing story arcs such as book of circus, the book of murder and last but not least the Titanic arc there was an air of disappointment when the realization hit they may never see these fantastic arcs animated. I cannot deny I squee’d very loudly when I saw that this arc from the Kuroshitsuji manga would be getting a anime OVA adaptation, especially after the success and brilliance of the “Book of Circus” arc released earlier that same year. We have seen many famous faces and infamous legends from history throughout the Kuroshitsuji series, the most infamous being the Jack the Ripper arc – who or what could be taking place in “Book of Murder”, who knows Watson.
Set in Victorian England we are once again introduced to the Earl Ciel Phantomhive and his devilish butler Sebastian who has been requested by her royal majesty the Queen to host a lavish banquet to honor/entertain a German business man visiting her kingdom, a Georg Ven Siemens. Ciel invites many high profile characters to this banquet including Lau and Ran Mao, one of the Queens butlers Charles Grey to accompany Ven Siemens, Patrick Phelps from the shipbuilding industry, Grimsby Keane a theater producer accompanied by his girlfriend famed opera singer Irene Diaz, the president of a diamond company Carl Woodley and lastly a struggling writer named Arthur of whom tells the story from his perspective and essentially narrates. The night kicks off as any other banquet would with moth watering food and enough wine to sink a ship, not even the blustering storm outside could dampen this evening. The only mood killer is the rude behavior from an overly intoxicated Ven Siemens who, once he passes out, is taken away to bed. It’s not until there is a terrible scuffle within Siemens room do they discover that he has been murdered. This launches a mystery none of these guests were expecting, more chaos ensues and more murders, writer Arthur heads the case but is he ready for what he discovers? Who could be behind them all? Or is there more than one murderer? It is a party none of them will ever forget.
Simple enough story – people gather for a party, one gets murdered and now it’s a case of who done it, another game of Clue anyone? No what I adore about this whole story and arc is the fact that each and every aspect of it is planned to a t. There is no plot holes, I won’t be spoiling the beautiful twists that comes throughout the OVA except one. It is something that I found great and it is also the interesting thing that I had mentioned before about the Kuroshitsuji series is that it ties real life history into its narrative. This installment’s tie-in to real life history is in a character; remember our struggling writer? Arthur is none other than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, famed author and creator of Sherlock Holmes. I, of course, didn’t twig this when I first read the manga until that final moment where that is actually revealed to us, it was so obvious, a writer named Arthur but done so genius that it made the narrative flow and was not a glaring fact. Have to love Easter eggs like that in anime.
Much like the rest of the Kuroshitsuji anime series this OVA is animated beautifully and each character is perfectly sculpted to suit the era in which it is set. The only grievance I have with the OVA as a whole, and this goes for all newer anime appearing, is the over-use and shoving in of CGI animation where it actually takes from the scene as a whole. Moving scenes are the biggest culprits and it’s no difference here where a carriage is driving through a forest and it made me uncomfortable to watch because the CGI was so prominent and took over what dialogue there was. Bar this the animation was fantastic, once again the Phantomhive manor did not disappoint in its majesty, each scene in the manor is a feast for the eyes taking us back to that Victorian era. One other aspect that I know fans of this anime more in particular than the manga have a problem with is the pacing of the anime, I don’t have a massive issue with it but I do see where people are coming from. It can at times be very slow paced with a lot of dialogue, as a manga this isn’t an issue and works well but it can slow the anime down a smidge. Unfortunately it is something fans must deal with if they want these anime OVAs to continue to the same caliber as the original source material.
All in all Kuroshitsuji “Book of Murder” lived up to this Otaku’s expectations, it was as dynamic as the original manga with animation that was a beauty to watch and characters that never fail to give a laugh and draw a tear. Can only hope the “Ship Voyage” arc will follow in due course. A great aspect to these arcs is you don’t actually have to have watched the original series but I highly recommend you do. Ignore the hype surrounding the series, it is well worth the watch.
What did you think of the arc? Did it stand up for you? Let me know in the comments!
