is a Japanese

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

series written and illustrated by

Yana Toboso is a Japanese manga artist. She was born in Warabi, Saitama Prefecture, Japan and currently resides in Yokohama. Selected works ''Rust Blaster'' is a 2006 six-chapter manga published by Square Enix in one volume. It tells the story of a hum ...

. It has been serialized in

Square Enix is a Japanese multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game franchises, among numerous ...

's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''

Monthly GFantasy is a manga imprint owned by Square Enix Holdings. It originated as a manga imprint for Enix before the company re-branded as Square Enix. It publishes manga in several anthologies aimed at different reader demographic groups in the Japanese mark ...

'' since September 2006. The series follows Ciel Phantomhive, the twelve-year-old

Earl Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant " chieftain", particu ...

of Phantomhive serving as the Queen's Watchdog. He is tasked with solving crimes in the underworld of Victorian-era London. Ciel has formed a

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...

with demon Sebastian Michaelis, who disguises himself as his

butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantry ...

, to seek revenge on those who tortured him and murdered his parents. In exchange for his services, Sebastian will be allowed to consume Ciel's soul. A twenty-four episode

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

television series adaption, produced by

A-1 Pictures is a Japanese animation studio founded by ex- Sunrise producer Mikihiro Iwata and it is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan's anime production firm Aniplex. History The studio was established by SMEJ's animation production division ...

, aired from October 2008 to March 2009. A second twelve episode season aired from July to September 2010; this season features two new main characters and has an anime-original storyline which does not feature manga content. A third season, titled ''Black Butler: Book of Circus'', was broadcast between July and September 2014. A two-part theatrical

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA ...

(OVA), titled ''Black Butler: Book of Murder'', screened in Japanese theaters in October and November 2014. A

live-action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ...

film adaptation was released in Japan in January 2014. An

animated film Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

, titled '' Black Butler: Book of the Atlantic'', premiered in Japan in January 2017. In North America, the series has been licensed by

Yen Press Yen Press, LLC is an American manga and graphic novel publisher co-owned by Kadokawa Corporation and Hachette Book Group. It published '' Yen Plus'', a monthly comic anthology, between 2008 and 2013. In addition to translated material, Yen Press ...

. It was published in ''

Yen Plus ''Yen Plus'' was an American monthly anthology magazine of Japanese manga, Korean manhwa, and original English-language (OEL) manga published by Yen Press. History The first issue of ''Yen Plus'' went on sale on July 29, 2008, with five manga tit ...

'' from August 2009 to July 2010. The anime series was licensed by

Funimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...

. Funimation lost the rights to the first two seasons, and they were later acquired by

Aniplex of America Aniplex of America Inc. or Aniplex USA is the U.S. distribution enterprise of Aniplex, an anime and music production company owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. It was established in March 2005 in Santa Monica, California, with the goal o ...

. As of July 2022, the ''Black Butler'' manga had over 32 million copies in circulation.

Plot

In Victorian-era London lives a twelve-year-old earl named Ciel Phantomhive, who has acquired this position after the events of his tenth birthday on December 14, 1885, when the Phantomhive manor was attacked by unidentified perpetrators and set ablaze. Ciel, amidst the chaos, discovers his parents, Vincent and Rachel Phantomhive, to be dead along with the family dog, Sebastian. The same night, he is kidnapped by the attackers and then sold into slavery, where he ends up in the hands of a sadistic, demon-worshipping cult. Ciel then endures endless physical, mental and sexual abuse at the hands of his captors. Ciel was also heat-branded with a mark referred to as the "mark of the beast". One night, during a sacrificial ceremony to summon a demon, instead of forming a contract with the cult members, the demon states that he was summoned by Ciel, therefore, he only agrees to form a contract with him, killing all the cultist members in the process. To show a contract was formed, the demon places a contract symbol referred to as the Faustian contract symbol on Ciel's right eye, giving it a purple hue, and his iris and pupil now showcase the symbol of the covenant. After the formation of the contract, the demon reveals that he will consume Ciel's soul as payment for helping him achieve his goal; revenge on those who brought down the House of Phantomhive. Afterwards, Ciel names the demon Sebastian Michaelis, after his deceased pet dog. The duo then return to society as Ciel takes over his now late father's previous position as the queen's watchdog, a very high-profile individual who is tasked with investigating cases that Queen Victoria herself deems especially important or threatening to England and the crown.

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by

, ''Black Butler'' has been serialized in

's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''

'' since September 16, 2006. Square Enix has collected its chapters into individual ''

tankōbon is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or ...

'' volumes. The first volume was released on February 27, 2007. As of July 27, 2022, thirty-two volumes have been released.

licensed the series for an English language release and serialized the manga in ''

'' August 2009 issue for the magazine's first anniversary. The publisher released the first volume on January 26, 2010. As of August 24, 2021, thirty volumes have been released. The series has been licensed in France by

Kana The term may refer to a number of syllabaries used to write Japanese phonological units, morae. Such syllabaries include (1) the original kana, or , which were Chinese characters ( kanji) used phonetically to transcribe Japanese, the most ...

; in Germany by

Carlsen Comics Carlsen Verlag is a subsidiary of the homonymous Danish publishing house which in turn belongs to the Swedish media company Bonnier. The branch was founded on 25 April 1953 in Hamburg. The publisher's program focuses on books for children, i. ...

; in Italy by

Panini Comics Panini Comics is an Italian comic book publisher. A division of Panini Group, which also produces collectable stickers, it is headquartered in Modena, Italy. The company publishes comic books in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, Hunga ...

; in Poland by

Waneko Waneko is a Polish manga publisher, located in Warsaw, Poland. The founders of Waneko are Aleksandra Watanuki, Martyna Taniguchi and Kenichiro Watanuki. Titles published Manga *'' Adolf ni Tsugu'' *'' Ao no Exorcist'' *'' Are you Alice?'' *'' Ba ...

; in Finland by

Punainen jättiläinen Punainen jättiläinen ("Red giant") is a Finnish small publisher of Japanese manga and Korean manhwa. It was founded in April 2005 by its CEO, Antti Grönlund. However, the publisher was acquired by Tammi in 2009. Nowadays, Punainen jättiläin ...

; and in Spain by Norma Editorial.

Drama CD

On August 10, 2007, a drama CD was released by

Frontier Works is a Japanese company specializing in the creation and distribution of media related to anime, such as producing OVAs, radio dramas, drama CDs, anime soundtracks, or other related products. The company was established in August 1990. Projects i ...

. It featured many of the characters appearing in volumes one and two. A second drama CD was released on November 26, 2008, under the

Aniplex is a Japanese anime, music production and anime licensee company owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Established in September 1995, Aniplex has been involved in the production and distribution of several anime series, such as both '' Fullm ...

label.

Anime

In July 2008, it was announced that an

adaption of ''Black Butler'', directed by Toshiya Shinohara and produced by

. It premiered in October 2008 and broadcast on MBS as well as the TBS. On January 1, 2009, a limited edition DVD containing the first episode was released by

. The next three episodes were released on another DVD on February 25, 2009. On an event on June 14, 2009, it was announced that the anime would be returning for a second series. Japanese

voice actor Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talen ...

Junichi Suwabe is a Japanese voice actor and singer from Tokyo. He is affiliated with Haikyō. His popular roles include Omega Zero in Megaman Zero 3 , Keigo Atobe in '' The Prince of Tennis'', Victor Nikiforov in '' Yuri!!! on ICE'', Grimmjow Jaegerjaque ...

confirmed this news on his official blog later that day. The second series, ''Black Butler II'', premiered in July and follows a butler, Claude Faustus, and his master, Alois Trancy, as well as Sebastian and Ciel. Both new characters were designed by Toboso. Aniplex later released the complete Blu-ray and DVD on May 7, 2014. On March 29, 2010, North American anime distributor

announced on their online FuniCon 3.0 panel that they had licensed ''Black Butler''. At

Anime Expo Anime Expo, abbreviated AX, is an American anime convention held in Los Angeles, California and organized by the non-profit Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA). The convention is traditionally held annually on the first w ...

2010, Funimation also announced that they would stream the simulcast series, ''Black Butler II''. Funimation announced on their Facebook page that they had fully licensed the second season. Funimation released ''Black Butler'' Combo Pack Blu-ray/DVD first and second season on April 3, 2012. The series made its North American television debut on February 8, 2011, on the

Funimation Channel Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specialize ...

. Funimation lost the rights to the series' first season in 2017, and the rights to the second season in 2018. The first season is currently licensed by

and it was released on a Blu-ray Disc box set on January 29, 2019. In November 2019, Funimation re-licensed the first two seasons for its streaming service. On January 16, 2014, it was announced that a third ''Black Butler'' anime series had been green-lit. Titled ''Black Butler: Book of Circus'', the series was a close adaptation of the manga, unlike the previous seasons, adapting the "Noah's Ark Circus" arc. The series was directed by Noriyuki Abe at

, with

Hiroyuki Yoshino is a Japanese voice actor and singer affiliated with Sigma Seven. On leading roles, he played Yoshimori Sumimura in ''Kekkaishi'', Yuji Kagura in ''Tona-Gura!'', Takumi Nishijō in ''Chaos;Head'', Yusuke "Bossun" Fujisaki in '' Sket Dance'', ...

in charge of scripts, along with Ichiro Okuchi and Yuka Miyata as scriptwriters. The main cast from the previous anime series returned, along with new cast members, and the series aired from July 10, 2014, to September 12, 2014. In addition, a two-part

(OVA) titled the ''Book of Murder'', an adaptation of the "Phantomhive Manor Murders" arc, was screened in Japanese theatres on October 25, and November 15, 2014. The OVAs featured returning staff from the previous season. On August 7, 2014, Funimation announced that they have licensed ''Black Butler: Book of Circus'', and have streamed it on their simulcast. Funimation released the series on Blu-ray and DVD on April 19, 2016. Additionally, Funimation has licensed the two-part OVA ''Black Butler: Book of Murder'' and released it on May 17, 2016.

Musical

, a musical adaptation of the manga, had run at the Sunshine Theater in

Ikebukuro is a commercial and entertainment district in Toshima, Tokyo, Japan. Toshima ward offices, Ikebukuro station, and several shops, restaurants, and enormous department stores are located within city limits. It is considered the second larges ...

between May 28, 2009, and June 7, 2009.

Yuya Matsushita is a Japanese pop and R&B singer and actor under Japanese Dream Records. His debut single " foolish foolish" was released on November 26, 2008. He had his first breakthrough as Sebastian Michaelis in the ''Black Butler'' musical and since then, ...

portrayed Sebastian Michaelis, Shougo Sakamoto played Ciel Phantomhive and Uehara Takuya as Grell Sutcliff. , the second musical adaptation of the manga, ran at Akasaka Act Theater (1300 seats) in Akasaka,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most po ...

, and

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

, between May 3 and May 23, 2010.

reprised his role as Sebastian Michaelis, Yukito Nishii played Ciel Phantomhive, and Uehara Takuya reprised his role as Grell Sutcliff. The other two main characters, Eric Slingby and Alan Humphries, were portrayed by Taisuke Saeki and Shinya Matsumoto, respectively. The musical was written by

Mari Okada is a Japanese screenwriter, director and manga artist. She is one of the most prolific writers currently working in the anime industry. She won the 16th Animation Kobe Award. Personal life Okada was born in Chichibu. She was often bullied at ...

, directed by Sakurako Fukuyama, with music composed by

Taku Iwasaki is a Japanese composer and arranger. His hometown is Tokyo, Japan. He is a graduate of Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. Works Anime *'' The Irresponsible Captain Tylor'' (OVA series (theme songs composition, etc.); 1995, 19 ...

, and lyrics by

Yukinojo Mori , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese lyricist, composer and poet who is affiliated with Amuse, Inc. He has written over 2,000 songs for numerous artists such as Kyosuke Himuro, Takuro Yoshida and Junichi Inagaki and theme songs fo ...

. A second run of ''The Most Beautiful Death in the World'' was announced in December 2012. It ran between May 17 and June 9, 2013, in the Akasaka ACT Theater (Akasaka, Tokyo) again, and the Umeda Arts Theater in Osaka. It was announced in February 2013 that

, Uehara Takuya, and Shuhei Izumi would reprise their roles as Sebastian Michaelis, Grell Sutcliff, and the Undertaker, respectively. The rest of the roles were re-cast, with Taketo Tanaka replacing Yukito Nishii as Ciel Phantomhive, and Shinji Rachi and Masataka Nakagauchi replacing Taisuke Saeki and Matsumoto Shinya in the roles of Eric Slingby and Alan Humphries. A third musical was performed in September 2014. Most of the cast reprised their roles from the re-run of ''The Most Beautiful Death in the World'' although Fukuzaki Nayuta replaced Taketo Tanaka as Ciel Phantomhive and Yuka Terasaki replaced Saki Matsuda as Mey-Rin. Akane Liv was introduced as Madam Red, Yuusuke Hirose as Charles Phipps, Oota Motohiro as Charles Grey and Araki Hirofumi as Lau. A re-run of the third ''Black Butler'' musical "''Lycoris that Blazes the Earth''" was scheduled to perform in November–December 2015. It started in Osaka on November 7 then travel to Miyagi, Tokyo and

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since anc ...

. The new run of the third musical was the first oversea tour in China (Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen) in December 2015. Yuta Furukawa replaced Matsushita as Sebastian Michaelis. Meanwhile, most of the cast from the third musical reprised their roles. A fourth ''Black Butler'' musical, based on the Noah's Ark Circus arc of the manga, ran between November–December 2016. Yuta Furukawa reprised his role as Sebastian Michaelis, with Reo Uchikawa replacing Nayuta Fukuzaki as Ciel. Miura Ryosuke was introduced as Joker, Tano Asami as Beast and Tamaki Yuki as Snake, among others. Notably, Izumi Shuuhei reprised his role as the Undertaker again, making him the only original cast member still performing. A fifth ''Black Butler'' musical, Tango on the Campania, which was based on the Luxury Liner arc in the manga, ran between December 2017 to February 2018. Yuta Furukawa reprised his role as Sebastian Michaelis, with Reo Uchikawa also reprising his role as Ciel Phantomhive. Mikata Ryosuke was introduced as Ronald Knox, Okazaki Momoko as Elizabeth Midford, and others. Other actors from previous performers also reprised their roles, such as Uehara Takuya as Grell Sutcliff, Izumi Shuuhei as the Undertaker, and Sasaki Yoshihide as Viscount Druitt.

Video game

A video game for

Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in t ...

, called ''Kuroshitsuji Phantom & Ghost'' was developed by

and was released on March 19, 2009. The game is sold in two versions, a limited first-press edition with a higher price and numerous extra goods, and a regular edition.

Print

On February 27, 2009, the was released. The book was released on March 27, 2009. An official comics anthology was also released on that date.

Films

It was announced on January 18, 2013, that the manga would be made into a live-action film starring

Ayame Goriki is a Japanese actress, singer and model from Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. Goriki has Japanese and Filipino ancestry. She was represented by the talent agency Oscar Promotion until 2020. Career As an actress Ayame Goriki liked to ...

as Genpou Shiori,

Hiro Mizushima , known professionally as , is a Japanese actor, creative director, and writer. He appeared in a number of Japanese TV dramas, including ''Mei-chan no Shitsuji'', ''Hanazakari no Kimitachi e'' and ''Zettai Kareshi''. Additionally, he was well kn ...

as Sebastian Michaelis. Filming began in April 2013 and the film was released on January 18, 2014. On October 10, 2015, it was announced an animated film for the series has been green-lit, and the original anime cast returned to reprise their roles. On February 17, 2016, the film ''Black Butler: Book of the Atlantic'', was confirmed to be an animated adaptation of the arc from the original manga. It was released in Japan on January 21, 2017. On April 1, 2017, Funimation announced that they have licensed the animated film and would screen it in a limited theatrical release in North America later in the year. ''Black Butler: Book of the Atlantic'', premiered in Japan on January 21, 2017, and in North America on the selected dates of June 12 and 14, 2017.

Reception

As of January 2021, the ''Black Butler'' manga had over 30 million copies in circulation worldwide. As of July 2022, the manga had over 32 million copies in circulation. Individual volumes have appeared in

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike i ...

's weekly chart of best-selling manga, taking several high spots. In addition to the volumes, the comics anthology ''Rainbow Butler'' ranked seventeenth during the week of March 31 to April 6 2009, selling 41,083 copies after ranking thirty-third the previous week. The fourth and fifth volumes ranked thirty-third and thirty-ninth of the top-selling manga in Japan during 2008, selling 529,210 copies and 468,550 copies respectively. The sixth volume ranked thirteenth of the top-selling manga in Japan during the first half of 2009, selling 619,501 copies. The series itself was ranked tenth of the top-selling manga series in Japan during 2009, selling a total of 1,603,197 estimated copies. The Japanese music distributor Recochoku has created an annual survey of which anime characters that people would like to marry. Sebastian Michaelis ranked ninth in the category "The Character I Want to Be My Groom".

References

External links

* at Square Enix * * * on

''Black Butler''
on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

* * {{Navboxes, list1= {{Monthly GFantasy {{A-1 Pictures television series {{A-1 Pictures {{Hiroyuki Yoshino {{Mari Okada {{Noriyuki Abe {{Animeism 2006 manga 2008 Japanese television series debuts 2008 anime television series debuts 2009 Japanese television series endings 2010 Japanese television series debuts 2010 Japanese television series endings 2010 anime television series debuts A-1 Pictures Anime series Animeism Aniplex

Black Butler is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yana Toboso. It has been serialized in Square Enix's ''shōnen'' manga magazine '' Monthly GFantasy'' since September 2006. The series follows Ciel Phantomhive, the twelve-year-ol ...

Comics set in London Cultural depictions of Queen Victoria Dark comedy anime and manga Dark fantasy anime and manga Demons in anime and manga Fiction set in 1889 Funimation Gangan Comics manga Historical fantasy anime and manga Manga adapted into films Musicals based on anime and manga Nintendo DS games Anime and manga about revenge Shinigami in anime and manga Shōnen manga Square Enix franchises Supernatural anime and manga Television shows written by Mari Okada United Kingdom in fiction Works based on the Faust legend Yen Press titles