Review: Black Butler -Public School Arc- Episode #1 Is One Hell Of a Premiere

Black Butler has finally made its return with the release of Black Butler -Public School Arc-, and the first episode far exceeds fan expectations. This new installment in the Black Butler franchise is one that’s been highly anticipated from the moment it was announced, and despite A-1 Pictures no longer handling the production of the anime, CloverWorks has done an exceptional job adapting Yana Toboso’s intricate aesthetic flair, and the grounds of Weston College have been beautifully adapted for animation, complete with a recurring stained-glass motif to highlight just how untouchably elegant the Prefect 4 – or “P4” – truly are.

Despite there being a ten-year gap between the last animated adaptation of Black Butler, with A-1 Pictures’ Book of Murder OVA concluding in 2014, and the release of the Book of Atlantic film in 2017, the franchise’s charm has once again proven itself to be timeless with its Spring 2024 return.

With special thanks to Crunchyroll, we had the opportunity to take a look at the upcoming premiere episode of Black Butler -Public School Arc- releasing on Saturday, April 13 exclusively on their streaming services, and have plenty of spoiler-free thoughts on the devilishly fun return of Ciel Phantomhive and his elusive butler, Sebastian Michaelis.

Black Butler -Public School Arc- Hooks Its Audience With More Than Nostalgia

Produced by CloverWorks; based on the original manga by Yana Toboso

Ciel and Sebastian are no strangers to solving complex, oftentimes supernaturally driven, mysteries. After receiving a letter from Queen Victoria lamenting over the disappearance of her cousin’s son, Derrick Arden, and the serial disappearances of other students attending Weston College. With their assignment set in stone, Ciel, after somehow managing to transfer in as a student in the middle of the year, sets out to get to the bottom of what’s going on at this elite English boarding academy. While Sebastian doesn’t appear until later in the episode, his return is equally iconic, revealing that he has taken a job as the Housemaster for the Sapphire Owl house, where Ciel attends classes.

While Black Butler has been around for many years, and still has a devoted legion of fans, Black Butler -Public School Arc- episode #1 succeeds in drawing audiences in with far more than typical nostalgia bait. The director of the anime, Kenjiro Okada, has an obvious vision for the series that’s clear from the first 5 minutes of the episode’s runtime. Every shot throughout the episode is unspeakably gorgeous, paying homage to iconic panels from the manga, and beautifully highlights every visual aesthetic that Black Butler is known for.

Much of the cinematography in episode #1 is reminiscent of Okada’s previous work on various SHAFT anime, such as March Comes In Like a Lion and the Monogatari franchise. Seeing this type of stylization produced by CloverWorks in their very lush and bright color palettes is absolutely captivating, and any anime fan that values high production quality will be pleased to see just how much care has gone into making the grounds and students at Weston College as polished as possible.

Black Butler -Public School Arc- Is Shaping Up To Be One Of Spring 2024’s Best Anime

From visual direction to performances from VAs like Daisuke Ono – this series has it all

Of course, perhaps one of the biggest pulls for this new season of Black Butler comes from its characters, namely, the Prefect 4. The introduction of the P4 is undeniably perfect, brilliantly highlighting each of the young men’s personalities and appearances, and allows fans that may be new to the franchise the opportunity to learn exactly why this group is so important. Without delving too deeply into spoilers regarding what exactly happens in the first episode, the urgency for Ciel to win the favor of these elusive student council-esque students is made clear right away, which ties the core plot of what audiences can expect from this season together without hesitation, which gave the episode the opportunity to have just a bit of breathing room with its exposition, and allowed for Ciel and Sebastian to get their bearings after jumping into their new daily lives.

The premiere episode of Black Butler -Public School Arc- captures everything that makes this franchise so special. With CloverWorks’ beautiful animation style, an open-ended mystery that will drive the story forward, intricately designed supporting characters for audiences to fall in love with, and just the right amount of cheeky comedy to break up the persistent melodrama, Black Butler -Public School Arc- is one hell of a good time, and is a worthy continuation of the anime adaptation’s legacy.

Special thanks to Crunchyroll for providing early access to Black Butler -Public School Arc- to use in this review, and be sure to watch Black Butler -Public School Arc- when it begins streaming on Crunchyroll beginning on Saturday, April 13 at 9 AM PDT.

Watch on Crunchyroll