wivireads's review against another edition
4.0
I watched the anime many years ago and I am currently reading the manga to catch up because a new season will FINALLY come out next year. Honestly, I forgot much about what the story was about more than that Sebastian is a demon and Ciel has made a contract with him, this makes them both a cool duo. The famous line "I'm one hell of a butler" is in this volume which was very cool, I got huge nostalgia from it. The gothic style is stunning in this manga clothing-and-building wise, and the art is gorgeous. I gave it 4 ★ because it did not reel me in to read the next volume right away. Currently reading this digitally, and I will most definitely get myself to continue. I'll hopefully get hooked on the story in the next volume but it was enjoyable nevertheless.
Story: 3 ★
Art: 4★
Characters: 4★
Story: 3 ★
Art: 4★
Characters: 4★
haruarus's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
selvania's review
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
stanrymszewicz's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I enjoyed this manga though i must admit the first volume wasnt most interesting manga ive read so far. Mostly Sebastian the butler doing butler stuff. Though the ending made me want to get the next volumes and i think it will just pick up on some speed in the later volumes
scythe1jpg's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
reading_hannah_nass_657's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
moirwyn's review against another edition
4.0
This review originally appeared on my blog, Books Without Any Pictures:
http://bookswithoutanypictures.com/2016/06/27/black-butler-vol-1-by-yana-toboso/
Black Butler by Yana Toboso is an alternate history fantasy manga set in Victorian England. The orphaned Ciel Phantomhive is the heir to the Funton Toy empire. He is attended by a butler named Sebastian with seemingly supernatural abilities to run the household, make delicious desserts, and kick bad guy butt–all before dinnertime.
For those of you who have been reading my blog for a long time, you’ll note that this is the first manga that you’ve seen me review, and only the second graphic novel. It’s a type of writing/art that I’ve never really gotten into, but have been wanting to explore. I decided that Black Butler is probably the best starting point for me, because I adored the anime version and am very curious about the source material.
Volume 1 is good, but is definitely mostly an infodump. It introduces you to the characters and sets the scene, but it isn’t until the end of the book that we start getting into a glimpse of the Sebastian that I know and love. And of course, seeing that glimpse is enough to make me want more, and I’m doing that whole “I should be saving money but I want to buy Vol. 2 but I have a bunch of books on my shelf” thing. I know I’ll crack eventually. I’m also excited that Season 3 of the anime is finally out, and trying to decide whether to wait for it to come to one of the streaming services that I already have or to cave and buy the DVD.
Volume 1 has four chapters, the first two of which have their own story arcs. I like that a lot, as it’s easy to come up with good stopping points, even though graphic novels are quicker reads than books without any pictures. (See what I did there? Ba dum bum.) In the first chapter, we see a typical day on the Phantomhive estate. We see the other servants, Finnian, Mey-rin, and Baldroy, cause domestic chaos right before an important visitor arrives. The second chapter introduces us to Elizabeth, Ciel’s betrothed. The third and forth chapters start getting more into the meat of the story as Ciel gets entangled with the Italian mafia and Sebastian comes to save the day. This is also the point where we finally start seeing more of the homerotic undertones between Ciel and Sebastian.
At this point, the manga is very close to what happens in the anime, although I anticipate that the two will diverge from each other pretty quickly.
Since this is a manga, I should probably say something about the art style. While I enjoyed it, I don’t have much to compare it with, so I’m not going to go super in-depth on that. There were a couple places where the fonts were very small, but usually that was for sidenotes and things that weren’t super important to the main plot. There are also a lot of pictures of desserts that Sebastian concocts, which made start digging around in my hoard of candy that I usually forget exists. Dieters beware!
I enjoyed my first real manga experience, and am looking forward to reading more. Does anyone have recommendations?
http://bookswithoutanypictures.com/2016/06/27/black-butler-vol-1-by-yana-toboso/
Black Butler by Yana Toboso is an alternate history fantasy manga set in Victorian England. The orphaned Ciel Phantomhive is the heir to the Funton Toy empire. He is attended by a butler named Sebastian with seemingly supernatural abilities to run the household, make delicious desserts, and kick bad guy butt–all before dinnertime.
For those of you who have been reading my blog for a long time, you’ll note that this is the first manga that you’ve seen me review, and only the second graphic novel. It’s a type of writing/art that I’ve never really gotten into, but have been wanting to explore. I decided that Black Butler is probably the best starting point for me, because I adored the anime version and am very curious about the source material.
Volume 1 is good, but is definitely mostly an infodump. It introduces you to the characters and sets the scene, but it isn’t until the end of the book that we start getting into a glimpse of the Sebastian that I know and love. And of course, seeing that glimpse is enough to make me want more, and I’m doing that whole “I should be saving money but I want to buy Vol. 2 but I have a bunch of books on my shelf” thing. I know I’ll crack eventually. I’m also excited that Season 3 of the anime is finally out, and trying to decide whether to wait for it to come to one of the streaming services that I already have or to cave and buy the DVD.
Volume 1 has four chapters, the first two of which have their own story arcs. I like that a lot, as it’s easy to come up with good stopping points, even though graphic novels are quicker reads than books without any pictures. (See what I did there? Ba dum bum.) In the first chapter, we see a typical day on the Phantomhive estate. We see the other servants, Finnian, Mey-rin, and Baldroy, cause domestic chaos right before an important visitor arrives. The second chapter introduces us to Elizabeth, Ciel’s betrothed. The third and forth chapters start getting more into the meat of the story as Ciel gets entangled with the Italian mafia and Sebastian comes to save the day. This is also the point where we finally start seeing more of the homerotic undertones between Ciel and Sebastian.
At this point, the manga is very close to what happens in the anime, although I anticipate that the two will diverge from each other pretty quickly.
Since this is a manga, I should probably say something about the art style. While I enjoyed it, I don’t have much to compare it with, so I’m not going to go super in-depth on that. There were a couple places where the fonts were very small, but usually that was for sidenotes and things that weren’t super important to the main plot. There are also a lot of pictures of desserts that Sebastian concocts, which made start digging around in my hoard of candy that I usually forget exists. Dieters beware!
I enjoyed my first real manga experience, and am looking forward to reading more. Does anyone have recommendations?
ilseoo's review against another edition
3.0
The beginning was a bit slow, but after the first half I really got into it. I like the concept and the art style was nice enough (not my favourite though). Overall I found it very enjoyable but I must say that I prefer the anime.