It's Back

Last summer, I watched the first season of Black Butler. For the most part I loved the series. I thought the art and animation was beautiful, the characters were beyond awesome and the story intriguing. The only thing I hated was how it ended. But to my delight, they decided to make a second season.

So what do I think so far?

Follow up:

With the way season one ended, it seemed there was no real way there could *be* a second season, until the reveal of Alois and Claude, a new young master who sold his soul, and a new demonic butler with serious cutlery ninja skills. Truthfully when I started watching the first episode I was really, really disappointed. Alois is an annoying, sadistic little tease. Ciel always viewed himself as someone evil and cold, but in truth, he was constantly doing good things. And Claude seemed really dull and dry, far too serious compared to the charming, smiling Sebastian. I was just about to throw the series away until I watched the episode until the end.

Then it turns out that this season may be even more awesome than the first season.

Sadly, I haven't seen the second episode yet. I had originally seen the first episode on a torrent site (yes, I know this is bad) but then I learned that Funimation had gained the rights to Black Butler and Black Butler 2 and was airing what was promised to be a similcast. So I have decided to watch only on their site. However, note I said promised to be a similcast. So far they haven't done a good job of it, Japan's airing is on Friday and it's already Monday and still no new episode. And I find this irritating since Funimation's subtitles aren't exactly top-notch.

Though I am slightly concerned about Funimation getting the rights to dub Black Butler. Black Butler takes place in Victorian England, Ciel speaks like an aristocrat, Maylynn is lower class English, Finnian is Irish and Baldroy is an American. Soma and Agni are Indian, Lau is Chinese and Sebastian has such a distinct voice that his voice actor in Japan won an award for voice acting. In order for the dub to sound even *slightly* decent, Funimation will have to invest a lot of time and effort in careful, accurate translations that work well in English, with all of Black Butler's subtle turns of phrase ( Remember my article 'the trouble with translation?) and most importantly, have a cast with accurate, convincing accents. If the voices for these characters aren't just right, it will turn into a disaster.