Welcome witches, warlocks, and wandering souls, to our annual 13 Days of Otakutober. Thank you so much for joining us for these next 13 Days for all kinds of spooky anime and otaku/weeb content. To kick off our celebration this year, we thought we’d start with a celebration. This year marks the 20th Anniversary of the beloved franchise featuring one hell of a butler. That’s right folks, it’s the 20th Anniversary of Kuroshitsuji, popularly known as Black Butler.
Kuroshitsuji published it’s first chapter on September 16th, 2006 in the monthly GFantasy magazine. Since it’s release, it’s gained a massive following, to the point that I bet any person who is into anime has heard the name uttered before, even if they haven’t watched it. Back in the late 2000s and early 2010s, Black Butler was the literal talk of the town. Unfortunately, it felt like its popularity was also its downfall. The anime adaption came super fast and therefore got an anime original ‘ending’. That all could have been well and fine, but it then got a second season that was completely original. And that’s where I feel the popularity dwindled. Some people loved the second season, others hated it with a fiery passion. After that it took ages where I feel it fell out of the limelight, but even as it did–the manga was releasing and thriving. But Black Butler had it’s revival when Book of Circus was released–a faithful adaption to one of the most popular arcs. Following it were special OVAs to cover other arcs before the anime came back with successful season after season. Which is where we’re at now–with Kuroshitsuji enjoying a second renaissance of popularity again.
And now it’s the 20th anniversary and the celebration is big. To start off, there’s a cute PV video dedicated to the series that you can view here. It highlights the journey of the series so far. There’s also a 20th anniversary website here, that features a heartfelt note from the author. The 36th volume of the manga came out in September, the September issue also featured Kuroshitsuji on the cover. In addition to these special releases, there will also be some really cute 20th anniversary merch that is to die for. Like, I’m honestly so sad that I probably won’t be able to get it. There’s also going to be a Kuroshitsuji exhibition in Japan. While there aren’t a ton of details about it right now, it promises to be absolutely incredible and like no other Kuroshitsuji exhibition before.
Since it is the 20th anniversary of Kuroshitsuji, I find myself looking back at my own relationship with the story. I myself only kind of liked the anime, however the manga was something I really adored. When everyone around me began dropping it due to the second season of the anime (which I refuse to acknowledge exists), I continued reading the chapters of the manga coming out month to month. Book of Circus was my favorite. The servants are some of the best characters. Even the most disturbing parts of the story have purpose and are actually quite serious. And Ciel–poor Ciel is a wonderfully traumatized, innocently twisted, and extremely complicated character who makes the story as interesting as it is. I know a lot of people always think about Sebastian first–think about how great he is. But Ciel is who leads our story, and at the end of the day, it’s Ciel who I am, and will always be, rooting for.
And regardless of whether or not you like Kuroshitsuji, it’s undeniable that Black Butler was once a household name for 2000s anime. It’s massive success spanned movies, OVAs, merch, and even stage plays–which for the record–Kuroshitsuji: The Most Beautiful Death in the World stage play is one of my favorite anime musicals of all time. While the 20th anniversary marks a great accomplishment for the manga, I am really excited to see where the story continues to go, and to where it eventually concludes.
xoxo
AishteLOVEru
Luna
P.S. I just read the latest chapter, aka the 20th anniversary chapter. And it seems our dear author gifted the thirsty audience a shirtless Sebastian panel. So, have fun with that one everyone.
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