I thought this anime was really, really good. It often had funny moments, there was a general suspense in the story line, and the characters' backgrounds were develloped.

At the beginning I thought maybe that this was a vampire/bloodsucking/only-for-girls serie, but it isn't at all. Although the story is set to England in the early 1900s, there is a continous dark and omnious tone in the setting, but this is coherent with the story and the location of the events. It serves to leave a mysterious impression of the main character and his butler.

I especially liked the short episodes with the servants of the mansion, which serve to "break" the dark tone of the plot for a while, and completely change the mood.

If you're looking for an anime with suspense, class, humor and action, this one is for you. I highly recommend it. (show less)

First off, the whole series in better quality can be found under its Japanese title, "Kuroshitsuji" (http://anime-access.com/anime/K/Kuroshitsuji_%28TV%29).

Story: Mainly a mystery-fantasy with a historic frame, fast paced but easy to get into and easy to follow. Dark and rather serious background plot with some (more or less) unpredictable twists, some action and humour. The end, though predicted, is untypical and concludes the anime well without leaving plot holes.
Characters: Beautifully designed, both visually and psychologically. Perhaps a bit over-the-top but with many secrets, lies, and mysteries between them. Character dynamics and development are well done for a series of 24 episodes.
Dialogue: Flows excellently; dry humour, serious dialogue, and action are balanced well. The seiyuu are doing a great job on this anime, too.
Animation: Amazingly detailed, smooth, and quite realistic artwork. Do be warned, either the OP or ED song WILL get stuck in your ears.
Entertainment: Lots of comedy, some ROFL-worthy sarcasm, over-the-top characters that are just lovely. Some of the humour's rather dark though. Since it's not entirely twisted, I could deal with it easily, but you might want to consider that point.
Definitely a change of pace from the generic stuff overall. Perhaps geared towards the female audience, but Black Butler is a mystery/fantasy/comedy definitely worth the watch IMO.

(My complete review for this series can be found here: http://anime-access.com/anime/K/Kuroshitsuji_%28TV%29/reviews/id/18057#review, but I think I've made my point. ^^) (show less)