The original Black Butler anime from the 2000s was quite a mess of an adaptation, being more filler than manga cannon, with a 2nd season entirely composed of ""anime canon"" content. However, starting with Book of Circus each of the newer adaptations were better and better. One constant issue amongst all of them however stems from their formats (BoC only having 10 eps, BoM being only an OVA, BoA being a movie). They have to cut quite a lot of the original source material, shorten the dialogues that take place, not to mention they remove a lot of small details that gives us a better understanding of Ciel’s personality in the manga which in turn makes him a flatter character in the anime. Book of the Atlantic is no different.
To begin with, they cut quite a lot of conversations that take place early on in the film, which makes newly introduced characters like Lizzie’s family seem a bit one dimensional. (Ronald Knox is technically not a new character, but this is the first time he has such a large role in any arc and yet they cut quite a bit of him, which made some scenes of his feel a bit disjointed.) They also for some reason include the 2 Charles in this arc when they are nowhere to be found in the manga, not to mention their appearance is kind of pointless in the film anyways? Time we spend seeing those two we could’ve spent watching the canon content they removed, but alright.
Some content they removed, I believe for no good reason:
Small bits of info about who the Grim Reapers are reaping in the film. First when the very first zombie we see kills her own mother, we learn about who the mom was while in the anime she’s not named at all. Later, Ronald and Grell have a conversation where the former starts naming some of the people on their list. In the anime he just says they have a lot of souls to reap so they should get to it. The thing is, while obviously it’s not like any viewer is going to remember the names and birthdays of every character that’s on screen for a split second, whether a victim is presented as just a number or as an individual with a name has a huge effect on most people, so cutting it feels like a waste.
This is just a small detail, but they also made some horrendous choices visually. Terrible, out-of-place 3D models aside, they turned one of the coolest parts of the manga arc (which are several pages of zombies attacking humans on the ship, no dialogue, just pages showcasing true terror sweeping through the ship) into a few second montage with a PowerPoint-esque transition slapped on top of it. Just way less cool.
What we could've had:
What we got:
Also, and this the last complaint about the visual choices in the film, but why on God's Earth did they choose to put sleeping masks on the zombies instead of the lace thing they had on their eyes originally? Seeing it for the 1st time made me actually laugh out loud.
The good bits
Although I’ve been doing nothing but dragging this film for the past few paragraphs, I still overall had a pleasant experience watching it. Firstly, the voice acting as always was great, which isn’t surprising since that’s the one area Black Butler never lacks in. o7
Additionally, the background music was also always fitting and definitely set the right tone for each scene.
A very small detail, but they included a scene of Ciel cringing at himself for having to do the Phoenix pose again, which doesn't happen in the manga but was a very cute and accurate detail to add. :)
(It can be seen at 0:24 in the background)Additionally, it is in the end an adaptation of a great manga, and one of the best arcs of said manga, so even anime only watchers are guaranteed to have a fun time.
Why I'm being so nitpicky
The thing that haunts every adaptation made of Black Butler so far is that they could've been so good, with the right budget and actually enough time. Of course I don't think a 1:1 adaptation of anything is possible, but there's so much of content from the manga cut with each adaptation that the end result always feels very skin and bones. Not to mention neihter the old artstyle of the original show, nor the ugly 3D models of the newer ones are easy on the eyes, so while the "just read the manga" cope is something said about any anime under the sun, Black Butler is one of the rare cases where it 100% applies. The manga's artstyle is beautiful, you'll still get the exact same story and more, and the cast doesn't feel like carbon cutouts without personalities.
To cut the team behind this film some slack, they had to squeeze 2 whole manga volumes and some more into just one film, so I understand why they chose to cut some stuff.
Overall a fun experience with some quirks you'll just have to overlook.
*The complete flame in our chests shall not be extinguished by anyone. We are The Phoenix.*
