Black Butler: Book of Murder (Blu-ray) (2014)

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General		Extras
Category	Anime	Audio Commentary-Part II Commentary, US cast Trailer-US Trailer Trailer-x 7 for other anime
Rating
Year Of Production	2014
Running Time	123:48
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Noriyuki Abe
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	Maaya Sakamoto / Brina Palencia Daisuke Ono / J. Michael Tatum Shintaro Asanuma / T. Axelrod Ryohe Kimura / Clifford Chapin
Case	Standard Blu-ray
RPI	?	Music	Yasunori Mitsuda

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 English Dolby TrueHD 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English (Burned In)	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes, after end credits

     London, 1889. Thirteen year old Earl Ciel Phantomhive (voiced by Maaya Sakamoto / Brina Palencia) is requested by the Queen to host a dinner party in the Phantomhive Manor for a visiting German industrialist. Among the guests invited are traders in diamonds, import / exporters, industrialists, a theatre director and his star, the Queen’s representative Charles Gray (Ryohe Kimura / Clifford Chapin) and a very young Arthur Conan Doyle (Shintaro Asanuma / T. Axelrod), who has just had his first story A Study in Scarlet published but doubts he will write another. The guests gather on a dark and stormy night and when first one, then another, is murdered it is up to Ciel and his demon butler Sebastian (Daisuke Ono / J. Michael Tatum) to find the murderer before the blame falls upon them.

     Black Butler began in 2006 as a manga by Yana Toboso before becoming an anime series that first aired on Japanese TV in 2008, a live action film (2014) and an additional anime series Black Butler: Book of Circus (also 2014). Black Butler: Book of Murder, the subject of this review, is a two part OVA which screened in Japanese theaters in October and November 2014. It is a side story interconnected with Black Butler: Book of Circus and while knowledge of that series is not totally essential when viewing Black Butler: Book of Murder, for the last section it certainly helps. The basic premise of Black Butler is that on Ciel’s tenth birthday a deliberately lit fire destroyed the Phantomhive Manor and killed his parents. Ciel was captured and tortured but at the moment of his death he struck a deal with a demon; his soul in exchange for revenge. The demon became his Black Butler Sebastian. Now, at the request of the Queen, Ciel is tasked with solving crimes relationing to the London underworld while seeking his revenge.

     In its own right Black Butler: Book of Murder is a lot of fun. It is self-aware, playing with literature conventions and the mystery novel genre with winks to Shakespeare and Sherlock Holmes (for whom Sebastian becomes a model), locked room mysteries, red herrings and false leads, moving bodies, poisonings and multiple denunciations. Much of the story is told through the eyes of the young Conan Doyle, an aware but not always accurate observer, which allows mystery to pile upon mystery, although all is explained at the end.

Video

     Black Butler: Book of Murder is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, in 1080p using the MPEG-4 AVC code.

     There is a lot of darkness in these OVAs as they mostly take place on a dark and stormy night in darkened rooms. Colours could be described as anaemic, all dull greys and browns although there are sections of brightness with the reds/yellows of fires or candles, the white flash of lightning or the deep blue or red of eyes. Lines are firm, blacks solid, shadow detail purposely indistinct.

     I noticed no marks or artefacts.

     The burnt in English subtitles are in a white font, with some occasionally in yellow. They are clear, easy to read and error free.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio is a choice of Japanese or English, both Dolby TrueHD 2.0, surround encoded.

     In both dialogue is clear. Effects have a nice sharpness and the surrounds featured music, horses’ hooves and the almost constant rain and thunder. The sub-woofer added depth to the thunder.

     The English dub is a standard Funimation track, which is fine if you don’t want to read subtitles.

     It is anime so lip synchronisation is approximate.

     The orchestral score by Yasunori Mitsuda was old fashioned, which suited the film.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Start-up Ad (1:01)

     On start-up is an advertisement for the Funimation Now streaming service.

Part II Commentary

     Ian Sinclair (US ADR director) plus US voice cast members J. Michael Tatum and Aaron Roberts (the voices of Sebastian and Grimsby) sit together and watch Part II. Sadly, this is a standard Funimation commentary; they are obviously having a great time together and they joke, make voices, talk about other roles and accents but pretty much chat about anything but Black Butler.

US Trailer (1:08)

Trailers

     Trailers for Tokyo Ghoul (1:18), The Boy and the Beast (1:39), Psycho-Pass (1:40),Assassination Classroom (1:31), Yona of the Dawn (1:03), Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie (1:48) and Rage of Bahamut: Genesis (1:29).

     This Madman release is identical to the US version, including the FBI warning.

     This Blu-ray of Black Butler: Book of Murder includes the two OVAs (Book of Murder Part I and Part II) that received separate theatrical releases in Japan. Set in an interesting period, with literary allusions, a demon and a young Conan Doyle, Black Butler: Book of Murder is a lot of fun. While knowledge of Black Butler: Book of Circus would help, it is not totally essential to enjoying these OVAs.

     The video and audio are good. The extras are the same as the US release.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall