Summary
After almost ten years since the finale of season three, a new season ofBlack Butleris set to be released in 2024. With two trailers having now been unveiled,what can fans expectfrom Ciel and his demon butler Sebastian after nearly a decade of silence?Black Butleris a dark fantasy anime series that follows a young earl in Victorian England named Ciel Phantomhive who makes a pact with a demon named Sebastian Michaelis in exchange for his soul. Seasons one and two ran between 2008 - 2010 with the first season focusing on Ciel’s quest for revenge against those whomurdered his parents, being the Queen’s Watchdog and running the Phantomhive manor and estate - including Funtom Corporation, the most successful confection and toy manufacturer in the world. Season two is primarily a filler season and introduces a new character - Alois Trancy and his demon butler, Claude Faustus.
Season three - which includes Book of CircusandBook of Murder- running in 2014 - returns to the manga and is canonical as we see Ciel and Sebastian investigate a series of crimes including a traveling circus when children come up missing and a murdermystery during a dinner party. A movie calledBook of Atlanticwas released in 2017, which was also canonical. The series also had a live-action adaptation that was produced by Warner Bros. Pictures Japan, as well as Square Enix, that was released in 2014 and starred Hiro Mizushima - lead actor of theKamen Rider Kabutoseries -as Sebastian.
What Happened in the New Trailer?
At Anime Expo in April 2023, Crunchyroll announced that a fourth season ofBlack Butlerwas in production. A few months later, in July, the first official trailer forBlack Butler: Public School Arc- the official name for the season - was released on Crunchyroll’s official YouTube channel, with a second trailer being released in September. Official posters have also been released featuring Ciel and Sebastian, as well as the four prefects - also known as P4 - of Weston College.
While not much was revealed in the first trailer, it was confirmed that theoriginal voice actorswill be returning - Maaya Sakamoto and Daisuke Ono as Ciel Phantomhive and Sebastian Michaelis, respectively. However, the second trailer gave fans more insight into what can be expected inBlack Butler: Public School Arc.Although the school is not named in the trailer, we see four emblems and four students, each representing a different house. Each student is placed in a house based on their skills, personality, and other qualifiers.
Scarlet Fox House is for students of “exceptionally high birth.” The prefect - an upperclassman in charge of maintaining conduct andhelping tutor and mentor younger students- is Edgar Redmond. Next is Sapphire Owl House, for students who excel in academia, with prefect Lawrence Bluewer. Those exceptional in martial arts and sports will be in Green Lion, led by Prefect Herman Greenhill, and those excelling in the arts are in Violet Wolf with Gregory Violet. Ciel is not visible in the trailer, although his voice is heard at the end proclaiming that he is going to be late.
It has been confirmed thatBlack Butler: Public School Arcis not a reboot of the series, but it is indeed a continuation. Therefore, it will follow the manga and will be canonical. There has been no word on the number of filler episodes, however, if season three and the current trend of anime as a whole is any indication, it can be guessed that it will be kept to a minimum, if at all.
