#1: Kuroshitsuji aka Black Butler
I fell in love with this series almost immediately. At first I actually didn't know what it was about at all and when you hear the title "Black Butler" you have to wonder how a story about a butler could be entertaining. When at Anime Boston this year my friend CorSec and I were talking about just buying one of two series just to find out what it was since we saw cosplayers everywhere for this and the other show. The day after I returned from the con I saw they had all the season 1 on NetFlix and watched the first episode. It was nothing like I had expected and for a few days after that I didn't watch anymore till I was camping NMs on Final Fantasy XI and needed something to do between pops. It was then I got so obsessed with this series.
This may seem like spoiler, but it really isn't as the premise of the series is the story's end. The story revolves around a 12 year old boy named Ciel Phantomhive, who was kidnapped and tortured at age 10 and in order to escape his living hell he forms a contract with a demon, who Ciel names Sebastian. The contract states that until Ciel has achieved his revenge on all of those who have made him suffer and humiliated him Sebastian will serve as his butler in exchange for the boy's soul.
Like most of the anime on this list there was a manga that proceeded it. I mentioned Saiyuki's and Fruits Basket's and how they differed to my knowledge. This series however sort of went the way of Full Metal Alchemist. The original anime for FMA had the plotline from the manga overall, but took a lot of liberties in changing how it progressed and told; mainly making changes to some characters to have a shock value when it was revealed while watching. The anime for Kuroshitsuji pretty much does the same thing; the initial idea and plot are there, but differs greatly to the original source material.
I had watched through both seasons before reading the manga and I honestly had a few questions upon watching the series' end. So I am gonna take the liberty of sharing some of these with you. The first question that I had was about the character Tanaka. In the anime he is constantly shown in chibi drinking Japanese tea and mainly saying "ho-ho-ho"; very rarely do you see him in non-chibi mode. But even in the show it is stated that Tanaka had served the Phantomhive household for a very long time, so that left me with the question; why didn't he try to save Ciel from his captors? I mean even if he is old you'd think he would try and save his young master no? Well in the book it explains that he in fact did try, but was assaulted. Also the look of a frail old man is far from what it seems as he is truly capable of protecting the Earl Phantomhive.
The next few things actually came from me looking stuff up on the characters and within a character bio I found of Ciel, it mentioned that he is allergic to cats. I had found that a little odd since in the anime he was seen calling a cat over to him and picked it up. Once again the book settles the facts. First Sebastian is truly obsessed with all kinds of cats, not just your normal house cats.
Right after this incident at the circus we see this;
I will admit though I have to wonder how allergic he is since Sebastian has entire closet full of cats in the mansion lol. The other thing I read about Ciel I was rather baffled that they didn't mention in the show since it would be something that could potentially hinder him in his missions for the Queen and that's his asthma.
I do find it interesting that the things about Ciel were actually introduced in the same arc of the manga and this arc, along with two others and a side story, also did not exist for the anime. And much like arcs not existing there are characters who were removed or just added for the television series.
Snake appears in the Noah's Arc Circus arc of the manga and later is hired by Ciel to work at the mansion. Since this arc did not appear in the show Snake never made his debut. Instead there was a story that featured a demon hound; 
Going by the name Pluto, the demon hound was given to them by a woman named Angela; but in the same regard the pooch ends up with a job at the mansion just like Snake.Also of note and I am really unsure why they changed this, the mark that was branded onto Ciel was moved to a different spot.
Overall, I will say I have been enjoying the manga a lot more than the anime; however, for what the anime is and has to offer it is very very good. The manga itself is ongoing, so for them to actually make their own plot and twist was quite entertaining and shocking when the twists were revealed. Much like the original FMA was. All the characters are quite lovable in their own ways, though in spots with the anime they seem a tad out of place, especially given Ciel's personality. His servants (save for Sebastian) are quite incompetent and even though they are this way in the manga too; they love working for their young master as he treats them well. The gardener, Finnian, is quoted in the book stating that he likes working for Ciel because he doesn't hurt him. Where as in the first episode of the anime Ciel is shown throwing a dart at Finnian's head. So some liberties were taken. Also I should note one character in particular and that is Ciel's fiancée, Elizabeth. Lizzy has a very bubbly personality and the desire to make everything cute. I suppose this is to balance out Ciel's seriousness and dark personality. But when I watched through the anime I thought it came off as quite annoying... and it is. It was in the book too, but even if she doesn't show it in the show, I do have to give respect to this character as she does really love Ciel and accepts who he is and what he does;
This is the last page of what is current in the manga in Japan and it appears she knows the secrets of the Phantomhive family. (in context to this picture Ciel has hurt is leg and is out of ammo so it's up to Lizzy to fight off a zombie horde) So when watching the series just remember that she does have a bad ass side.The opening to the first season, Monochrome no Kiss, is such an ear catching song, if that makes sense. It's one of the more unusual sounding ones I had head in a long time, but I was instantly obsessed with it. The imagery placed with here (the second half of season 1 had another set of animation) is by far one of my favorites, in particular the part with Sebastian catching the bullets. And over all I felt that it did capture the essence that is Kuroshitsuji.
Opening to season 2, Shiver, is very different from Monochrome no Kiss, a lot more rocking out if you will. Characters new and old are both showcased and it does a good job portraying the story of season 2. My favorite part of this opening actually is when they show the contract markings.
Now, I am briefly going to talk about this season. As I mentioned the premise of Kuroshitsuji earlier, the premise actually gets resolved in the first season. So when I heard there was a second I was baffled as to how they could do it other than Sebastian making a contract with someone else. Well in the first episode we meet Alois Trancy and his butler, Claude. The opening to the first episode only showcases these characters as it is set to Shiver, so I had then thought they just took the same premise again and just made poor imitations of Sebastian and Ciel (which is true, even Sebastian admits it in the episode preview for episode 2. Well, nope! Sebastian makes his grand entrance at the end of the episode with Ciel's body. Why? Well you'll have to find that one out on your own.
There are also some OVAs that have been released; Ciel in Wonderland was a very interesting take on Alice in Wonderland. Making of Kuroshitsuji II isn't exactly what I expected as it's a making of the second season, but with the characters as actors talking about their roles. Another was released about the Shinigami Grell and Will and the final one revoles around Alois and Claude (which I have yet to watch myself).
But this is my number one because I think anyone will enjoy it as it has its humor, but it has its dark side. I can only hope one day that this series goes in the way of FMA and they make an entire new anime series 100% based on the manga arcs because they would be awesome in motion much like the did with FMA Brotherhood. So go watch it, now! That's an order! And you know there is only one thing you can say to that, right Sebastian?
See you all next time! ^^/
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