Black Butler

Yana Toboso launched the manga Black Butler in September 2006, filling pages of Square Enix's Monthly GFantasy with a dark tale set against Victorian London. The story centers on Ciel Phantomhive, a twelve-year-old earl who serves as the Queen's Watchdog while hunting criminals in the city's underworld. After his parents died and he suffered torture at the hands of a secret society, Ciel signed a pact with Sebastian Michaelis. This demon poses as an elegant butler to help the boy exact revenge, promising to devour Ciel's soul once the task ends. The original run spans dozens of volumes filled with mystery, horror, and gothic aesthetics that define the series' unique tone. Adaptations have kept the franchise alive across multiple media formats since its debut. A-1 Pictures produced the first anime season from 2008 to 2009, followed by a second season in 2010 that introduced new characters and an original plot. Later projects included Book of Circus, which adapted a major manga arc, and the theatrical Book of Murder. Fans also saw a live-action film in 2014 and the animated movie Book of the Atlantic in 2017. Recent television seasons returned to the source material with the Public School Arc in 2024 and the Emerald Witch Arc in 2025. Yen Press handles the English publication in North America, while Aniplex of America manages the streaming rights for the early anime seasons. By August 2025, the manga sold over 36 million copies worldwide.[edit]