Black Butler: Book of the Atlantic

Alt title: Kuroshitsuji Movie: Book of the Atlantic

Movie (1 ep x 100 min)
2017
4.289 out of 5 from 7,079 votes
Rank #177

Ciel Phantomhive and his demonic butler, Sebastian, are back! And this next case has Ciel and Sebastian treading some rough waters. Aboard the luxury liner Campania, the two investigate an illegal human experiment that involves resurrecting the dead. But the closer they get to the truth, the closer they are to their own deaths! Will this be their final case or will one hell of a butler keep them afloat?

Source: Funimation

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Reviews

ProCas
9.9

**ALERT MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS** The movie begins on a professional note as Ciel and Sebastian prepare to combat a rather eerie situation where doctors conjoined in efforts with beings called "Shinigami's" are planning to bring the dead to life- at the cost of infecting the world with soulless creatures or walking dead. Only later we come to realise that this was a project with a rather bigger picture in mind- creating animal weapons of war and establishing a new reign of terror. One of the most stunning aspects of the entire film is the character development. One of the first characters to be developed was that of Lizzie (Elizabeth), fiance to Ciel. Only gradually do we come to know of her true self- a sword genius, and in literally no time she transforms into a sword dancing enchantress from a little, soft, pitiful cry-baby. The next instance was when Sebastian stops Elizabeth from getting into a combat with Grell Sutcliff. A move to prove he wanted to be his only contender ? *shrugs* though he waved off his reason as one in which he didn't want to further trouble the young lady, I have my doubts. The third and the most prominent was undoubtedly that of Sebastian himself. Was he always the meek and admirable ideal butler to Ciel that he is now? No, he wasn't. Infact, up to this point it was hard for me to digest the fact that he was. No matter how hard he craved Ciel's soul at the end of their contract, it was impossible for me to imagine that he would have risked his life in more than several situations as he did, to save Ciel. Another example of a hungry demon we know from beforehand is Claude Faustus. Was he likewise debonair to Alois? Yes, at first. But his craving got the better of him and he devoured his master before the end of their contract. Why didn't Sebastian do the same ? Contract or not, a demon is a demon. The answer is very plain from this particular character development. He wasn't always as posh, as kind or perfect, at first. He was in fact bent on thinking that he was hooked to a rather insolent brat. However with time, their bond grew to be something more than that of a master and demons servant. They began to teach each other skills that they would need to sustain themselves in the future. And in it they exchanged more than just master servant association. P.S. I loved the part where Sebastian punished Ciel for a wrong translation by a slight spank on his hands :P With time Sebastian grew to understand that he needed not just to devour the soul of Ciel but he felt the need to grow with it and help to sustain it and help it to acquire its desired revenge. And that no doubt gave a rather personal touch to their contract. And its clear as day Sebastian is more than just a "butler" to Ciel. Remember the episode where there was a camera that showed people's favorite (but dead)person in the picture of themselves. Sebastian sneakily clicks a picture of Ciel and guess who's in the picture with Ciel ? Not his parents, but Sebastian. It is also cute how Ciel cares for Sebastian when he is hurt and asks him to take rest when they get back. The fourth and the last one in the scope of this review is that of the Undertaker. It is later revealed that he is the Shinigami himself and that in an attempt to create perfect animal weapons- with no souls, no cravings, no desire, only the one for human souls, they were unstoppable unless the enemy knew the trick to kill them-- the Undertaker had put several innocent lives at stake and caused havoc, and that the experimenting doctors themselves were under his command. All in all, kudos to the production, kudos to the entire team and I love you all beyond any reasonable imagination :) <3

mdchan
9

If you're going to watch this (or have watched it), then you've definitely seen at least the first 15 episodes of the anime and the Book of Circus.  It also wouldn't hurt to watch Book of Murder as well.  If you haven't, I highly suggest watching that much (or just reading the manga) before watching this movie. For those not following the manga or decided not to watch Book of Murder before this, seeing Snake with Ciel might be a little confusing.  All the other characters (sans the movie-exclusive characters) I believe show up between episodes 1-15 of the first season and Book of Circus, so if you've at least seen that much then you shouldn't have any trouble following it. Plot Ciel and Sebastian (along with Snake) board a luxury cruiser which practically screams "Titanic parody" for two reasons.  The first is for business on behalf of the queen, and the second is because Ciel is (secretly) worried about Elizabeth who is also going to be on the ship.  His mission this time?  To investigate a hospital cult which is trying to come up with a medicine to revive the dead. Characters The colorful cast is here, so I'm not going to go into specifics.  The only character of note here would be Snake, as some people might be confused since I don't believe any of the animated stuff had him joining the Phantomhive group; this occurs in the manga just shortly after the Murders arc. The other characters are still whom we've seen up until now; usually I'd list characters regardless, but if you're this far along in the series (and read my first couple paragraphs of the review) then you should at least have a handle on the basic cast. Music & Animation The music is haunting in just the right places, and the ending song fits with the mood; I have no complaints about that. The biggest problem this movie has is in its animation.  The CGI used to animate nobles and various other characters moving in the background is laughably awkward at times, even during scenes which aren't supposed to be laughed at.  Thankfully, there's usually something in the foreground worth paying attention to, but that still doesn't excuse the poor job with the CGI.  Overall Expect some Titanic references and jokes; if you didn't figure out the first time you saw the ship that it was parodying the Titanic...well, it's fairly obvious. A minor nitpick (more of a personal one) with the animiation is the amount of blood in the movie.  It's Black Butler so of course it's going to be bloody, but this went above and beyond into the "gore" category.  I am not a fan of gore.  At all. It's the main reason I stopped watching Attack on Titan, and I actually grimaced and closed my eyes a few times in this movie.  Fans of blood and gore, you'll love this.  If you aren't fond of geisers of blood and even the occasional organ spewing forth, then proceed with caution (if you wish to watch it). I'd certainly recommend watching it.  I haven't read the arc in the manga (wanted to see the movie first since I enjoyed the other animations for Black Butler), so I don't know if there's as much gore there.  There's always a certain amount of blood in this series (it's freaking Black Butler; it's going to have blood, that's a given), but this movie really pushed that.  In fact, I feel they went a little overboard with the amount of blood at times. Again, I'd still suggest watching it...just be prepared if you're not a fan of it. I actually don't have many nitpicks or other issues with the movie, which I usually put here in the "overall" section since I use it for personal opinion.  I had a lot of questions about certain aspects, but all of them were answered during the big reveal with the antagonist. The twist at the climax...I was totally not expecting.  I typically say that it's hard to "get the jump" on me when it comes to anime/manga, because I've been watching and reading it since the 90's; I've seen so many tropes and cliches, so for this to come out and surprise me... Well, that increased my enjoyment because I didn't see it coming.  People who read this arc in the manga first will obviously know what's going to happen, but I didn't, and I'm glad I didn't read that arc yet.  All in all, the movie is excellent.  The pacing is great, the characters are themselves (with a couple surprises, even), and the twist is unexpected.  We even get treated to some past history between Sebastian and Ciel, which I'd been wondering about for a while. I'd love to give this movie/arc a 10/10 (a rarity for me), but the CGI honestly ruined it.  Since it also doesn't cover a couple things leading up to the arc (such as Snake joining the Phantomhive group), I had to dock a little off of the story since this is in movie format...and anyone who watches the anime should know these things (not just those who reads the manga). Otherwise, this competes as my favorite arc with the Book of Circus.  A solid arc/movie.

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