View source for Black Butler (film)

{{Infobox film
| name           = Black Butler
| image          = Black-butler-film-poster.jpg
| alt            =
| caption        = 
| native_name      = 
| director       = {{plainlist|
*[[Kentarō Ōtani]]
*[[Keiichi Sato|Keiichi Satō]]}}
| producer       = Shinzo Matsuhashi
| writer         = Tsutomu Kuroiwa
| screenplay     = 
| story          = 
| based_on       = {{based on |''[[Black Butler]]'' |[[Yana Toboso]]}}
| starring       = [[Hiro Mizushima]]<br>[[Ayame Goriki]]
| narrator       = 
| music          = Akihisa Matsuura
| cinematography = Terukuni Ajisaka 
| editing        = Tsuyoshi Imai 
| production_companies = {{plainlist|
*[[Warner Bros. Pictures Japan]]
*C&I Entertainment
*Rockworks
*[[Avex Group|Avex Entertainment]]
*[[Square Enix]]
*A Station
*[[Yahoo! Japan#Yahoo! Japan GyaO|GyaO]]
*East Japan Marketing & Communications Inc.
*[[Tokyu Group|Tokyu Recreation]]
}}
| distributor    = Warner Bros. Pictures Japan
| released       = {{Film date|2014|01|18|Japan}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-01-16/4-live-action-black-butler-character-videos-posted|title=4 Live-Action Black Butler Character Videos Posted |website= [[Anime News Network]]|date=January 16, 2014|accessdate=January 16, 2020}}</ref>
| runtime        = 119 minutes
| country        = Japan
| language       = Japanese
| budget         = 
| gross          = $5.8 million <!-- Please use condensed and rounded values, e.g. "£11.6 million" not "£11,586,221" -->
}}
{{Nihongo|'''''Black Butler'''''|黒執事|Kuroshitsuji|lead=yes}} is a 2014 Japanese period-style action fantasy film directed by [[Kentarō Ōtani]] and [[Keiichi Sato|Keiichi Satō]].<ref name="fba-review">{{cite web|url=http://www.filmbiz.asia/reviews/black-butler|work=[[Film Business Asia]]|title=Black Butler|last=Elley|first=Derek|date=March 26, 2014|accessdate=October 14, 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303200417/http://www.filmbiz.asia/reviews/black-butler|archivedate=March 3, 2016}}</ref> The film is based on the [[manga]] [[Black Butler|of the same name]] by [[Yana Toboso]].<ref name="fba-review" />

==Plot==
The film is set in a quasi-[[Victorian era|Victorian]] history. The world contains two major powers: the [[Western world|West]], ruled by the Queen, and the [[Eastern world|East]]. The Queen manipulates events worldwide using operatives called the Queen's Watchdogs. Earl Kiyohara Genpou (replacing Ciel Phantomhive from the original manga and anime), is a Queen's Watchdog in an unnamed Eastern metropolis. To the world, she presents herself as male in order to keep a hold on the Genpou family's Funtom Toy Company fortune, as it is only passed down to males of the family, and Kiyohara is now an orphan. Her right-hand man is Sebastian Michaelis, a demon who masquerades as her butler, to whom she sold her soul in order to take revenge against her family's massacre. Also in her household are clumsy maid Rin and house steward Tanaka. 

Currently, Kiyohara is investigating a case in which powerful citizens are found mummified and desiccated. The latest victim is the Queen's ambassador Anthony Campelle. At the Eastern Ministry for State Security, a senior official tells policeman Tokizawa that if a Queen's Watchdog exists, they are a threat to the nation and should be disposed of. Tokizawa learns that the Genpous were once called the Phantomhives from England before they moved to Japan and changed their family name to Genpou.

Clues lead Kiyohara and Sebastian to an underground club of the wealthy. The Earl infiltrates the club with Rin but they are captured by Kujo, CEO of Epsilon Pharmaceuticals. Kujo talks with a hooded figure about Necrosis, a poisonous new drug. Party guests inhale Necrosis; a bound Kiyohara watches as they begin bleeding from their faces and desiccation sets in. Seeing that the drug is ready, the hooded figure kills Kujo and leaves. Sebastian rescues the Earl and Rin.

It is revealed that Kiyohara's aunt is the hooded figure who killed Kujo, had a hand in killing the Earl's parents, and is the bio-terrorist who will kill innocent people with a Necrosis bomb. She is doing it for eternal youth and as revenge against the Earl's father choosing her sister (the Earl's mother) over her. Sebastian tricks her aunt into succumbing to Necrosis.

The Earl disarms the bomb and Sebastian treats her Necrosis exposure with the antidote. Tokizawa receives a box; in it are the remaining Necrosis capsules and a note that the terrorist danger has been dispelled and the Genpou family are not his enemies. Meanwhile, the senior official from the Eastern Ministry for State Security is notified that the Earl is alive and well; it is revealed that the senior official is a member of the crime syndicate that killed the Earl's parents. 

Sebastian puts the Earl to bed. She orders him to never betray her and asks him to stay with her until she falls asleep. As he does so, she sees in him the vision of her father, and smiles for the first time.

==Cast==
* [[Hiro Mizushima]] as Sebastian Michaelis, the "Black Butler"
* [[Ayame Goriki]] as Earl Kiyohara Genpou (Genpō Shiori), the Queen's Watchdog 
* [[Yūka (actress)|Yūka]] as Wakatsuki Hanae, Shiori's aunt
* [[Mizuki Yamamoto]] as Rin/Lyn, the housemaid
* Tomomi Maruyama as Akashi, the house steward
* [[Masato Ibu]] as Kuzo Shinpei
* [[Takuro Ono]] as Matsumiya Takaki
* [[Yu Shirota]] as Charles Bennett Sato<ref name="fba-review" />

==Production==
The film changes the setting of the original manga which was set in 19th-century London to an unnamed Eastern nation in the year 2020.<ref name="fba-review" /> The film stars [[Mizushima Hiro]] as Sebastian the lead, his first starring role in three years.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmbiz.asia/news/eternal-zero-tops-5th-week-at-japan-bo|work=Film Business Asia|title=Eternal Zero tops 5th week at Japan B.O.|accessdate=October 14, 2014|date=January 22, 2014|last=Ma|first=Kevin|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150507092237/http://www.filmbiz.asia/news/eternal-zero-tops-5th-week-at-japan-bo|archivedate=May 7, 2015}}</ref>

==Release==
''Black Butler'' was released in Japan on January 18, 2014.<ref name="fba-review" /> The film debuted at third place on its opening weekend in the Japanese Box office being beaten by ''[[Trick The Movie: Last Stage]]'' and ''[[The Eternal Zero]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://boxofficemojo.com/intl/japan/?yr=2014&wk=3&p=new|work=[[Box Office Mojo]]|publisher=[[Internet Movie Database]]|accessdate=October 14, 2014|title=Japan Box Office}}</ref> The film grossed a total of {{JPY|601 million}} ({{US$|{{To USD|601000000|JPN|year=2014|round=yes}}|long=no}}) in Japan,<ref>{{cite journal |title=2015年3月下旬 映画業界決算特別号 |journal=[[Kinema Junpo]] |date=March 2015 |page=96}}</ref> and $98,848 in other Asian territories,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/intl/?page=&wk=2014W3&id=_fKUROSHITSUJIBLA01|work=Box Office Mojo|publisher=Internet Movie Database|accessdate=October 14, 2014|title=Kuro Shitsuji (Black Butler)}}</ref> for a total of {{US$|{{#expr:{{To USD|601000000|JPN|year=2014}}+98848 round 0}}|long=no}} in Asia.

==Reception==
Derek Elley of ''[[Film Business Asia]]'' gave the film a three out of ten rating calling it "a failure at every level", noting that the film was "stodgily directed, appallingly constructed (with an especially confusing exposition) and laden down with yards of flat dialogue. When any action does finally come, it's just so-so.".<ref name="fba-review" /> ''[[The Guardian]]'' gave the film three stars out of five, noting that "Much of the dialogue and performances are stilted, but as a kitsch cult watch it has its charms."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/oct/21/black-butler-review-japanese-revenge-thriller|work=[[The Guardian]]|title=Black Butler review – stilted revenge thriller with kitschy charms|accessdate=October 27, 2014|author=Smith, Anna|date=17 October 2014}}</ref> ''[[The Times]]'' awarded the film three stars out of five, describing it as "compellingly weird".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/black-butler-p5zphlp09c3|work=[[The Times]]|access-date=October 27, 2014|title=Black Butler|author=Muir, Kate|date=October 17, 2014|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of films based on manga]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{anime News Network|film|18353|Black Butler}}
* {{IMDb title|2630336|Black Butler}}

{{Black Butler}}
{{Kentarō Ōtani}}

[[Category:Japanese alternate history films]]
[[Category:Black Butler]]
[[Category:Demons in film]]
[[Category:Japanese films about revenge]]
[[Category:Films about terrorism in Asia]]
[[Category:Films directed by Kentarō Ōtani]]
[[Category:Films set in 2020]]
[[Category:Films set in Asia]]
[[Category:Funimation]]
[[Category:2014 science fiction action films]]
[[Category:2014 films]]
[[Category:Japanese science fiction action films]]
[[Category:Live-action films based on manga]]
[[Category:2010s Japanese-language films]]
[[Category:2014 Japanese films]]

{{Wikipedia attribution|original_title=Black Butler (film)|access_date=2026-02-27}}