Kuroshitsuji: Book of the Atlantic

I was really intrigued after watching the trailer of this movie but alas! I have to say, the trailer was better than the movie itself. The movie was only entertaining in bits and pieces. I kept thinking that something better would come but i was disheartened by the film. So, let's talk about the movie:

PROS.

1. Captivating animation - The quality of animation in the movie was splendid and the attention to detail was noteworthy. The film is stunning to look at and is a visual treat.

2.Eccentric characters - The film is home of some of the the most bizzare and outlandish characters. The best part is that each characters are given a unique behavioral quirk which defines them and adds to their zaniness, and are entertaining as hell.

3. Voice acting is pretty good.

4 Direction - Although the film has a thin plot, it is elevated by its direction. Direction is really good here as it makes the film watchable even when there are so many negative factors going against the film. Also even though it has a poorly written plot, it manages to hold you attention.

CONS.

1. Poor script - While the central idea is very interesting, the film is marred by its almost non-existent plot. The screenplay is poorly written and lacks the sophistication of manga series. I have to say the whole film falls flat only because of its poor writing.

2. Chaotic narration - Film's narrative structure is weak. It feels like as if the scenes are patched together in one bundle without making much sense. The editing is poor. The twist in the end fails to make an impact. And these are the things which drags the quality of the film down.

3. Music - Music is here only to fill gaps and is below average. It does nothing to elevate the mood, it's just there to play silently in the background without serving any purpose.

4.Anti-climatic ending - The ending feels too anti-climatic and rushed. Several things are left unanswered.

All in all, Book of the Atlantic is a moderate affair which is a mish-mash of Titanic(1997), Resident Evil and Hellblazer. It's strictly for manga's fan. If you are an anime lover then go for it, albeit with a lower expectation. Overall, a strictly moderate affair...

While of late I've gladly dipped my toes into anime, I couldn't tell you anything about 'Black butler,' nor Toboso Yana's manga; it hasn't entered my purview at all until now. It was specifically the premise that drew me into this film, promising a mix of horror, science fiction, adventure, and action, with touches of humor and the playfulness that is characteristic to much of the medium. Encountering this franchise for the first time I can't speak to 'Book of the Atlantic' as an adaptation, nor specifically to where it fits among the other material, but I don't think that's fully necessary in this case anyway. This feature is broadly enjoyable on its own merits, and one needn't have prior knowledge of the series to have a good time.

That doesn't mean that it isn't without flaws. I'll grant that though the film is fairly accessible all on its own, it's also written in a manner assumes viewers already know the characters on hand and the lore they're connected to. That's fine; I would assume no less. It does seem to me, however, that this adaptation works extra hard to toss in a slew of established characters, giving everyone including secondary supporting or recurring figures a reason to all be at the same place at the same time. These characters may be interesting in and of themselves (for example, I love the concept of Snake), but smashing them all together is plainly questionable; imagine if there was an arc of 'Xena: Warrior princess' that involved every single recurring character. Further accentuating the point, secondary characters are simply given too much emphasis in many scenes, becoming somewhat overbearing along with the playfulness and humor that adjoins the core genre flavors. I think an adaptation should be smart enough to weave in such elements more sparingly, focusing on the substance of the story even if that means leaving some bits out. Such an overabundance of characters also lends to the matter of pacing in this flick, which I plainly feel is a tad too brisk for its own good, diminishing the impact of beats, scenes, and ideas.

Yet while I take issue in part with Yoshino Hiroyuki's screenplay, and Abe Noriyuki's direction, we get what we came for. The action sequences are fluid and exciting, and some are especially delightful; the moment one supporting character reveals their hidden skills is a blast. With a plot that involves the dead rising, the horror is strong in these 100 minutes even as it mixes with the more frivolous and indulgent aspects, and the creature designs, blood, and gore are freely showcased. Where the levity relies not on grandiosity or immoderation, but instead on actual wit, the movie really does earn some laughs. While the overall narrative is relatively light and nothing that will stick in one's memory, it's compelling, engaging, and entertaining all the same, and meanwhile the scene writing is marvelously robust and flavorful, for better and for worse. To all these same ends, the animation is reliably fantastic, as if we'd expect any less from Japanese studios. Every background and environment is filled with superb detail, and likewise all active facets including characters, weapons, action, effects, and so on. Where 3D digital rendering is employed in addition to the predominant 2D style it looks great as embellishment and augmentation, and there's nice consideration throughout for perspective, lighting, and shading. Why, at some points the visual experience is altogether beautiful.

Mitsuda Yasunori's original music is a welcome, adept complement for the proceedings at all turns, and much the same verbiage could be applied to the voice cast in bringing their characters to life. By and large 'Book of the Atlantic' is terrifically well made by all the high standards of modern anime, and that this saga further takes cues from the tragedy of the Titanic just makes it all the richer. I still just wish that the direction and particularly the writing were more thoughtful. As another example, a length sequence breaks from the active plot to delve into the history of chief characters Ciel and Sebastian; while that background is excellent in and of itself, it does serve in some measure to break up the momentum of the picture for an extra long while. Still, for all the criticism one may reasonably level, I don't think there's much arguing that the sum total is far better than not. This 'Black butler' tale is dark and fun just as we'd hope with such a swirl of genres, and even as I find faults there's a lot to like here. When all is said and done it's not something one needs to go out of their way to see, but I recognize the skill and intelligence that went into 'Book of the Atlantic,' and so long as none of the factors I hammered on are a major obstacle, I think it's well worth checking out.

i really loved this movie it was awesome. the audience was just as great as the movie. both the dubbing and original Japanese versions were both great.I'm more for the dubbing though as it allowed me to see more of the action instead of having to read it and hope i caught it all. the effects in this movie were awesome and the best part was they got all of this arc to fit nicely in the movie they didn't leave much of it out.

Black Butler has always been my favourite anime for a number of reasons. The characters, the story, the Gothic feel, the weird and dark humour, the music and the animation. Whilst the series has had it's inconsistency in quality for a few years now (with season 1 being fantastic and season 2 being OK), by 2014 when Book of Circus came out, the series started to get much better with Book of Murder following shortly after, both of which were absolutely amazing. Book of the Atlantic, in my opinion, isn't just on par with some of the best Black Butler material, it's the best entry in the anime by far.

Ciel and Sebastian board a luxury cruise liner to investigate illegal experimentation of the dead being brought back to life. The idea of zombies being on the Titanic, leading to the iceberg crash, may sound dumb, but for Black Butler, a series known for exploring things that happened during the late 1800's like Jack the Ripper, this is definitely not the most absurd thing it could've done. It's executed nearly flawlessly, however, and if something dumb is executed with brilliance then that's really all you need to enjoy something. There's also a superb plot twist near the end and the reason behind that characters motivation (not naming them for obvious spoilers) is explored in such great detail. It's great to see a work of fiction give such an in depth reason as to why a certain character does something that may seem out of place.

The characters as usual for the series are just as great as ever. Ciel and Sebastian are still likable and great characters who both get some great character development, and I'm not even gonna tell you how much Elizabeth is improved in this movie. Grell Sutcliff and Ronald Knox aren't developed or anything, Grell is the same as he's always been and Ronald is a new character, but they both get their moments and are clearly a threat. Grell actually gets some screentime where he is actually fighting properly which got me off guard as I thought they were just gonna use him for comic relief like they usually do. Snake from Book of Circus is back as well but doesn't get a whole lot of screentime, still, he's fun to watch.

The animation is still absolutely fantastic, but the 3D animation looks a little out of place at times. It's not horrendously awful like some people here are saying it is, but it's not exactly as amazing as the 2D animation, the movie could've done fine without it.

The music is still great and Sid have come back to do a song for the credits which is among one of my favourites in the whole franchise so far. The rest of the music is still pretty good, but the credits song is the most memorable.

Finally there's the English dub, the version I watched. The Japanese voice acting is decent and all, but Black Butler's English dub is, in my opinion, fantastic. The British accents fit the setting of the show and J Michael Tatum and Brina Palencia do a great job at voicing Sebastian and Ciel as always, with both of them now used to how their character speaks and acts that they can now pretty much voice them the way you would usually hear them in your head without any difficulty. They've been voicing these characters for such a long time and it's great to see that they've finally nailed these two roles. Every other voice actor does a great job as usual too.

The action is better than it's ever been for the franchise and after not kicking as much ass as he used to for the entirety of Book of Circus and Book of Murder, Sebastian is back to being an absolute badass in combat. And, once again, I'm not even gonna talk about what happens to Elizabeth.

Overall, this movie is amazing. So much has been improved from the action, music, characters and the superb balancing of humour and serious storytelling. They really outdid themselves with this movie, and I can't wait to see what happens next if the anime does indeed continue.

Yes, you read that right. The entire movie has a Titanic reference. Once again, a decent storyline and good characterization. Get ready to be surprised by few characters and to know the details that were missing in the first season. Even the Sebastian's cinematography was contradicting from what we saw in the season 1. Strangely, Undertaker reminded me of Orochimaru in this movie. However, few things felt repetitive. If I oversimplify it, it is since the first season that we are being told things like 'humans are trash' and after all this time we are still there.

Do I recommend this movie? Yes, my lord.