Black Butler Public School Arc: Passing the Torch to the Next Generation

Black Butler first became a published manga in 2006, and in 2008, the manga was adapted into an anime. Over the years, the anime has released numerous seasons, with the newest one, Public School Arc, having dropped in spring this year. To celebrate, the new season’s director, Kenjiro Okada, the new season’s animation producer, Yoshito Ito, and the longtime voice actor for one hell of a butler Sebastian Michaelis, Daisuke Ono, visited Anime Expo this year to spend some time with fans and answer some of their burning questions.

Producer Ito revealed how he came to participate in the latest season: “I got the offer about three years ago [to make a new season], and initially, I turned it down. After being part of season one, I knew how much fans loved and valued the show, and I wasn’t sure I was the right person to inherit the project. But, after turning it down, I thought a lot about how I could produce this without disappointing fans, and I decided then that maybe it could work.” 

Despite being new to the team, director Okada was also just as passionate about the project. Sharing his approach, he said, “When you’re making something based on another work, you approach it very differently. Black Butler has a strong world setting, so there’s a lot to work with already. Normally, for a manga, you start by simplifying a lot of the nuance, but with this one, I tried to include all the details instead. In regards to the process, I first start by making the storyboard and really fleshing out the setting for the animators, and my goal is to improve the quality as much as possible once people start showing me their work. In this case, because the original work is so strong and fleshed out, I just wanted to make sure we didn’t miss any of the nuance and detail.” He continued, “With respect to directing something so beloved, it’s important to approach head-on. There are several anime related to Black Butler already, but it made me want to find meaning in why we are continuing the series in this day and age. I think one of the strong points of this anime is that the Public School Arc isn’t one of the most well known in Japan, either, so we turned it into something like a school drama, so people who may not even know the series can also enjoy it.” 

When given this new season, Ono thought it felt like his reward after a long while. “In the Public School Arc, they suggested I add some emotion and slight movements to my character. It felt like being rewarded for playing Sebastian, who has always been calm with his rhythm and tempo, that the director and staff were allowing me to do something like that,” he started with a laugh. “The producer has been with us since season one, and with the director, they both have a lot of respect for the show and what it means. [This new season] felt like the torch was being passed to the next generation.”

The Public School Arc brings Ciel and Sebastian to the most prestigious school in Great Britain, the Weston College. Knowing this, the director and producer embarked on a location scouting trip to the UK prior to beginning the project, hoping to find inspiration and help depict the setting accurately. “Because there were many staff members that would join the franchise for the first time, it was important to capture the essence of the series,” Ito began. “So, we wanted to really see how people live in the UK. In Japan we see mountains everywhere, but there were so many places with no mountains in the UK and you could see the horizon even on land. It was quite different, and had we not gone scouting for locations there, I might have included some mountains in the show,” he concluded with a chuckle. Okada agreed that the sourcing trip was a great move, as it helped with small details as well. “We got to know the air, the vibe, the architecture, the scale, and even the fabric material and clothing designs. We went with our cameraman to capture it all, so we could reflect it in the series. We had a guide when we were there, and she took us around and explained a lot of architecture and history for us,” he started seriously. “I was actually kind of disappointed, though, as I was hoping the food would live up to its infamous reputation.”

Wanting to share one more small gift with their fans who have supported Black Butler for the past 16 years, the trio also revealed that the next season is in the works, and the Emerald Witch Arc is slated to release in 2025. “Unlike the Public School Arc, this one is in quite a different world setting and universe,” Okada began. “This new season will be much more like a dark fantasy genre, and you will meet a lot of new characters as well.” Keeping from spoiling too much information, Ito opted to share something more lighthearted: “Ideally, we could have gone to Germany to scout for locations for this upcoming season, but we couldn’t find the timing. Instead, I went to a tree of German heritage that grows in Japan to find inspiration and feel the texture, and I was attacked by a lot of bugs there,” he said with a laugh. “Even then, this arc isn’t really based on any real architecture or buildings, so even if we were to go to Germany, I don’t know that there’d be anything quite accurate enough to capture the atmosphere,” Okada admitted. 

As the time came to an end, the voice actor of everyone’s favorite character butler shared one final thought: “Unlike the Public School Arc that was brighter, more colorful, and more vibrant with comedic relief and entertainment, this upcoming season is much darker and heavier. It will be tough to record, but with Ciel by my side, I think we can do it,” he started. “All the staff are already working hard together for the Emerald Witch Arc, so please show them support, and we will get through this new season together. After all, I’m simply one hell of a butler.”