Anime Fans Stoked Dark Comedy Fantasy Series Getting New Seasons After Long Hiatus
For fans of Black Butler, 2024 was a great year. Not only was there a new season of the anime released after 10 years, but the manga also provided a pretty amazing storyline. The good news isn’t over yet, though, with Crunchyroll and CloverWorks announcing that yet another arc of the anime is set to come sometime in 2025 and will be known as the “Emerald Witch” arc.
Considering the 10-year gap between the third and fourth seasons of Black Butler, it’s pretty amazing that the new season has already been announced.
During a panel for the Black Butler “Public School” arc at Anime Expo, it was revealed that another season is set to come out in 2025. This will be the “Emerald Witch” arc and will be available on Crunchyroll when it comes out.
Considering the 10-year gap between the third and fourth seasons of Black Butler, it’s pretty amazing that the new season has already been announced. There’s even a teaser trailer available. It definitely teases, but it only shows a short scene where a hunter tries to wrangle back his dogs, only to realize there’s a beast in the woods waiting for him.
Kenjiro Okada (RWBY: Ice Queendom) is set to continue directing the series as a part of CloverWorks (Spy x Family). For the Japanese voice actors, it’s also been announced that Maaya Sakamoto (Demon Slayer) will return as Ciel Phantomhive, and Daisuke Ono (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure) will reprise the role of Sebastian Michaelis.
The “Emerald Witch” arc will be the fifth season of Black Butler. Based on the manga, the season will be set in Southern Germany’s forests. Several deaths in the area have intrigued the Queen, who sends Sebastian and Ciel, and they must face a mysterious, wolf-like creature as they try to solve the case.
If you haven’t caught up with the newest season yet, or you want to go back and rewatch the entire series before the newest season comes out, Black Butler is available on Crunchyroll.
For those who haven’t read the manga, this arc of Black Butler is a good one for many reasons. Though some fan-favorite characters, like the Undertaker, don’t show up much, this arc sets up a good story. The grim reapers are also covered in a bit more detail, offering some interesting information about their life before they were reapers.
Not only is there more information about these side characters in the upcoming season of Black Butler, but there is more information revealed about Ciel and his past, including details about his and Sebastian’s deal. This somewhat long arc also shows more sides of Ciel and Sebastian in the current time, as they both face new challenges that push them to their limits.
This is one of the most highly rated arcs alongside the “Jack the Ripper” and “Circus” arcs, and it is the eighth in the Black Butler manga series.
It’s an especially striking arc after the “Public School” season of Black Butler. Though it’s not fair to say this last animated arc was lighthearted, it wasn’t nearly as dark or haunting as some of the other moments in the story. However, it sets up a more peaceful mood before the much darker and more action-heavy “Emerald Witch” arc appears.
This is one of the most highly rated arcs alongside the “Jack the Ripper” and “Circus” arcs, and it is the eighth in the Black Butler manga series. It’s also one of the darkest up to that point in the story, with a lot of focus on topics like childhood trauma, brainwashing, and the true nature of all the characters. Between the action and more information about all of the characters, it’s a pretty good part of the story, and it will make for a very interesting anime adaptation.
If you haven’t caught up with the newest season yet, or you want to go back and rewatch the entire series before the newest season comes out, Black Butler is available on Crunchyroll. Not only are all four seasons available, but the movies and OVAs (original video animations or those not aired on TV or in theaters) are available as well.
