Black Butler Filler Guide

The Black Butler anime is an ongoing Japanese anime series based on the manga of the same name by Yana Toboso. The show is produced by A-1 Pictures and first aired on October 3, 2008, on TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System) in Japan. As of December 2018, the show has aired for three seasons that encompass a total of 50 episodes in addition to two OVA (Original Video Animation) episodes.

Black Butler Plot

Black Butler is set in Victorian England and follows Ciel Phantomhive, the young head of a noble family and master of a mansion known as “Phantomhive Estate”. Ciel lives with his servants Sebastian Michaelis, a demon butler who takes care of all household affairs, and Undertaker, a grim reaper-like being who does odd jobs at the mansion. Sebastian uses his supernatural powers to help Ciel solve various problems that occur at the estate while they also investigate murders that have been occurring throughout London. As they work together they begin to uncover a dark secret that involves them both.

How popular is Black Butler?

Black Butler has been popular with both critics and audiences alike since its release in 2008. It has received praise for its story, characters, animation, and music. A new movie based on the series was released in Japan on January 21, 2019. The movie was also shown in select theaters in the US on January 18 and 19, 2019. The Black Butler anime has also been popular with fans; in fact it still has one of the largest fandoms among other anime shows. Many people have praised Black Butler for its intriguing plot line and memorable characters, which makes it hard to believe that it has been nearly ten years since its initial release!

How Much Filler is in Black Butler?

There are a total of 29 filler episodes in the Black Butler anime, which are episodes that do not take place in the manga. There are a total of 46 episodes in the series, which means that roughly 63% of the total episodes are filler.

Quick Filler & Canon Lists

Complete Filler List

List of filler episodes for Black Butler in chronological order – Learn if it is worth watching

Episode 1: His Butler, Able

This episode is a filler episode that takes place during the third manga volume. The main reason this was a filler episode instead of being included in the original manga is because the author wanted to draw more attention to a particular character that played an important part in the story, which he could not do in one chapter.

The mangaka, Yana Toboso, has stated that she loves drawing Ciel’s new butler, Sebastian. She said she likes how tall he is and how he looks as if he knows everything about the world. She also likes his voice actor who has played him from episode 1 all the way to current day. She says she wishes she could marry him if she were Ciel (Hirakawa Daisuke).

Episode 7: His Butler, Merrymaking

The episode is a filler, because it has multiple scenes that are not in the manga, and has no effect on the plot. The manga does not mention any vacation of Ciel or Sebastian. The only time they leave London is for a brief period of time. In the manga, they have conversations about “bear baiting” and Ciel mentions he wants to visit the town where bear baiting still occurs. In the manga, Queen Victoria requests for Phantomhive to eradicate the dog fighting ring. The anime added a whole filler plot that includes Queen Victoria wanting to build a resort on Houndsworth, thus making this an anime original episode. This episode was written by Yana Toboso herself in response to criticism in regards to fans who did not like how long it took for Kuroshitsuji to release new episodes: “I’m sorry I made you wait…”

Episode 8: His Butler, Training

In the original Japanese version of the anime, this episode was not a filler episode. However, FUNimation and other companies have dubbed this episode as a filler.

This is because of the fact that in the Japanese version, there is some kind of a backstory that explains why Angela Blanc is treated as an outcast in her village. The townspeople are actually mocking her, as they consider her to be an illegitimate child of Louis Blanc and his mistress (which would explain why she has dark skin). She was adopted by Louis Blanc’s wife as soon as she was born due to the fact that Louis’ wife knew that both she and her husband were too strict in their ways to have children with black skin. The townspeople see Angela’s black skin as a curse, and so they mock her by trying to scare her away with fake “demon” sightings. This makes the townspeople seem like the guilty party in the anime.

However, in the English dub, this backstory is either removed or changed to make Angela’s exclusion from the townspeople seem entirely random.

This is because in FUNimation’s dub, Angela is just a seemingly normal girl. When she is excluded from the townspeople and Sebastian and Ciel arrive at her house to investigate, Ciel quickly concludes that the townspeople are just afraid of her for no reason (because in the English dub there is no mention of any sort of backstory). He then sets up a plan to make them accept Angela into their village by having Sebastian dress up as a demon dog and scare off the villagers. This makes the villagers seem like they are just in denial about Angela being a normal human being, which makes Angela seem innocent in FUNimation’s English version.

Episode 9: His Butler, Phantom Image

This episode is a filler because it does not contain any plot important events, and only provides entertainment.

In the episode, Ciel’s butler Sebastian Michaelis, is taking care of Pluto while he’s gone. While Ciel is gone his three servants are taking a picture of Sebastian with the human who he cares most about. They test it out with Finnian, and see a small bird in the photo.

The servants try to take a picture of Sebastian but he refuses and orders them around like slaves until they see a cat that he is caressing. Pluto then turns into his human form and throws the cat away from Sebastian. This is a filler episode because it does not contain any important events in the series nor does it provide any plot in the series. It also doesn’t relate to the next episode.

Episode 10: His Butler, on Ice

Tim, a local ice sculptor, has been commissioned to make the centerpiece for the frozen fair. Ciel and Sebastian arrive at Tim’s tent on the Thames river to investigate why he is using a ring that belongs to Tim. When they ask him about it, he says that it was a gift from his beloved Marian, who fled after she learned that he was responsible for the death of her brother. He explains that they were seeking revenge on him because of his part in this by stealing an item of great value from them.

Tim shows Sebastian and Ciel where he found the ring in an undercurrent section of the river, which is frozen over due to an Ice Sculpture Competition that is being held on this day. They then meet Tim’s pursuers, two men named Timothy and Daly. They demand that he return the ring, but he refuses to. He explains that the ring is a part of an ice sculpture competition that is going on today, and if they take it, he will be disqualified.

Sebastian and Ciel decide to compete in the sculpture contest so that they can win the ring back from Tim for his pursuers. When Tim arrives at their tent with Elizabeth in tow, Ciel tells him that he has come to help, causing Tim to call him a good guy for helping out a complete stranger and reveals the backstory of himself being framed for stealing something valuable by Timothy and Daly who work for his former boss. After Elizabeth leaves, Sebastian goes to the contest with the ring, but is stopped by Daly.

This episode is a filler episode because it does not advance the main plot. However, it does expand upon the backstory of Sebastian and Elizabeth’s pasts.

Episode 11: His Butler, However You Please

Elizabeth Midford is a noblewoman who attended the Queen’s Birthday party with Paula. Her husband died on the battlefield, leaving her with only an infant son. She was seen in the episode “A Bard’s Song” on Sebastian’s list of nobles who have been kidnapped and used as sacrifices to summon the Queen of Mirrors. She was also seen in the episode “Mad Tea Party” at a tea party hosted for the Queen of Mirrors.

This is a list of known victims of the Queen of Mirrors in Kuroshitsuji II. They are all missing, as shown by Sebastian’s list (in which he has 16 people missing). Five of them have been confirmed to be dead, as shown by Sebastian’s list (in which he has 11 people dead).

The reason why this episode is a filler is because it is a flashback to the first season, which was not animated. Also, the Kuroshitsuji II Production Committee has announced that they are going to animate at least one filler episode before the end of the series. (They say that this is not a commercial decision.)

Episode 12: His Butler, Forlorn

Elizabeth’s memories are revealed: she was a young girl who had been trapped in the dollhouse by the earl. She was very lonely, and made dolls out of her own hair to have company. The dolls became alive, but they were unable to leave with Elizabeth, and were locked away when she was taken away. However, years later, the dolls escaped and came looking for Elizabeth in revenge against the earl. The earl then sealed them in a tower with Drossel as their guardian.

Drossel reveals that he has been controlling Elizabeth all along. He desires to be human again, by taking the soul of someone he loves dearly. He believes that Ciel can give him this power; therefore he has been trying to make Ciel his.

Ciel and Sebastian are locked in a room, but Sebastian manages to break the door open. However, they are faced with Drossel, who takes on a form similar to Elizabeth’s dolls. He attacks Ciel, but Sebastian protects him and is stabbed in the back with Drossel’s sword. Sebastian then uses his blood to open the door, and tells Ciel to go on ahead.

This episode is a filler episode, as it was created to expand upon Drossel’s character, and explain his motives.

Episode 16: His Butler, in an Isolated Castle 

The episode starts with Ciel and Sebastian arriving at a castle called Ludlow Castle, which Ciel has bought for 1,000 pounds. It is haunted by two ghosts, King Edward and Prince Dickie, and the former asks Sebastian to be his butler. Sebastian agrees to help King Edward get rid of the ghosts in the castle if he is elected king again. The two ghosts then disappear.

Sebastian and Ciel have dinner outside the castle with Elizabeth Midford and William T. Spears, who are surprised that Sebastian is King Edward’s butler. After dinner, they all go inside where they are greeted by a servant ghost named Mrs Eleanor Reed who shows them around the castle. She explains that it was Prince Dickie’s playhouse and that he was murdered by King Edward. The three ghosts then appear and ask Sebastian to be their butler. When Sebastian refuses, King Edward decides to perform a magic trick, which results in him turning into a spider. Sebastian decides to help them and the two ghosts return to the castle.

This episode is a filler episode that was aired to promote the upcoming movie which was released on January 21, 2010 in Japan. The plot is similar to episode 14, but there are some differences.