Black Butler (redux)

"Wait, didn't you already do a post about Black Butler?" Yes! Yes I did, way the heck back in April. But that was before I watched the anime, so I was unaware that the series took the plot and chucked it out the window after it wrapped up the Jack the Ripper arc. I haven't seen part two of the first series yet, but it looks like it got back on track there, with the arrival of Agni and Prince Soma.

"Alright, so is it better or worse than the manga?"

That...is a complicated question.

On the one hand, the anime introduced a demon dog who turns human during two episodes of what I would call some pretty bad filler, except I watched Naruto during that ghastly stretch of time after the anime completed the Valley of the End arc but before the timeskip and Shippuden began. And also, to be fair, you probably shouldn't call something filler if an effort is made to tie it in to the larger storyline.

That episode with the camera, though? Filler.

However! The anime has also done some really nice things with character development. Especially with Elizabeth and Aberline; I was really pleased with how Elizabeth's character was fleshed out, compared to (what I've read so far of) the manga. And the dub is really spot on with the voice acting and the accents. (Good voice acting is still always a wonderment to me, because my introduction to anime was Yu-Gi-Oh! and the less said about the first--and thankfully brief--voice actor for Tristan, the better.) Plus, there's more Grell. Can't really complain about that.

So I don't think there's really a way to judge "better or worse" when it comes to comparing the anime to the manga. Different, yes! It is definitely different. But this may be the case of another FMA situation, where you basically accept that there are two (or more) versions of the same story (especially with the second series rebooting itself some), and that's that. If you're a fanfic writer, it certainly ups the AU opportunities.