Warning: The following contains spoilers for Black Butler seasons 1 and 2
The first season of Black Butler was self-contained, tying up every loose end and giving the two main characters what they wanted in a satisfying finale. Unfortunately, with the show's sudden popularity, it was decided that the series would have a sequel, which threw away everything from the season one ending by adding another demon butler and young boy, who acted as parodies of Sebastian and Ciel. Instead of creating an inferior anime-only second season, the series really should have just continued adapting the manga, as done with Book of Circus.
The second season features a spoiled young boy named Alois Trancy, heir to the Trancy earldom, and his mysterious butler, Claude Faustus. Where the first season ends with Sebastian, presumably, eating Ciel's soul and completing his contract, the new season happens as a result of Claude stealing Ciel's soul before Sebastian has the chance to eat it, thus starting a fight for Ciel's soul.
Where did it go wrong?
After building up the characters of Sebastian and Ciel over an entire 24 episode season, fans came to love and cheer for them, but unfortunately, these new characters are not so lovable, and yet are often found in the spotlight. Ciel is smart and cunning, a conflicted anti-hero on his quest for retribution while Alois is a spoiled, obnoxious child who loves to cruelly bully his maid, Hannah. Despite Ciel's methods, there is a level of understanding as the audience recognizes his anger through pain and trauma, seeking out vengeance, but leaving innocent people alone. On the other hand, Alois does cruel things for no reason other than shock value and to mark him as the season's antagonist. In regards to their demon butlers, Sebastian is charming, yet intimidating whereas Claude lacks the same charm and appears much more stoic. In comparison, these new characters lack the same depth and weren't nearly as entertaining to watch as Sebastian and Ciel. While the established characters did make a return, all of their character development was botched for the sake of continuing what felt like someone else's story.
While the first season played out a mystery by subtly leaving clues for the audience to pick up on, eventually weaving all the pieces into a complete puzzle, the second season was anything but subtle, putting exposition before all else. But this lack of subtlety also applies to the supernatural elements. In season one, Sebastian is discreet in his work as knowledge of demons and the supernatural is not common, creating an epic secrecy as these events happen in the shadows. However, in season two, these elements are out in the open where any regular civilian could stumble upon them at any moment, leaving one to wonder how no one's accidentally discovered the existence of these demon butlers.
In the end, the explanation as to why Ciel's soul was stolen is that Sebastian was accused of causing a series of events that led to the destruction of Alois's village and his younger brother's death. However, later it is revealed that Sebastian had nothing to do with it and Hannah was the real culprit, making viewers ponder what the point of this season was except to haphazardly bring Sebastian and Ciel back to secure viewership. While the ending to the first season was solid and gave a satisfying conclusion, the ending to the second season seemed tragic and was anything but satisfying, leaving many fans confused and disappointed.
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Instead of making an anime-only season to appease fans, it would've made more sense to adapt arcs in the manga to remain character consistent and to give manga readers what they had been asking for. An anime that successfully did this was Fullmetal Alchemist, which created a brand new adaptation, closely following the original source material after the manga's end with Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Luckily this was done with the third season of Black Butler with Book of Circus, which takes place in the middle of season one.
Book of Circus is a new arc taking place right after Season 1, Episode 15, where the anime had originally strayed away from the manga. Afterwards, there are 2 OVAs titled Book of Murder that is a direct continuation as it adapts the next arc. Finally, the movie, Book of Atlantic, occurs next. To clarify, the order to follow is Book of Circus, Book of Murder and then Book of Atlantic, all adapting arcs from the manga and taking place within the confines of season 1. This anthology has been a far better way to continue the story by building upon the story and character development of beloved characters.
The second season felt inferior to the first, and even more so to every continuation of Black Butler that has followed the manga by doing nothing except cancelling out everything that the first season built up to. While the series did somewhat redeem itself by adapting the next few arcs of the manga, adding a third season, two OVAs and a movie can quickly cause confusion. Despite there being some successful anime-only content, Black Butler is proof that if a studio is going to adapt a manga, they should probably stick to the source material.
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