Also known as Seraph of the End and Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign, it is based on the most recent manga of the same name and it is written by Takaya Kagami (A Dark Rabbit Has Seven Lives, The Legend of Legendary Heroes) and illustrated by Yamato Yamamoto (Kure-nai). It is brought to life with the help of Wit Studios, the same animation studios that brought you one of the most high-grossing anime shows of 2013, Attack on Titan. The manga and the anime itself came at the same time, so it is safe to say that we will be expecting more from this show considering the buzz it has created. There is also an ongoing Light novel for this explaining the story of one of the major characters. The anime is also split into two parts during the year. First focuses on a battle in Shinjuku and the second half is called Battle in Nagoya, and as the name implies, the story takes a dark turn during a mission in Nagoya.
Plot
Okay now let me break it down for you; An apocalypse occurred in Japan and it killed almost the entire population. The survivors are children, random demonic creatures, and the worst...vampires. The vampires take over everything, taking advantage of the calamity by offering protection for the humans in exchange for their blood. Now this starts a tyrannical rule amongst vampires and the people are now treated like food or "livestocks". Mikaela and Yuuichiro, the captives taken to the Vampire Kingdom, dream of a life of their own away from vampires. They attempt to go after that goal, but it failed terribly and this left Yuuichiro as the only survivor. Before he can grieve, he learns that not all the humans are dead and there is Japanese Imperial Demon Army and the Moon Demon Company, and their only purpose is to exterminate all vampires. Yuuichiro joins them to avenge Mikaela and his orphan family. But little did he know the Mikaela actually survived and become one of the vampires (photo: taringa.net)
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| Aniwallpapers |
Personally, I liked this anime a lot. The story started right off the bat and the pacing was done okay. Like most Shounen Anime, this one also had a main feature. If Naruto had Chakra and the Attack on Titan had a lot of swinging action, Owari No Seraph had the Black Demon Series. They are weapons possessed by demons. In order to get one, you have to undergo this ceremony wherein you form a contract with a demon and a mundane weapon. The catch is that you can't be pure, weak-willed, nor too aggressive, otherwise the demon will possess you and you are officially done for and I thought that concept was great. It involved a man vs. self struggle that was intense. Other than that, the development of the weapons are amazing because there is a lot of things you can do with the Black Demon Series, and the history of these weapons was just as enticing to watch.
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Another thing I liked about this anime was the tension between the humans and the vampires. Owari No Seraph makes one thing clear; the vampires are crafty creatures. They used a lot of manipulation in order to build the world that they already had, and the way they treat humans was just unpleasant. There is no in-betweeners in the realm of vampires and I was actually ok with it. However the humans are not the polar opposites of the vampires. Rather, they are just as vile and mean. Yes, there are some gray areas in the human civilization but the humans have shown a cruel side and I found that very interesting. The story technically shows us a possibility of what can happen to a modern human race if they grow too desperate. In this case, they've constantly tried to step up their game to beat vampires to the point they started to think very highly of themselves and this is what we see through the eyes of the main characters. So yeah, this anime starts making you thinkwhich one is good or bad and the anime ends without answering the question just yet. Owari No Seraph also has many Bible references and they were tailored-fit into this dark fantasy. The mystery of what Owari No Seraph is just mind-boggling because it is constantly hinted in a couple of episodes. I like that in an anime, but my only nitpick for the anime is that it overused the mystery element just a bit. There were many questions asked in the storyline to the point your mind is overwhelmed with everything that was happening. Who is the spy? Why are they doing this? What does this vampire want? What does this human want? Why did this have to happen? Mostly you will be asking yourself a lot of "why" questions whilst watching it. I have to admit, I got a bit lost so I kinda needed google as my guide to keep up with the mysterious events occurring. I am aware that some questions were answered and that it is hinted for another season, but I thought the anime became too puzzling for its own good. But if you can keep up with things like that, then this anime wouldn't be a huge problem for you. Unfortunately, there were some scenes in the story that didn't really convinced me. Some ex-machina moments at the near end came off pretty absurd and it made me scratch my head a bit because I thought they could've done a better job in giving the anime a stronger finish.
Characters
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| Top (L-R): Shinoa Hiragi, Kureto Hiragi, Ferid Bathory,Crowley Eusford, Crowley's Minions, Krul Tepes Left side: Yuuichiro Hyakuya; Right Side: Mikaela Hyakuya Bottom (Top to bottom): Narumi Makoto, Shinya Hiragi, Guren Ichinose (Pixpix) |
I like the characters, really. First I'd like to point out that the villains in this anime did their jobs as villains. It's either they're natural villains or they eventually turned into one, and yes you will wonder who is really good or bad in this show.
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| Yuuichiro (Youtube) |
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| Mikaela (Tumblr) |
Yuuichiro for me was a very good protagonist. He does have certain traits that you would normally find in a Shounen protagonist, however his maturity was quite solid. He started out as this boy who refused to open up to everyone because he was traumatized by what has happened in his past. He wanted to work and achieve his goals, alone. But he realizes that is not the case and as he opened up his heart again, he gradually blossoms and becomes a changed person. He's still the same but not quite. Mikaela also was a great character and his relationship with Yuuichiro was very heartfelt and you would end up feeling sorry for these guys. Mikaela also has a man vs. self conflict in this anime, due to the fact that he has become a vampire. However, his problems in the story are quite new to me. Like, I've never encountered his vampire problem in a vampire story before, so I became curious with how he was going to deal with this.
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| Guren (faevorite.wordpress.com) |
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| Krul Tepes (Youtube) |
Guren Ichinose was also a very good anti-hero and he is actually the protagonist of the light novels for this series, which talks about the events prior to the Apocalypse. I really like the mystery that enveloped around him and I felt whacked in the head the moment I found out what he actually was. In short, he stood out to me because everything he did in show was very questionable but then he starts to make sense as the series progresses. Krul Tepes, who is known as the Vampire Queen in this show, was the biggest disappointment in my opinion. She is revered as this mighty figure of leadership and power, but she didn't live up to that expectation in this anime.
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| Shinoa Hiragi Squad (L-R): Shiho Kimizuki, Shinoa Hiragi, Yoichi Saotome, Yuuichiro Hyakuya, Mitsuba Sangu (Pinterest) |
Then we have the squads. The Moon Demon Company has a vampire extermination unit and they come in teams. We get a glimpse of other teams like Guren's and they look really awesome. But I was actually invested in the Shinoa Hiragi squad, the squad Yuuichiro was in, during the first half of the anime. Shinoa, the leader of the team, was okay but she was not as impressive for a female lead. I liked her backstory, as well as the challenges she faces as a leader. I thought they were appropriate and sensible for her stature, and I wish I saw more of it in the anime. The members had their own interesting story arcs and I liked how they were slowly fleshed out. That is, until the end of the first half. The Battle of Nagoya, unfortunately, didn't continue it that much. All you get to see is them struggle in teamwork, but that was glossed over due to the other plot twists bombarding the storyline. Because of that, I lost a bit of interest in them when it came to the second half. It was like they became part of the white noise in the background because they suddenly didn't matter that much, and it was a shame in my case because I really liked them and I kinda wanted more development from these guys. I am really hoping they will be able to do so in the future, because these characters had so much potential waiting to burst.
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| Narumi Squad (L-R): Yayoi Endo, Rika Inoue, Makoto Narumi, Taro Kagiyama, Shusaku Iwasaki (Pinterest) |
Also there was another team in the Battle of Nagoya, but to me they were the biggest question mark in the entire anime. I had no idea what they were doing there. They were like mere pawns sacrificed for a plot device waiting to happen and it didn't work because I didn't know these guys very well. So there were scenes that were not as heavy as I hoped them to be. Basically, I thought the introduction to these guys were not that necessary. I thought their screen time were perfect opportunities for a bit of character development for other important characters.
Music
The score for this show was more emotion-driven to me, rather than adrenaline-driven. I thought some of their songs were not as memorable, but Hiroyuki Sawano (Attack on Titan, Aldnoah.Zero, Kill La Kill, Guilty Crown) created some of the music that I particularly liked in this anime. My favorite was entitled scaPEGoat and it was the first ending theme for the first half. It suited the theme of the show very much and it was also very emotional in a way.
Art
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| ganbareanime.com |
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| ontheedgeofawhim.wordpress.com |
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| owarinoseraph.wikia.com |
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The art is fantastic. There were details glossed over, but what stood out the most to me where the details of their facial expressions. The looks on their faces are raw and genuine, and it makes the story twice as heavy. Also, there are uniform and weapon designs and they are awe-some and drawn into intricate details. I also like the look of the Four Horsemen of John, which are the random creatures lurking in Japan. The action scenes were pretty okay, some obviously cut to the part where you figure out who got hit which is a pretty lazy form of art you see in action. But there were some really great fight scenes that you can still see.
The anime is actually really good and it has a conflict that you will get easily invested in. I just think there were certain parts that were looked over and I think should have had much more details. And if they are making another part--and I sincerely hope they do--I hope we get more explanations as well as more improvement in the characters. Do I recommend this anime? Yes. The premise of the story will easily draw you and the animation is just as good. So I am giving this anime three out of five eggs.
It's a scrambled, due to the overwhelming mysteries--which I think will mentally challenge you, and the abandonment in character development in the second half. But if you have no issues with that, then you will immensely enjoy this anime because it has many great parts too.
And that is it for the first anime review of the year! I hope you all enjoyed your holidays and are ready to go back to reality (because I'm not hahaha). Till the next post~
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