First Impressions – Diabolik Lovers

Diabolik

Now for a rather… different otome game turned anime.

The first anime of the fall season is here! …I guess all of the other bloggers were scared off by this. xD Actually, I’m a bit afraid that blogging this will show just how horrible of a person I am, but oh well. Here we go.

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First of all, let’s not sugar coat things. Diabolik Lovers certainly isn’t a fluffy, feel good romance anime. From what I’ve gotten out of the game, this isn’t about Yui living with these guys, ~true love~ helping solve their psychological problems and the messed up characters becoming better people in return. This is Yui living with 6 guys who all use and abuse her whenever and however they feel like, and Yui finding her own place in all of this (aka getting pushed to the point where she just doesn’t care how abnormal some of the romance is). The guys do all slowly get unhealthily attached to her, but that’s not necessarily a good thing because then they get possessive and violent. Yes, the game had some guro scenes to it. Yes, there were rape (ish) scenes. I’m not even convinced that some some of the characters even necessarily ‘love’ Yui or give a damn about her well being (again, it seems to be about possession). And as you saw, there’s not really an escape for her. She just has to learn to deal with it.

There is romance, but this is definitely a dark, twisted romance. The brothers don’t really change on the inside, but I guess they get… nicer(?) as Yui becomes more obedient(?) I don’t know how to put it. But as you could see from the episode, these brothers are in absolutely no way “good people”. If you’re tired of vampires being portrayed in the media as majestic beings who are just misunderstood, then this show will give a different perspective on that. No, there isn’t a good lesson anywhere in this franchise, but it’s interesting.

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Yep. You’re screwed, Yui.

As for the characters themselves, we have the flirty sadist, the angry sadist, the kichiku megane sadist… Er, I’m joking here (kind of), but the common trait all of the characters share is that they’re all sadists. They’re also all brothers, and they all have major issues for one reason or another (mostly because their parents are also terrible people, not that it really justifies all of their er, quirks). Ayato (the guy who calls Yui “chichinashi”), Kanato (the one with the teddy bear who looks like he doesn’t get much sleep) and Laito (the guy who calls Yui “bitch-chan”) are triplets from the same mother, Shu (the lazy one) and Reiji (the one with glasses) are from a different mother and Subaru (the one with anger problems) is from yet another mother. …Yeah, their father was kind of a manwhore, but he’s a powerful vampire manwhore, so what can you do. I’m sure the series will go into that.

Yui’s actually a pretty good heroine and as you saw from the episode, she actually has normal, human reactions to a bunch of guys basically assaulting her. For the sake of the plot, she has to become more of a masochist (or like I said earlier, stop caring about conventional relationships), but she’s definitely pretty strong. I’m also very pleased at the fact that she actually has a name, unlike what happened with Ema in Brothers Conflict. Imagine if they only went with her nicknames. We’d be stuck with Bitch-chan and Chichinashi. …Though I don’t know about the subs I watched. Ayato calling Yui “pancake” was so much… kinder than my translation for “chichinashi”.

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Now the game is basically set up where there are just S&M events between the Yui and a chosen character (unless you’re in the one character’s route where all of the plot seems to have been added in gradually as opposed to shoved in as last minute exposition like most of the others), with nothing really connecting them in between, so I’m curious as to how this show is going to pretend that it has a plot. Or more like, the game didn’t really have a plot, so I’m curious as if they’re going to ignore trying to have one entirely (minus the one unavoidable part of the story as to why Yui’s there), or if they’ll work one in subtly like they did this first episode. Otherwise though, I liked the art style they had here and Yui’s seiyuu (Suegara Rie; this is her first role and she was brilliant) fit my image of her character perfectly. The mood they had was great too, like when Yui was running down the halls trying to escape.

Er, I guess the appeal of this series for me isn’t swooning over abusive relationships and going “Kyaa~ I wish my boyfriend would cut me~”, but more of a “Pffftahahaha he’s stabbing her with a fork! Good luck with that, Yui.” To be perfectly honest, I’m enjoying the game mostly because I find it rather funny. …And then the rest of it is because of the combination of awesome acting and the dummy mic (Kaji Yuuki is absolutely brilliant. I thought he screamed a lot as Eren, but this is an entirely different level of rage). It doesn’t help that the game likes to take things to ridiculous extremes either. It’s hard to give examples without spoiling things that I’m pretty sure the anime will cover later, but terrible things pile up to the point where it just gets laughable. If a character has a trait that’s screwed up, they’re screwed up to the entire core of their being and the “plot” likes to give reminders every chance it gets. Yes, this kind of stuff is terrible in real life, but this is fiction. I guess what I’m trying to get at is that you don’t have to watch this if you’re completely appalled by it. From the looks of this first episode though, I’m definitely going to enjoy this. Let’s see how many of the events they can get away with animating~.

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Teddy understands. Right, Teddy?

About

University student and the one at Metanorn who's known for wearing glasses. Likes blood, insanity and plot twists, but also plays otome games and adores cute romance anime. It balances out... somehow.
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162 Responses to “First Impressions – Diabolik Lovers”

  1. BlackBriar says:

    I’ve been waiting for this post!

    So it’s here though it’s much sooner than I expected. Anyone who hasn’t played the game (I haven’t played it) or read the anthology manga (I did read that) expecting a flowery romance out of this will have their hopes severely shredded and incinerated. It’s anything but romantic and is practically meant for masochists (and sadists)and that was the intent behind it. This will be a social experiment for me. Here, I’ll find out if some of the girls watching are actually closet masochists. Hehehehe….

    It’s already an improvement over Amnesia for having a heroine who is nowhere near being a shy, soft spoken doormat. She’s got sass and ironically that might serve to fuel her captors more than they already are. Yui looks like she’ll keep things interesting and she’s smart for quickly catching on to what the brothers were without them having to explain (Cold skin, no pulse, glowing eyes). That’s another point that goes to her. I hear this is the first role ever for her seiyuu, Rie Suegara. She sure got a doozy for the start of her voice acting career.

    For the vampire brothers, I’m not familiar with all of their seiyuus but I did catch Yuuki Kaji’s voice immediately when his character Kanato walked in. Kaji sounds a lot younger here compared to the other roles I’ve known him to play, an almost sickly voice to be more specific. I can already see Laito is going to be on the hated list since I saw comments bashing him for calling Yui “Bitch-chan” (“Little Bitch” depending on what subs you’re watching the episode with).

    The art and color are well done. There’s a lot of detail put into this, not only on the character’s behalf but the scenery as well. Mainly the outside and inside of the mansion and the surrounding area. It does a good job of giving the feel that you’re now cut off from the rest of world and that is ideal for Yui’s state of despair and creates some suspense.

    • Karakuri says:

      Sorry for the delay! I was helping organize Kyo’s birthday post~.

      This definitely seems like a more niche series (as if otome games weren’t a niche already). …A niche series that’s pretty popular for some reason. Though it does have some rather nice production behind it (aka the dummy head mic recordings, which make it sound like the character is right beside you or wherever), so maybe that’s part of it. I know that that’s a big part of it for me.

      I rather like Yui and look forward to seeing if she changes or not. …Since some of the endings where she ‘breaks’ are pretty funny. …That sounds terrible, but I just played an ending where she goes on a yandere-ish rampage and kills all of the siblings (except for one) to prove her love. She decided to do this all by herself too, it was really entertaining. xD I don’t think I’m spoiling anything, since I doubt they’ll use this ending.

      Kanato’s the only brother who’s route/endings I’ve actually fully completed, so I’m a bit more educated on what kind of person he is as opposed to the others. But yeah, I learned a lot of things about Kaji’s voice through DiaLovers. I had no idea that he had this kind of acting in him. I actually quite like Laito. Er, so far that is. I’m on his route next and things went pretty S pretty fast (though he also seems to have some weird masochist side where he’s like “YES! YELL AT ME! GET ANGRY~!“). …I actually find Yui’s nicknames to be rather amusing, personally. She just kind of seems to accept them. xD

      …Sometimes the character’s hair looks weirdly puffy (well, mostly Subaru and Kanato), but that’s my only complaint. Hopefully production stays at this level~

    • Irenesharda says:

      How the heck can Yuki Kaji sound younger here as an immortal vampire than he did as a ten year-old boy in Brothers Conflict, and a 13 year-old psychopath in Valvrave?

      But yeah, unfortunately you’re on your own with this one fellow vampiro aficionado. 😉

      Weirdly enough, Amnesia is actually my favorite of this year’s otome game adaptations. Despite the fact that it has the worst heroine of them all, it had a very interesting premise with the whole time and dimension travel thing that intrigued me more than anything in BroCon or this filth. Also, Ukyo is still my favorite guy from any of the three series and he has a split personality that’s a murdering sociopath! And YET! He is 100 times a better character than any of the guys in Diabolik.

    • Namika says:

      Yuki Kaji sounded amazing. It was almost weird hearing him as a messed up shota kind of a character after getting used to Eren.

  2. BlackBriar says:

    The part with the most tension in my opinion was when about half of them were going to move in on Yui to bite her. That moment, I thought they were going to drink her dry right there. It reminded of that scene in the ninth episode of Shiki where that old lady was bitten multiple times and drained of blood right outside of Toshio’s clinic.

    The series is off to a controversial start but I’m going to watch this anyway for obvious reasons and I already know what I’m getting into. The trouble is approximately 15 minutes per episode doesn’t feel like it’ll get everything covered. A standard episode for any series is usually between 22 and 24 minutes maximum.

    Right now, my interests lie with finding out how the diary of Yui’s now revealed adopted father got in that house in the first place and who was that woman standing outside on the other side of the door that made Yui fall to her knees in a trance-like state the minute she was seen. I can only see two possible outcomes for the poor girl: She either ends up dead from blood loss from what the Sakamaki brothers are going to put her through or she becomes a vampire herself. One of them did say she was meant to be someone’s bride.

    • zztop says:

      So ALL the eps are 15 mins each right?
      Probably for the best, since 30 mins of this would probably count as a war crime :p

      Shame about the content, since the character designs are very nice.

      Does the source game ever elaborate on why the girl had to go to the house in the 1st place?

      • Japaninspired says:

        Was is 15 mins? Really? I didn’t even notice. And I was thinking that the episode was kind of short.

        I love the character design too^^

        Yup, the game does cover why Yui came to this place, but I think the anime will cover that, so you’ll have to wait.
        Unless you want me to spoil it for you.

        • BlackBriar says:

          Don’t you dare spoil anything. I’ve had it rough seeing Danganronpa spoilers whenever I comb through MAL and try to avoid it. And this show has vampires, meaning a lot of biting so they’ll be no leniency. 😉

        • zztop says:

          In that case, just spoil it for me some where round the 11-12th episode. 🙂

      • BlackBriar says:

        I’ve never played the game but what I got from the episode is that Yui was brought to that house to be a vampire’s bride. And if she’s betrothed to one of these guys, it’s pure misfortune.

    • Karakuri says:

      I never read the manga and don’t know how closely they’re going to follow it, so I’m curious who’s going to get Yui’s blood first. I imagine it will be Ayato, but who knows. The brothers don’t seem overly put off by 3somes (er, well, from my knowledge, 2 of them don’t), but that might change once they get more attached.

      …I don’t think there will be much to cover in the first place, to be honest. Like I said, this game has next to no plot. The only thing they really need to cover until the end is just how the brothers all act around Yui.

      Oh, I am so looking forward to seeing more of that mysterious other woman, you have no idea. She’s probably my favourite character out of this entire thing (…which will seem rather weird when we get to that, but the bottom line is that she’s just as messed up as the Sasamaki brothers). Her character is an endless source of entertainment. Oh, BB, there are so many other ways Yui could die other than blood loss! There’s suicide, she could be stuffed and turned into a doll… and then of course, there’s the plot related reason…

      • d-LaN says:

        she could be stuffed and turned into a doll…

        …..Let’s just hope the anime don’t go that far. Sounds like AMNESIA CAGE bad end but even worse >_<

        • Karakuri says:

          Oh please, the Amnesia cage is child’s play compared to this series. Though seeing how you read summaries, you probably already know that. xD

          • d-LaN says:

            I rage quit after reading Kanato route (WTF KANATO/YUI) and I also rage quit less than halfway reading another (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ filled review so I only remember some detail from Kanato route.

      • Namika says:

        Hmmmm. Let me guess – Kanato and Raito?? 😀

        As you said that that woman is your favorite character and that she’s just as messed up, I suddenly remembered Genocider 😀 Any similarity??

        • Karakuri says:

          Laito and Ayato don’t seem to mind tag teams xD

          But, uh, yeah. She’s absolutely terrible (maybe even more than some of the brothers), but her character is really entertaining for me. I’m sure everyone will be going “What the hell is wrong with this show?!?” even more so than they are now when they cover some of the past. …If they decide to include that. If not, I’ll bring it up.

    • Namika says:

      And how about that huge lock on the door of that room conveniently breaking in half? That was quite weird.

      • BlackBriar says:

        Yeah, I forgot to mention that. Someone wanted her to know something. It was a lot weirder having her father’s diary in that room when Yui’s never set foot in that house until now.

        • Namika says:

          It was probably that woman she saw on the balcony. Plot twist: that was her mother! *~* And she’s actually the daughter of that super strong badass manwhore vampire. *~*

          • Karakuri says:

            Ah, close but not really on the mother part. She’s definitely someone’s mother, but not Yui’s.

          • Japaninspired says:

            You’re pretty close. But thats not Yui’s mother.

          • Namika says:

            Well, if that really was her mother that would be quite stupid 😀

            • Japaninspired says:

              No, that would be really clever, because nobody would have guessed that. They would have thought that it’s stupid and started searching for a better theory 😀

            • Namika says:

              Still, it would be too Argentinian tv series.

      • Karakuri says:

        … That was plot convenience at it’s finest.

  3. Highway says:

    I watched this first episode, and I’m out. *mic drop*

    Really tho, finding out information about this, it doesn’t really get less rapey, it doesn’t get less power imbalance-y, so it’s just not for me. Hope you guys enjoy it. 🙂

    • Karakuri says:

      I imagine this will be the reaction from a lot of people. xD I’m definitely going to have fun with this though~

      • Japaninspired says:

        Karakuri-san, what subs did you watch with? “Pancake” is such a hilarious translation of chichinashi aka flat-chested, I want to see it with my own eyes xD

      • d-LaN says:

        Judging by my forum experience, yeah.

        We have 3 party:

        1) Screw the entire thing! (majority of the faction)
        2) Screw the vampires! (posters that are not in the 1st faction)
        3) Screw the heroine! (smallest faction)

      • BlackBriar says:

        The negative reactions to this were expected. It’s not exactly the average person’s cup of tea so it can’t be help but I’m pressing on to watch the series regardless. I’m curious to see how Yui manages to keep her sanity in check with her current situation. It’s like a nightmare you can’t wake up from.

      • Namika says:

        I double you at that.

    • Japaninspired says:

      Like Karakuri-san said, I’m going to enjoy it too. Too bad I didn’t have time to finish Shu’s route before the anime aired, but, oh well.

    • BlackBriar says:

      I had a feeling this series wouldn’t sit well with your tastes. It looks like only those with a strong stomach can handle the material. Not everyone can tolerate the same things though I already knew what I was getting into when I heard Diabolik Lovers was getting an anime after reading the anthology manga.

      • Highway says:

        It’s actually difficult for me to comment on this without making extremely disparaging remarks about people who seem to like this kind of thing. I find the characters and actions so despicable, and knowing that there is no reform nor redemption for anyone, just further slide into depravity, it takes effort for me to not project value judgments onto those who would enjoy it.

        I found this far worse than Btooom! and Danganronpa. So out of mind it goes (hopefully). 🙂

        • BlackBriar says:

          I’ll let you in on a little secret. It was pre-determined months ago by Karakuri and other commenters (I remember d-LaN being one of them) that I’d be watching this. Long before I even knew what Diabolik Lovers was. They were banking on something. Since when did I become the high ranking authority of vampires here that they were expecting my blessing and support? 😉

          I’m surprised you actually found this worse than BTOOOM! Danganronpa was much milder compared to the others. I was going to say that it was because of that series that I was able to watch this without much of a fuss.

          • Highway says:

            It’s far worse than Btoooooooooom! At least in that, the people who got screwed into being playthings for sick assholes were given the means to fight back. Not that that makes it “ok”, but it evens the playing field, even just a little bit. This is just out and out cruelty and sadism on the part of a whole group of rapists. Calling them ‘Vampires’ to me does nothing to mitigate the vileness.

            I made it three episodes of each of those other shows, and if there were a chance of this one actually changing tone, I might give it a chance. But everyone says what you see in the first ep is what you get, with the addition of Stockholm Syndrome to just add further WTFery.

          • Overcooled says:

            BB, I’m not sure if it’s about having a strong stomach. I have an extremely high tolerance for gore, torture, etc. but this crosses a line for me in the same way Btooom! did. Just reading Karakuri’s description of the show makes me really turned off…and even a little angry. It’s really a show all about rape and abusing an innocent girl against her consent? I can’t believe they made a game like this and targeted it for girls to get off to. Then again, take everything I say with a grain of salt because I haven’t actually seen the episode (and don’t want to!).

            • BlackBriar says:

              I can understand everything you’re saying and it’s a safe bet a lot of would agree without thinking twice. What I do is try to remain emotionally detached as much as possible, though eyebrows will surely raise at the sight of assured incoming WTF moments. Like I said above in my comment, it’s a social experiment for me. I want to know just what about this show/game draws girls in and has them raving about it despite having material most would find vile and offensive. Are some of them actually that masochistic? It sure has Karakuri and Namika on its hook.

            • Highway says:

              Well, on another board right now, someone I know is talking about dropping a Nora Roberts book for very similar reasons. Bestselling author, sold millions of ‘romance’ books, and she’s got her female character thinking “Well, I didn’t want him to, but I enjoyed it so much!” between forcible rapes. It’s STILL not ok!

              OC, I’m right with you. And you’ve got the episode pegged so well that you don’t need to see it.

            • skylion says:

              When I want to get up off the couch and punch main and supporting characters in the face, I shouldn’t watch the show. Not because they are doing things in the narrative this is griping and compelling. But because they need it, deserve it, have to have it. Punch. That was my gut reaction.

            • Japaninspired says:

              It’s not actually a “show about rape and abusing an innocent girl”.
              I think I could talk about this for a long time. And I even had a looong conversation with people about sadistic games/movies/animes/books and so on.
              To keep it short, first. All the things that are going to happen to Yui are not 100% against her will, which why I guess will be covered near to the end.

              As for sadistic content, I guess people, who learn philosophy, would understand what I’m going to say really well. It’s like a scary movie. You’re scared, but you want to watch it. A consept of good story is a story, where you are attached to the character, but emotionally understand that you’re safe, that this if fiction. You’re afraid, you don’t want to be killed/raped (whatever), but you want to see what the character will do in this situation. So at the same time you WISH that something bad will happen.

              As for sadistic otome games, I have no idea why I played it after I finished Kanato’s route XDD. Because half of it was that people kept saying that Kaji Yuuki played fantasticly in it. How, as a fan, could I miss it?

              So, most people say that sadistic characters draw them because Its something new. It’s not the real world. Or because the character atract them, not in a way like “oh, I wish my boyfriend whiped me, or drowned, or whatever”, they atract them in a way that girls want to understand them. WHY are they doing this.

              I also heard somewhere that women have this thing in them. When they see a crazy/not normal guy, they get the feeling that they can change him to the best. I have no idea if this is true. Or they feel that there’s a reason he’s like this and that they can help.

              Also heard about someone saying that (I’m going to talk about another game, for sake of being spoiler free). Like theres a character from Black Wolves Saga that whiped the heroine to teach her a lesson and after that he licked her back. So someone said that the games is atractive in a “pleasure that comes after the scary things” way.

              Also, they finally showed vampires the way they should be. I hate twilight because of the image that vampires where given. They are monsters! It’s only left to make zombies look cute and kind and vegetarian and that will kill me for sure.

              I played this game because I found it interesting. Except for Amnesia, I have never played an otome game before. It was ok, but I didn’t like that it has a lot of all those lovey dovey things (I know, wth? I was playing an Otome game and I don’t like too much romance in storys XDD)

              Some people might find this strange, crazy, bad for your mental health. But others just find something interesting in it.
              I guess It also teaches you that these things might actually happen, and people should be aware of them.
              It’s not like we’re masochists. Thought maybe 50% of people who played these games are really masochists

  4. Irenesharda says:

    This was an automatic drop for me. I got through Amnesia and Brothers Conflict, but this one is crossing the line for me. The only nice thing I can say about it is that it has nice music and atmosphere, and the MC Yui, has more character and spunk then both female protagonists of both of those previous shows combined. However, strangely, it’s the guys that put me off. I can’t stand not a one of them.

    None of them are attractive to me (their horrible clothing design and abominable personalities didn’t help), the animation seems off and cheap for some reason, and it really seems to have no actual plot to it, which is saying something, since most otome game adaptations don’t have much plot to begin with anyway.

    I’m a woman, an anime fan, and I like a good vampire story, I knew what this was going to be, but knowing and actually seeing how detestable it is, is two different things. I can’t stand this show, it really goes beyond the normal degree of sexism you see in anime and there’s only so much I can take.

    This was a big N-O for me. I give it a 1.5/10 just for the first 3 minutes which weren’t bad.

    • BlackBriar says:

      Funny. It’s going to be interesting reading your answer to this question. You called the Shiki villains despite the pretty much valid reason behind their obscure actions (To sate their hunger and increase their numbers and have a home where they can live in peace without discrimination and persecution) and said you were unsympathetic towards them for it. What’s your opinion now after seeing these 6 guys? They’re the ones who are more evil than anything else. At least the Shiki wanted people to join them to better deal with their unfortunate existence and loneliness.

      • Irenesharda says:

        There’s a big difference in genre here, which is why I can’t stand these guys and this show, and yet I can take Shiki, but I can’t stand DL. One is a horror drama, while the other is a self-insert romance. Because of that, I have different expectations of my characters. In a romance series I expected to understand the two characters and end up wanting them to be together. This requires me to LIKE these two characters at some level. I cannot do that with any of the boys in DL. They say first impressions are everything, and all of these boys blew theirs. And I will be the first to admit that I dislike them more than I disliked the Shiki.

        Part of the reason why is that this is a romance and they are expecting me to go along with this behavior, and I don’t find sexual assault and verbal abuse as remotely romantic or acceptable. And like a majority of Western culture I do place rape and sexual assault at a whole other level of depravity than I do murder. I know that shouldn’t be, and you can blame popular culture if you want, but it’s just how it is.

        Now, I’m not against showing S&M pairs in a show, as long as they present that kind of crazy relationship correctly. Great examples are the Joker and Harley, as well as Ladd and Lua from Baccano. And I can even enjoy romance between villains or villains and heroes as long as they two have chemistry and both are willing. The relationship between Claire and Chane in Baccano is my favorite in the series, and both of them are unrepentant murderers, one being a class A psychopath as well. Yet, I would rather see them together, then Yui and any of these boys.

        Now, I still don’t like the Shiki, and it’s the show’s fault for not giving me enough to like about them so that I could be more divided and sympathetic. However to compare them to these boys is like comparing apples and oranges, the shows and settings are just too different in tone. However, if I had to choose, I would chose the Shiki over these sad excuses for vampires.

  5. Japaninspired says:

    Yay, you already posted it and I only yesterday asked you about it.

    You said that having bad parents doesn’t really justify their actions? why? I know that it’s probably strange. But, say, Kanato.
    Show ▼

    I have no idea what happens in Reiji’s head or how Ayato calls him “Tableware Otaku”, because I didn’t feel sorry for him one bit.
    Ayato’s past was pretty painful, but I guess it’s not curable..

    Childhood and Teenage hood is the most important part of life for a person to actually become someone.
    Especially Teenage hood, since then a child needs someone to look up to.
    Most people with bad parents become sadists. It may be hard to understand, mut that’s how things work.

    ONE thing that I didn’t get is why Kanato, Ayato and Laito hate each other so much. That’s still a mystery to me.

    • Japaninspired says:

      NOO! WTH? MY SPOILER TAG DIDN’T WORK!!!

      • Highway says:

        You had them backwards, the / one has to close it.

        • Japaninspired says:

          Oh, I see. But I just clicked the spoiler button before and after. I don’t know why it didn’t work.

          Did you edit my comment? Thank you!!!

    • Karakuri says:

      For Kanato’s route:

      Show ▼

      As for the characters being terrible due to parenting, I can see why the parenting leads to who they became now, but I guess it’s that I just don’t feel sorry one bit for any of them. ヽ(´ー`)ノ

      I don’t think Laito and Ayato hate each other that much, considering the tag teaming they did occasionally, though I could be wrong… Kanato is off in a category all on his own though. I’m under the impression he just hates everybody.

      • Japaninspired says:

        Well, guess everybody has different opinions.
        I felt Kanato’s love for Yui, also Subaru’s, but the others (I have no idea about Shu thought) didn’t seem like they loved her. But who knows, I’m not a psychologist. xD

        Show ▼

        • Karakuri says:

          Well, it’s not like having the characters like that takes anything away from the plot for me, and it’s better than, say, Reiji’s non-existant character backstory, so I don’t mind the reasoning behind who they are in the story. It’s just that I feel little to no empathy for them all (minus Subaru and Shu, but Shu’s story is less about the parents and more about Reiji) xD

          Oh, right. I forgot about that even with Reiji. Maybe that’s just because Reiji is pretty damn frightening? Show ▼

          • Japaninspired says:

            Oh, yeah, Reiji’s route left so much things untouched. But I don’t think that would have changed my opinion of him. Shu’s route? Why do you say it’s about Reiji? Does it say why they don’t like each other so much? (I have no idea what happens in him route, I want to play it without spoilers).

            Show ▼

            By the way, I think I never said this. Probably the most hilarious thing I find about Kanato is that he adresses Yui as “Yui-san”, talks politely and all. So you kind of think that he respects his pray. lol

          • Namika says:

            So much spoiler taaaaags~
            MUST
            RESIST

  6. d-LaN says:

    Yay its up! I’ve been waiting for this post!

    ……Odd. I remember when I first read the route summaries/playthrough I am way more shocked/NOPE by it. The 1st episode is bearable now.

    Yui is the best otoge anime heroine I have seen so far. I actually cheered when she tries to run away. Too bad she is doomed the moment the door closed by itself. Thanks a bunch, Yui dad who abandoned her to the vampires! (This is my impression on how she is here)

    Screw the vampires that is not Glasses or Lazy one. At least these two don’t try to sucked Yui blood the moment they set their eye on her. (But I know they will turn out to be giant a-holes in the end anyway T_T) I actually liked Laito (the one with the hat, right?) design but that alone can’t make me like him.

    And I KNEW I heard Yuuki Kaji in Kanato. That Q-vier voice incredibly noticeable.

    Looks like I will be following this despite

    • d-LaN says:

      Derp.

      *despite the sadist vampires. Just hope that I can live through the WTF parts.

    • BlackBriar says:

      Screw the vampires that is not Glasses or Lazy one. At least these two didn’t try to suck Yui’s blood the moment they set their eyes on her.

      Hahaha!!! I’m going to play the devil’s advocate a bit here. They’re just following their natural instincts. They’re vampires, after all and humans are their natural food source. A defenseless human girl suddenly walks in with incredibly sweet smelling blood so you can’t really blame them for wanting a taste of her. It would have been a lot worse if they were starving before Yui arrived.

      • d-LaN says:

        Well I guess you can say it make sense in context. Thay are still a bunch of horrible person though.

        • BlackBriar says:

          They’d be horrible people, vampires or not if they continue with the attitudes they currently have.

    • Karakuri says:

      Well, so far this is way lighter than the game, so maybe it’s just that we’re not in the NOPE territory yet. xD

      …Yeah, I’ve always seen Yui’s dad as basically abandoning her. You can joke that this happens with pretty much every other otome game heroine, but this case is way more awful. Juuza Engi, which should be getting an adaptation, if I remember correctly, should have a stronger heroine than this (well, I can’t imagine otherwise, since Kanu is supposed to be the absolute best fighter of her race.) …that one should be less like this and more like Hakuouki or Hiiro no Kakera or something.

      As far as my knowledge goes, it’s the angry one who seems to least detestable when it comes to Yui. I have yet to do the route though, so I could be wrong.

      • Highway says:

        Yeah, someone on CR commented that “Wow, they made this a lot less like a doujinshi than the game”. And other people were like “Less? LESS?”

        • Karakuri says:

          Yeah, to be perfectly honest, this game/series reminds me a lot of R-18s as opposed to other otome games (Ijiwaru my Rapist? …yeah). Only, the difference here is that it only hints at R-18 stuff and this has no illusions that these characters are all secretly nice and misunderstood.

          • d-LaN says:

            Ijiwaru my Rapist lolololol

            Say, did you made any progress with that game since your review about it? I’m kinda curious on what other rapists routes are like.

            • Karakuri says:

              Uh, I did a bit of Evans (the scientist’s assistant)’s route before my computer died. His character is about as consistent as the others, which is to say, it’s not consistent at all. One minute he’s “I admire the professor more than anyone!” and the next he’s “Hey, let’s murder the professor for no real reason.”

              The only thing I can really remember from that route at the moment is that they randomly have sex on the professor’s desk to “show that they’re in a relationship” while Delta (the professor) just watches like “(¬_¬) well, this is awkward” lololol

        • d-LaN says:

          Well, you can say this is a cleaned up doujinshi….

  7. BlackBriar says:

    The first anime of the fall season is here! …I guess all of the other bloggers were scared off by this. xD Actually, I’m a bit afraid that blogging this will show just how horrible of a person I am, but oh well. Here we go.

    Fortune favors the bold, Karakuri. Don’t let it bother you. Besides, you’re the only one I know other than Overcooled who likes to watch blood and characters suffer so this is a perfect fit for you since it’s based on an otome game. You have my total support. 😀

    • Karakuri says:

      I do enjoy characters suffering… I don’t know, I guess I’m just incredibly hard to offend with this kind of stuff as opposed to everyone else (as you can tell).

  8. Namika says:

    I loved this to bits and pieces. After watching Amnesia and Brothers conflict, plus several other fluffy shows like Uta-Pri this just hit the spot. I feel like there’s not enough dark animes in my life.

    The setting, the atmosphere and the art was so beautifuuuul~ And the music too… I’m fangirling~ <3 And for an otome adaptation, the heroine really seems to have a norml personality, which is splendid. It should make out for all the Ema rage. Though "bitch-chan" was such a terrible choice for a mocking nickname -_- Chichinashi also means no boobs, right? So that's okay, but Bitch-chan? -_- That made me cringe. Plus, I watched it with Russian subs, and the awkwardness of that nickname increased tenfold when translated to Russian. It just sounded too ridiculous.

    Yui's seiyuu sounded amazing. Period.

    But why only 15 minutes??? T^T uuuuu~

    • BlackBriar says:

      I feel like there’s not enough dark animes in my life.

      Are you sure your title shouldn’t be “Metanorn’s Dark Princess”?

    • Japaninspired says:

      I’m glad to hear that you liked it. Looks like almost everyone here hates it already.
      It’s sad. Even thought it’s sadistic, it’s not that bad.

      Yup, chichinashi is what you said. Or flat-chested.

      Russian subs?? Russian? You speak Russian?! You’re English is perfect, I would have never thought. И как они перевели ее кличку на русский? Мне кроме “Сучка”, ничего на ум не приходит.

      I just loved Yui’s Seiyuu, she sounded just like she should. A nice voice, but not too “cute”.

      I didn’t even notice that it was only 15 mins. I was thinking it was just me. I wonder why it’s so short.

      • Namika says:

        Yeah. Quite a lot of people seem to hate this anime already. Well, that’s not hard to be, but still.

        Come on, it’s really not that perfect. But still, thanks ^_^ и ты тоже знаешь Русский? Вроде не гугловский ломанный перевод ^^” Приятно как-то стало 🙂

        Yup. Perfectly natural.

        When I turned on the video and saw that it was only 15 minutes, I started searching for part 2 and, obviously, didn’t find it 😀

        • Japaninspired says:

          It’s just sad that most of these people don’t know the game at all. Oh well.

          Well, most people that I know that speak english usually use the same words and short phrases or make the same mistakes. So it’s usually easy to see if it’s a persons mother tongue or not. But I didn’t even get the thought that you might be using it as a 2nd language. I can speak english really easily, but my writing is not that good xP

          Да, у меня 2 родных языка, и русский как раз второй. Или скорее первый, потому-что я им чаще пользуюсь и английский потиху забываю. А можно поинтересоваться откуда вы?

          I was thinking that it was like a pilot episode. Kokoro Connect had a pilot episode and it was about 7 minutes(I think) or something. But if all the episodes will be 15 minutes, that’s a bit sad.

          • Namika says:

            All of them will be 15 minutes, as far as I know.

            А так, я из Грузии, наполовину грузинка, наполовину Русская. Вот так вот ^^ да и про вас никак не смогла бы подумать! Не представляла что встречу здесь Русскоязычного человека. Даже приятно немного стало.

            And just in case anyone got interested in what the hell I wrote there, yeah right Japaninsppired asked me where I’m from, and I said, that I’m from Georgia, half Georgian, half Russian, so that’s how I know the language.

            • Karakuri says:

              Oh good, that saves me the trouble of throwing that in a translator. I was curious. xD

            • Japaninspired says:

              15 minutes? That so short. And with all that only 12 episodes. They’ll cut out ….about 60 minutes? 0_0 or is my brain not working this morning?…12 episodes – 5 mins each…

              Как-то даже грустно стало, так далеко. Очень редко могу найти человека, разговаривающего на русском, с которым интересно поговорить об аниме. А я из Беларуси, но детство провела в Канаде, так что тогда знала английский лучше чем русский. До сих пор на английском как-то легче общаться.
              Приятно с вами познакомиться.

            • Namika says:

              Karakuri – good thing I did it then ^^

              Я иногда очень путаюсь с языками, бывает когда говоря по-русски я забываю слова и приходится говорить их по-грузински, или по-английски 😀 слава богу что мои друзья тоже на всех трёх говорят.
              Приятно познакомиться ^^

        • Japaninspired says:

          Я тоже иногда путаю слова. Или забываю, и думаю “ну как же оно на русском!? Крутится на языке”. Забавно, что в последнее время я даже на японском эти слова знаю, а на русском забываю. Как повезло вам с друзьями. Мои даже английского толком не знают, эх. xD

          Можно ли узнать, вы не зарегестрированы ли на каких-нибудь еще сайтах? Как DevianArt или вКонтакте может?

          • Namika says:

            да, и на девиантарте, и вконтакте, анимекуне, ютюбе… меня вообще много. 😀 Вконтакте я как и здесь, Кацураги Намика. Добавляйте! ^^

            Да, с друзьями повезло. )) И я этому очень рада.

            • Japaninspired says:

              Ахаха.
              Об Анимекуне впервые слышу. А вот Вконтакте я вас нашла, уже даже добавила.
              А на DeviantArt’e как вас найти?

              Да-а, трудно сейчас хороших людей найти. Эх.

            • Namika says:

              Puskintura. Но там я бываю очень редко. Как-то переболела уже ))

              Я тоже так думала. Пока не начала общатся с людми в универе. Там анимешников гораздо больше, чем я думала.

        • Japaninspired says:

          Я тоже на DA редко бываю, только если выложить что-то(правда из меня художник не очень -___-), или посмотреть на работы друзей (у меня друг скульптор, не профессиональный, но работы у него довольно впечатляющие).

          А я как-то наобщалась с анимешниками, и похоже с какими-то бестолковыми, так что уже стараюсь не искать. В Беларуси они слегка ненормальные, ну,или скорее, люди они не очень хорошие.
          Вообще рада с любыми людьми пообщаться, у меня знакомые совершенно разные, разные увлечения, но это не мешает общению. Лишь бы человек был приятный и не насмехался над моими увлечениями, а так я очень приветливая.

    • Karakuri says:

      …I have no idea where bitch-chan came from, but Laito’s kind of a weird character. I find it rather funny, to be honest, just because it was so uncalled for and Yui says next to nothing about it. Ever. To be really crude (and Ayato talks like this anyways), but I’ve always translated chichinashi as “no tits”. It just fits in my head with how offensive he usually is. xD

      To be honest, I didn’t even notice that this was only 15 minutes long. If this means that they can keep the quality up though, then I’m all for this.

      • Namika says:

        Well, I guess that’s both good and bad. I think the quality will definitely be consistent, but, yappari, 15 mins is just not enough.

  9. ☩Croos☩ says:

    This anime should be called DiaboLICK rather than Diablik

  10. AllenAndArth says:

    …the protagonist sucks…i don’t like her, the brothers…i only find Shuu to be cool, who in their right mind would send the daughter of a “priest” to a house full of vampires?

    • BlackBriar says:

      I can’t agree with you there, friend. Compared to the doormat of a heroine from Amnesia, Yui is an improvement a hundred times over. At least she had the nerve to fight back and not let herself get overpowered.

      • AllenAndArth says:

        I wisely decided to not see Amnesia after the first episode, so…
        and
        Still the only one i liked was Shuu, we’ll see in the next episodes if i can bring myself to like her…

    • Karakuri says:

      who in their right mind would send the daughter of a “priest” to a house full of vampires?

      …The priest/father of said daughter…?

    • Irenesharda says:

      Actually I find Yui to be the only good thing about the show (so far…). She’s not a doormat and is not just falling for these guys because they’re attractive. She is actively resisting in what way she knows how, and she’s active and decisive. However, I fear it might be too good to be true though, and that eventually, they will invoke some twisted Stockholm Syndrome where she will “discover” her inner masochist and then become a doormat for all these immortal depraved scum to wipe their feet on.

      The idea sickens me, but for right now, she’s pretty good as a female MC in one of these self-insert game animes.

      • Karakuri says:

        I like Yui too, how they develop her character though really seemed to depend on the route and ending. She can become your typical doormat, or there’s other endings it seems where she’s more proactive. …Or maybe I should say that she becomes more of an sadist (kind of) herself in a way (though these endings don’t seem to be the “good” ones and for the most part, when Yui stands up for herself, it ends in her going “zomg! What did I just say?! *torrent of apologies*).

      • AllenAndArth says:

        A masochist girl?! I think, i’m beginning to like Yui now @w@/

        • BlackBriar says:

          Hahaha!! Look at what’s turning your head and making you give a second opinion. 😉

          • AllenAndArth says:

            I like to be mean…I’m a proud S!teasing women is such a wonderful feeling *0*
            what?is it weird?good, normal is boring!
            by the way…i finally downloaded Little busters for pc!
            why does key always find a way to change a good and sappy love story in a drama that makes you want to cry! so frustranting!

    • Namika says:

      And why would you think that the protagonist sucks? She had pretty much normal reaction any normal girl would have after seeing a guy without a pulse move around and try to bite her, on top of that. Plus, considering that this is a game adaptation, the fact that she has a personality is already amazing. Add to that that her personality is quite adequate, too.

      • Japaninspired says:

        I think in a normal otome game the Heroine wouldn’t have guessed that they are vampires that quickly. It could have taken her a few bites to get to that thought xD

        I think Yui is one of the best Otome heroines there are. At least one of the most clever ones

        • AllenAndArth says:

          because normal is boring, anyway…i say that she sucks…because:
          1- She fund out that they were vampires
          2-instead of running away as soon as she can, she decided to get a cross and show to them…such cliche…
          3-if running the first time didn’t why would she continue, were’s the despair, the cries and the suicide attempt!

          So… she sucks!

          • Namika says:

            That’s not the proof that she sucks. Would you prefer her to jump at any of them (your pick) and tried to glomp them or something?

          • Japaninspired says:

            Well. First you have to admit that she is in shock. She didn’t think that vampires exist.
            One thing that bothered me in the game is that why her father didn’t…oh, almost forgot. Sorry. Spoiler.

            And if she killed herself, the story would end. You can actually put that in any horror movie. But then, the story would just end too quickly.

            And also, a lot of movies with vampires show that they are afraid of rosary’s and holy water. And this anime is a fiction too. And Kanato did say in the game that he doesn’t like that rosary because he can sence an unpleasant power from it.

            So you’re theory is kind of weak. No offence thought.

          • d-LaN says:

            =_=

            2) I think this is pretty much what most people with rosary will try 1st.

            3) So you suggest that she shouldn’t act like a normal person? And I don’t think any normal people will try suicide 1st.

        • Namika says:

          Yeah. Imagine Amnesia heroine in here. O_O

          Weeeell, I would say the same, but I haven’t watched/played a lot of them. Okay, forget that, she HAS to be one of the best.

          • AllenAndArth says:

            I won’t deny i’m a picky person when it comes to animes with female heroines…It’s purely that makes her suck in my eyes, maybe not in your eyes…and probably not in eyes of normal people, but…

            What i wanted her to do? Kick one of them in the balls and then run…or say something completely unrealistic of the situation…or say something like:
            “so i assume that you want to ravish my body and make me scream Kyah, Kyah!, isn’t that so? Too bad you’re not on that level yet ha ha ha!”

            …Maybe i played Little busters too much, Kurugaya’s character is influencing my already mean personality…
            anyway

            Just look up Clannad, Tomoyo After and Little Busters(the one i’m playing right now…even though i’m only starting the refrain now!). Somehow all of Key’s end up sad someway or another…Maeda Jun’s a great compositor for both OP and ED, these are excelent…

          • Japaninspired says:

            Haha, the Amnesia heroine would be so funny if they’d put her in this kind of situation.

            Me too, xD I only played 3 games. It’s just that when I think about all the things people usually say about the heroines in otoge, Yui is pretty non-standart.

          • d-LaN says:

            ………OH BOY she’d be instant dead meat XD

  11. berrish17 says:

    2nd PSP game…now Anime?!
    awesome!!
    A “DoS” anime lol
    Teddy+ Kaji yuuki <3

  12. AllenAndArth says:

    I wonder how vampires absorb blood through their fangs… this bears investigation…let’s kill one of those brothers so we can open them and study…i vote for the gloomy guy with the zombie look and the stuffed toy

    • BlackBriar says:

      Unless you want to be hunted down by an angry mob, I suggest choosing another vampire subject. Fangirls are particularly fond of the one with the stuffed toy.

      • d-LaN says:

        o_O Really!?

        • BlackBriar says:

          Apparently, that’s the case. I’ve been hearing about Kanato’s route in the game more than the other brothers and that he might actually have affection for Yui. In his own twisted, sadistic way.

      • Namika says:

        Well, he’s, seemingly, the most traumatized boy of them all. That’s why he’s like that. So, maternal instincts!!! 😀 And Kaji Yuki, too. I recently realized, how amazing his voice sounds. Srsly, how could I let it slip until now?

    • Irenesharda says:

      Vampires have had so many different types of fangs in popular culture, from the common piercing one that are used to simply break through the skin and drink blood orally, to even the few in Trinity Blood who don’t need to drink it at all but can absorb it into their body.

      I have read some that siphon the blood through their fangs into their body, but its not extremely common.

      Also the idea of killing them and seeing how they work reminds me of Shiki, though I would gladly give any of these boys to the good doctor.

    • d-LaN says:

      I volunteer BB (if he’s a vampire) for the test. Kanato works too.

      • BlackBriar says:

        Wow, nice one. I didn’t see that one coming. And no, I’m not one (If I was in the anime world, that would be another story). 😀 Why me, though? Is it because I easily side with vampires than humans?

    • Japaninspired says:

      Oh, they don’t. They just bite, blood comes out, they lick it.
      You want to Kill Kanato? No! He’s my favorite! xD

      • BlackBriar says:

        I agree. It’s nothing complex. They just bite down on their victim’s neck and drink the blood that drips out of the wound. How much blood would come out depends on what spot they choose to bite.

        • Japaninspired says:

          Yup. Or like some of them do, if one spot doesn’t drip anymore, they get to another spot and bite there. And so on.

          • BlackBriar says:

            Could this be a valid example?

            • AllenAndArth says:

              it’s because you guys don’t let the power of science flow, doesn’t your inner crazy scientist want to experiment with them?

            • BlackBriar says:

              it’s because you guys don’t let the power of science flow, doesn’t your inner crazy scientist want to experiment with them?

              Anything but vampires. You already know where I stand with them. They’re more alluring and prestigious than the average monster.

            • Japaninspired says:

              Pfhahahaha, yup yup, that’s what I mean.

            • AllenAndArth says:

              …i prefer foxes…but vampires are cool too…i’m just a slave of science, as much as i like vampires(only a select few)
              the need for science is too big…Must…Investigate!

  13. Liza says:

    Oh boy. I was scared going into this since I knew it would be bad for our poor Yui. I can’t say I really LIKE it since some of the scenes are very…uncomfortable. But hey, at least Yui has an actual personality unlike some other otome game heroines out there… >_>

    I did read up a bit on this before I knew it was going to be turned into an anime, Kanato’s route to be more exact. Sheesh, this is going to be…intense. But I’ll probably watch it until the end. Lol

    I was also surprised that the episode was only 15 minutes long. 0_o

    • Karakuri says:

      Ahaha there’s some good and some bad to this, I guess.

      Kanato seems pretty… out there, character wise. Or at least, more obviously so as opposed to some of the other characters. I’ll admit, his route is very interesting. Though it seems that the others are interesting in other ways.

  14. d-LaN says:

    Wow, I noticed all discussion on Metanorn is on this thread for the this few days. Nothing drums discussion up like a harem of sadistic vampires XD

  15. Hazou says:

    To be honest my favorite harmen anime would be Uta no Prince sama, because it didn’t take itself seriously. The guy weren’t all over her. And this to me is just another harem anime that feeds into rape culture. It’s disgusting. Brother’s Conflict was bad, but this is just as bad. And don’t get me started on Amnesia because that was probably the worse that I seen. This girl has no memories and they are mouth raping when she doesn’t even know who they are.

    Ugh. I just fun time harem. Not this rape culture. Boring heroine crap.

    • Irenesharda says:

      I don’t know I’m actually the opposite. If I had to rank them, of these kind of adaptations of this year so far. Amnesia would be first, Brothers Conflict in the middle, and this at the very bottom. I tried Prince-sama but I couldn’t get through the episode. Unlike this series, it wasn’t because of the plot, characters and subject matter, it was because had a poor script and it was too annoying to watch.

      I didn’t have as much of a problem with Amnesia because most of the guys didn’t know she had lost her memories, and in their particular dimension, she was actually in relationship with them. The only one of the guys I had a problem with was Toma, all the others were pretty much your usual stereotypes and Ukyo is still my favorite of any of the boys in all three series. I didn’t really watch the show for the romance, but more because of the mystery and science fiction angle it had going for it.

      BroCon was pretty much just bland to me, not good, but not bad. This show so far was the worst of them.

    • Karakuri says:

      UtaPri seems pretty unique as an otome game turned anime, since it was actually really popular (and seemed to be more about the guys all over each other instead… which resulted in a rather terrible game). But UtaPri’s probably the one I’ve enjoyed watching the most since it was rather fun. …But yeah, Japan likes its passive heroines like Ema or Amnesia’s heroine, since a woman taking initiative=no good.

      • Hazou says:

        For me, these heroines might as well not get voice actors. They existence is that of a blow up doll. And you have to see the harems I have watched. Fruits Basket, UtaPri, La Cordo De Oro, High School Host Club. And I have to say the heroines here were FARRRRR more development then the latest heroines I have seen in this season. And Arcana de Familgia was just a disappointment. The furniture was more interesting then Any of the characters involved in the story.

        • Japaninspired says:

          But that’s one of the hard things is that most heroines in otome games are really blank, so the girl that plays the game can make the heroine more like herself by the choices that she makes in it.

          If you make a blank girl have a personality, some people might think “thats not how I imagined her! I wanted her to be more (…)”. So it’s quite hard to make a good otoge adaptation.

          • Hazou says:

            So, otome games are like twilight then? Where every Heroine is a Bella. And every time they are adapted into an anime, they are a Kristen Stewart.

            • BlackBriar says:

              I should hang myself for saying this but even Bella had more of a personality than the heroine from Amnesia. It’s like she can’t function without someone else giving her directions. A total blank slate of a character. And she’s always shy and soft spoken. It’s simply irritating. At least Bella had the nerve and was assertive enough to want to jump her guy’s bones but he turned her down until she said “I do”. 😉

      • Japaninspired says:

        I liked the Utapri anime too. It’s too hilarious and strange, so you don’t take it serious. It’s like Shirokuma cafe, and has good seiyuus. I havent played the games thought, and don’t really have any intension.

      • Namika says:

        UtaPri was definitely fun to watch. Sometimes it made me cringe but I still watch both seasons with a stupid smile on my face.

  16. Hurdurdur says:

    10/10 /trollface

  17. Soul says:

    woah it looks like a really messed up anime!! therfore, I’m adding it to my list 😀

    • BlackBriar says:

      Messed up is very mild term for this show. Trust me on that.

  18. MarilyMansonFan says:

    I enjoyed this anime it reminds me of MM sweet dreams

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