Owari no Seraph – 03-08
Doesn’t he always sound that way?
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Well, it’s been a while. For once it wasn’t otome games stealing away my time, but I had a death in the family (it’s okay, they were almost 101 years old) and sorting that out took waaaaaaay longer than it should have since they lived pretty far away. But I’m back now and ready to blog about angsty teenagers! Yay! |
I hear the story picks up after the school arc (or whatever arc the anime just finished is called), which kind of brings up the question as to what Yuu going to school really accomplished. Sure it was to test him partially, but if the whole friendship emphasis in the first few episodes was supposed to reign in Yuu’s attitude, it wasn’t very effective. What it did seem to accomplish though was to display just how much this anime seems to like to show Yuu favouritism. His family died and yes, that sucked, but it seems like he can do no wrong now (or if he does do something wrong, it all works out for him in the end anyways).
Ah yes. The power of bromance saves the day.
Take the whole demon weapon gathering plot. Yuu, who’s thought process seemed to go “man, Shinoa kicked my ass with one of those weapons earlier. …BUT I NEED REVENGE AND I’M BETTER THAN ALL OF THE ANIME’S PRE-ESTABLISHED RULES! RAAAAAAAH” and he managed to defeat demon posession despite everyone saying he wasn’t ready for it, and that demons take advantage of vengeance or whatnot. …Though Yuu does seem to be impervious to every rule. Shinoa says not to do something, Yuu does it, and then there’s zero repercussions. Instructors tell the class that test marks affect which level weapons the class gets, Yuu doesn’t even come close to passing, and then he gets the best weapon anyways. If only Yuu’s plot armour wasn’t so thick. I’d love to see something bad actually happen to him for once. But hey! Mika still being alive should do the trick. Yuu might have an issue going on a vampire killing spree if his former best friend was one.
Also, what the demon showed Yuu also kind of explains why he’s such an impatient idiot. The anime has never let us forget that Yuu’s whole thing is revenge and killing the vampires, but if he subconsciously believes that he’s accomplished nothing and therefore abandoned his dead orphan friends, then that’s probably why he can’t shut up about it. Guren kind of said that he expected the same thing of Yuu after they received their weapons. Guren told Yuu to forget the past since he has his new team and the future. Though maybe that was more to get Yuu to stop thinking about revenge all the time and pay attention not to accidentally get his new team mates killed because he has a listening problem.
At the same time, Yuu also seems better at caring about others on occasions like when he was paired with Kimizuki for that test. …Which was kind of silly on Kimizuki’s part when he didn’t want to see his sister. He’s perpetually angry like Yuu all because of his sister, but he immediately forgets about that in favour of getting stronger (all for the sake of his sister)? Like, surely they could have just continued the test once when he came back or something (not that the grades seem to mean anything in that school anyways). You’d think he would have more concern for the reason he was doing all of this in the first place. Though since Kimizuki is officially part of the army now, that subplot should probably be solved. And then there’s Yuu, who was more into friendship in episode 6 than ever before, and then reverts back to seeming to not care if he throws team mates in to danger if there’s a vampire he can kill in episode 7.
To be fair though, Yuu is getting better. In episode 8 he was okay with retreating, and he seems to get better at following orders with each passing episode. After seeing what a power gap there is between the higher up vampires and himself, maybe Yuu’s attitude and general willingness to work as as a team will improve even more. He’s just extremely lucky that he’s learned this before he accidentally killed someone.
It was a little hypocritical of Owari no Seraph to go “oh yeah, demons will totally prey on your desire for revenge” and all of that, but then have Kimizuki and Yuu have next to no issues with their demons while the least vengeful one, Yoichi, has all of the problems. Maybe there’s something more to Kimizuki’s story of getting his weapon, since they really didn’t show a lot of that, but it seems odd that he didn’t seem to have many issues taming his demon or whatever. Yuu at least had his run in with that other apparently weaker demon (even though Ashuramaru seemed to use almost the exact same trick as the first demon to try to corrupt Yuu) for experience, but it makes less sense for Kimizuki to not struggle. Which I guess was why they had to have Yoichi experience all of the issues because they had to show someone actually following what the anime said about this demon weapon ceremony being difficult and dangerous.
The actual stuff happening after those events were a little silly too. Not that it would have changed Yuu’s decisions at all, but couldn’t Mitsu have explained things to Yuu better beforehand? Or if it’s such an overused trick by the vampires, shouldn’t someone have briefed the team on this kind of thing first before just throwing new recruits out into the open? Which raises more questions about what on earth the students were supposed to be learning in that second level of school (the one after Yuu’s first demon incident), since it seemed to be the same curriculum as a regular school (with Japanese, math, etc) with the occasional fighting test. I guess there wasn’t a “vampire tactics 101” class.
The plot went into Seraphs of the End, which might explain why Yuu was supposed to be some chosen one and why he isn’t entirely human. Maybe Mika is one too, since Krul kept him alive? Or maybe that was just some sadism on her part, but oh well. The vampires also had that announcement of war on humans due to maybe causing another plague. Who brought about the first plague is an interesting question since both sides are kind of suspicious at this point. On the vampire’s side, they’re the ones who benefitted most from the first plague, they seemed to mobilize pretty quickly after it started, and even if they were concerned about more humans dying, they’re not exactly taking great care of the ones they have (or care about their well being in general). As for the humans, they fraternize with demons, and despite people dying off pretty quickly in the first episode, obviously not everyone over puberty died immediately. Though then again, the only adults seen are in the military, and maybe their demon pacts had something to do with their survival and finding a cure.
I’m still kind of annoyed with Yuu, but at least he’s improving? I’m just really looking forward to him and Mika seeing each other again, because that will most likely be some delicious angst. The animation is growing on me more, and the action scenes all look pretty great. Plus not all of the characters are terrible. I rather like Krul (mostly because I appreciate ass kicking lolis), and of course, Shinoa is great.
Shinoa’s existence fills me with indescribable joy
About Karakuri
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.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
BB! Attack! 😛
*me unleashes BB*
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
*roars* Hey! Watch yourself!
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
As he’s been waiting a long time for this, I’d just stay out of his way if I were you. 😛
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Good advice, especially I laid siege to the First Impression.
Quite a drag it’s been lately with my commenting output drastically slowed. About 75% (maybe more) of posts this season were of shows I wasn’t watching because they’re not interesting to me in the least and the one show I wanted to talk about most didn’t have any coverage beyond its First Impression. Suffice to say it was rather depressing. So seeing this post after so long was a blessing.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
In certain other cases, the number is closer to 100% 😛 *runs*
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
Vol 1 of the Seraph LN ends with a chilling description of the events to unfold:
It was “a story about love, hate, war, murder, lies,and desire…and as [those] desires expanded, it would lead to [the end of the world]…a story about the time before [the end of] humanity: a story about how ugly and desperate humans would become; just before the hammer fell onto the world as the Seraph* of the End blows the trumpet of [the Apocalypse].
*A seraph is the highest-ranked and most powerful angel in Christian religious belief, associated with light and purity.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
A Seraph is in the highest rank in the Christian angelic hierarchy and in the fifth rank of ten in the Jewish angelic hierarchy. So I’d peg the Seraph of the End as an Angel of Death/Destruction based on what I’ve already seen.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
I usually don’t try to mix actual beliefs with how media/anime portray them since they always mix it up or change it to fit their stories mythology. The seraph (or seraphim as I usually refer to them) usually refer to something completely different from what the show will probably interpret them as.
So, in the show, I’m guessing that it will be something in regards to a powerful angel or angelic force that will be used at some final end point. I don’t know if that’s apocalyptic end, or just an end of the way things are right now.
Depending on how they portray it, the power would usually be more powerful than the demonic power they have right now, so it would be interesting to see.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
It’s not the first time anime/manga has used mythology for the basis of their story. The third arc for Strike the Blood (eps 9-12) was titled after a creature called the “Amphisbaena”.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Hmm, well I guess that depends on whether or not you think of seraphim as “mythology” or not.
But yes, I know what you’re trying to say.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I apologize if I said anything out of place.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
My condolences on the passing of a family member. Still, to have lived nearly 101 years is impressive. I once had a relative like that.
To be honest, I had given up all hope on future posts coming in since so much time passed and you had rough schedule to adhere to. So this really caught me off guard and jumbled my thoughts.
When it comes to source material to anime, WIT Studio is undeniably working its magic. With a few welcome anime-original scenes stitched in (Yuu walking the streets of Shibuya alone before the first episode’s end credits and Mika walking to his old settlement in Sanguinem when he was still human along with the other orphans in episode 4) and slight changes in some of the sequences, this adaptation 97% accurate which is more than good enough. Had “Seraph” been handled by SHAFT after what they did to “Dance in the Vampire Bund” or got the rapid, incoherent pacing manga fans said Studio Pierrot paid “Tokyo Ghoul”, I would have been pissed. It’s even better that the author himself is heading the adaptation.
The whole thing was never about the school. It was a means of taking the edge off Yuu’s justified anger, all employed by Guren who’s been his guardian ever since he escaped Sanguinem (The vampire city). And does the “favoritism” really surprise? He is the lead, after all and a second hand character would’ve died a long time ago. Besides, he’s an enjoyable lead, something more and more people have begun to see lately. He began to change the moment he heard Kimizuki had a sickly sister and put aside his own goals so they’d see each other in case it was their last meeting.
Those griping about his previous attitude… Well, you can say he reflects off his guardian. Yuu’s disregard for authority? Guren’s unbecoming behavior when he slept through most of the war meeting and left as though it was nothing important in episode 5. Yuu’s reluctance to employ teamwork? Shinoa telling Guren in episode 2 that he has trouble being a team player.
Whether people like it or not, the first six episodes were entirely necessary for laying the story’s groundwork. I’ve seen comments saying on how they should’ve been compacted into two or three episodes. Going that way would’ve been ridiculous because it would’ve made everything irritatingly incoherent, therefore raising unnecessary questions that would’ve already been answered. Not only were they developing; hints were being dropped in the process.
Episode 1: (Prologue, Guren’s mention of the Hyakuya Labs)
Episode 2: (The world 8 years later following the aftermath of the viral outbreak)
Episode 3: (The school’s true face and purpose, The Japanese Imperial Demon Army’s highest ambition, Shinoa’s explanation on why building social connection within the army is necessary along with its higher aim)
Episode 4: (Vampires securing extra food sources, evidence of Krul’s secret when she called the slain orphans her seraphs, Yuu meeting his soon-to-be comrade and his motivation for joining the army, benefit of the doubt that the vampires weren’t behind the plague)
Episode 5: (Discord among the army’s top leaders, Guren’s belittlement from his superiors due to his low birth which fuels his resentment, early signs of his hidden agenda)
Episode 6: (Ashuramaru telling Yuu he is not entirely human, that he may have been experimented on and humans are more dangerous and untrustworthy than vampires or demons)
Anyone overly hung on the so-called “school setting” probably wouldn’t have picked up on all of those. And future developments tie in with what the first six presented.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Ah, yeah. We knew it was coming, so it was sad, but the family had a lot of time to come to terms.
YES, I don’t think I could have enjoyed this as much if it had turned out like Vampire Bund. I mean, I enjoyed both of the series you mentioned (or at least for Tokyo Ghoul, I’ve liked the first season and have yet to see the second), but they could have been better planned. Seraph definitely doesn’t have nearly as many problems there.
Hmm, I think my main issue with the school was that they put so much emphasis on how Yuu needed to be proven worthy (or more mature or whatever) before he could move past it into the army, but other than him gaining the weapon, nothing really came out of him going to school? His attitude only seems a little bit better because of it and most of the development seems to be happening now that he’s out of there, making all of the episodes spent on the school seem a bit unnecessary. Though I also see where you’re coming from with the school acting as a means for world building.
Hmm
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
It was pointed out in episode 4 during the vampire conference that the virus was not a natural occurrence but the result of humans flirting with something supernatural that was considered forbidden. Something worthy of being labeled taboo. Already getting cozy with demons is taboo.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Or at least that’s what the vampires seem to think/or tell themselves. I’m personally not going to trust that 100% yet.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
And if I were you, I’d hold off indefinitely on declaring which side is good or bad. Nothing is set in stone and nothing is as it appears.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Haha, I’ll assume something happens then xD
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Especially when the second cour in Fall 2015 comes around. There’s a lot of hints and revelations.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
It is a mutated form of the Gastrea virus.POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Not even close. And stop trying to tarnish the suspense!
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Everything is suspense. From a certain point of view.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Episode 8: Thirteenth Progenitor Crowley Eusford (Kenichi Suzumura) has arrived! The sign that shit is about to get real. And with him, his two lovely aides, Seventeenth Progenitor Chess Belle (Nozomi Furuki) and Horn Skuld (Yoko Hikasa).
I saw comments asking if the fight with the vampires in the underground train station was skipped, mostly to maintain a time frame. The answer to the question is “no” because there was nothing to skip. Aside from cutting out the part of a reprimanding parent after the rescue that would’ve taken about three minutes and the difference in the way Yuu stopped Crowley from attacking Shinoa, things went page for page exactly like it did in the manga. Yuu easily took care of those vampires when saving Mitsuba so it would have been more of the same thing, making it unnecessary to showcase since beating them was a foregone conclusion, thus a waste of time. Those were the most common class of vampire out there.
The point of the episode was having Yuu adapt to teamwork and show the vast trench in power between vampire classes. Particularly between commoners and Nobles/Progenitors. Because it was the highest ranked weapon among the humans, Yuu got full of himself getting the Black Demon Series Cursed Gear, thinking that with it in hand, he could easily dispatch any vampire that comes his way. Therefore, the encounter with Crowley provided the reality check that the power gap is much bigger than he imagined even if he has the best weapon available and there’s still a long way to go.
In episode 3 when Shinoa showed Yuu her Cursed Gear (Which is a class below the Black Demon Series), he thought with that, dealing with a vampire would be no problem until she told him the ones outside were armed and in a completely different league to the female vampire he fought in the classroom.
I like what’s become of Yuu and the others. More than comrades, they’re more like family even if a little dysfunctional with Mitsuba as the new addition. It’s endearing and why I don’t find it bothersome when Yuu and Kimizuki go at each other’s throats because at times, you’d think they’re brothers with a small disagreement or trying to show off on one another.
Everyone got lucky when Crowley got called away, otherwise they’d have died right there with Chess and Horn beside him. Nothing but a temporary reprieve, really. Ferid called him to the front lines and the route Guren mapped out for the group after the rescue mission in the episode’s first half is toward the front lines for the human side. So you can guess what that ultimately means.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Yeah, I didn’t think much was skipped in that underground part since the vampires in there looked fairly generic and Yuu held his own against that vampire that was in his school. Crowley would obviously be more of a challenge since he has that special looking sword (plus he’s a noble) and people have been warning Yuu since the beginning that vampires were tough. A strong one would have appeared eventually.
Out of curiosity, is there inner monologues or something that the manga had that the anime doesn’t? Since I didn’t get some of the things you’re saying just from the anime alone like:
I definitely like the “family” feeling more than how Yuu was in the first couple of episodes in school. If they could develop characters other than Yuu, that would be nice… I like the character dynamics they kind of have set up already (like Mitsu and Shinoa).
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
No, on that particular part, there were no inner monologues in the manga. I got those intuitions based by closely paying close attention to his attitude during the chapters/episodes. Contrary to a couple of people who believe otherwise(which I couldn’t care less for in the least), I find Yuu is an interesting and likable lead. He’s better than a few names I can come up with on a whim.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I pretty much agree with you entirely, Kara. The show is continually dragged down by some terrible writing for the main characters. Yuu is impervious to learning when someone’s trying to teach him something. It’s like the show provides explanation of something just so that we can watch Yuu blithely ignore it. They could have made all that stuff be teaching moments, and shown some actual character growth, but nah.
And the plot writing leaves a lot to be desired. The “I could easily kill you. I know it, you know it. But I’m gonna head out because you need time to actually get anywhere.” Who’s calling him away? Here’s how that would go.
Boss: “Hey, you’re 5 minutes late.”
Other dude: “Yeah, I ran into some of those newbie punks with the Black Demon weapons. But it’s all good now, they won’t be bothering us. It was easy enough to kill them since they had no idea what teamwork was.”
Boss: “Ok cool. Now here’s what I need you to do.”
The show is so close to being really good, even if it has boring vampires. It has some really fun characters like Shinoa and Guren. It has ok marginal characters like Mitsuba and Youichi. But it continually indulges itself in the hoariest of tropes with regards to the main characters, eliciting a painful rolling of eyes when, once again, Yuu doesn’t listen, in fact does everything you’re supposed to *not* do, but gets away with everything scot-free. Unfortunately, that’s not the part that appears to be going away any time soon.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
It’s kind of getting past it, but I feel like there’s too much Yuu and not enough Shinoa. There could never be too much Shinoa. You know, normally I don’t mind characters like Yuu (especially in shounen since it’s pretty much the character stereotype), but his attitude just kind of seems inappropriate for this kind of setting. Reckless endangerment doesn’t help anyone when the world is already pretty dangerous. And it’s not even that the world isn’t as dangerous as people say it is, but it’s just that Yuu has incredible plot armour and can ignore 99% of it (aka what you said about Yuu blithely ignoring things).
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
WIT studios is doing some fine work. Now I see why The Rolling Girls dipped so much in animation quality from time to time, as they were putting all the money into the property of largest returns. Adapting an already popular franchise is a good investment.
But sometimes I feel it all for naught, as the quality of the story is about 70% lack to it’s 30% luster. We’ve seen these genre conventions collide before, and we will see it again. That’s my biggest argument, as this show isn’t really cutting into any original territory. It does have some bright moments where it does do the typical in a fairly interesting manner, as Shinoa is a great example of how you do a foil character right. She is, as Kara points out rather well, a character that should fill you with joy. She does that in spades.
As for the vampires? Dull. It may be that I’ll eat that word in future, when the story actually decides to do something interesting with them, but so far they look like over-dress disaffected bureaucrats, barely above the interest radar when compared to their captive human fodder. And the “cattle” just feel like tourists or movie-set extras that are trying and failing to fit in.
Which should be a bonus for a post-apocalyptic setting, as that is exactly how they should be acting. But every time we’ve seen them, they are cardboard cut-outs with “Rescue Me” signs hanging above them like so many tokens you’d collect in an RPG.
IOW, the background we should be caring about is not that compelling, just being there for the mains to react against.
As for the mains, they are not better or worse than any other shounen style characters. I don’t want to bash that sort of character trope, as I genuinely feel it’s a useful way to tell a story. But Yuu, espcially, feels so badly composed. I can see the finger-print of the author like a huge neon-sign saying “It’s OK callow youth, you go ahead and be callow and belligerent cause you are Special” It’s escapist and quite trashy, and has so much Marty to it he’s shaking up with Mary.
But for the most part, it has some potential, I just wish it would stop playing silly buggers with anticipation and reveal and get down to business. It could really earn those hotcakes…
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
I still need to watch The Rolling Girls, but I’ll take your word for it! In any case, I’m sure the fans are happy to see the manga being adapted so nicely.
Ah, yeah it would be more interesting if the human cattle didn’t just act so much like… cattle. Is Yuu the only kid who had a bit of personality (minus Mika, I guess)? The vampires do seem kind of dull (aside from Ferid and Krul because clearly they have hidden agendas), but most of them seem to follow the same character mould. Mika is a vampire too now, I guess. Though right now, the only interest he holds for me is how Yuu will react when they meet.
I think it might head there now? The school phase is apparently one of the slowest, and people seem to really like the series for some reason. I can’t just be because Yuu speaks to their inner angsty, rebellious side (…hopefully).
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
You better believe that I am! Kudos to WIT Studio, the people who make good on the words “faithful adaptation”!
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
And so Mika received the
cursegift of immortality through a bloody kiss. One from the Queen of vampires herself. Sounds like something of the highest honor when thought of another way. Krul being the Queen would make Mika an otherwise unofficial prince. Plus, apparently he’s the first ever to be converted to her bloodline.Got to give props to Aoi Yuuki making a nice streak in her third time playing a loli vampire leader with Krul Tepes. Apart from that, there’s another pattern to be noticed with her three loli vamps: They’re all paired up with a full grown male companion/servant:
Dance in the Vampire Bund: Mina Tepes and Akira Kaburagi, Mina’s personal bodyguard and love interest who just happens to be a werewolf.
Shiki: Sunako Kirishiki and Seishin Muroi, a former junior monk whom she slowly but surely whispered and swayed into darkness with her.
Seraph of the End: Krul Tepes and Mikaela Hyakuya, a vampire she personally created.
Even more of a pattern, all three mentioned animes are under Funimation’s label.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
I rather liked that part you’re talking about. Or at least how Mika didn’t just want immortality, and how Krul ignored what he wanted seemingly on a whim. I love Aoi Yuuki’s roles like this. I’m not 100% sure if Krul is the villain in the series (maybe she is by default since she’s a vampire), but Aoi Yuuki in villain roles is always great to hear.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Aoi Yuuki seems to love playing vampires. That’s alright in my book. Despite the way she carries herself, I doubt Krul is a villain. There’s more going on, I can feel it. Ferid is the one I’d watch out for. He’s way too shady.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Oh my, how shall I express my thoughts to all these episodes thus far?
Well, I think Seraph started strong and I really enjoyed it, however I think episode 2-7.5 ended up dragging this series down far more than it should have. It was a lot of missed potential for this series that came from shoddy pacing and less-than-stellar characterizations. I started out liking Yuu, but somehow his character got worse and worse the more they tried to employ the school/training arc. However, once they began to go beyond that arc, he suddenly became tolerable and likable again. Weird…
I think that really, the whole school arc was a big mistake. It slowed the story down and largely became unnecessary in the end. They could have easily found another, shorter, less-cliched way of getting the main cast together and giving them their specialized power/weapons. The idea of working together and gaining friends was put forth so much that I began to roll my eyes whenever another character said it. I get it. Teamwork is good, you don’t have to keep talking about it ad nauseam.
The vampires in this one are okay, though we’ve only seen mostly weak ones so far, and the power range between vampire levels seems to be pretty vast. In fact, only the nobles seem to be any threat, all the regular ones seem to be idiots on a cartoonish level.
But despite all this, I haven’t given up on the show. I can still see the potential there. Yuu has becoming interesting again. I’ve always liked Mika and I want to see more of what they are going to do with him. I’m just waiting for the two to meet up again, which will probably be not until the end of this season, but what can ya do?
This whole season seems to have been more set up, and set up that wasn’t done well. One can only hope that now, the rest of the episodes can deliver and that it can excite me and the audience that stuck around to come back for the second season.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Hehehehe, nope. Given the time, it’s safe to assume you’ve already seen the 9th episode, right? So it shouldn’t hurt if I say this. And it’s for your eyes only:
Show ▼
One thing I’m certain of is that the first cour doesn’t end before getting to Chapter 14: “Everyone Is A Sinner”.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Yeah, I just saw it. I’m glad though, it’s about time, however, it will probably be next episode’s cliffhanger.
Show ▼
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Yeah, I loved that dramatic scene between Ion and Esther within that prison cell in Trinity Blood. Man, if only he had gone through with it. Then again, he would’ve surely killed her.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Well, Esther was pretty special in and of herself, plus she had plot armor, she would have survived somehow.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
That would have to be pretty strong plot armor to have her surviving from being nearly drained dry. Esther even made sure to expose and straighten out her neck to Ion.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
You obviously haven’t read enough vampire romance novels. The main girl always survives, even after a “blood emergency”. 😛
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Speaking of which, I have a recommendation I’m sure you’ll like. Since it’s 3 chapters long, the odds of an adaptation is slim to none. 😛
Kyuuketsuki no Uruwashiki Kekkon
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
*koff*koff*twilight*koff*koff*
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
You know without a doubt the obvious crowd supporting this series will be back. They’re basically the majority of the viewers. Still, it’s pretty weird to read this from someone who endured 25 episodes of Captain Earth. And guess what? Captain Earth a.k.a Daichi Manatsu’s voice actor plays Yuu.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Hey that show was two cour, while this is split. The break in between could kill the momentum if they don’t give us something to look forward too when the show returns.
I’ll most likely still watch it (unless it somehow has an extremely horrible ending) because I hate to go though all these episodes and all that time and not finish the thing, even if I end up hating it. I’m doing that Gunslinger Stratos now. That show had ONE good episode out of 9, but I might as well finish the darn thing.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Don’t commit sunk cost fallacy. If you don’t like it, if it’s not worth watching, don’t watch it.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Agreed! That’s why I bailed on Aku no Hana as soon as possible.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
I hate having wasted my time and not even getting to the end, but I might actually take your advice when it comes to Gunslinger. That series is going nowhere and I’m at the point where the ending is not worth it anymore.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Exhibit A: Aldnoah.Zero.
Though I am now thinking how it works into sunk cost fallacy as described by Highway.
Oh yes, a perfect example from my experience.
Exhibit B: Zero no Tsukaima.
Watched 1st season. Dumped 2nd season after 1st or second episode after noting that it was concentrating on harem antics instead.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I know with certainty that you’re going to eat your words. A full course meal, in fact!
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
*helps prepare the condiment tray :3*
Makes words tastier to go down.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
It’s up to the show to set up the meal. If it’s good, I’ll return. If not, well this restaurant will have lost a customer. 😉
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
As if the latter will hold up. 😉 Until then. Anyway, I have very solid idea where the first cour ends. And it’s a good cliffhanger point if my assumption is correct.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
@Karakuri: I forgot to mention this. If you blog the second half of Seraph for Fall 2015, you’re heading straight for déjà vu. Because there’s Seraph along with the second season of Diabolik Lovers. It will be a repeat of Fall 2013, if you catch my drift. 😛
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
http://static.metanorn.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Owari-no-Seraph00001-650×366.png
She/He looks like a trappulicious shota in this shot.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Watch them words, boy! You’re fixing to be riddled with bullets!
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Are we talking about the same person? The one of the left?
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Yeah, cause it sounds like you’re ridiculing Shinoa. Her fan club will have you lynched.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Seriously, the first screencap looks traplike compared to her in the last screencap. I was trying to see if they were even the same person in both the screencaps.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I don’t know what you’re seeing through but I don’t agree with that description. And it is the same person.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Trapvision(tm) glasses?
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Alright, fine. I need some assistance with Spammy, please.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
The sales of the “Seraph of the End” manga are beginning to pick up. It’s become part of Japan’s top selling manga list.
Top-Selling Manga in Japan by Series: 2015 (First Half)
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Meanwhile the upcoming Danmachi doujin event is looking… rather… disappointing. The power of Hestia’s ribbons seems to be limited.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Well, at least this begins to silence every butthurt/hipster that had so many negative things to say about the series. Already, there are stats showing that among the Japanese, Seraph of the End is the second most looked forward to show every week and you know the Japanese are the final deciding factor on any anime.
Gintama Remains ANN Reader’s Top Series for Spring
Reminds me of when people who criticized Strike the Blood got it rubbed in their faces when its sales of various merchandise shot up high for a long period of time.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Oh, I’m not butthurt or a hipsther. There are negative things to say about the show because it’s a very very badly done show. It’s just this side of pretty garbage. As for being popular, that is not the same as being good. Sometimes majority means all the bad taste is to one side.
As for StB, Owari is just the second coming of that. People can have the merch…, lots of blue rays get resold…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I don’t know what you’ve been watching but apart from vampires, those two are hardly similar.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
ann polls are worthless. >_>
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
But the DanMachi LNs get 3rd place.
Top-Selling Light Novels in Japan by Series: 2015 (First Half)
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Which makes it all the more interesting.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I couldn’t get past the cold open to episode 9. That was just idiotic. Why are vampires in helicopters? Or in a plane? Can’t they do, you know, Vampire stuff? And then arrows shoot down the helicopters (skylion tells me they were demon arrows, F that noise, you don’t make everything better by just handwaving ‘demon’ in front of it). But then they can’t shoot down a plane? Oh that’s because the writing demands that they can’t. And why were the helicopters at 100 feet? Apaches have an operational ceiling of 13,000 feet. So fly at 1000 feet and the stupid arrows can’t get you. Or maybe shoot guys with the giant machine gun that has a longer range than their arrows.
I’m done. This moronic writing treats viewers like trash. This was Super Valvrave Sunrise level of ‘Throw stupid shit at the viewers because it’s cool.’ They should have just gone with this. Or had Fonzie jump over the wall on a motorcycle (“Eyyyyyyyyyy!”). It takes almost ZERO effort to get these technical details right or even believable. They don’t wanna put that in, then I’m not gonna watch.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…not to mention the fact that having them buzz around in them things made them about as interesting as the old Cobra enemies in the old 80s era G.I. Joe. There to get shot down, ain’t the good guys awesome….Seriously, did they forget how to vampire? Did they ever really know how to? I’m all for following the Our Monsters are Different Trope, but…c’mon.
As for sticking with it, I’m hanging around to see if it goes into “so horrible it’s good” territory…
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
I have to say that, while it doesn’t make or break the show for me as it did you, I have to agree.
This was a problem that I had brought up way back in the beginning. There needs to be a lot of work or the world building logic of this show. First they say that all the adults were killed. Then they say that somehow some survived but 90% of the population is dead. With that kind of vast human annihilation all at once, all manufacturing of practically anything would also be halted. No technology, no food processing, no economy, no government, everything would have fallen apart. In that way, I can understand the lack of technology for the humans.
However, it’s been 8 years.
Humanity has obviously gotten on its feet enough to have large scale food production and farming again. They can manufacture clothing industrially again, and even manufacture weapons. They can harness electricity again and energy to keep everything going.
So can someone tell me why they can’t make cars, planes, helicopters, bombs, ect.?
The vampires have all the tech that they basically can get from the areas they conquered, but that still doesn’t explain why the humans can’t make their own? Or if for some reason they don’t have big enough plants, they can’t steal weaponry from the areas they take from the vampires?
It’s only been 8 years, you can’t tell me that humanity was “thrown back into the stone age” or something of that kind. Our memories aren’t that short. There should not be soldiers trying to take down military helicopters with bows and arrows. I know they are going for the huge disparity levels between the two sides, but that’s ridiculous.
And like you say, an arrow should not be able to just take down helicopters like that. Especially ones like those. I know they are magic and everything, but there’s only so far you can stretch that card. Would hit have been so hard to give the soldiers some guns? Humanity has been using firearms for centuries now. Why are we back to bows and arrows? They couldn’t make magic guns? Magic RPGs?
Why is all the cursed gear in the form of archaic weapons of blades and arrows?
Yeah, the logic of the world in this series is not well thought out. It will bother me if I think about it too much, but series still interests me and it has been getting better, so I’m still sticking with it.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Among a number of things that will be explained later. No one said all the adults were going to die. Even a virus has an exception for anyone who’s lucky. That wasn’t a guarantee and it was an exaggeration to dissuade the children from leaving the vampire city. Even Guren pointed that out to Yuu in the first episode.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
The number that would have survived because they were resistant would be negligible. Even despite the lies told to the children, we saw ourselves how dangerous the virus was with our own eyes. Plus, with around 90% of the human population dying, most of the adults dying would put it around that.
It would still cause the world to literally come to a halt, at least for a time. It’s simply a problem in the logic that surrounds this world. I like the show, but I’m not going to be blind to the problems that it has.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
A keyword right there. It’ been 8 since the outbreak. By then, a number of people would’ve already become adults or on their way to be so. That’s a lot of time.
Plus, it’s apparent some were resistant because there are people who look like they’re in their late 40s like Tenri Hiiragi and so far, no cure has been found since nothing natural. The pink markings on his face near the plate on his face show he’s infected and there’s no cure at the time but the picture shows he’s hooked up to mechanics to prolong his life.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
At least you like it despite the flaws. Normally one would expect those who obviously don’t (for who cares what reasons) to have excised themselves from it a long time ago. Especially this far in. Yet they irritatingly linger around, disturbing and poisoning the mood for everyone else.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I had been not worrying about the obvious lack of thought the show had for technology and using it. Like the electricity (it’s something that needs people taking care of it all the time, there’s nothing, not even nuke plants, that will just make electricity unattended) and hotwiring the car (gasoline is not stable for 8 years. It would have turned to crap in the tank). But this was just silly. That they can work specialized military aircraft, but then set up the operation in the dumbest way possible. And then have arrows take them down, but they don’t bother shooting the arrows at the C-130, which would have maybe kept it from blowing up the wall. It’s entirely done for plot convenience, and as such it destroys the suspension of disbelief.
And it was more that “I have to sit through this, and my reward is probably having to see more of Yuu being a chowderhead? Thanks but no thanks.” Same as this week’s F/S-N: I had to sit through two episodes of Shirou and Archer yammering at each other, and the reward is Gilgamesh, whose actual fighting style is “Standing around yammering”. Ugh.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
I agree on the plane too. That thing was a huge target and moved incredibly slowly, they could have hit that thing. Also, for having that many explosives on it, I’d think that the explosion would have been bigger and that the two vampires piloting would have been blown to bits. They might be able to put themselves back together, but it would have taken a lot more time than they showed.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Pfft, hahaha!!! Just so you know, the use of helicopters and that plane in episode 9 is completely anime-original. An idea, a gimmick rather, that was stitched in and managed not to disrupt the story’s core. Everything else flowed in as expected.
Still, I don’t think they should be blamed for going a little out of the box. Odds are they didn’t want things to be completely predictable. And if you analyze everything at a microscopic level, it’s doubtful to enjoy much of anything.
Well, goodbye now. I must say I’m surprised. You lasted much, much longer watching this series than I thought you would. I counted you out a long time ago.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…thinking outside the box? Yes, having us watch a very bland painting dry is certainly not the way most other directors would go…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
*facepalm*
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…and with a great performance by Aoi Yuuki. I left her of this. I’ve often said that a loli does not a good show make, but damn if Krul isn’t one of the better parts of te show. At least she acts like a proper vampire. I especially like how she reacted to Mika in episode nine, a very meaty portion in an otherwise anorexic epsidoe…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Hey, Karakuri, take a look at this!:
Seraph of the End Cosplayers Take Tokyo by Storm
Goes to show Seraph of the End really has a big fan base. Very nice.