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Year: 2015
Genre: Action, Drama, Supernatural
Episodes: 24
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
What do you think would be the end of all humanity? Would it be an asteroid that obliterates the earth? How about a deadly virus that ravages the land and kills us all? How about Apes rise up and rule us all and enslave us? Oops, wrong movie, and this is an anime review, so wrong everything. Well, what if a virus did come along and wipe out everyone above a certain age. Something like the tv show Jeremiah. As only kids are around, what would happen is the creatures of the night come out and play. More importantly, vampires enslave all children to harvest their blood. Do you think you would survive or find a group to take down these new powerful creatures? What if the virus didn’t kill all adults, and they waged war against the vampires? Seraph of the End is an anime where vampires wage war against humans after a virus kills most of humanity.
Overview
In the year 2012, shit goes down in EPIC proportions. A mysterious virus appears and ends the world, killing everyone above the age of 13, leaving only children untouched. While mankind is on the brink of destruction, vampires emerge from the darkness and pretty much says, y’all ass is cattle, and we are the new rulers. They sweep across the world and enslave all, promising protection from the evils from the world and only asking for their blood.
Seraph of the End revolves around twelve-year-old orphans Yūichirō and his friend and fellow orphan Mikaela. Yūichirō and Mikaela take care of the other orphan children and consider them family. One day, Mikaela comes up with the plan to escape with the other children from their orphanage. During their escape, they are found, and everyone is killed by a noble vampire. Mikaela sacrifices himself for Yūichirō to escape and be saved by members of the Moon Demon Company, an extermination unit of the Japanese Imperial Demon Army. Four years later, Yūichirō has only one thing on his mind: revenge and the death of all vampires for taking his family away. It is soon revealed that Mikaela has survived his ordeal and has become the very thing Yūichirō hates the most: a vampire. Soon they will meet on the same battlefield after a long four years.
Review:
I have mixed feelings about this anime. Season one was great, but then season two seemed to fall off. After that, the series just stop and it seemed like there was way more to go from what was presented at the end. This leaves me with a meh feeling. I’m hoping there will be a season three, but after the number of years that have gone by, I highly doubt it and would suggest just reading the manga instead.
With that said, I really enjoyed this anime. It is filled with violence, insane action and fight scenes, and outstanding animation and colors. Let’s talk about the story. I think the story and setting made this anime go. The world allegedly comes to an end at the hands of a “man-made” virus, ravaging the global populace and leaving only children under the age of thirteen untouched. Then it added in vampires that started harvesting these children for blood and the idea to conquest the world. The first episode ending is the best because Yuichiro watches his whole freakin family gets wiped out by a noble vampire trying to escape. In the end, Yuichiro is the only one to survive and escape and manages to be saved by members of the Moon Demon Company, an extermination unit of the Japanese Imperial Demon Army. The anime picks up four years later with Yūichirō dedicating his entire life to destroying vampires and seek revenge against them for murdering his “family.”
The anime follows Yuichiro and his quest to learn how to control his demon blade while making friends. What I love about this anime is the thought of family. Even if you lose one, you can always create another and vow to protect them to the end. The anime also shows the conflict in Yuichiro as he is so blinded with killing all the vampires that he puts his new family in harm’s way. The idea of family is strong because the humans believe in it, and the vampires do not. What else is interesting about this anime is the hierarchy of the vampire kingdom. How each of them is ranked and the higher the rank, the more powerful that vampire is, and how each controls a territory. Honestly, an anime on the drama within the vampire ranks would be interesting to watch because it seems like everyone in that world is jockeying for power.
Now one of the highlights I think in this anime is the action. The action and fighting scenes are drawn beautifully, and I like when someone activates their demon sword that it either has flames or a low-level mist. Then when people get to slashing, how the vampires either disintegrate into ash or when the vampires fight, they just blow shit up. Actually, everyone in this anime blows shit up because it is a warzone, and I love it. MORE FIGHTING!! The four horsemen are nothing to mess around with because they just destroy anything they run into. What I like about the action is some of it takes place in the mind and when the demon inside the blade tries to take over. People grow horns and gain powers that they never dreamed but to get the power, one must fight the demon in their mind.
Now the animation and colors used in this anime are mwah! I love how each person in this anime is drawn and styled with their own colors. Each character has a different hair and eye color. I love the animation because it is so clean, clear, and has nothing dull about it. It is very crisp and appealing to the eyes. I love how the battles are drawn as they seem to be drawn in dull, dark colors because you know death is around the corner for people. When someone loses control, the skies become crimson and dark. Great animation all around.
Now for the characters in this anime. Some were good, and some were downright annoying. Let’s talk about the main character Yuichiro Hyakuya. We met Yuichiro when he was a prisoner of the vampires, and after Ferid Bathory kills his old family, he escapes and wants to kill all vampires. He stops at nothing to achieve this goal, even if it puts others in harm or himself. I found him one of the most annoying characters ever because he is headstrong and doesn’t think things through or care for other feelings. When I say he does will do anything to kill vampires and gain power, he will literally give up his mind, body, and soul for this purpose. He will do it with a smile on his face. Stubborn pain in the ass person. Then we have Mikaela Hyakuya. Mikaela has a unique story as he is Yuichiro’s best friend and the other survivor of the Hyakuya Orphanage. After his failed plan to escape, Mikaela sacrificed himself and ultimately became a vampire. He is a kind-hearted person, but the dude is straight-up ruthless as a vampire. He will stop at nothing to keep Yuichiro from the humans, and I think he might love him also.
The next character is Shinoa Hiragi. China can be a little annoying in the beginning because it seems she plays around a lot, but once you learn homegirl backstory, it is something else. Girl comes from a messed-up family. I like how she doesn’t use her family name to get out of stuff. She would rather be on the front lines and away from them. She even gets scolded a few times and even scolds her teammates. My favorite character in this whole anime is Yoichi Saotome. Yoichi is all of us in life. A scared little kid who has some serious demons. He is kind-hearted and doesn’t look like he would hurt a fly, but the dude holds his own when the time comes. I love how he faced his demons to become a powerful ally.
I can go on and on with the number of characters from Guren and his badass ways to all the vampires. That could take quite a while, and I would rather you sit down and watch this anime. Just know that there is a character for everyone in this anime.
Seraph of the End is a good anime that deserve more. An anime that should be finished and sealed up. If you read the manga, there is a ton going on. Season one of this anime is excellent and has strong points, but it starts falling off in season two. There are many characters and drama that will keep you entertained. The animation is a strong point, along with the action scenes. Give this anime a chance and enjoy the action.
