ANIME | Seraph of the End

[My Anime Reviews assess the anime alone and I make no comparisons to the manga whatsoever due to often dissimilar factors between the two in their execution. Same goes for manga reviews]

A deadly and mysterious virus wipes out most of humanity in mere moments, not affecting children (under age 13) as most adults suddenly fall and die. From the midst of the chaos, Vampires emerge to claim what remains of the world. The vampires round up the surviving children and lead them beneath the surface of the city where they allege it’s safe. While living their lives underground for the years to follow, the children are being harvested for blood. Yuichiro Hyakuya and his close friend Mikaela are among a group of children who were orphans before the end of humanity and lived together in an orphanage. Being led by Yuichiro and Mikaela, the children plot to escape the vampire’s captivity and return to the surface world, where the Japanese Imperial Demon Army wages war against the vampires.

Every now and then, a vampire themed thing comes out, be it a book, movie, video game…possibly all forms of entertainment have among them a vampire premise, and that doesn’t exclude anime, not by a long shot. If anything there’s one vampire anime or more released every year! So naturally it’s far from a unique concept…and I grew tired of them years ago. On that note, I had such a hard time trying to start Seraph of the End, it being yet another Vampire thing. But I did anyway because the plot summery got me curious. With these vampire anime, it’s either you impress me by the end of episode 1, or I drop you…A couple of episodes down the line, it’s safe to say that I’ll be following this show very closely. Heads up to Attack on Titan fans, this show has some sort of Shingeki no kyojin vibe to it in the early episodes, not as dark though.

Now, I like watching anime loud, this time though, BIG MISTAKE! Within the first 10 seconds of the show as humanity is crumbling, you watch it all unfold in a town as people are collapsing, cars crashing, planes falling out of the sky, total carnage in spectacular fashion! Talk about an explosive first impression, this show nailed it! From here, my first reactions are largely positive. The mood is then set to a tone of hopelessness in society and I felt that as I watched. The whole Post-apocalyptic theme in this anime really pulls you in to the emotion of the characters. The art is so freaking awesome with great attention to detail, especially in the urban setting. A scene comes to mind that showed Yuichiro walking through an abandoned town and the art was just beautiful as it showed the sudden halt and imminent decay of a dead world. Despite very limited information at the beginning, the pacing was ok for the most part. The incorporation of flashbacks in the series felt natural and not in your face all the time, but just at the right moments. The fight scenes I have seen so far have been fantastic! The action is definitely great fun and very dynamic!

Cool weapons, nice designs, great color and effects, the action in Seraph of the End is a true-true freaking treat! Music always plays a large role in setting the mood to what’s happening on screen. I do feel that the music could have been better but was decent. Not anything much to complain about in the music all in all. As most anime, despite having a dark atmosphere and a serious situation, Comedy finds its way in there most times as is the case in Seraph of the End. Well the comedy ain’t bad, not bad at all, infact I had a good number of laughs.

 My Decree:

I’m not gonna call this show a triumph and it’s not a masterpiece, but it sure as hell will have a cult following, and I’m one of them already. It definitely doesn’t fall in the ‘just another anime’ category, Seraph of the End will leave a lasting impression on you. With that being said, this is an ongoing series, but up to this point, it has been very satisfying and enjoyable. I just hope it holds up its Awesome Factor to the very end of the season. Again, this isn’t the greatest anime of the year and all that usual hype, but I recommend this show, so trust me and go watch Seraph of the End. The character’s want for revenge is very real and you sympathize with that, so let’s see if he gets it!