First Impressions / Series Introduction / Snapshots

Summary:

15-year-old Aono Tsukune is a boy who failed his high school entrance exams, but thanks to his father who picked up a school brochure that was dropped on the street by a priest, he finds himself on the bus to Youkai Academy. The creepy driver who takes him there describes the school as frightening, and when the bus arrives after traveling through a dark tunnel, he warns Tsukune to be careful. Tsukune then has to travel by foot through a dark and foreboding forest to get to the school, and along the way, he’s ambushed when a girl on a bicycle suddenly slams into his back. The girl ends up landing beside him, and as Tsukune tries to get up, he accidentally puts his hand on her thigh. This combined with her beauty causes him to get a nosebleed, but when the girl tries to wipe the blood off his face, she becomes captivated by its smell. Admitting to being a vampire, the girl bites him on the neck and appears to drink from him until she realizes what she’s doing and pulls away. To Tsukune’s surprise though, that only leaves a small red mark. Realizing that Tsukune is a new student, the girl reveals that she is one too, and she then wonders if Tsukune hates vampires. She’s so happy when he compliments their uniqueness that she hugs him, asks him to be her friend, and introduces herself as Akashiya Moka.

Tsukune eventually does make it to his new school and new class where his new homeroom teacher Nekonome Shizuka welcomes everyone. However, he soon realizes something is wrong when she declares that this is a school for youkai and how they have to coexist with the humans who rule the world. The rules of the school are that they have to stay in their human forms and students can’t let other students know their true forms, but one of the rough-looking students named Komiya Saizou finds those rules boring and wants to eat any humans he finds. Nekonome points out though that there are only youkai at this school and that it’s in a secret world, so humans who wind up here would die. Tsukune panics over all of this, but that changes when Moka arrives late and hugs him because she’s so happy they’re in the same class together. All of the guys in the school are subsequently jealous of Tsukune as Moka pulls him arm-in-arm to go to the vending machine later in the day. Komiya takes the more direct approach of questioning why someone beautiful like Moka is with someone like Tsukune, and he ends up throwing Tsukune into the vending machine. Moka, however, refuses to play with Komiya and rushes to Tsukune’s side, so Komiya gives up for the time being.

Moka and Tsukune head onto the school’s roof afterwards where she comments on how he talks like this is the first time he’s seen youkai, but she doesn’t give him a chance to tell her the truth. As for her own identity, she shows him the rosario hanging from her neck that, when removed, turns her into what she calls a scary vampire. She was happy to find out that Tsukune is okay with all this, particularly since he’s her first friend as well as the first person she’s directly sucked blood from. However, being reminded of Moka’s blood sucking tendencies causes Tsukune to push her away and run off in fear, and he decides to leave the school after it really dawns on him that everyone here is a monster of some sort. When Moka tries to stop him, he explains that he wants to go to a human school, but she refuses to let him because she hates humans. It seems that she went to human schools through her junior high years, and it had been incredibly lonely for her because she was so different from everyone. It was thanks to Tsukune accepting her as a vampire that, for the first time, Moka didn’t feel alone. In response to this, Tsukune questions if she’d still stop him if he were one of those humans that she hates. He goes onto reveal that he is indeed a human who mistakenly got into this school and says that he doesn’t want to be the friend of a youkai before running off.

Moka nevertheless tries to chase after Tsukune, but she’s stopped by Komiya who takes on his true form and assaults her. Komiya tries to taunt her into transforming too, and when she refuses, he throws her into a tree. To her surprise though, Tsukune comes back to save her after having heard her scream. Unfortunately for Tsukune, he quickly gets smacked by Komiya and tumbles down the side of the nearby hill. Moka again rushes to his side, this time apologizing and revealing that she had always just wanted a friend, even when at the human school. She feels now that this is impossible after all, but as Tsukune struggles back onto his feet, he declares that he does want to be her friend. After Komiya comes down to hit him again, Tsukune tells Moka that even if she’s a vampire, he likes her. He then starts to lose consciousness, and in the process of doing so, he accidentally pulls off Moka’s rosario. This changes her into her vampire form – complete with silver hair and a more mature voice – and Moka is able to take Komiya out with one swift kick to the face. As he tries to get back up, Tsukune wonders who the real Moka is, and as he faints into her arms, he notices the she smells the same as before.

In the aftermath, Tsukune wakes up to find Moka back to normal, and he realizes that, according to the bus schedule, the bus out of here only comes around once a month. Moka then notices that Tsukune’s cheek is still bleeding, so she wipes the blood off with her handkerchief. However, the smell of it makes her want blood, so she bites his neck again.

OP Sequence

OP: 「COSMIC LOVE」 by 水樹奈々 (Mizuki Nana)
Watch the OP! Mirror 1, Mirror 2

The screencaps may not necessarily reflect it, but this had even more fanservice than I was expecting – maybe more than I’ve ever seen in a single episode. It was from beginning to end too – the random girl at the very start showed her panties not once, but twice, and the entire preview was like one long panty shot. Fanservice aside, the first episode roughly followed the first chapter of the manga with some stuff cut out for length, and it had some decent animation quality (this part of the transformation with the bats coming off was rather cool to see). I didn’t really find it anything special about it though, and I think it’s worth watching if you really liked the manga, you really like hearing Mizuki Nana in a lead role, or if you really like a ton of fanservice. Some of the later parts of the story are pretty good, but – and this is especially true if they continue with the slow and rather formulaic introduction that the manga has – I wouldn’t think of dropping Clannad or Shana II for this.

111 Comments

  8. LOL. This series looks pretty ridiculous. I couldn’t help but laugh…. seriously… animes like this give me a good laugh. Nice commentary too.
    lol… haha… no offense to anyone who likes this… lol. really. lol. ahem.

    cairo
    Reply

  11. Another immature anime about some moron who acts like he has never been around people before.

    Another anime about awkward social moments that will introduce a cast of girls with the bodies of goddesses.

    Another anime that will feed us pointless and weak humor added with fanservice.

    Another anime that will have several episodes that are completely unrelated and just random.

    I hate shit like this.

    dan
    Reply

  19. I’m sorry but the main girl character’s hair clashes with the green jacket she’s wearing and the contrast it’s hurting my eye. @_@ That sounds totally random but it is absolutely true, so I don’t think I’m gonna watch this.

    And somehow the dual personality thing is becoming very over used. -_-;;

    mangaka-chan
    Reply

  21. Well…atleast character design-wise, this is way better than Clanad or Shana. Totally in love with main girl desings X) and that white-hair moment was cool. Although I hope that we will see more action and at least some serious plot development.

    Unknown Voice
    Reply

  23. @mangaka-chan

    I can’t agree more. The green uniform and pink hair make an awful match. And I didn’t know Kurumu-chan had blue hair, makes her look a little weird. Hey but that’s me 🙂

    semtex
    Reply

  30. *shrug* It’s just gonzo earning its name 🙂
    Might turn out to be a good series after all, who knows…
    Or it might definitely be another *gasp* school days -type anime!

    Of course, I’m just kidding 😉

    – T

    Tolitz
    Reply

  31. I counted 23 pantyshots, not including the ED and the preview, roughly half a dozen pantyshots, a nude transform scene in best mahou shoujo tradition, tentacle rape and even a bukkake shot. There really isn’t any doubt what kind of series this is going to be, now is there?
    Now I don’t mind occasional fanservice, but it’s like every time they showed Moka they either had to show her panties or her cleavage and from what I’ve seen in the manga it will only get worse once those other girls get introduced.

    bearzerger
    Reply

  42. some ppl will be attracted to it thanks to the manga (which is good fun), some’ll like Gonzo, some’ll just like the char designs.
    a few ppl will at least watch the first ep with no prior knowledge of the series but at least an open mind
    and a bunch will make snap judgements without knowing a thing and try to make themselves feel more enlightened with comments about how they hate this, that, and otherwise and they’re above such simple things.

    Anonymous
    Reply

  43. anal… let’s wait to see more of it’s animation and plots being brought to the screen, since this episode didn’t quite stir any emotions or nor did it hold in promises in my opinion.

    …

    andynai
    Reply

  44. Once the manga broke from it’s “monster of the week” formula the story got pretty good. I hope that they can skip some of the pointless crap and move into story within a few episodes, but knowing Gonzo they are going to milk every single fanserviceable moment they can. The only thing positive I can say about this first episode is that they haven’t given any of the characters enormous racks yet (one of dragonaut’s worst features) and the animation quality seems pretty good.

    8GaugeBrett
    Reply

  46. Yup, there will be ppl subbing this. Ones that i can remember right off are Ayako with another group, Anime Enlightenment Network, and another group that i cant remember right now……well, go to winter preview thing on the site and look for whose subbing what link.

    Som1
    Reply

  47. Ahh…the physics…of fluttering school skirts resulting to unrestrcited and abundant panty shots.So there were other uses for Newton’s Law of Gravity…a skirt that comes up will inevitably come down but not before a fill of fanservice.Don’t get me wrong,I don’t mind that.I’d rather have a good laugh than anything else.I like reading R+V and I don’t expect anything for the first few episodes since as one commented earlier,it will get old until all the characters are introduced.Afterwards,it should be good if the writers have done the homework.Otherwise, expect fan service to continue for at least 2 episodes until the first story arc.Okay, enough said.

    tabs05
    Reply

  51. I’ve read all of the manga chapters that have been translated so far and from what I’ve read about the anime….it seems like the anime is focused more on fanservice than actually trying to get to the actual story and plot. I agree with others that have commented. After everyone is introduced it gets really good with an actual story and everything. I wish they could just speed through all the introductions and get to the good parts. 🙂 not that theres anything wrong with fanservice……but from the reviews ive read of the anime…theres too much of it?

    Hmmmmm
    Reply

  53. “dward wrote:
    Panty shot!? Wth? I’ve been following every volume of the manga and I don’t recall any panty shots in there! Zzzzz….more fanservice….”

    I hope you’re not blind.

    I think Rosario + Vampire is timed out pretty well. Most of the new winter season is sooo boring that makes this anime look really good.

    Gil
    Reply

  55. Just saw 1st episode, not as bad as I originally thought though. It feels like it has a generic harem story, but since there is nothing much to see this season, it is better than nothing… Hope the new minami-ke will not disappoint us.

    FalloutDude
    Reply

  60. i followed the manga of this and i admit that the first few volume were kinda boring( it take like six volumes to introduce all the characters. But trust me once that done and over with the good shit starts.

    shadowlancer
    Reply

  64. At least the char. design and art stayed close to the manga. However, as Random had pointed out, even the manga gave off a Monster of the Week feel to it. I like the art, I felt the manga was decent, but I hate monotonous plots like these. It’s basically a MX0-Halloween style harem IMHO(save Tsukune isn’t very cool). Where they go up against the best of the best, than the bestest of the best, than the bestest of the bestest…etc…

    Remy
    Reply

  65. @ manga readers

    Just pray that Gonzo doesn’t start to deviate from the source like they often did in the past. Pumpkin Scissors and Hellsing knows what I mean.

    I torn between the urge to watch a vampire girl story starring Nana Mizuki as the lead, or not to watch it because of the potential bitterness that Gonzo may leave in my mouth when they start making up shit.

    Sheba
    Reply

  68. I heard the same comments that shadowlancer said from many many fans of the mmanga. And I have to agreed after reading the manga.

    I’m giving the anime a chance to watch. =3 Kind of curious of the OP music and soundtrack.

    strawberryheaven
    Reply

  71. The manga for this series is amazing in my opinion, and I will follow the anime just because of my love for the manga probably. The story is really good in later chapters…when I actually start liking Tsukune.

    Really?Yes,Really
    Reply

  72. Hmmmmm talk about your mediocore character design. Nice to see Raoh from Hokuto No Ken back though. That said this looks mildy more interesting then that H20 show on account of at least it offers up some action. Though I can’t say that’s enough to entice me into watching any of it.

    Kaioshin Sama
    Reply

  74. Oh my.
    Lord.

    Seriously look at the number of things that really was animated in each frame, this is the first time i saw such awful work in a year. (but maybe I was lucky.)
    There is no point in watching an anime if it’s like a voiced manga.

    z
    Reply

  78. Good question. My advice, watch the 1st couple of episodes. People say it gets better later on but because i didnt read the manga, i dont know how that goes so mite as well as give it a try. If u hate it, u hate it, (please dont spam “It sucks” it just gets annoying and this blog already has enough “It sucks but i dont have a good reason for y it sucks and i have nothing better to do with my time but i constantly whine about y i wasted time on this” peoples). If u like it, then u like it and is worth watching. But atleast give it a couple episodes unless u know for a fact yur gonna hate it a lot. You might not like the 1st episode but it might get a lot better.

    Som1
    Reply

  79. Ah Som1 the voice of reason. Thank you for saying what so many people have wanted to say including myself. The manga so far I have really enjoyed. I’m on volume 6 and its really gotten my attention. Thanks to the fact that the people translating the manga are getting it out so god dam fast. Anyway based on the manga I think if Gonzo does it right we could have a good anime series on our hands. Just, this is where I agree with other people. That is way too much fanservice!

    Hyosuke
    Reply

  87. Just read thru the manga, some cool fights, the main character doesn’t stay a pansy forever, looking forward to this anime. Though where shakugan no shana II is at now, I wouldn’t drop it. A few episodes ago I would’ve said drop it though. =P

    Alex4life
    Reply

  89. predictable plot twist i see coming a mile away:

    – tsukune discovers he comes from a family of vampire hunters
    – after getting his ass whipped a few times, he’ll find some artifact/weapon that will put him on equal footing with everyone else

    pick one. remember, i called it.

    boop
    Reply

  91. i only hope the nosebleeds will not be 2 frequent….. *shudders* remeber nagasarete airantou? for those who have watched it

    it does look good, some ecchi, romance and sum comedy

    kentai_yoshimi
    Reply

  92. The manga was never that good to begin with, was hoping the anime would turn out better but I guess it didn’t. The one thing that always bother me about this series is it give me that stupid Sailor Moon vibe, episode usually start with boy and girl having a great time,then problems occur and they get pounded on different monster on each episode until the end of the episode the boy pull that rosario from the girl everytime and turn her into Sailor Moon in this case a vampire and save the day. Too much Sailor Moon Vibes I say.

    Tom
    Reply

  93. Daisuke Kishio(Aono Tsukune) also did Luppi from Bleach. For me, he did a magnificent job on him. Considering how he changed his sweet talk into more vulgar and violent one in an instant at the end of his battle against Hitsugaya and, apply that to the “certain” chapters of the manga, I think, we’re going to get some really good voice acting on Tsukune in the future.

    StiFF
    Reply

  95. Ok, after watching the 1st episode, i have come to this conclusion. Although the frame rates suffer in some scenes, the drawings themselves are nicely done. Another thing is that it has more fanservice than u would expect. However, it is very fun to watch and you can let the fanservice slide. Also, Moka is really cute when she bites Aono XD.

    Som1
    Reply

  103. Not disapointed animation wise, just the way they presented being a Manga Reader of Rosario + Vampire.

    Like the blood squirting out of his neck was a small humour I liked abou the Manga. Here, it seems like he barely minds her sucking his blood. Also, I thought the talk between the bus driver and him before he runs back to save Moka in the Manga should have been a scene.Yes, I’m impressed, but it didn’t give me the exact wow this is pretty cool like what the manga did. Also, think that they need to tone down the fanservice. It just doesn’t fit well with the story to put so much in it. It’s not a harem afterall, just one boy proving that humans and monster or “Yokai” (demons/monsters/witches/spirits) can get along with each other in a romance manga.

    I’ll keep watching, and hope that you pick up blogging it if it can improve and becomes worthwhile to watch like Clannad and SnS The 2nd.

    Sora no Kaze
    Reply

  104. Forgot to mention

    @boop

    You kinda overshot. You failed at the call. Anyways, your plot would make no sense about the vampire hunter. For God sakes its not Tsukumine. ANd your’e telling me after they get through the human/yokai crap that now they have to get through Vampire Discrimination. Anyways, even if vampire hunter did come up, it’ll only play a very small part (sorry Really? Yes Really., but this is an adaptation of the Manga since the Manga is not finish, so vampire hunter could come up, but I agree with you, probably won’t)

    Second, is not that he gets his assed whooped, he just has no strength to protect except in the form of ideals. And if they decided to go off to their own adaptation and give him a weapon, I’ll kill them. Done to many times, and it’ll kinda give away his identity that he has no form after all (Monster form>Weapons). The way the manga did it was interesting and way better. Original :P.

    Sora no Kaze
    Reply

  105. i read the manga and it has less fanservice than the anime (theres still quite a bit, but not too concentrated) i wonder why they made moka’s hiar pink, i thought it was supposed to be light brown(from the manga)
    and im glad there arent anymore nosebleeds
    i look forward to watching this

    kentai_yoshimi
    Reply

  108. ITS ACTUALLY REALLLY GOOD, I love it and to all you haters flaming it GO DIE, this series looks great and after nanomiya-kun ended so prematurely its nice to get something like this back, and they even mentioned a succubus in ep 2! friekin awesome XD gotta do something between clannad and bleach manga lol

    the stark lad
    Reply

  111. Lol. Wow you guys are really taking this series way too seriously! I think the show is hilarious! Dude, a guy who goes to a school for monsters and has a smokin’ hot VAMPIRE for a girlfriend? That’s sweet! lol although I do agree with the clashing hair comment, that’s not a good reason to drop the whole series.

    LoneWolfK9
    Reply

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