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「聖者の右腕編I」 (Seija No Uwan Hen I)
“The Right Arm of the Saint I”
“What do you mean you can’t wake up in the morning? What are you a vampire or something?” Oh, but he is. And not only that, but he’s also the Fourth Primogenitor—the strongest of all vampires, the herald of impending calamity, and something that should only exist in legends. All things considered, it only makes sense that the world’s watch dogs—the Lion King Organization—would send an observer to watch and kill him if needed, right? You know, seeing that he has a power equivalent to that of an entire nation’s army. It’s just too bad someone missed a few memos here and there, because not only does it end up that he has no plans of world domination, the girl sent to observe him is probably the person most incapable of doing so.
And well, that’s essentially what Strike the Blood’s first episode boils down to. It’s an introduction that both gives us the basics of what we’re dealing with in regards to the premise/setting and sets the foundation for future developments—all while doing so in a way that doesn’t end up being an info-dump or rushed at all. Indeed, I quite liked how Strike the Blood went about doing their first episode, and it’s something that’s highlighted by how they sneak tidbits of information throughout—the montage of chat rooms and conversations in the beginning is one good example—and how they manage to make the exchanges between our main characters both funny and light-hearted (while hinting at some more serious things).
Indeed, there’s just nothing quite like seeing your supposed, all powerful vampire MC end up too broke to ride the monorail AND get caught being turned on by the smell of a girl’s wallet to start off a series, and it’s something that’s just made even better when combined with our heroine’s equally hilarious failings. I mean, come on, you’re really telling me you fell for the I’m an Italian tourist joke!? But yeah, all the while, we get glimpses of the more serious nature of the series too—in regards to the demons (and other threats) that lie around Itogami City, the powers both our main characters possess, and the seemingly traumatic history Akatsuki Kojou has—and this introduction is just great in terms of all-around balance.
Ultimately however, despite the fairly good start, I’m still admittedly unsure as to how things will turn out with this series. This introduction was promising to be sure, but the fact remains that the rather infamous Yoshino Hiroyuki is doing the series composition, and it’s entirely possible that things could go bad in a hurry. At the moment though, I’m cautiously optimistic, and there just might be enough here to give us a pretty decent action/supernatural series while incorporating some nice romantic development too. Either way, it’s worth a continued watch for sure, and potentially some continued coverage too—though my schedule’s pretty loaded as is. We’ll see how it goes.
Full-length images: 20.
OP Sequence
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OP: 「ストライク・ザ・ブラッド」 (Sutoraiku Za Buraddo) by Kishida Kyoudan & The Akeboshi Rockets
Preview
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Reminds me of Index so much. By any chance it is in the same universe?
TQ
Unrelated as far as I know.
I can see where you’re coming from though.
The Character Designs were made by the same animators from Railgun I think….though I do see how you can think their city is sort of Index’y like
I never managed to continue Index, although it’s apparently popular.
Instead, this show reminds me of DiaLovers, especially the 6th screenshot in the OP sequence.
Any girls here who got the DiaLovers vibe? :DD
Love Hosoyan’s voice, hope the MC will get more interesting.
Can’t wait to see more of Ryochin’s character! He seems quite badass in the OP.
And who’s that hot blonde guy in the OP? The 5th screenshot up there.
Ah, but since this is a show mainly targeted at male
losersviewers any hot guy that appears would probably be an antagonist. But I’ll wait and see if this’ll turn into a show like Hataraku Maou-sama that is targeted at males but can also be a show interesting for female viewers. 🙂You had to make a comparison to Index. Now I have no choose but to watch the first episode.
The title reminds me of SAO.
i’d get turned on too if i was smelling a bishoujo’s wallet, can’t blame the guy.
I definitely wouldn’t mind being observed by her.
Would you mind if she stabs you with a magical lance because you have turn evil?.
I really like Taneda Risa’s voice, VA for 2 main characters this season and hopefully more in the future!
and the MCs for 2 shows both about blood at that lol!
After her breakthrough perf in Shinsekai Yori, directors would be crazy not to hire her!
I like this episode, waiting for that badass MC moment from the PV!
But does anyone know how many episodes this is going to be? There are some stuff going around saying its 2 cours, if it is that will be a surprise.
The pantsu is strong with this one.
A city of adventure. What does Primogenitor translate to anyway?
If you take it at its definition, it roughly means “the earliest ancestor of a certain people,” so I guess this would be kind of like equivalent to Akatsuki having the powers of one of the “original” vampires from which everyone else descended from. Would at least explain why his powers are supposedly extremely powerful.
As Zephyr said. I think the Primogenitors are like Pure-blood,First vampires with all the usual superpowers, and Akatsuki was turned into one by the previous Primogenitor. The question is, why?
Well in the novel the Kanji used for Primogenitor was 真祖`Shino. So yes they are the True Ancestors for Vampires in this universe. I assume Primogenitor was used to avoid confusion with Type Moon ‘s version of True Ancestors.
So it’s like the Originals in the tv series The Vampire Diaries. Makes sense.
I read this off an anime magazine in a book store introducing the series, in it was a world map with some details. If only I had bought it.
Here’s what I can remember, it could be full of errors, so please don’t take my word for it.
Humans and Demons have been fighting since forever. After many skirmishes, the Demons have established three “Domains” around the world, more or less earning the recognition to exist as sovereign states and living in an uneasy truce with the human nations.
Of these three Domains, each are led by an uber-vampire known as “Progenitors”. The First Progenitor is based in Eastern Europe (naturally linked with the Dracula of legend), the Second Progenitor in the Middle East, the Third Progenitor in Central America.
Not sure why the Fourth Progenitor doesn’t have a domain of her own prior to her passing her powers to Kojou. And that’s what the Lion King Organization is set to find out.
True Ancestor
I hope this will be even better than Index. Btw, I never liked Index much, that’s why i’m lookin’ forward for this show to give me the vibes that I didn’t quite get from Index.
This looks promising – “cautiously optimistic” is a very good way to put it. I actually liked the two MC. Neither one was over-played in terms of personality stereotypes. The “Yoshino Hiroyuki” track record is unsettling, but perhaps this will be the exception to the rule 😀
Yet another show to sink my fangs into, but I’m definitely watching this one no matter where it goes. Give me a badass MC + backstory & I’m happy. The producer for this show obviously have those bouts where he completely forgets about the plot & inserts TONS of ridiculous fanservice – but as long as he keeps the memory loss to a minimum it should be another epic ride.
Well, I’d say it was a rather interesting, yet unspectacular, first episode. I’ve heard good things about it but generally on your first episode you want something near the end of the episode to reel the viewer in. I kept expecting that and when it ended I was just kinda like, “Huh? Already?”
Granted it’s kind of hard to judge an episode when it’s mostly used as an info dump and relationship builder though. I guess that kind of makes it like Index’s first episode without the “sh*t just got real” cliffhanger. Hopefully it ends up being as good as the rest.
I’d like to see where this show goes. Especially on what history Akatsuki had with the previous 4th Primogenitor, the events that led to him inheriting her powers, and why his memories from then were (forcibly) suppressed.
If Yukina works for the Lion King, then she must be answering to Simba.
These characters are all connected in the great circle of life.
Later Yukina and Akatsuki must help the Lion King avenge Mufasa.
@zztop
NOOOOO!!! You brought back terrible memories from my childhood!
I cried like a little b*tch when Mufasa died…
@Kuntzy
Mufasa isn’t really dead. He’s now living as a cloud in the sky. Remember?
Mufasa: Remember …
Freaking loved the first ep. Cant wait to see what they can do with this series.
Also, awesome that you guys are covering it. Last time I checked the fall list, no one was.
Yo´re right, the series is awesome. This gives me a new favorite for the list of great fantasy series, thank God this going a 24 episode adaptation.
I’m liking this a lot. Also, the OP is pretty badass.
This remind me of Campione… the novels i mean not the crappy adapted anime.
This remind me of Campione… the novels i mean not the crappy, horribly adapted anime.
Im dissappoint. You did’nt snap the opening scene where Yukina lies on Kujou’s chest… underwater but you make it up with the almost-bite shots! NICE ONE!
I like it, but it wasn’t that great. yet.
clearly the show has potential, and studio silverlink can make the series a good one with all those battles (the battles in fate kalied/Illya were really good).
things still need to stir up there in all aspects – characters, story…but I’ll stick to that series.
I expect this show to suck sometime.
I liked it. It wasnt outstanding or instantly became a must watch, but I definitely like the premise and will keep watching and see where things go from there. Hopefully it will stay good/decent.
Am I the only one that was reminded of the first episode of kyoukai no Kanata throughout the whole thing? I mean a demon hunter girl tries to kill a guy, and the guy tries to avoid her the best he can. They eventually go to eat together, because the girl, who lives alone, is incredibly hungry. And during the dinner they come in terms with each other, sort-off.
I mean, the characters are different, sure, but still…
Not saying they’re bad. I’m probably going to end up watching both shows anyways.
The magic and technology coexisting world setting has that Indexverse vibes all over, yet this is made by Silver Link, even though it could easily be by JC Staff.
The protagonist Kojo seemed likable enough, moderately perverted and yet just clever enough to get on the girl’s good side. 🙂
And we get not only one panty shot but two from the same girl in just the first episode? Woot. XD
Index in the Vampire Bund? Just seems far too derivative, plus the BGM is soooo annoying – sometimes sounds like it’s from an old computer game. Not even the pantsu can make up for this. But anyway, I’ll give it a few more episodes just to be fair.
I can see where the Indexverse comparisons are coming from… Definitely not bad, the idea of floating city being refuge for paranormal creatures is fun, and MC is quite likeable – down to him muttering what basiclaly equals to his version of “Fukou da!”. Whoever chose the girl for the task, definitely prioritized combat abilities over tailing/surveillance skills. She is also not very good with keeping secrets quiet in public places… And is vulnerable to sudden gusts of wind flipping her skirt. Saten would have a field day with her!
This seems like it will be fun series.
I watched this today and before I had watched Kyoukai no Kanata.
Kyoukai no Kanata has better animation, but the story of the 1st episode was almost identical:
Show Spoiler ▼
I’ll watch Strike the Blood while it airs and watch Kyoukai no Kanata when it finishes.
Strike the Blood lore captivated me more.
Please Zephyr cover this. ^_^
Both the lead females from Kyoukai no Kanata/Strike the Blood are voiced by the same VA, Taneda Risa
I lol’d so hard at this scene.
It’s like there is a good and interesting show for every day of the week, or at least we know that the weekends are jam packed.
People are comparing the city to Index/Railgun’s Academy city, but the setting and city reminds me more of Dance in the Vampire Bund. Instead of Vampires and Werewolves being isolated to their own city, this anime has all types of creatures isolated.
I do get the Railgun similarity though ;p
I had medium expectations for this from reading the synopsys & watching the PV but I can gladly say that it surpasses them by a bit.Both of the main characters seem likeable.Now,less of this please,there are much better ways to do fanservice!
I find it interesting how the mc was a human and is now a vampire rather than starting out as a vampire, it adds a whole lot more to the story and I’m expecting an episode about his past.
this reminds me of the show spiral especially the girl with the computer skills
After watchig the second episode I can say for sure the series looks really good, I hope someone could cover it, I will really apreciate it.
I agree, dont drop the series Zephyr!
Don’t drop Strike the Blood! 🙂