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“Vampire Mikaela”Two New Pink Haired Characters: I didn’t get to cover Owari no Seraph last week, but I’m glad I was back in time for this one. Last week was a little too safe, with Owari no Seraph digging its heels into the not-so-interesting school setting when there’s a whole post-apocalyptic world to explore out there. Thankfully, this episode shifted the perspective of things for the better, and introduced two new characters of the pick-haired variety. First off is Kimizuki Shihou (Ishikawa Kaito), who bares a striking resemble to Tsukishima from Haikyuu!!. At first I even thought their voice actors were the same, which would have been ridiculous, but turns out it’s Kageyama’s voice coming out of him instead. Kimizuki isn’t anything too special, but there’s enough about him to not make him completely unlikeable – sure, he’s arrogant, crude, and prone to fighting with students that so much as bump into him, but at least he’s doing it for his sister…? Yeah, that still doesn’t make his douchiness excusable. The scene with his sister in the hospital bed was nice enough, albeit a bit cliche. It’s to be expected at this point that every character will have a tragic backstory, especially in a world such as this, so I’m not too bothered by it. The other pink-haired character is, in my opinion, much more interesting. Krul Tepes (Yuuki Aoi) is the vampire queen of Japan, which is a pretty cool title in itself, and although we saw a glimpse of her in the very first scene of the first episode, this is her proper introduction as the loli leader of the vampires, and I’d say it was a pretty effective one. The overpowered little girl is a trope that I either hate or really like depending on how it’s done, and so far I’m liking how Krul displayed that she can beat down her subordinates just by doing some backflips and kicking them square in the jaw. However, if we do go down the route of overt and gross sexualisation that is all to common in anime (the most recent example that comes to mind is No Game No Life – yuck) then I may be singing a different tune. For now, I’m actually preferring the vampire side of things, so the more we see from their side, the better. Yuu’s & Mika’s Trials: The school setting has got some validity over the past two episodes, but that still doesn’t change the fact that it’s just boring in comparison to the other locations we’ve witnessed so far. I’m definitely getting the Ao no Exorcist vibes now, but at least that school was intriguing and mysterious and had distinctive architecture. This one that we’re stuck in right now isn’t doing the series any favours, but I’m hopeful that it won’t last forever. The training – as short as it was – was quite interesting, showing how Yuu and Kimizuki aren’t able to work together to get the job done. I like the emphasis on friendship in Owari no Seraph, which is possibly the most common theme of most shonen series, but the fact that working with others and being able to get along with them is just as valuable as their combative skill gives me hopes for when the story does reach the next stage. I just hope we’re not at this school for too long. I enjoy Yuu as a main character, and whilst I see the Eren comparisons, I think Yuu is much more cocky, but has more to prove it as well; I never got behind Eren as much as I did with other characters, but so far Yuu is doing a good job at standing out and proving himself as the main character. As for our other main character, I’m actually surprised at how much I like his current position. Mika has been turned into a vampire through Krul’s blood, which may be something special in itself, but the fact that he’s still looking out for humanity is a big relief. That may not last forever, but for the time being this boy vampire is still showing his humanity. There’s still hope for him. Now that the vampires have declared war, I’m sure Mika’s determination will be put to the test. Overview – What’s Next?: Still not as engaging as the first two episodes, but this was a sure improvement on what we got last week. I’m not too interested in Kimizuki, despite him being a doppelgänger of my personal favourite Haikyuu!! character, but Vampire Queen Krul had an impressive introduction. I’m much more interested in Mika’s story right now; I just hope he doesn’t become tainted by those who surround him. I’m looking at you, Ferid… Full-length images: 7, 11, 17.
Preview
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Not enough Shinoa this episode…
I hated Ferid a lot in the manga, but somehow he is more enjoyable to watch in anime form. On another note, the colour scheme of the oppositions’ attire reminds me of Vampire Knight where the humans wear black and the vampires wear white. Is there some logic behind this colour scheme? And the training dolls remind me of the monsters from D Gray Man.
MC is an tragic chuunibyou edgy teenager (look at Kirito/Dark Flame Master for example) so he wear black to look cool.
White because vampires are elegant and create BL vibe with mc.
I wonder why real life solders wear camo.
Well I’ve got some good news for you. Next week should be the last episode in school, and even then most of it won’t be in the school itself.
Yay, it only took 1/3 of the series to do so! Barring my sarcasm, I’ve read the manga so I know that most of the series doesn’t happen in the school, so I’m not bitter about it.
Hmm…vampires (the antagonists) attack the humans.
The main protagonist ends up joining the war against the vampires,
while the secondary protagonist (Mikaela) ends up having some tragedy and joining the vampires..
https://randomc.net/image/Owari%20no%20Seraph/Owari%20no%20Seraph%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2014.jpg
Is it just me, or is this really reminiscent of the Inaho(Terran) vs Slaine(Martian) story from Aldnoah Zero?
If this keeps up I’ll be rooting for Mikaela.
Well, first of all, there’s no vampire princess who just wants everyone to get along coming to the other side. Thank the goddess (and Kagami-sensei too, of course) for that one.
Secondly, I wouldn’t say that Mika has actually “joined” anyone. He’s been forced into the life of a vampire, true enough, but his heart is still with rescuing Yuu and finding a way out of the mess they’re in. That ain’t Slaine, not by a long shot.
And lastly, while the scenario of a war story between two opposing races may seem reminiscent of Aldnoah Zero – and a dozen other stories, but whatever – I’d argue that the motives behind it are completely different.
Aldnoah at least gave a genuine reason for Martians to want to wipe out humanity. They wanted the Earth for its natural resources to prevent their own inevitable destruction. Seraph doesn’t have that. Vampires obviously possess overwhelming power and they’re at no risk of dying out if they leave the status quo as it is.
The whole story and the so-called “war” itself reeks of behind-the-scenes manipulation from both the vampire (here’s looking at you, pink-haired loli vampire queen) and human sides.
Vampires aren’t wiping out humans, they are now attacking the army forces which, you’ll later find out, have been experimenting with them and slaving them and creating curses that wipe out humans. Krul’s sister was captured, tortured, and brainwashed and turned into a weapon (that’s Yuu’s sword).
In short, Mika wants to save Yuu before he’s locked up to be experimented on again (because both of them are experiments by humans). Of course Krul is using him for her own designs and he shouldn’t be so paranoid with Yuu’s friends who aren’t the corrupted higher ups, but the army he’s joined blindly isn’t good and the ones who wiped out humanity were humans. Vampires left their underground cities to keep them from dying out (out of self interest because they need to eat).
@Andragoras, wow thanks for such nice information. Could you tell me if you read it in manga or novel? ( first paragraph )
@Andragoras
There always has to be someone showing with unmarked spoilers… I mean it’s good to know that what I guessed based on the latest episode is more or less accurate, but I’d much rather find that out by watching the actual show, thank you.
Actually, the vampires think they’re at danger. That’s the whole point of the last scene.
According to them, the JIDA is expanding, killing vampires and experimenting with the “Seraph of the End”, whatever that is. And they seem convinved that the plague from eight years ago was the humans’ fault and it could happen again.
Even if that’s not the case, even if there’s a conspiration behind it, look at it from the common vampire grunt’s point of view: last time vampires were hidden in the shadows, humanity almost killed itself. That would mean vampires would die of hunger too! They stepped in, brought order to a monster-infested world, and they “only” asked humans to submit to their will and donate some of their blood. Those filthy mongrels should be grateful!
@Mistic
Show Spoiler ▼
Welcome to shounen! Might as well say it is same as naruto
Show Spoiler ▼
Be careful with spoilers. If it’s not happened yet in the anime, use the spoiler tags.
There’s just something off about this show that annoys me to no end. It feels very generic and as if it’s just running through the motions. The high school setting isn’t doing it. One thing that ticked me off was Shinoa participating in the exam even though she’s already a veteran member of the army and has her demon weapon.
I also don’t really care for your comments on No Game, No Life. I enjoyed that show.
I can understand why Shinoa participating would’ve seemed annoying from a logic perspective, but it makes perfect sense when you remember that she’s supposed to guide Yuu along, watch out for him, etc.
If she hadn’t been there, Yuu would’ve teamed up with Yoichi and the latest pink-haired member of the group would’ve been left out in the cold to fend for himself. And in a world where you die if you don’t learn to get along with others, we can’t have that happening, now can we?
Or they could have just, you know, assigned teams?
It is generic and throws in as many shounen manga cliches as the capacity allows it, but sometimes your run-of-the-mill fast food meal from a run-of-the-mill fast food chain is just what you needed. The taste is nothing special, but you can’t stop eating. Just don’t expect anything special or groundbreaking and enjoy it for what it is.
I have to say that this may be my favorite Yuuki Aoi role in quite some time. It’s like an alternate universe where Madoka grew up to be a vampire queen instead.
This is the third time Aoi Yuuki has played a loli vampire leader. Her prior roles consist of Mina Tepes from Dance in the Vampire Bund and Sunako Kirishiki from Shiki. Now here she is in Seraph of the End voicing Krul Tepes. Fun facts: Guren’s voice actor Yuuichi Nakamura played Mina Tepes’ bodyguard and werewolf love interest Akira Kaburagi. Yoichi’s voice actor Nobuhiko Okamoto played Shiki’s Tohru Mutou. It’s like this show is being used to make voice actor reunions.
Yu’s arrogance & stubbornness is reaching ridiculous levels now that I find him fun to watch 😛
4 eps in and what I make of Owari no Seraph so far is that it’s one of those anime where you only take it seriously partially. In exchange, I’m hoping for a more colorful cast and we might just get that.
Yu & Eren were both bent on revenge against the titans/vampires and were stubborn & arrogant, which made them rather annoying. But Eren stood remained in the annoying zone. He was never that deep of a character in order to be entertaining if he started being more reasonable and he never went overboard in his arrogance & stubbornness either. Yu seems to be doing the later and by doing so he’s going leaving the annoying zone and entering the entertaining one. There’s plenty of time for him to develop later on.
As for Shinoa, she’s already a more colorful character than Mikasa managed to be throughout the whole series.
Yeah I seem to spend most of each episode laughing at how much Yu fails at basic interpersonal interaction. I guess I’m watching for schadenfreude, pretty backgrounds and the vampire queen?
It should get better from here on out, but this episode for me faced similar problems as it did in the last one – the interactions were a little stilted at times between Yuu and Kimizuki, but otherwise the episode was enjoyable.
I must admit to spoiling myself by reading the manga material ahead of the anime (couldn’t resist), and for once am genuinely glad I did so as the future developments are exciting (even if some of it remain cliche). Yuu, despite his arrogance and brashness, is growing on me as a strong male character. He should be getting some needed development, as does Shinoa who is already a favorite in the show.
Mika’s allegiances are interesting as well, and we fulfill the loli quota with Krul. The relationship dynamics are starting to take off, so I’ll keep watching.
What I found interesting from this episode was the info that despite the coincidental impression left by ep 1, apparently the vampires are NOT behind the epidemic and even seem to want to prevent a new outbreak (which they think human Demon Army activities could lead to); and that they’re also apparently NOT in league with the biblically named monsters and even seek to protect humans from them (even if only as cattle). I guess here’s a possibility that the monster attack was staged by the vampires to get their cattle to psychologically owe them to ease management, but there was no clear indication that this was the case.
True. If humans were behind the plague, the vampires’ reaction seems logical: they had to do something to preserve their source of food. The war against the Army is then both necessary and righteous: even if they only want them as food, they are fighting to save humanity!
Or at least that’s what the most kind hearted vampire might think. Others? They probably don’t care.
Readers of Kagami Takaya’s works say we can expect a lot of crazy plot developments and crazy backstories for Seraph; it’s literally Kagami’s forte in writing.
All the separate plot points (the vampires, demons, magic) will eventually come together as one.
Seeing all this pink hair reminds me of Manabi Straight.
https://randomc.net/image/Owari%20no%20Seraph/Owari%20no%20Seraph%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2028.jpg
Meh, if it weren’t for that pink hair, he’d be as cool as Yuu.
Actually his hair is too dark. He’d look better with a lighter hue.
In addition, I’m not too keen on Shinoa’s hair colour either. It looks like dirty lilac.
i was sure that the one who turn mikaela to a vampire was the white gay =O well krul x yuu dream crushed
Looks like Samu only likes stuff aimed at fujoshis.
So the biggest take away from this episode (aside from awesome loli vampire queen) is that there was no reason for MC and Shihou to be chained up the whole damn time when he had to leave to go to the hospital. Also, there was no need for MC to even go with him in the first place. But hey, they need to have some bonding time I guess, but It was handled rather awkwardly.
So far, the show is honestly a bit stale, but I’m still hopeful because the action sequences are fun and colorful, and I can see this show getting more interesting down the road.
It seems they made the wrong colouring decisions at the planning stage, maybe to make the story appear ‘darker’.
I actually enjoyed the first few episodes of Owari no Seraph, but this ep felt rushed. The part with the vampires was great, but the whole Shihou business was trite and lacked emotional depth…Hopefully the rest of the series won’t be affected by similar dips in writing and pacing.
Just a thought – Could Owari no Seraph be set years after Dance in the Vampire Bund was set purely because of the two queen of the vampires similarities, the name, (voice), loli etc.
Krul could hypothetically be some descendent or relation (be that by blood or otherwise) of Mina Tepes (and have even possibly overthrown her?)
and possibly the vampires (from Dance) had enough of the humans and their restrictions which eventually led to what happening in Seraph?
Just curious, if anyone else thought of this?
Will need to re-watch both anime’s to see if this theory has any base 🙂