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“First Extermination”Yuu – Like or Hate Him?: It may not be a popular opinion, but I think Yuu is actually a pretty enjoyable main character. Every episode I have seen viewers complain about him for some reason, though it usually boils down to his hardheadedness and not thinking before taking action. In that sense he is a little typical, especially by shonen standard, but in this episode it worked for me. For once, his rash decision making was actually a helpful thing, and he showed that he has the power to back it up. It is enjoyable to see him slice vampires in half and deflect their blades with ease, especially when he delivers it with confidence. I know others will find him arrogant beyond belief, but I think he’s a fitting main character for a series such as Owari no Seraph. What will be most exciting is when he encounters Mika again and has to rethink what happened in the underground vampire city. Not only did he show his strength this episode, but he also showed he is capable of being fun. I admit, there are times when his dedication to killing vampires all the time has me rolling my eyes, but seeing him turn into a kid again when Kimizuki starts up an abandoned car was a treat. Not only that, but his scene with Mitsuba was a strong one, when he forgave the little girl for effectively selling them out. Yuu understands what she went through, and so his sympathy feels genuine. It was ruined only Mitsuba’s cliched tsundere moment at the end. The Shafting of Shinoa and Mitsuba: Speaking of Mitsuba, I’d like to talk about the girls this week. Last episode they got the spotlight, yet this time around they got completely shafted. Yuu got his time to shine and prove himself as a likeable main character, but it was totally at the expense of the two girls, having them be rescued by Yuu or unable to fight back when it mattered most. Simply put, I don’t believe they would have acted like that. Out of the five, Shinoa and Mitsuba are the most experienced fighters, yet in this episode you’d think they were rookies. I’m not saying Shinoa can’t have her moments where she’s overwhelmed by imposing vampire threats, but I expected more from her and Mitsuba. Bad writing, I have to say. I’m not a fan of shafting female characters purely for benefit of the male lead. On/Off Vampire Action: This was another action-filled episode, but there were times when the animation was very stiff, which resulted in some rather lackluster fight scenes. Yet there were moments of fluidity and detailed closeups of the characters at their most pissed off. I’m always up for more vampire action, especially if it means meeting more powerful nobles like we did this week. Crowley Eusford (Suzumura Kenichi) was every bit confident and intimidating, with Chess Belle (Furuki Nozomi) and Horn Skuld (Hikasa Yoko) as his sidekicks. They’ve all got interesting designs, so I’ll be excited to see what happens with them as the story progresses. Overview – What’s Next?: Yuu finally got his moment to prove himself as a likeable main character, but it came at a cost. Shinoa and Mitsuba’s treatment this episode was not favourable, and even if there times when the action was on point, there were plenty of clingeworthy moments. Other than that, I’m much appreciating this Shunjuku arc, and by the looks of it it seems next week’s episode will be an all out war between the vampires and the imperial army. |
Full-length images: 14.
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I find Mitsuba to be the most annoyingly typical. I like Yuu, he kicks ass when it matters most. Show Spoiler ▼
https://randomc.net/image/Owari%20no%20Seraph/Owari%20no%20Seraph%20-%2008%20-%20Large%20Preview%2001.jpg
Come back, Mika! You have been sorely missed.
other lovely vampire almost loli *O* her desing is great like krul
but these things in her head are standard horns or something to female vampires?asuramaru have them too
well shinoa begin weak was a bit off
and about mitsu u can´t get her dere side if u don´t save then first right?
The anime is still in manga territory.
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To be more specific, the episode covered the remainder of ch 9 and the entirety of ch 10. So far from the beginning of the show, everything aside from some welcome anime-original add-on scenes (Mika’s walk to his old settlement in the vampire city when he was human) has been canon.
Dunno how i felt about this episode’s adaptation tbh. I hate being “that guy” but the manga handled it better.
The animation for Crowley was good and conveyed how much a Noble is a step up from regular vampires, but the pacing overall wasn’t so great (never mind the cock tease for the underground fight etc).
Yuu not cutting Crowley’s arm off but some how be able to knock a sword that is practically bolted to his hand just struck me as odd though. I didn’t like them changing the scene where Kimizuki defends Shinoa while Yuu attacks (it goes against the idea that those two serve as vanguards in their unit for close combat and makes it look like only Yuu can do that etc).
They also changed/removed the scene that gives a bit more insight into why some people are still outside of the protected cities and Yuu talking about his past. On the one hand having Mitsuba talk to him about it works better but they still could have added it without deviating from the original scene too much
I was really hoping that they would keep the scene Show Spoiler ▼
It’s a really pivotal scene, and it’s exclusion is probably my largest gripe with this episode (and series thus far).
So we’re finally done with the prologue and the next episode will be the meat of the story… right? Phew, it only took 8 episodes.
So Shinoa… despite all your talk and smugginess, there’s no bite into it? Shiraishi’s can beat you to a punch.
Yep. You’re not the only one who thought that.
Best part about Shinoa: She doesn’t fall heads over heals immediately just from being saved by the hero. Unlike other unrealistic female characters.
https://randomc.net/image/Owari%20no%20Seraph/Owari%20no%20Seraph%20-%2008%20-%20Large%2031.jpg
Just a question to manga readers: Did they skip the part where the main characters battled the 7 vampires?
The answer to your question is “no” because there was nothing to skip. Aside from cutting out the part of a reprimanding parent after the rescue that would’ve taken about three minutes and the way Yuu stopped Crowley from attacking Shinoa, things went page for page exactly like it did in the manga. Yuu easily took care of those vampires when saving Mitsuba so it would have been more of the same thing, making it unnecessary to showcase since beating them was a foregone conclusion, thus a waste of time. Those were the most common class of vampire out there.
The point of the episode was having Yuu adapt to teamwork and show the vast trench in power between vampire classes. Particularly between commoners and Nobles/Progenitors. Because it was the highest ranked weapon among the humans, Yuu got full of himself getting the Black Demon Series Cursed Gear, thinking that with it in hand, he could easily dispatch any vampire that comes his way. Therefore, the encounter with Crowley provided the reality check that the power gap is much bigger than he imagined even if he has the best weapon available and there’s still a long way to go.
In episode 3 when Shinoa showed Yuu her Cursed Gear (Which is a class below the Black Demon Series), he thought with that, dealing with a vampire would be no problem until she told him the ones outside were armed and in a completely different league to the female vampire he fought in the classroom.
Yuu x Shinoa have such good chemistry and its a lot of fun watching them interact with each other. I do really hope, that they will end up together at some point. Would be extremely disappointed if anything else were to happen.
https://randomc.net/image/Owari%20no%20Seraph/Owari%20no%20Seraph%20-%2008%20-%20Large%2026.jpg
…Never again will they speak of your height again, Shinoa. Never again.
On another note, I’m liking the development surrounding Yuu. Sure, it’s not a major breakthrough or anything, but his moments where he isn’t being all gung-ho was a very nice touch; his seriousness and his childishness balance one another out in a sense. Yuu is, at his core, still a child. But he’s a child who was forced to grow up quickly because of his experiences before and now. He’s still maturing little by little, but of course that’ll take time. I’m looking forward to seeing how things will go, and how the reunion with Mika will go.
Yeah, it’s the little things that show us he’s learning. Like pointing out he didn’t attack until the order to draw was issued or suggesting retreat when the nobles were about to engage them. Things the Yuu from episode 2 wouldn’t have done.
Loved how Shinoa was monologuing how Mitsuba was falling head over heels for Yuu. And don’t give up on Shinoa’s battle ability yet. I reckon she was just caught unawares.
Off-topic question, Samu.
Is there a particular program that you use to make full-length images. I notice other RC writers have F-L images too. Would be a useful tool.
I just use Photoshop, by taking individual screencaps of a panning shot and piecing them together. Sometimes it can be tricky to get right.
Ah, I was hoping that wasn’t the case :/
Thanks for the reply!
Finally our main character got to destroy some vampires. That felt good. Just surprised the vampires in that station fought with second class weapons. I thought they knew the patrol was coming? Guess they had to hold their posts
If I have one advance. Wait. The series gets MUCH better after a certain point. Shinoa gets much more focus and battles later on
I like the steady progression. I’m a manga reader, but I even forgot Crowley retreated. The animators did a good job building up the tension when the backup vampires arrived, and the oh-shoot moment when Crowley just pats Yuu’s back.
There’s something about Yuu that’s different from the shallow cookie-cutter headstrong shounen. I agree that he’s likeable, maybe not at the first impression, but definitely over time. He has a distinct personality with nuances.
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Finally, I enjoyed the little moments in dialogue. For example when Yuu was explaining to Mitsuba how he “won’t ever leave a comrade behind”, he cuts his words short halfway with a tsk, since even he knows he’s getting repetitive. Also, when Yuu’s telling the little girl after they rescue her and Mitsuba gets upset, I thought Yuu’s reaction to her was funny. As others mentioned Shinoa’s monologue was hilarious and I also like how you defintely get a sense that the vampires have their own side to the war and agenda to carry out. Its almost like, “oh the humans showed up”.
For some reason, while reading the manga I didn’t get the sense that the females were getting shafted. I’ll have to do a reread and check. In general it been always emphatized so far in the anime that the girls could overpower the boys and had more battle experience. If I had to make an excuse, in Mitsuba’s case this time, she was having tramatic flashbacks and had wanted them to leave her behind. In Shinoa’s case, Crowley was just too dang fast.
Ty for the ongoing blogging! 😀
One thing that really bothers me is the lime green coloring on ALL of their weapons. Such an awful color and no differentiation between the characters. Even their clothes match. Guren’s sword and uniform doesn’t have this horrid color scheme, so is this something they can change later on?
No, because this is what the author intended, it’s the same for the manga covers and he’s heading the adaptation alongside WIT Studio so your hopes of that changing are zero.
I don’t want to spoil anything but honestly speaking, I highly advice to reqad the LNs first before reading this manga, because they explain A LOT of stuff. Moreover, I honestly think that the light novels are a lot darker and a lot more interesting than the anime/manga. (sorry, acidentally posted this comment in the wrong section)
Mitsuba being easily taken down in the underground fight was kind of disappointing, but I think I can forgive Shinoa for almost being killed by the noble. Sure she is more experienced, but a noble’s strength probably exceeds her and even with her experience, she can’t keep up in movements. In the first scenario, they were only normal vampires. It does seem like the girls are being shafted a bit to help Yuu grow, and I hope we’ll get reverse scenarios where the girls show their stuff and help out the guys in a pinch.
Wait, don’t all five of them have Black Demon weapons? or is it just the three hero noobs?
Only three heros have the black demon series, the girls only average demon weapon
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