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“Everybody is a Sinner”The Owari no Seraph we Deserve: The past two episodes of Owari no Seraph were much better than what we’d been getting for a while, and this final episode of the cour was yet another hit. It was moody and sombre, completely without action, quiet and and slow, yet it was one of the best of the series thus far. The penultimate episode of the cour was brimming with action and despair, with characters screaming in emotional rage. This one was the complete opposite – like waking up after a really horrible, drunk night out and reflecting one what went down. Shinoa is still a great character, even if I think the anime enjoys putting her down far too much. She’s strong and funny at her peak, but when it matters most she seems to regress into someone much less deserving of her position. I don’t blame any of her decisions as a character, mind you, mainly how the anime has treated her. Still, seeing her control the direction of the first half of this episode was very refreshing. It would be a very different series if she was the main character, focusing on her life as a solider, learning about the secrets beneath this human and vampire war. We may yet see glimmers of that, but I appreciated her point of view this week. More of this going forward, please! Yuu and Mika’s Promise: Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy Yuu as a main character. He’s stubborn, but all his negatives have built up to him meeting Mika again, and I feel this may be his chance to develop into someone much more rounded. He had nice interactions with all of his team this week, especially Shinoa (that scandalous neck touch!). Kimizuki is clearly tsundere for him, and Mitsuba is just plain tsundere. If Mika didn’t exist, I’d probably enjoy Yoichi’s moments with him a lot more, since they feel sweet and sincere, but he almost feels like a placeholder for his real friend (and family). More than anything, this episode made it obvious how powerless Yuu and Mika are in their own stories. I love fiction that follows characters that have to overcome the systems that are put in place against them, that forbid them from flourishing until that moment comes. Yuu and Mika are both being used by their respective sides, and neither has much understanding why that is, or has enough agency to make a difference. Both are suffering, but both promise to break each other from their bonds. But do they see their situations as a form of imprisonment? Mika’s reflection in the window was a smart move, and cements the bond that these two have. They may have found themselves in a horrible situation last week, but I have no doubt that if – and when – they meet again, they will both do everything within their power to be back together and happy again. Obviously, it’s never going to be that easy. Especially when you’re a human experiment or the Vampire Queen’s pet. Guren’s Shadiness & Vampire’s Partner: It’s official: I don’t like Guren. That the intention here, and I feel there’s a slither of a chance that all his shadiness might be a red herring for the greater good. But going by the episode title (and everything else that we’ve seen from Guren so far), I think the simple fact is that he is not a good guy. Maybe his intentions are just, but his motives are brutal, and in my opinion, corrupt. We learn about the true meaning behind ‘Seraph of the End’, and clearly Yuu has a massive part to play in all this. Guren (and the other higher-ups) are using him for something twisted, and he doesn’t even realise it yet. Guren’s a very easy man to hate at this point, even before that final scene. I should have saw it coming, but there’s a human allying with the Vampires. Ferid meets with this unknown individual and has a one-sided discussion about their meeting. Clearly, both sides of this battle are in the wrong here, even if each of them feels they are doing the right thing in the end. It’s fascinating, and I’m desperate to find out who that person was at the end. All signs seem to point to Guren, since he signed his name on the ‘Seraph of the End’ document a moment before it. But is it too obvious? Owari no Seraph manages to be both predictable with its cliches, yet ingenious whenever it dares to do something original. I can’t say for certain with this one… First-Cour Impressions – What’s Next?: Owari no Seraph has been an interesting one so far. At first, I thought we’d struck gold. The first episode had the pace of an action-thriller, with cinema-style credits as a bonus. But things started to stagnate after that. The art dipped in quality here and there, and the story even more so. We stayed in the school setting for far too long, and we had some disappointing moments of action when the battles actually started. However, the final three episodes of this season were a complete turn around. It once again felt like the we were channelling what made the first episode so thrilling. I feel like Owari no Seraph would be a better series if it didn’t embrace shonen cliches. Most battle anime/manga do just that, and it works out wonderfully for them. Boku no Hero Academia is a recent example that ticks all the boxes you’d expect from the genre, yet it never feels forced or uncharacteristic. In fact, it does them with such passion that whenever it does those tournament arcs or power-ups, it gives you that same feeling you got from your very first battle anime (Dragon Ball, One Piece, Naruto, Bleach… whatever it was). I feel a Hunter x Hunter approach to the genre would have turned out better in the long run. Saying that, I don’t think it would ever have reached the same peaks as Hunter x Hunter – I just wish it embraced its moments of originality and stuck with them. As for the second-cour, obviously I’ll still be watching. However, I don’t know whether or not I’ll be blogging it. I can’t say how I’ll feel once October comes around, but for now I feel I’d like to just sit back and experience the show when it starts up again. But these past few episodes have relit my interest, so never say never. I may have been harsh on Owari no Seraph when it was disappointing me, but I don’t think it was without good reason. Off the gate, it proved it could be daring and different, and even when things got stale and predictable, I held out hope that things would improve. And thankfully, I was right to be hopeful. Things did get better, and I know for sure that Owari no Seraph can been a great series when it really tries. I hope that continues into its second-cour. |
Well, it was…. quite satisfying ride, i guess. Despite getting consistently disappointed each week, at the very least it was pretty decent time-waster. Weirdly enough, despite no actions and little plot to tell, i found this episode to be the best of entire season. Merely characters conversing and trying to figure out each other’s thoughts somehow felt more engaging than all the sword-clashing and bloody shenanigans on previous episodes. Now i just end up feeling conflicted whether to look forward the second cour or not. Because if everything in this eps is any indications, the plot in second cour could be very, very interesting, so far as they don’t retain the uneven pacing the show has been suffering from.
I don’t know if it’s a matter of a human allying with the vampires or just one individual human and one individual vampire selling out their respective sides for their own benefit. Certainly has me intrigued for season 2, we’ll also have 4 or 5 new manga chapters by the time it airs.
This was a rough ride. The episode itself was good. Though it was jarring to suddenly get pulled into this epilogue when we were in the middle of the action. I get some shows try to stick with the MC’s perspective….but come on. I think the reality is they couldn’t figure out a way to show the humans matching up to the strength of the nobles so they said….umm skip. So they can say the vampires left for….reasons.
I feel Mika and Yuu deserve slaps to the faces honestly. Both are incredibly stupid. Mika, you are a freaking vampire! You are one of the things that murdered your family and instead of doing anything about that you are just planning on rescuing Yuu and hating on humanity. Rescue him to what? So he can be murdered, turned into a vampire or back to livestock? What is that guy even thinking? Is he even thinking?
The same to Yuu. Your family is now a vampire, enemy of the species you are part of. He is basically a talking zombie. There is no good result to this. Both he and Mika are incredibly naive. This isn’t two friends from different countries, it’s a bit more extreme than that.
It was a disappointing series as a whole. It created great expectations with the first episode and it was all downhill after that. It ended on a solid note with some good friendly bonding, but I felt the announcement of a second cour was more “oookay” than “yes!” I may watch the second season or I may not. We will see.
Guren’s ruthlessness can be attributed as his guilt to the shortcomings he suffered pre-Apocalypse.
The LN prequel points out that despite his drive and smarts, Guren was rather softhearted in his teen years. This allowed other more cunning, intelligent parties (like certain Hiiragi family members) to prevent him taking the proper steps to nip the Apocalypse in the bud all those years back.
His higher-ups however are definitely untrustworthy. The Hiiragi family, who control High Command, are just as ruthless and power-hungry as they were prior to the Apocalypse. That is why they are so intent on world conquest, and why Shinoa has such a low position in the Army despite being a legitimate heir (because her power standards don’t match theirs.)
Boy I got way behind on this show and marathon’ed through 4 episodes in one go which felt very satisfying. I keep thinking the art style does not suit the serious setting and tone. But maybe I’ve just been spoiled by Parasyte. But for me, a more realistic art style would make the series feel a bit better (such as how they draw Guren’s face)
Anyway, this show was not epic for me but I’ll be watching it in October I think. I’m interested to see how they will fight the Vampire nobles
That homoboy rage though.
The Yuu x Mika pairing is VERY strongly promoted by Japanese fanarts, BTW.
And thanks god author didn’t give two shits about them.
https://randomc.net/image/Owari%20no%20Seraph/Owari%20no%20Seraph%20-%2012%20-%20Large%2034.jpg
My only gripe with this even if its just suppose to be a metaphor: Mika has a reflection???
*Not sure if Japanese impressions of vampires includes the standard stuff like weaknesses to holy things, garlic, running water etc.
Well, at least Mika doesn’t sparkle. =)
That inquiry is kind of silly when you look at everything else that’s transpired. Did you forget that all the vampires throughout the anime were able to walk out in the sunlight? 😛
WTF with the anime they make look mitsu like a yandere ¨ get away from him u bitch, kick her ¨ =( in the manga it is only a tsun jealousy
it is weird that shinoa bite don´t heal in a whole week lol
Unfortunately, the identity of Ferid’s informant and Krul’s master plan to Mika still remain unexplained in the source manga. Hopefully Kagami Takaya can give answers for Season 2.
True, none of those topics are known to us manga readers yet. All we have to rely on is the information given to us before the anime even began:
Seraph worldbuilding info which might be useful:
1)Magic groups and associations were highly influential in pre-Apocalypse Japan and closely tied to Japanese politics. (This is similar to the worlds in the anime Tokyo Ravens and Mahouka).
2)The Hiiragis were the most powerful magical family in Japan; leaders of the Emperor’s Demon sect with a lineage going back 1000 years ago. They had multiple branch families serving under them; the Ichinoses were one of those families.
3)Their greatest rivals were Show Spoiler ▼
Overall, I quite enjoyed this first cour of Owari no Seraph. Music was solid, characters likeable, even Kimizuki grew on me some. The backgrounds were quite lovely as well. I think the only real beef I had with the show was some of the stills during battle and a few animation hiccups, but nothing too serious that deterred me from watching. I truly felt for Yuu and Mika these past few episodes. Both were finally reunited, and quite frankly, it was in the worst way possible for them. Then, only to be taken back by their respective sides, it only hurt that much more. But seeing Yuu and Mika’s resolve and determination to save each other was very moving. It does give me some hope that maybe they can turn things around, but who knows? There’s still a lot to be said.
I will definitely watch the 2nd cour and look forward to seeing how things will turn out for both sides.
https://randomc.net/image/Owari%20no%20Seraph/Owari%20no%20Seraph%20-%2012%20-%20Large%2004.jpg
On another note, I do hope that we learn a bit more about Shinoa’s sister, Mahiru and her connection to Guren. I only know what I’ve read in the manga, but it still doesn’t shed that much light so maybe they could make an episode or two, or even an ova detailing the plot of the light novels.
Basically, Mahiru was Guren’s childhood sweetheart. The Hiiragis forbade the relationship due to a massive falling out between the Ichinoses and Hiiragis years ago.
Mahiru was also the golden child of the family; highly intelligent, cunning and magically powerful.
Ultimately, her gifts came at a terrible price. Shinoa, her younger sister, was marginalized by the Hiiragis for being weaker and less gifted than Mahiru. Mahiru’s talents were also “artificially enhanced”* by the Hiiragis during her birth, which later contributed to her death.
*Will explain at another time.
Weird that nobody points this out already, but u may need to spoiler tag this and all other expositions of the LN.
Only watching this for Shinoa.
Very close to my reasons. I watch it for her and background art.
what a boring episode, especially disappointing as a final episode.
pretty much nothing happens aside from showing yu & mika still alive
And it is done for now. The first season had so much potential it almost hurt watching the poor animation. Too many still shots for you to imagine the fighting. And this was done by the same studio that gave us Attack On Titan. They must be saving on the budget for AoT Season 2.
Anyone else notice the cameo by Anteiku in one of the city shots?
Would really love for Production I.G. to adopt season 2. Anyways, guess I’ll have to continue reading the manga.
A good end to the first season. Quite satisfying and gives enough questions to make you want a second season without making it feel like a cliff hanger.
Everything seems to point at Guren to be the other person in that final scene, but hopefully it’s someone else. It makes things a lot more interesting that way. Besides, from the words I managed to read in that letter, it doesn’t seem like something that is aimed at Ferid. More like for the overseer of the project.
From what I’ve seen, it’s an OK series. I did avoid the school part though. Picked it up mid way because of an animated gif of Shinoa using her scythe and the fact that it’s no longer in school. After that, things just kept on getting interesting. Really wished they up the ante in the combat scenes though (note reason for picking up), it looked rather inconsistent. For all the good parts in them, the vehicles looked off and it really lacks good scenes of Shinoa.
Shinoa is my favorite character, really liked most of her scenes. Not so sure about the others. But, Yu’s progress in this episode was nice to see. Slowly but surely, his personality is improving. He may revert again if he meets up with Mika, but his advancement was noticeable every time. Gives a good prospect for the future, even if it ends up as The End.
Finally finished this. I feel like Owari no Seraph would’ve been a much better anime if it had a better writer and if the animation was consistent t/o. There’s so much wasted potential, and it’s a shame considering how beautiful the artwork is. There’s underdeveloped characters, weird plot developments (like that school-arc),those panning shots substituting action scenes, and cliches…This cour lost me half-way and it took some time before I decided to finish it.
Nevertheless, that last scene has got me intrigued for the second season, and I’m also interested in finding out what the Imperial army are planning w/ Yu. It’s just kind of dissappointing when I know that the writer doesn’t have a good ability of stringing up all these good ideas and creating an engaging story.
Then your complaints are to the manga author himself since he’s the one heading the adaptation and personally supervising everything for both cours of the anime.
(sorry, I’m late to the party but…)
The anime covers up through chapter 15 of the manga. That means we can probably expect the second season to cover until at least chapter 30, but we’ll see….