First Impressions / Owari no Seraph

OP Sequence

OP: 「X.U.」by SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:Gemie

“Humanity After the Fall”


「破滅後のニンゲン」 (Hametsu-go no Ningen)

School Setting, Hit or Miss?

I, like many others, was very worried after last week’s premiere. We got a fantastic first episode set in an underworld city ruled by Vampires, only to return to high school in this episode. It looked bad, but let me tell you, it was just as good as last week, if not better. I tried to remain as positive as possible, praying that this wouldn’t erase every good thing we got from the first episode, and I’m glad I stuck with that outlook. This could have gone horribly, relying on tired tropes that are often shoved in our faces and would seem out of place in this series, but this episode was just as enjoyable as the premiere – sure, there was room for comedy, which lightened the tone, but it was done well. Nothing felt forced; the flow was an improvement, much more steady than last week (which felt like a rush at times). We learned that the apocalypse did happen… kind of – the vampires told the children exaggerated stories, in order to stop them from wanting to return to the surface world. In truth, humanity has been reduced to 1/10th of its former glory, but that’s still enough to build an army and keep the Japanese school system going! All in all, I thought the shift in sitting was a success. It could have been a disaster, but disaster was avoided.

Likeable Characters:

Now that Yuu has stepped foot on the new surface world, we’ve got a few new faces to get introduced to. First is Hiiragi Shinoa (Hayami Saori), a snarky girl sent to watch over Yuu, who has been expelled to school due to his rash actions on the field. His punishment? Make a friend! As simple as it sounds, Yuu clearly has issues with attachment after what happened to his family, and then his fellow orphans (who he keeps dreaming about in a very positive light). Yuu’s friend-to-be ends up being Saotome Yoichi (Okamoto Nobuhiko), a timid boy who wants to join the Japanese Imperial Demon Army after his sister was brutally murdered by a vampire. Clearly, there are going to be many horrific revenge backstories to these characters, but for now they’re all being executed fairly well.

The new trio spend the episode bouncing off one another, whether that be their funny back-and-forths or trying to inspire each other to be better. Yuu needs to learn to open up, and Yoichi has to prove his strengths in order to get accepted, and by the end both of them managed those feats (resulting in a very long, affectionate hug – people have been bringing up the BL vibes that Owari no Seraph exudes, which aren’t showing any signs of going away any time soon). It’s worth nothing that the action sequences in this episode were sharp and well choreographed; the whole scene with Yuu against the freed vampire gives me hope for what Studio Wit are going to produce for the rest of the series. There may have been a few still frames here and there, but it wasn’t enough to drag the quality of the episode down, by any means.

Nice Setup:

Ichinose Guren (Nakamura Yuuichi) comes off as just as much a kid as the actual children – he made a promise to let Yuu join them if he completed the friendship task, and he did, so he has to fulfil his end of the bargain. Now that Yuu is back in his good graces, I’m excited to see where we’ll go from here. The setup for the Moon Demon Company has me curious – they seem like a bunch of chirpy yet badass colourful-haired individuals going by their introduction and the scenes in the opening. And what an opening that was. Best of the season so far, for me at least. It all came together nicely – both the opening and the episode itself – hinting at the characters and then action that is to come, as well as establishing just who the Japanese Imperial Demon Army are. It’s safe to say that Owari no Seraph is a quintessential shounen through-and-through. This isn’t trying to twist the clichés and throw out the rulebook like Hunter x Hunter does; this embraces the things that make shounen battle series so fun, and so far it’s delivering on all fronts.

Overview – What’s Next?:

It seems we’re still in school next week, but I’m not as worried as I was last week. We’ve got some impressive characters that can carry the show through its lesser parts – if it ever comes to that. I’m looking forward to some more action, more world-building, more vampires, and maybe soon we’ll be calling Owari no Seraph the next big thing.

Full-length images: 01, 02, 07, 10, 13, 14, 30, 32.

ED Sequence

ED: 「scaPEGoat」 by SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:Yosh

Preview

End Card

33 Comments

    1. That little Vampire Girl (without watching Episode 1 and 2) is surly some of the transformed Livestock Vampire, some kind of Servant that she became, and got free or break out, after had bitten of her Master.

      You can also see, he strange collar. As if she was hold like a Dog

      WorldwideDepp
      Reply

      2. Same been thinking about it seems like those childhood friends being enemies.

        1 being evil cool strong(he is prob vamp now) and other being good guy that cannot kill him after that mess everything up and still win in the end.

        laaa
        Reply

  2. As a manga reader, I must admit that at the beginning of the episode I was a bit put off by the “emotionless girl” vibes of Shinoa’s seiyuu (and Shinoa’s animation too), until she started showing her usual smirks and snarky comments.

    Oh, and the BL vibes are back with a vengeance, with several minor changes to showcase them.

    Nevertheless, great chapter. Looking forward to the next.

    Mistic
    Reply

    1. Show Spoiler ▼

      Ty for the review Samu!! I was waiting for it. 🙂

      Chloesong
      Reply

      1. That could be. So far, it seems the anime is doing things with goal in mind.
        Show Spoiler ▼

        I didn’t expect such vivid colors either, but liked it. It gives the series a different feeling.

        Mistic
        Reply

  3. Good to know the first episode was no fluke, for a character/world establishment episode things certainly stayed interesting and visually appealing; the animation and combat sequences were quite surprising in how well done they were, but no less welcome.

    Yuu still throws off Erin vibes like no other, but unlike SnK it appears he will actually be able to take care of himself without need of a Misaka deus ex machina to save him. Of course this is only episode 2, but if the show can maintain what we have seen so far then this will turn out to be one hell of a ride.

    Also calling it right now, Mikaela is alive and on the enemy team, too many teaser images in the intro and outro for that to be mere scenery.

    Pancakes
    Reply

    1. Doesn’t really matter if there’s no Mikasa to bail him out… the problem is he runs into a situation headstrong like an idiot and expects everything to end well… and guess what it does because he’s a manga main character. Doesn’t make his actions any less facepalm worthy though.

      MartianMage
      Reply

    2. Yeah Yuu may be annoying in terms of that, but it’s vastly preferable to the reverse rescue the princess schtick we get in SnK IMO; until and unless Yuu starts pulling some Kirito level shenanigans I’ve got no problems with the setup, it’s a shounen after all. Not to mention we have yet to see how the fights will transpire now that the MC is part of the team.

      Pancakes
      Reply

      1. Eren didn’t really rely on Mikasa for that long. I think at best it was just limited to the flashbacks but enough about Eren. As for Yu… well I’m not gonna spoil anything but I’ll just say that Yu’s facepalm worthy actions aren’t gonna end anytime soon.

        MartianMage
        Reply

  4. well seems like we are going to have super humans vs vampires (just judging from those super jumps and preview girl holding big ass scythe that should weight more than her)

    well I am still wondering how much shounen this is going to be I would like it to be bit more darker than childish shounen

    set up is fine and stage change is welcome

    Btw nice to see fast post

    laaa
    Reply

  8. I like shonen anime, but I too am growing weary of all the usual stuff. This anime is refreshing.

    Well… There was one major trope that was used. The MC has the typical MC chair next to the window at the back of the class!

    One of the more enjoyable anime this season for me. Hope it keeps up the quality.

    Djalaal
    Reply

  10. I got impatient and went ahead to read the manga.

    I’ve read the manga to its latest chapter and I think it’s way better than SnK already. Like, I don’t even doubt it. Then again, SnK plummeted hard after it first 2 arcs…

    Tanz
    Reply

  11. I have to admit, it turned out to be better than i expected. First episode felt rushed and generally confusing. Now it’s straight.

    I also like the visuals. Art style feels a little unusual for 201x title, but animation is surprisingly consistent.

    Schmellow
    Reply

  13. The title of this week’s episode automatically made me think SnK for a second there [: pff
    On another note, to manga readers, would you recommend reading the manga or just watching the anime first? Because I’ve half a mind to jump straight into the manga (mainly because of Mikaela, to be honest) but I worry that it’ll ruin the full anime experience. :vv

    Lau
    Reply

  15. Oh, I think the ED was awesome. It had a haunting vibe to it and seem to fall very much in line with the theme of the story. Besides, it’s Sawano Hiroyuki. The OP gives a more shounen vibe to it, and both songs seem to cover different spectrums of what the story is about. Nifty, but I could do with less spoiler-ish images, like cover some faces or hair with shadows and dim lighting, then gradually revealing their identities as the story unveils to show us who they are, but that’s just me. :p

    Can’t say that the episode blew my mind away, but like many others I find the action sequences to be pretty good. Yuu is still proving to be a little hard to like immediately, but it’s nice to see him gradually step out of the shell a little. To say that it’s good character development might be pushing it but there’s change.

    I don’t really feel like Shinoa stands out that much either, though Guren and Yoichi makes the episode rather fun to watch, with the former actually being more courageous despite his soft demeanour (Kudos to Nobuhiko).

    However, I think the strength so far for Owari is that they gradually go into the different elements of their story. One might argue that the high-school setting switch is abrupt, but I like how they placed another part of their lore (demon weapons) subtly with Guren, and how they placed the flashback for Yuu bit by bit. The progression didn’t feel forced, at least to me.

    The show still doesn’t quite stand out for me, but it has been entertaining, and that matters quite a bit more than being just top-quality. Next episode seems to promise more shounen fare, but it should be fine to expect a little more from this series about how they execute the different scenes.

    Owaranai
    Reply

    1. I agree with you. The lead female lead Shinoa really didn’t stand out at all, especially in the opening theme. They only showed her face twice ( which was less than a second) in the opening themse. WOW!

      akairi97
      Reply

  17. That is half right guess. Show Spoiler ▼

    Andragoras
    Reply

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