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「人間のセカイ」 (Ningen no Sekai)
“Human World”
Owari no Seraph picks up right where it left off; which isn’t a bad thing, but definitely leaves a lot more to be desired. The first season’s premiere impressed me more by a long shot. Since Owari no Seraph follows its manga source, the unfortunate decision was when to cut the seasons and air it as two separate cours. Since the first season ended off on a cliffhanger and right after the first major battle against vampires with Yuu’s crazy transformation… I was expecting a lot more out of this premiere. Not in terms of action, but more so in terms of closure.
Obviously Owari no Seraph did want to show its entire hand off the bat and this season starts off by introducing new characters and more questions. We get a very quick recap of what happened at the end of last season, and as the episode airs, the characters drop hints in their conversations to remind the viewer of what happened. It’s pretty obvious with the flashbacks too and I think it’s a subtle way of bringing the audience back into this world. Our new characters include folks in the Hiiragi family (Shinoa’s (Hayami Saori) family) that are “interviewing” Hyakuya Yuuichirou (Irino Miyu), but in fact it turns into an interrogation of what happened on the battlefield. Yuu is shocked to see that his friends, Kimizuki Shihou (Ishikawa Kaito) and Saotome Yoichi (Okamoto Nobuhiko) are detained and being physically stabbed in the back every time Yuu refuses to give the answers that Hiiragi Kureto (Maeno Tomoaki) is looking for. Eventually we learn that the reason Kureto is interrogating Yuu, is because he came from an orphanage known for experimenting spellcraft on their children. Ichinose Guren (Nakamura Yuuichi) knew this when he saved Yuu all those years ago and thus we finally learn a bit more about why Yuu transformed into a demon-like monster at the end of last season.
So this leads me back to my previous point about how there’s a lot more questions than answers that emerged with this episode. We have new characters, new motives and a lot of conflicts of interest within the amy and families. We know for sure that Guren has more hidden motives (and he even admits it) than he has been leading on so it leaves us with the question of whether or not he can still be trusted (if you ever trusted him to begin with). At this point, I don’t think Yuu has a choice because Guren is still the lesser of two evils… but Guren appears more suspicious as the story airs. Kureto is also another shady character, but I think that’s the role he’s meant to play. It would be nice to hear more about his beef with Guren and why Shinoa has such a strained relationship with her family. It’s clear that Shinoa doesn’t want anything to do with her family background and is trying to make a name and reputation for herself away from their influences. Mitsuba on the other hand, is almost on the other polar end. She got promoted, but not exactly by her own means (and she knows that) so her path up the army is being handed to her easily.
Asides from the lack of action this episode, there was a lot of development on the plot front so we’ll certainly see more battles to come. Hyakuya Mikaela (Ono Kensho) is still suffering on his own and very thirsty for blood. Bathory Ferid (Sakurai Takahiro) is the ultimate jerk of a comrade who stands by and only provokes the worst out of Mika. There were hints at the end of last season that Ferid was meeting up with someone (unknown to the viewer)… could that have been Guren or Kureto? And if so, what does that mean in terms of alliances and loyalties? Not very much if vampires and humans are colluding for… something. This is what I’ve been waiting for from Owari no Seraph; the conspiracies, the action and the bigger picture. Hopefully the end of this season will prove to be a better resolution for this story than the first cour.
Bottom Line – @RCCherrie: I don’t know about everyone else but I enjoyed #owarino_seraph #s1 =) I’m excited for #s2 but the premiere was not as exciting as s1…A lot more questions than answers. Both literally and figuratively o_o
Preview
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End Card
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Ah, remember those series where shonen protagonists show amazing powers but the authorities never seem to care too much about it or let them be?
Not here.
Still, if we are talking about the lesser of two evils, the more we know about the humans (or at least the Hiragis), the more it seems the vampires had good reasons to despise them.
Hah! That rampant privilege was bound to get strung up eventually.
If I were you, I’d hold off indefinitely on marking who’s truly evil. A lot is not as it appears. Though both sides are indeed worthy of the highest contempt based on their conduct.
I hope they animate the action sequences better this season instead using a lot of stills.
Seraph’s anime’s following the manga, which means it may leave out important worldbuilding and backstory contained in the companion light novel series. An English translation of Vol 1 comes out in December, but then the anime will be nearly over by then.
Among other things, the novel covers why Shinoa wants to distance herself from her family.
The first season covered the first 15 chapters of the manga and the second is supposed to cover chapters 16-38 and beyond. Given that the author himself is helming the anime’s story, I’m curious to see how this goes since it’s said he’s putting a stopping point in the anime before doing so in the manga.
How to make a good Owari no Seraph Episode:
1.More Shinoa
2.More Moon demon company
3.Less Mika
4.Less yaoi vampire clan
I agree with everything but 3. I actually like Mika (and Krul- I hope the series gives a little depth to their relationship).Or maybe I just have a soft spot for characters with self-loathing issues, because I relate to them on so many levels. Ferid, though, I could do without. Unlike Shinoa, his brand of smug isn’t likeable- I just end up wanting to punch him in his stupid face.
1. Kureto turns me on.
2. The fight scene between Shino and Guren kinda lost its point in anime because in manga
Show Spoiler ▼
3. Kureto’s not shady. that’s an underestimation. He’s… ruthless? Show Spoiler ▼
I think Nakamura Yuuichi’s voice would suit him more than Maeno Tomoaki. Too soft.
I spoiler tagged your third point as well because even you mentioned that it’s not illustrated in the anime yet. We’ve only gotten like 10 minutes of screen time with Kureto so let’s not jump to what he does or does not do yet =X
IIRC, the manga showed in great detail about Shinoa’s big sister but it seems that the anime is glossing over it.
Also, welcome back Shinoa!
I hope they eventually dive into Shinoa’s sister’s background. The hinted at it in the first cour and clearly the beginning conversation between Guren and Shinoa talked about it too.
Yay! Smug girl is back.
Shinoa was so missed!!
Came back for more Shinoa since by the end of last season she was the only reason that I kept watching, but I was pleasantly surprised by how good the episode was.
Still here for more Shinoa though 😛
So vampires aren’t too interested in increasing their numbers? There’s a ton of them dying on the battlefield though. Does not compute. I really hope they shed some light on the vampire backstory like where they come from and more of how their society works.
They haven’t really shown the process (or maybe I’ve forgotten?) but I don’t think creating a vampire is easy and seems like you have to be given the “privilege” by royalty to become one (like Mika). I guess they’re also an intelligent breed so they think twice before overpopulating the world with vampires.
It’s an understandable population control method. Too few of the species and they’re near extinction but too many and they’ll eventually wipe out their own food source, which would be the humans.
I was sort of meh about this episode. It’s more of a table setting one, so I’m sure it’ll pick up next week.
And def agreed Cherrie, there were literally so many questions asked! What a weird interrogation. Give the guy some time to answer if you’re going to ask so many questions in a row for Christ’s sake!
LOL! I don’t necessarily like Yuu all that much but I felt so bad for him in that interrogation room. He was so helpless and he didn’t know any more than what was happening. Kureto clearly knew everything already and was just trying to pry more out of him or test if he was really “a spy” o_O Sucks to be in that situation.
Don’t forget what happened in the first season. Some of the lower soldiers in the Shinjuku battle saw Yuu talking to Mika as though he knew him personally and Mika is a vampire, their enemy. Another nail in Yuu’s coffin.
That gaylord from the upper
https://randomc.net/image/Owari%20no%20Seraph/Owari%20no%20Seraph%20-%2013%20-%20Large%2027.jpg
have BDSM ready for them
https://randomc.net/image/Owari%20no%20Seraph/Owari%20no%20Seraph%20-%2013%20-%20Large%2024.jpg
Can’t argue that this was more underwhelming than the premiere ep, but it’s tough to imagine how it could’ve been otherwise. And actually, last season’s UBW had virtually exactly the same feel to it when it got started on its second cour, but that one turned out pretty good, IMO (Rin vs Luvia FTW :)).
Mayhaps I’m just more sympathetic since I follow the manga (which is really starting to get rolling, btw), but I tend to look at this as if I’d just watched the last episode, and in that light, there was nothing terribly off-putting about this to me. Looking forward to the next episode, and more Shinoa of course. ;D