First Impressions / Series Introduction / Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitteiru

OP Sequence

OP: 「裏切りのない世界まで」 (Uragiri no Nai Sekai Made) by Rayflower
Watch the OP!: Download, Streaming ▼

「刻、動き出す」 (Koku, Ugokidasu)
“Carving, Set in Motion”

When the number of lines in hair exceeds the twenty mark without any additional shading and the male characters have narrow faces with pointy chins like they do here, it’s clear indication to me that I’ve bordered into shoujo territory. If that wasn’t quite enough though, there are also the various hints at “boy love”, since main protagonist Sakurai Yuki (Hoshi Souichirou) seems to have had a past life of sorts where he was female (Yukana). Evidently, the girlish-looking, soft-spoken, yet surprisingly strong male lead is meant to appeal to the ladies, and also allow for some seemingly acceptable closeness he shares with the silver-eyed demonic Zess (Sakurai Takahiro). It’s nowhere near yaoi, but makes one think of BL. However, as I mentioned back in the Spring 2010 Preview, the impression that I got from the manga is that the BL idea is present, but is never really pursued, so it’s more or less just female fan-service for the most part. Judging from what I’ve seen here, it’s looking like things will remain that way, in which case I can see myself getting into this one without too much difficulty.

At its fundamental core, we’re still dealing with demons and a certain family lineage’s ongoing battle with them. To that end, the story centers around Yuki and begins with his ability to sense others’ emotions and memories when he comes into contact with them. He’s unaware of demon existences and the strife involving them though, as he was abandoned as a child and grew up in an orphanage. This simple fact makes him start to question why he was born and think that no one needs him, providing an inner angst to his character none too different than Souichirou’s portrayal of one Kira Yamato. While I’m sure some fan girls will just eat this kind of angst up with a silver spoon and ask for more, I actually found it somewhat befitting that Yuki confides in his sempai, Wakamiya Kanata, because he’s voiced by fellow Gundam SEED co-star Ishida Akira (Athrun Zala). That connection doesn’t seem too outlandish either, as there were hints that Kanata may be at odds with Yuki down the stretch. The fact that he possesses a book referred to as the Key of Raziel makes me suspect that as well, seeing as it’s probably a core part of the story.

So while this series shouldn’t be mistaken as BL, it still isn’t something I’d recommend unless you have an interest in shoujo-type stories and the character developments they entail. Personally, I don’t mind one bit as I’m prepared for a male lead who is very emotionally involved in the plot and will even cry on occasions; however, it’s hard to deny that this nuance is probably more for female viewers (its original target audience) and not so much for the “manly men” with insecurities over their masculinity. I should note that there is a good amount of female character in this series though, such as one voiced by Kuwashima Houko (yesss!) and Marasume Tooko (Inoue Marina) who was briefly introduced here alongside her brother Tsukumo (Fukuyama Jun). With names like those, at least it’s comforting to know that J.C. Staff got a good cast to go along with their production.

That said, there’s still no guarantee that this will turn out like Vampire Knight but better in a not-so-dry kind of way, which is what I was hoping to get out of this series. The fact that it features a male lead over a female one voiced by Horie Yui is already a bit of a handicap to begin with, but the addition of Yukana as the female Yuki shows some promise. It may only end up being promising from a BL perspective, but hey, I can still hope.

Note: This is the fourth and seemingly last new simulcast on Crunchyroll this season.

 

ED Sequence

ED: 「蒼い糸」 (Aoi Ito) by Rayflower
Watch the ED!: Download, Streaming ▼

42 Comments

    1. Huh, yeah… If you mashed together Nabari no Ou and Vampire Knight, it seems like you would get something like this.

      I think I’ll try seeing how the next few episodes go before deciding whether or not to continue watching this one.

      Thanks for the summary, Divine!

      Dee
      Reply

  3. The plot somewhat reminds me of Mirage of Blaze, which wasn’t really a bad show, even tough it was BL. I’m thinking about giving this a chance too, but I’m skeptic about the BL content.

    viral
    Reply

  10. Read the manga and there are only a few BL under tones, but watching this makes me feel irked. The undertones changed to over tones which kinda turned me off, not because it’s BL, it feels to much of rabid fangirls had something to do with it. I’ll just return to the world of Bara cos that feels much safer. Still watching, but if i feel that an episode is sugar coated just for the fangirls, i’m off.

    Cherubium
    Reply

    1. The only way to get an account is for the Admin to create an account for you, open registration for this site is turned off. I am guessing this is a smart idea by Omni and continued by Divine for the purpose of keeping account creation spam down and to limit the size of the database, which can get big fast when you start allowing more people to have accounts + all the images that are in the posts.

      Semple
      Reply

  16. The show seems interesting enough; hopefully the BL content will be kept to a bare minimum. I really don’t understand the whole “changing genders via reincarnation” concept. Too weird.

    anna
    Reply

  20. oh yes. can’t wait for the anime to go stray from the manga and have both guy tongue kissing. muhahaha. Oh yes one of them was a girl in a past life that sure makes it alright. So hoping the producers spill some holy beverage on yuki, then both bodies merge and we get a futanari. LoL

    I digress… As long as is pure unfilled love I approve, gender is just a learned taste. Going to give this series to some mucho macho friends I got, they’ll be pis… while I laugh at their expense.

    Island Esper
    Reply

  24. I feel like watching VK with a hint of Railgun & Index. I am really glad that JC Staff is doing this, rather than Studio Deen. It would be lifeless and dull. But wait, Studio Deen’s surprises me this season with Hakuouki. But still, I’d rather JC Staff.

    And yay for Inoue Marina and Fukuyama Jun as siblings! Btw, I’m reading the manga and already listened to the drama CD or UraBoku. I can’t wait for Ono Daisuke’s Heiwajima Shiz– I mean, Renjou Hotsuma.

    Lil' Lilly
    Reply

  26. I’m glad you’re still blogging strong Divine and thanks so much for blogging this. It seems the slightest hint of anything remotely BL sends most bloggers running and screaming so I’m glad someone has the guts to blog it, even if it’s just for one episode. I’m a little worried since this reminds me of Vampire Knight and I wasn’t too impressed with VK but hopefully this will be better.

    Blue
    Reply

  27. It’s certainly nice to read someone’s opinion on this show that isn’t “omgz this is so ghey11!!”. So thank you for being secure enough with your masculinity to not freak out over nothing XD! I honestly don’t understand what’s so gay about this show to people. There are no guys groping eachother or kissing eachother like in shounen-ai shows like Junjou Romantica, so what’s the big deal? I actually think it’s quite sweet that Luca might be in love with Yuki, because that means he’s in love with the person’s soul regardless of gender. That’s not really all that bad if you ask me >_>, especially since romance doesn’t seem like it’ll be the main theme as there is a plot as well. Anyway, I’m done rambling lol. Loved your review/summary Divine :D.

    Kowai
    Reply

  31. Well, im not here to post about this episode nor this series.
    I’ve been around RandomC since around 2004-2005 so been visiting here very often. Im in the army so I miss alot of shows(so this is a great sites to catchup if you have missions). Since amazingly Omni has gone away I was kinda… actually very depressed about it. Till Divine picked this back up. Even though I dont post much…(at all) Im enjoying this website to heart. So thank you Divine.

    paiser
    Reply

  34. I’m surprised that they adapted this into an Anime. I’m sort of liking where it’s going, but they’ve changed a couple things around. Namely how much fanservice is going around.

    Kazuhide Aeiji
    Reply

  36. Good surprise to see this blogged here! (I was frantically searching for this episode)
    I’m a happy fangirl as expected.. and was all
    “Kira~~<3 Athrun~~~~<3<3<3 XD Suzaku!! Lelouch!! C.C.!! XD"
    I'm watching it definately for the seiyuu, hopefully it will provide a good story to entertain well.
    Kira's and Athrun's voices got me so nostalgic that I rewatched SEED.

    Yukiruchan
    Reply

  37. Does anyone know if anyone is going to sub this? I can’t even find a raw to watch 🙁 so your bloging about it is about the only way I have to see this. I read some of the manga online but was unable to find anything past (i think) the 3rd or 4th chapter. So thanks for it.

    Shinigamigirl
    Reply

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