Valvrave the Liberator revolves around our main character: Haruto, a socially awkward, withdrawn teenager who attends high school in a colony in space. Haruto likes Shoko, the closest thing we have to a heroine in the anime, and in the first episode tries to work up the courage to confess his love for her only to be interrupted by... SPACE NAZIS.
I wish I was kidding.
Perhaps "space Nazis" isn't the correct term, but I'm hard pressed to find anything better to describe the all white wearing (storm troopers!), fascist war-mongering state of Dorssia - they're pretty much the evil empire in the series and they all speak German, sorta.
Following the interruption one thing leads to another and before we know it our young hero is piloting a state of the art mecha capable of singlehandedly rebuffing an entire Dorssia fleet invasion. Haruto saved the day - but at a cost! To pay the price for piloting the mecha Valvrave Haruto had to give up his humanity. Essentially, he had to die. And what happened next? Well, I was confused as you probably are as you are reading this; Haruto becomes a vampire! Hilarity ensues!
Not really. It just depends on perspective on whether you find the anime hilarious or not. Personally, I think Valvrave the Liberator is just comedic gold, and let me tell you why. It takes a special kind of thinking to put vampires, space Nazis, mechas, romance and slice of life all in school setting. Did I mention there was a brief Valvrave the Musical? Not kidding. Wait for episode 5. Just wait.
All these elements in the anime inevitably result in a sense you are watching a parody and what makes it even better is the fact that the show takes itself way too seriously thus making it all the more funnier. Just think of Guilty Crown meets space, only a billion times funnier. For realsies, I do genuinely enjoy this anime. Not because it's good, not because the animation or the music is great (neither are noteworthy to be honest) but because it tickles my funny bone.
I wish I could write more in this review, but honestly, aside from delving into the characters there's not much else to say, and I'd rather do the former because I want you to genuinely enjoy the series. So here's my advice for watching Valvrave the Liberator - TURN OFF YOUR BRAIN. Seriously. Don't even think of thinking anything because neither the plot nor the characters will make much sense to you if any at all. The anime is just so much more enjoyable that way.
Story - 1
Art - 8
Sound - 5
Characters - 1
Enjoyment - 10
Overall - 3
