Owari no Seraph

So the first cour of Owari no Seraph has ended, and I can say with clear confidence that this show, is without a doubt, an utter piece of generic troupes amalgamated and fused together into one entity. Was it amazing? No, not even close. And was it horrible? No, it hasn't reached that low of a tier yet, fortunately.

The story in a nutshell involves kids, and adults stuck in a post-apocalyptic setting with two sides, the vampires and the humans. So what happened? Honestly, nothing much. The story itself progresses at the speed of a snail for the majority of the series and drags out ... too much, in which I personally hope the second cour will be faster paced and utilise suspense more intelligently for the benefit of the show.

The first episode was without a doubt, somewhat suspenseful and does a semi-good job. However, the opening song does a great job to counter this semi-well done job and reveal that Mika is indeed alive by showing his grown up self which would have been much better if it were to be revealed unexpectedly later on in order to create some sense of suspense.

Nevertheless, in this "post-apocalyptic" setting, the second episode starts off with the orthodox and conventional, overused school setting which already makes it hard to take the "post-apocalyptic world" seriously, and minimising any genuine sense of danger and threat that left off with the premiere episode. Fortunately, it then derives off this school setting but the ambiance still does not skyrocket in terms of suspence, tension or intensity as the main cast is composed by a group of children, not adults, but children.

The male central protagonist is Yuichiro Hyakuya and his friends from the Moon Demon Company, a group of freedom fighters formed to extinguish vampires in the harsh and dejected reality. Here on, it sets up two sides, the humans fighting against the vampires in this war-like battlefield. Although the main cast is a bunch of children, surprisingly they can pull off wicked stunts with their cursed gear, weapons specialised to exterminate the vampires, and are portrayed centuries stronger than the other adult looking soldiers from the army.

If I had to pick the best character, it would be Shinoa Hiiragi, also, she is one of the reasons I was able to enjoy the show to some degree. Her comical expressions and satirical manner of speech is what makes her as a character stand out more than the rest. Her design also stands out more than the others with her purple hair and ribbon attached. I applaud Hayami Saori for her splendid voice acting in portraying Shinoa's cheerful voice and sarcastic approaches and mannerisms, which pulled the show to a better level.

Sound-wise, it was definitely one of its stronger aspects, but also may be considered pretty incompetent by some because from a Hiroyuki Sawano standpoint, it was "just more of the same". The ost could have also been utilised better throughout the series and was not extremely memorable besides the orchestral version of the ending song. Both the opening song and ending song are pretty compelling though and definitely stand out.

The art is a hit and miss, some can say it is a manifestation of the show's lack in budget, and some can say it is for artistic and creative purposes, but I think, it's both. The animation was nothing ground-breaking or topnotch and was particularly below average for a shounen action series which is definitely disappointing.

The action is in particular, extremely weak and incompetent in terms of an action anime and there are many better shows that execute action and its choreography in a much better fashion with more fluid animation and well-directed choreography. Hopefully, as the climax is in the second cour of this series, one can only hope for improvements in these areas. Even if the second cour depicts improvements for the animation or action sequences, the show as a whole still will not have consistent good quality, but rather, fluctuations in its inconsistent quality.

Luckily, this is only the first cour, and certainly, if this was how the show ended, it would have a much lower score, but since it is merely the first part, that's somewhat forgivable and may perhaps be redeemed later on with improvements.

I can't say I did not enjoy the show, because I definitely did to an extent. But was it amazing? No, not even close. And was it horrible? No, not to that tier yet - but from here onward, I expect better from the second cour. The premise in itself has been done countless of times before and does not bring anything new or groundbreaking, but it does allow room for improvement, in both its presentation and execution in which the second cour will be pivotal to in order to judge the series as an entirety.

Undoubtedly, the second cour should expand on the story more, reveal more of the implied secrets, and hopefully develop the characters in a profound manner because right now, this show has not entirely finished and has ended in an open fashion for the second cour and until then, nothing in this first cour of Owari no Seraph will be complete.

Owari no Seraph is pretty simple to describe. It’s a vampire shounen with action combining elements of horror, suspense, and odd humor. When, I mention odd, I don’t mean it as unconventional. Hardly. Owari no Seraph (Seraph of the End) attempts to stylishly craft a show with vampires at war with humans. It wasn’t always like this though because apparently, a virus many years ago wiped out a mass majority of humanity. The rulers of the world are now vampires as humanity desperately struggles for survival. At the center of it is an orphan named Yuichiro Hyakuya who hopes to reach freedom someday alongside his ... friend Mika. Sound a bit familiar? It may not be another Attack on Titan but Owari no Seraph surely follows a story of dark fantasy. Only the problem is, it’s only as half as dark as it seems.

From the creator of Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu, Owari no Seraph adapts a story based on the manga of the same name. It’s important to note that the series follows the manga rather than the light novel. And just like the way the premise implies, freedom in the world of Owari no Seraph comes at a price.

The first episode doesn’t drop you in the middle of the story. Instead, it establishes a background tale, a way of telling events from the past. We learn quickly that vampires treat human like trash and apparently, some of them are allowed to live only because they have blood. It’s a classic gimmick as vampires depends on it as a source of food. Nonetheless, the first episode shows how bloody (literally) it can be when humans tries to escape from their fate. Or rather, I can’t really call it fate because Yuichiro manage to escape. The only problem is that the rest of the orphans perish as the price. Luckily, the series also has a group of vampire hunters (Moon Demon Company) and Yuchiro becomes acquainted with the group. Their goal? To exterminate the vampires and make their freedom a reality.

So essentially, this show pretty much sets up a standard war-like atmosphere between the two sides – humans and vampires. Yuichiro is the central protagonist although the show also introduces others that he meets while he trains to become stronger. The problem with Yuichiro is that he is a rather narrow minded individual when it comes to his goals. Apparently, his goal is to annihilate the vampires because like many other humans, they annihilated his family. His black-and-white view of the supernatural world brings him at odds with his superiors because he tends to even ignore orders at times so that he can get a bit of retribution. In essence, Yuichiro isn’t exactly a good role model. However, I do have to emphasize that he is quite brave and often not to speak his mind. His kindness can also be seen at times when he is helping out others. Joining with him are Shinoa Hiragi, a girl with a rather sarcastic personality. Her relationship with Yuichiro and the others are usual casual although it can be seen that she greatly cares about them too. She also has a family member that she used to share a connection with although the show doesn’t fully emphasize on this. On the contrary, there is Mitsuba who has a more serious attitude and often wants to do things herself. This puts an odd at times with her comrades like Yuichiro as they have conflicting ideologies. Luckily, Yuchiro does get along better with other characters such as Yoichi and has a rather peculiar friendship with Shiho. (The two are more like rivals most of the time). With such a diverse group of characters, the show tries to do its best to bring out Yuichiro’s character. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn’t. I say this because the show’s weakness is the way the dialogues are delivered. It lightens the mood to a point where it’s hard to take the show seriously at times. In a way, it’s more like unconventional humor coming from the interactions of the characters. Yuichiro’s also too brash at times to really see him as a reliable person. However, I do have to say that one of the show’s stronger aspect is the relationship he has with Mika.

Despite being separated in the present storyline, there’s still a lot of reflection going back between Yuichiro and Mika. The story essentially shows that the two childhood friends are inseparable. With the way the first episode was presented, it also gives Yuichiro a stronger motivation to kill the vampires. What he doesn’t know is that certain circumstances happened back in the past. But regardless, there’s a strong form of brotherhood that can be seen indirectly throughout the season even though the two are not together on-scene most of the time. In retrospect, the show focuses on relationships with family and friends. This is sort of ironic as Yuichiro is an orphan so that means he has no true family (related by blood anyways). However, his new family comes from the people he works with such as the Moon Demon Company and the kids he encountered in the past. His friendship with Mika is one strongest bonds he has formed. At times, he even works well with his superior Guren despite him being a bit rebellious because of his nature. The show establishes these relationships as they are one of the core reasons for the characters to fight and survive.

Speaking of which, the fighting in the show between the two sides seems to be one sided at times. The vampires are the dominant force. Powerful vampires such as Krul Tepes and Ferid Bathory really shows a difference in gap of power between the two races. They also despise humans and looks down on them like livestock. As evidenced in both the past and present, a key idea of this show is to show if and how humans can overcome these vampires. Unfortunately, the show holds back on characterization on these vampires. They are too stereotypical and really too straightforward with their goals. In fact, the goal they have is too narrow as well and despite having a compelling post-apocalyptic setting, there’s little world building to go with the story. Luckily, the series does have its mechanics when it comes to the weapons and military. Basically, the show does two things: to show and tell. This comes from the weapons that the Japanese Imperial Demon Army uses known as the Cursed Gear. While it’s still generic, I do have to give some praise to the creativity of these objects. All of them are categorized by a different type with unique prestige, shape, and powers. The way the show explains it is just enough for a viewer to understand while also showing (not just telling) the consequences of their usage. In general, creativity with its weapon arsenal is clever in the case of mechanics. Even the military of the Japanese Imperial Demon Army has a good set of mechanics behind it with different rankings, squads, and roles.

As one of several anime projects that Wit Studio undertakes in the year 2015, it’s expected that they may maintain a strong degree of visual quality. Honestly though, it’s rather mixed. Although some of the first few episodes of the series makes an impression with its artwork, others really seems it ran on low budget. I think what I refer to most are the character expressions as they look far too one dimensional. Despite showing a good portray of emotions, it’s often hard to get viewers to think more about them. Also, there are static movements occasionally in the show and in one particular episode really suffered from body movements. On the plus side, background visual can be a spellbound sensation. The fantasy elements of the series especially with post-apocalyptic scenery is fantastically done. It makes it feel real that is also accompanied with dynamic camera work. The action scenes are also solid on most parts with intense movements, clever angle features, and a display of explosiveness. It’s a blockbuster for any action fan who should feel satisfied. Character designs also has a style to them such as the Japanese Army’s uniforms, the Cursed Gears, and even vampires. In particular, the cursed gears all have unique designs ranging from swords, scythes, bows, or even enhanced sniper rifles. Fan service is minimal although not entirely absent either such as the case of shower scenes. Then, there’s the iconic blood scene throughout the show that seems to be a key emphasis. There is a seemingly longer screen time when blood and violence is shown. To put it simply, it tries to create an element of dark fantasy envisioned by what the creators want the audience to experience.

Soundtrack is one of the more standard parts of the show. Names such as Hiroyuki Sawano (Attack on Titan, Nanatsu no Taizai, Aldnoah Zero) will instantly ring a bell and is easily recognized by their style. However, the show does suffer a bit as most of the soundtrack sounds similar. Unlike some the other popular works he is involved in, Owari no Seraph’s OST doesn’t create an excitement. It is on the right track most of the time but doesn’t leave behind lasting impressions. In fact, I can’t name one single OST in the show that I’d want to search for again. On the other hand, the OP and ED theme song has a creative melody to it with a lot of foreshadowing. It puts creativity to the vampire themes with decent amount of symbolism and can be memorable. Finally, character voice mannerisms is more or less average. The only praise that I can give are perhaps for the vampires because of their personalities. You can easily see how the two traces contrast with their tone of speech.

Owari no Seraph is a bit paltry when it comes to its dark atmosphere. The story obviously has a grim tone to it but can never really capture that objective. The improper timing of the humor holds this show back on many occasions. Fortunately, the series does establish its meaning well so understanding its intentions isn’t so hard. The characters obviously has their goals that we see firsthand. One of the better executions of the series relies on relationships, something that it has done from the very beginning. With a tragic tone and premise, you can expect this series to be appeal for fans of drama as well. It’s noticeable that this is the first cour season for the adaptation. Another cour of 12 episodes is scheduled to air in Fall 2015 so expect more vampires, cursed gears, and spills of blood.

Some spoilers may exist.

Story 6:
It seems to be one of the few typical shounen plots. World is destroyed, and, for some reason, children are the only ones that live (under 13). Protagonist conveniently manages to escape from his prison-like place. He's conveniently found by a strong organisation which then he manages to easily join because of innate protagonist buffs (he never actually does any training).

Art 8:
It's actually pretty decent. The backdrops are nice and the character design is pretty decent. But for w/e reason, Hiiragi Shinoa just seems inconsistent with her quality despite being a main character. (ep5 10:03 - 10:06) She looks like she's ... lagging away.

Sound 7:
The voice acting sounds really FKN forced. I'm a die-hard subber, but even so, the voice acting for pretty much everyone (except Guren and some side-characters) sound very forced and amateurish. There are occassion delays between characters talking and reacting to each other's speech which makes it seem forced and disingenuous. Yu sometimes yells with a suppressed kind of tone while Shinoa's speech sometimes does not match her expression.

Next, the BGM and music. The OP is quite nice, I enjoyed both the sequence and the song. The ED is exceptional, it was very well done with the contrast between light and shadows and the song was very memorable. If I would rate the music alone, I'd give it an 8, the OP and ED were very good, but the BGM was unmemorable, unlike AoT, which was also composed by the same composer.

Character 3:
What I hate the most about this series. Yu is the typical brat that's yelling/rebelling while also failing in his studies yet amazingly has all the skills necessary to further the plot without any actual development (training). He thinks he's all amazing and actually manages to pull impossible/unlikely things off (defeating a demon bare knowledge of even what they are by basically saying 'no'). Essentially it's like watching a slapstick comedy without the comedy, and with the plot advancing just because it can.

Yoichi's existence is questionable. At one point he gets taken over by a demon and was considered a target to be executed. However, because Yuu decides to save him, he mentions the nonsense about being friends and stands still as Yoichi aims an arrow at him because 'faith'. But because plot armor > logic, Yoichi misses and is saved because of the magical power of 'friendship'.

Kimizuki's existence is questionable as well, since he doesn't really contribute to the character development of anyone nor does he contribute to the story (for now). But at the very least, his survival is at least acceptable.

After finishing the first arc, Guren's character has become a bit more interesting, since he's not longer just the 'mentor' kind of guy. Now we see a darker side and possibly a desperate side. He's probably the strongest character out of all of them, so far.

The girls are kind of there just to yell/harass Yuu.

Enjoyment 7:
The music was great, the art was decent (most of the time), but what really put this whole series down were the characters. Hell, this series probably would've been a lot more interesting if we were watching it from Guren's point of view.

Overall 6:
It's not unwatchable thanks to the more interesting main characters (Guren, Mikaela). The OP/ED is so good that I never end up skipping them.

The definition of average, Owari no Serpah tosses together shounen tropes in a rather predictable but still worth watching anime.

Note: I have not read the manga but have heard various complaints about the anime from those who have. I’d love to hear any thoughts from manga fans!

This review is (relatively) spoiler free! :D

Characters: 5/10

With the exception of Mikaela and (somewhat) Shinoa, the characters scream standard. The cast is not fantastic or horrible, just typical. Many shounen start with stock characters that slowly grow into something more, but Owari no Seraph’s first season ended before that happened. Twelve episodes did not give the ... rather large cast time to develop unique personalities.

So, if you love shounen characters, you’ll love these guys. I, personally, found them difficult to connect with, slightly irritating, and predictable.

That being said, I loved one character enough to give the show 6/10 instead of 5/10 and enjoyed two other characters.

(here comes the slight spoiler territory, though nothing specific)

I watched the anime because of Mikaela Hyakuya or “Mika”. To me, Mika is a “square peg in a round hole”. Mika might have become a Orihime Inoue, Allen Walker, or Oz Vessallius, a character who loathes to kill, determinedly cares for everyone, will defend their loved ones (and sometimes strangers or even enemies) till death, and desires to see the best in everyone. Sadly for Mika but interestingly for viewers, he is never afforded the luxury of such high ideals, though I'm he wishes he did (on a side note, I adore Oz, Orihime, and Allen). Instead, Mika finds himself in a role typically given to females—essentially, he “whores” his blood out to help feed his family—and later to anti-heroes—he fights on the wrong side but with a good reason and a damaged past. Thus, Mika is put in situations I haven’t seen too often for his base personality type, which makes him the most unique aspect of the show.

Shinoa and Guren also interest me. Shinoa falls into some of the stereotypical tropes of a shounen’s female lead, but I found her to be the anime’s second most interesting character. Guren has potential as well. At first, he comes across as nothing more than a lazy bully, but, as the story keeps going, his character does some interesting things that make me curious to see more.

Story: 5/10

Again—very shounen. The story is so incredibly typical I predicted everything that happened between episodes 2-9 without a hitch, and nothing in the others surprised me. While I am fairly savvy at “seeing things coming”, it was easy to see where this formulaic anime would go.

The anime spends at least half its episodes on “training”, which are always highly predictable. The rest are spent on backstory (one episode), wrap up (yes, this twelve episode anime dedicated an entire episode to wrap up), and about four-ish episodes follow a battle, which happens without much build up. Both sides just decide, “Yes, we shall battle here because!”. The “reason” felt more like a plot-forced excuse to me.

I feel the story starts to gain momentum at the tail end of this battle. The plot finally seems to find a direction besides “training to get revenge”. Personally, I would’ve started the story at episode eleven. Because of this (also because of Mika), I will watch season two. I may end up recommending that people watch episode one and eleven (maybe two and ten too) and then jump to season two. The rest is so typical you don’t really need it.

In fact, the plot has a whole is not well explained. I have no real idea about the parameters of the world, why the vampire decided to take over it, why Mika and Yuu are special, and so on. I hope season two will answer some of these questions.

The show falls into the potholes of many shounen. For instance, our vengeful protagonist consistently makes poor choices that the plot ends up bending over backwards and defying logic to reward him for. Charging into the battle and throwing plans into the wind somehow ends up being the right choice. He also has random powers, and all the girls fall in love with him.

Last problem: I do not find the vampires scary. Characters keep mentioning how powerful their bloodsucking opponents are, and yet newbies fresh on the field have no problem killing them with each swing of their various weapons. I understand it has something to do with the class of weaponry, but it’s poorly explained. I don’t really care that the vampires are easy to kill, but every time a character mentions how dangerous they are, I just laughed.

Art (and cinematography in general): 7/10

Fairly well done, the weaponry animation is especially interesting and visually appealing.The fighting is fast and exciting too.

(angles)

Could have been better. Really, the choice of when to cut from a scene and jump to another character’s point of view often jarred me. The transitions seemed abrupt and threw me out of the story for a moment.

(intro/outro)

The intro doesn’t really tell much of a story, but it fits the tone well and does capture the anime’s tone. The outro is a series of well-drawn pictures, a wise choice considering how many characters there are.

Female Representation: 5/10

The females are everything you expect in a standard shounen. The girls have a slightly moe appeal and run around battling in short skirts and falling for the male lead. I will never understand why fighting in a skirt is a good decision, but I do understand that some males enjoy watching that and that this show is, in fact, targeted towards males. I, however, just find it amusing and illogical.

Anyways, both of the females are touted as amazing warriors and are in charge of three males, but, per usual, the males prove to be “naturals” and surpass the girls' combat level during the first battle and often rescue their supposed superiors.

I wasn’t really offended or impressed. Like many things about this anime, it was average (hence the five).

Overall: 6/10

Without Mika, I would give this anime a 5/10. It’s a highly normal anime that will bore people sick of shounen but entertain those who love shounen or just want to kickback and watch a typical anime. Only 12 episodes long, it’s not much of an investment. I plan to watch the next season and believe it can easily surpass the first.

Now, to address the Attack on Titan accusations . . .

I have read/heard several times that Owari no Seraph is “ripping off” AoT. I disagree. AoT likes to use shounen tropes to set up the audiences’ expectations so it can smash them. And calling Owari no Seraph similar to AoT simply because both feature vengeful protagonists who live in a dystopian world where humanity is at the bottom of the food chain sounds as silly to me as calling every story that has a magic school a rip off of Harry Potter. Of course, I haven’t read the manga. So it is possible Owari no Seraph pulls more from AoT than I currently know from just watching season one of the anime.

I personally feel like Owari no Seraph’s mangaka was a big fan of Ao No Exorcist. The art styles are highly similar (especially the clothing styles, just look at Mephisto’s outfit). Both feature a close brother relationship (Rin and Yukio and Mika and Yuu). Shiemi and Yuuichirou share similar personalities. Shihou acts like Bon but looks like Shima. And then Mito looks like Shura. Both worlds feature many types of supernatural forces as well. But I won’t hold that against Owari no Seraph, as I enjoy Ao no Exorcist and don’t mind things borrowing ideas from it.

Anyways, if I failed to cover something you're curious or worried about, let me know! I'd be happy to answer them for you!

This show doesn't fuck around. After Covid killed the entire adult population, a shadowy cabal of vampires emerged from the hollow earth, took over the world and enslaved the surviving children. These children are raised like cattle, because the vampires need to consume adrenochrome to prolong their unnatural life. Our hero and his family only barely get by because one of them serves as a plaything for a rich pedo. All of this happens in the first five minutes. The best way to sum it up would be with a quote by Jonathan Frakes "This story is based". As you can probably imagine by the ... end of the first episode, I was scared and fascinated in equal parts by the authors power level. Just what is he going to talk about next? Flat earth, Chinese organ markets or fucking Hyperborea were all equally possible after the first episode. Sadly, the show almost immediately turns into one of the most generic school shonen shows I have ever seen. I was beginning to lose hope, but then the vampires decided to no joke crush two civilian planes into a building. So I guess vampires did 9/11, you are of the hook George Bush. Sadly, after that, there was no Agartha and the show once again became boring.

Shonuen is a very defined genre of anime. With the most popular/long running anime, Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach, aka the big 3 being some of the most well known examples of shonuen, here, we have Owari no Seraph, an anime made by Wit Studio, the same people who made the ever so popular Shingeki no Kyojin. So with that current track record, can we expect greatness? Well, no.

Story (5.99/10): In Owari no Seraph, the world is devastated by an apocalypse. A deadly virus spread by vampires has killed virtually all of the human beings, killing off all of the adults ... and leaving behind only kids that are 13 and younger in age, thus creating a ruined world where giant mutant monsters called "four horsemen of John" roam the landscape and kill any human they find. It is here where we have our protagonist Yu, who vies to kill all of the vampires so that he and his family of other orphan children try to escape the vampire city.

Owari no Seraph is a show that falls into a category of false advertising above all else. While the show is branded to be one that talks about the struggle of a human vs. vampire conflict that it brands itself to be, for this show, that simply isn't the case. One of the biggest reasons for a person to even watch a show like this is because of the action, the great fighting scenes that make a general Shounen show fantastic to watch and overall, brand it as shounen. Here, you don't really get much of that at all. For the most part, the show focuses mainly on our main protagonist Yu, as he...goes around making friends. I kid you not, for the first 6 episodes of the series, you will get little to no vampire fighting action, but instead a plotline about a pouty MC who is told to make friends. What irks me more is that the show also attempts to do a dual perspective storytelling from one POV to another which not only makes less sense because they spend about 20 seconds on one perspective before switching to the other, but also makes the other perspective about the show's deuteragonist way more interesting than than the protagonist making me personally, want to know the other story rather than the one we spend the most time with.

When you get down to the nitty gritty of the show though, a lot of it is actually fairly predictable. Nothing really came as a surprise plot-wise, so it really didn't make it interesting. All the characters obviously had plot armor, and the lack of vampire attacks/apocalyptic feel made me even forget for a few minutes that I was watching a show about a world where vampires are threatening humanity.

Another issue I have about the show is about the way it's presented. A lot of the show feels very slow in its progression, to the point that it even goes an entire episode without really doing much of anything. It doesn't really pick up the pace until more than halfway through, and by then, it's already damaged beyond repair because a lot of things don't really make sense with the story. Owari no Seraph bears a lot of plot holes regarding things and concepts like the cursed gear, how humanity was able to create a half decent civilization under the threat of giant monsters and vampires who treat them as livestock, etc.

Above all, Owari no Seraoh was a show that hardly delivered on any aspect of itself. With a lot of plot points that were left open ended, the show finished up with an ending that was as eventful as watching paint dry. An ending that only served to add to how much of a disappointment this show was, didn't really give it a proper sail-off. Plus, the entire show shoves this whole "family" ideal down our throats as we're watching it, which personally, I feel clashes with the show and contributes to its downfall.

Overview
- for an action show, there really is no action
- numerous amounts of plot holes
- predictable/underwhelming story
- awful ending (seriously though, that finale was so boring)

Characters (6.11/10): The cast for Owari no Seraph is a cast of a mixed bag, being an uneven mix of some interesting characters, and a whole lot more of some generic people.

First we have Yu, our main protagonist, aka an Eren Jaeger copycat who switches the word Titan for Vampire. To be honest, that's really all you're going to get with this MC. As a boy who had his entire family killed by vampires after being taken by vampires, Yu is a very vengeful character, swearing revenge upon vampires by vowing to kill every single one of them by himself. (Now doesn't that kinda sound familiar...). Apart from accepting some new people as his "new family" to replace his old one, Yu himself doesn't really get much of anything else.

Then we have the vampire equivalent to Yu in terms of importance, Mika. Mika is a boy turned vampire after an incident involving Yu and the rest of their family back in episode 1. Mika is a character that is overwhelmingly underused in the show, as his situation as a human turned vampire makes for an interesting storyline and he's shown to be very conflicted on his identity, as he has been able to walk in the shoes of both species for a good length of time. The only issue is, because the show focuses more on Yu rather than Mika, the amount of screen time, and therefore development that we get for Mika is rather limited. He shows a lot of potential that can add to the show, but his lack of use showed a lot of wasted potential.

And, for the last character mention, we have Shinoa. Shinoa as a character is mainly used as the "main girl" of the series, and one of the few characters that I saw to be interesting and s one of the better characters in the series. She's sly, loves to tease, and manages to make any scene she's in just a little bit more entertaining. In terms of development, she gets just about as much as allow the other side characters in this show get, so that hampers her character a little bit.

Side characters for this series are very one note. All of the characters from both the human and the vampire side are characters that don't really have much development or even character traits beyond the fundamental reason as to why they are the way they are. The side characters are quite static in their roles, so as a result, the show wasn't really able to grow character-wise either. Hell, Yoichi and Armin might as well be the same character like Yu and Eren. (Same with Kimizuki and Jean).

Overview:
+ Some interesting characters
- a lot of one-note characters
- Almost no character development for anyone
- Character potential lost due to unused

Art and Sound (8.66/10 and 7.00/10): The art for Owari no Seraph was created by Wit Studio, as mentioned before, the people who produced the AoT anime. The art for the series is admittedly, very nice looking. The show itself uses a lot of very nicely made backgrounds which resemble heavily like a painting, a painting that really gives off that apocalyptic look to it, as well as adding a nice design flourish that makes the show very aesthetically pleasing.

In addition, the character designs and fluidity of the action are also very nice to look at. The characters themselves look very high quality and for the amount of action that we do get in this show, it may not be worth it, but it does look very well made.

The soundtrack for Owari no Seraph solely uses one OP and one ED for the entire runtime of the show, which are tracks that are...interspersing to say the least. Both songs are sung in English which is a little fact about the tracks that made them more intriguing since not a lot of anime songs are sung mostly or entirely in English. As for the memorability, the OP is decent enough for one that I would listen to several more times by itself, but the ED on the other hand is a track that I never really bothered to listen to.

Overview:
+ Great backgrounds
+ Nice character designs
+ Decent soundtrack

Personal Enjoyment (5.88/10): I first looked at Owari no Seraph and thought of it to be an interesting watch. An apocalyptic show featuring humans against vampires in a world overrun by virus and man eating mutant monsters? Damn...that is one awesome sounding mashup. But as I got into the show, I never really saw any of that. The show instead focused more on a plot that went the opposite direction to what I had originally expected, which really hampered on my experience with the show and with the show itself.

Did I like this show?

At times, I admit that it was decent. The action scenes that we did get looked pretty nice, and the art for the series was stellar to say the least. Also, Shinoa. Shinoa is the best character in this show.

What didn't I like about this show?

Owari no Seraph had its flaws centered around its poor story. Because it spent more than half on its runtime on "the power of family and friends" the show was more of a bore than anything else and really made me question often whether this really was a show about humans fighting vampires. There were also a lot of unexplored and unexplained plot points that raised more questions than answers, as well as an ending that really tied an unsatisfactory bow on the whole thing, which ultimately made things a lot less exciting and more and more confusing. (Like seriously, explain how you guys get these cursed sword things, or how you are able to make a proper high school in a ruined world. None of that actually made much sense from what I've watched). Plus nearly the whole cast was one note, so it was a bit of a bland experience.

Would I recommend watching this show?

If you're a hardcore Shounen fan, or just a Shounen fan in general, I would say that Owari no Seraph is a good watch then. Personally, the show didn't really make much sense because in the long run, they don't really explain anything, but if you don't really think all that hard when watching it, this show might prove to provide a better experience.

Overall Score: 6.24/10

Author's note: if the second season was not announced, this rating would be far lower.

First of all, English is not my first language, and this is also my first review, so I apologize for any mistakes. I would also like to state that I haven’t read the manga, so I will judge Owari no Seraph just as a standalone anime, and not like an adaptation.

Owari no Seraph is a series that had an interesting (although a little overused) setting and had a lot of potential, but it couldn’t meet my expectations after the first couple of episodes. Some people compare this to Attack on Titan and, although there are indeed some similarities, there are a bunch of differences too.

Story ... 6/10:
The story doesn’t need too much explaining. After a terrible virus spread, vampires appeared and took over the world (or at least Japan, there’s no mention to the rest of the world during the series). The protagonist, Yuuichirou, alongside all of his friends from his orphanage, is taken by the vampires and they use him and his companions as livestock.

After some difficulties (he had to see how the rest of his “family” was murdered by a vampire) he escapes from the vampire’s city and joins a human resistance. Yu joins the human army to kill all vampires, to avenge his family, etc. But before been able to join the army, he has to enroll in a school and make at least one friend. This school setting doesn’t really works at all in a series like this, but it could have been worse… I suppose.

The story also follows Mikaela, a child from Yu’s orphanage, who was like a brother to Yu. After being killed by a vampire, he is resurrected by another vampire, Krul Tepes, and thus, Mika becomes a vampire too. During the series, we see a little of how Mika evolves from being a vampire that feels like a human, to being a vampire who hates both vampires and humans and who only cares for Yu.

Apart from vampires and humans, there are some monsters called the Four Horseman of John, which only attack humans. I personally think they don’t really add too much to the story, and they feel somehow out of place.
Humans fight vampires using weapons known as “Cursed Gears”, which have “demons” inside. There are different cursed gears, with different shapes and powers (Yu’s cursed gear is a katana, Yoichi’s is a bow with special arrows, etc.). The idea is not bad, but I would have liked more interaction between the demons and the users (only Yu interacts with his demon from time to time).

Characters 5/10
This is the aspect of the series that I dislike the most. The characters are too stereotypical and the series don’t tries to use all their potential.

The protagonist, Yu, is basically Eren 2.0. He is obsessed with killing all vampires. He’s kindhearted, but also very impulsive and usually ends up disobeying his superiors’ orders. There’s not really much to say about him, I found Yu to be quite a boring character, and could never care too much about him

Yu makes some friends during the series. They are also quite stereotypical, but I ended up liking them more than Yu.

Yoichi is the typical shy kid that is usually scared but is able to face his fears for his friends’ sake. He’s the first friend Yu makes after getting away from the vampires. In one of the first episodes, he is shown to have great potential (he is the only one, apart from Shinoa, who isn’t affected by Guren’s demon), sadly this potential is never exploited nor even mentioned in the rest of the series.

Shinoa is probably the character I liked the most, apart from Mika. She’s a sarcastic girl who belongs to the most powerful family of the Japanese Army, but she contents herself with being a simple sergeant. Her sister died in mysterious circumstances, but that hasn’t been explained too much yet.

Yu’s other friends are Shihou Kimizuki, a pink-haired boy who acts like a though guy, but deeply cares about his friends, and Mitsuba Sanguu, a blonde tsundere who tries to act like the leader of the group.

The last important human of the cast is Guren Ichinose, the Lieutenant Colonel of the Japanese Imperial Demon Army. He usually discusses with Yu, but he believes he has a great potential in him (we later in the series see why).

Mika was a more interesting character than Yu. I think I would have enjoyed the show more if the story had centered more in Mika’s life with vampires and how he becomes less and less human. This doesn’t mean that Mika doesn’t get his fair amount of screen-time; he does, especially during the last part of the series.

The rest of the vampires weren’t really interesting, partly because the normal vampires have none relevance at all and the nobles have all the same personality. Ferid is the most important of the vampire nobles, since he was who murdered Yu’s family and the one that interacts with Mika the most (therefore, the one with most screen-time), but apart from that, his personality is exactly the same as the other nobles, like Crowley.

Art 6/10
The art style was kind of weird. I’m still not sure if I like it or not. It really fitted in some scenes, but sometimes it ended up distracting me a little bit. The animation was fine, although there were some moments that were really poorly animated. The animation in the battles was great, though.

Sound 7/10
The music fitted the scenes really were, but this soundtrack hasn’t caught my attention too much (in fact, I cannot think of any background music that left any impression on me). I disliked the opening at first, but it end up growing on me. The ending is also pretty neat.

One problem I had with both the opening and the ending, although it isn’t really related to the music, is that they spoil you that Mikaela doesn’t die and in fact becomes a vampire, I didn’t like that. I mean, Mika is an important character, and of course he had to be in the opening, but they could have at least waited to his introduction to put the OP/ED or simply introduce Mikaela as a vampire earlier in the series.

I don’t have any complaints about the voice acting. I really liked Shinoa’s voice, even though it annoyed me in the beginning.

Enjoyment 7/10
Despite not liking the characters too much, and even when the story is not extremely original, I found this anime to be quite entertaining. The action scenes were great, although I would have liked the fights more if the nobles hadn’t been so overpowered.

So, to sum it up, Owari no Seraph is definitely not a masterpiece, and has some important flaws, but overall is an anime that you could watch just for have a little fun and if you not have anything better to watch. It’s not the best anime of the year (not even the best of this season), but I’ll almost surely watch the second season nevertheless.

So Owari no Seraph has ended, with the second season starting in the October of 2015. Was it good? Probably, but it wasn't great. Owari no Seraph is something that happens when you try to mix almost all the stereotypes and then create an anime with it. Although it was predictable, it has some great elements of it's own.

Story: 6
The premise sounds awesome. Vampires vs Humans? This could be a really good show! Unfortunately, the story is okay, but so typical that you can 100% predict what happens next. It has some funny moments, but not too much so it will ruin the mood of ... the story. The pacing is okay, nothing to complain about.
The main theme of Owari no Seraph is "family". It tries to show you how important it is to have a family, and is pretty good at it.
There are some unexplained plot points though, like where the Four Horsemen of John came from, I thought the anime was about Vampires vs Humans? What does it have anything to do with the humans and the vampires?

Art & Animation: 7
When you watch an Owari no Seraph, the first thing you're gonna notice is how different the background is compared to most animes. The background is nice and beautiful, with a very nice pencil effect (also used in Fullmetal Alchemist), which really adds to the mood of the anime. Character designs are very good but the way the characters are drawn isn't anything special (pretty standard).
Wit Studio has the tendency to spend a lot of budget to captivate the audience in the first few episodes of the animes it makes, and then running out of budget for the last episodes (see The Rolling Girls for reference) . This unfortunately is the situation for Owari no Seraph. Also with the drop in quality, Wit Studio may have spended too much on backgrounds, because the animation in characters is horrible. They uses a lot of still frame, even when in fight scenes, which ultimately makes the fight scenes extremely boring to watch

Music: 8
Sawano Hiroyuki is one of my favorite composers, because of the exciting, upbeat themes he creates, and the epic feeling that he adds to the anime which he composes (see Kill la Kill, Guilty Crown OSTs for reference). His tracks in Owari no Seraph is indeed upbeat and epic as usual, but it is nothing special (a little bit of a downgrade compared to his other works).

He also composes the opening the and ending theme for the anime. The opening theme, X.U, is good (but maybe a little unfitting for the anime), but the ending theme, scaPEGoat, is truly one of my favoirites. The ending theme really convey the emotion of the two main chracters, Yuu and Mika. Sawano Hiroyuki did a good job here.

Characters: 7
The characters in Owari no Seraph hit all the stereotypes checkboxes: Yuu is basically typically your revenge MC, Kimizuki (the purple hair dude) is your hate-but-still-befriend-with-the-MC kind of guy, Yoichi is the coward guy, Shinoa the sarcastic girl. Their designs are good, but their personality is stereotypical, not much depth to it.

Enjoyment: 7
I won't say that I had little enjoyment watching it. It was entertaining even though it was predictable. My main complaints would still be why the fight scenes were so damn short and why there were so many still frames.

Overall: 6/10
Owari no Seraph isn't anything striking or over the top. It is a solid anime for the general audience. If you're looking for an anime that has deep plot and character depth, Owari no Seraph is not the anime for you. If you just want to watch a normal anime with not much frustration, I'd recommend you this anime.

I hope they improve on the second season though, as this anime has a lot of potential to be great.

Have you ever been compared with someone? How does it feel when you’re being compared with your sibling and your sibling turns out to be praised yet you’ve been degraded? You feel sad, don’t you? Personally, it makes me sad too. I’m always being compared to Brad Pitt when in reality, I should be compared to Hugh Jackman (my repertoire of actors is old so please forgive me). But what does it do? Do you strive harder to be more different so that comparing you to others would be avoided?How about Owari no Seraph? A show that is obviously comparable to 2013’s hit series, Attack ... on Titan? Will it stay the same throughout or will it break from the chain? Let’s find out on my first review in 4 months!

Story:

Humans cower in fear because their natural predator, Vampires, are wrecking shit and is killing humans on the drop of a hat. Our heroes join the Moon Demon extermabullshit to hunt and kill them all to save humanities and settle their personal grudges… Wait… Seid ihr das Essen? Nein, wir sind der Jeager! “SHINGEKI NO KYUKETSUKI!!”

Talking about the story without mentioning Attack on Titan is blasphemous because the story is almost a page per page copy of the story of Attack on Titan. I don’t think it’s the same author coz I’ve tried checking a couple of chapters of manga and the art is nothing like Attack on Titan. Well, I’m not ruling out the possibility that maybe Hajime wrote the story and another guy drew it. You know, kinda like Ashirogi Muto in Bakuman. I don’t know and I’m too lazy to look so fuck me. But apart from the obvious Attack on Titan format, a lot of things do not make sense in the story.

1. Where do they get their cursed weapons? I know this is a “fantasy” world and shit can happen and the excuse that “its fantasy” can be used every time. We do know for a fact that Hiragi Mahiru (or whatever the fuck her name was), Shinoa’s (or Lil’ Senjougahara as I’d like to call her) older sister made them but we do not know how. If that isn’t explained in season 2, I’ll rage quit.

2. Where did those “Four Horsemen of John” came from? And let me just say that that name is probably the worst name of a monster in all of anime. If they name it Horseman of John, then it would have been fine. But why the fuck FOUR WHORE-SEMEN OF JOHN? It’s just one “thing” where the fuck does FOUR come from? Seriously? Where did they come from? Did the Vampires bring them with them when they annihilated “all of humanity”? If so, why can’t they control them, and hell, they even kill them to offer protection for their “livestock”. And

3. Who is the real enemy? Maybe I’ve been watching too much Gundam but when I was watching this series I did not have a solid team which I wanted to win. I remained neutral throughout the entire series. Yes, Vampires are mostly evil but can we really say that they are the antagonists? They offer protection to humans in return for food. They fight back because if they don’t they’ll be killed. And can we really say that what they did in episode 1 is an extermination and not a salvation? And look at the human side of the spectrum. Politics, power struggles, human experimentation, and most high ranking officers are as arrogant as the noble-class vampires. Can we really say they are the heroes and the real enemies?

Well, in a nutshell, the story, at least in season 1, have ton of inconsistencies and plot holes that made me question every little thing. And if you really want my honest opinion, I did not like this show and I should now call it Attack on Vampire.

Characters:

Unlike Attack on Titan characters, the characters in this series seem to have a thicker layer of plot armor. As of 12 episodes, no significant death has taken place… yet. But like Attack on Titan, almost all of the main character follows a straight formula. We have the typical shounen protagonist (Yu, Eren), the strong childhood friend (Mikaela and Mikasa. Both are Mika… weird), and a pussy (Yoichi, Armin). I wish you could see my face right now. Did Hajime really have something to do with this? HAH! So, yeah, let’s talk about a couple of characters just to open up discussion.

Hyakuya Yuichiro… Eren Jeager… fuck it… I don’t even… I don’t even need to talk about this. Wait… Does anybody here not know who Eren Jeager is? No? Okay then… No need to talk about him then. Moving on…

Hyakuya Mikaela… what to say about Mikaela? First, her name sounds gay. I'm sorry but no parent would name his son Mikaela… or Kamille…

Kamille: Kamille is a perfect name for a boy!! *punches my face*

Awww… Anyways, moving on. How did Mikaela became such an arrogant piece of shit? When he was a kid, he was a cute, kid Nadeshiko. But once he became a vampire he became an ice-cold dandere? How does this work? Is it a requirement in being a vampire? And also, some weird, random, question. Do vampires age? No, seriously, think about it, in all the vampires of literature, no one seems to age once they’ve been bitten. Vlad (well, he wasn't bitten but once he became a vampire, his aging stopped), Seras, Araragi, and even that motherfucker from Twilight. Years and years yet they still stay the same but Mikaela breaks the status quo and became a hot looking young men. How the fuck does that happen?

And Hiragi (Hitagi) Shinoa. During the first few episodes, I liked her. She made me remember how much I used to like Senjougahara. Her sharp tongue was really cute for her size and I loved it. But as more events happened, she becomes too dependent on Yu and loses the light that I once adored. Though she still talks shit, she does not do so frequently which just makes me sad. I also like her “ahahaha” laugh. Shout-out to Hayami Saori for that. Can you imagine Yukino laughing like that? Ahahaha

Animation:

HAHAHAHAHA… Did you know that WIT Studio was the one responsible for animating this show? If you didn’t know WIT, the subsidiary of Production IG, also made Attack on Titan? It is now complete… Story, characters, studio, composer, director (the director is not Tetsuro Araki but he, I forgot his name, was an episode director on Titan), and even its licensor, Funimation… Everything is the fucking same! Ahh…

Animation-wise, the show looks good but there are parts of it I wish they could have done better. I’ve been comparing it to Attack on Titan this entire review but if I there’s one thing I can differentiate Attack on Vampire from Attack on Titan, it’s the animation. The animation in Attack on Titan is its proudest joy. WIT seems to have at least spent a fortune when they made it. In Attack on Vampire, the animation did not looks as fluid as Titan. To wrap it off, I’ll sum up the animation of Vampire and Titan in just 1 word… Titan – Awesomejawdroppingamazingfabulousactionpackedthicklines. Vampire – Sad.

Sounds:

As a solid Hiroyuki Sawano fan, I’m a bit disappointed with the musical lineup of the show. Apart from the OP, X.U., I did not like anything in the entire soundtrack. Hell, even in the series, some scenes were so eerily quiet and I was going like: “Please insert a song… any song.”. You know those moments in Attack on Titan, Kill la Kill, Aldnoah.Zero, or even Guilty Crown where you go: “Hah! He used don’t lose your way (Before My Body is Dry) again! Typical Sawano!” Attack on Vampire did not have any of that. It was just silence. Clashing blades, characters talking, and some generic background noises… that’s all you can hear. The closest comparison I can name on the top of my head right now is God of War: Ascension. If you played that game, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Bombastic orchestral music for boss fights that was used in GoW 3 was removed and nothing can be heard apart from Kratos’ grunts, metal meeting flesh, and splattering blood. That’s how sad Attack on Vampire and GoW:A is when it comes to the music.

Micah Solusod, Ian Sinclair, and Chris Burnett… Soul Eater Evans, Space Dandy, and… Romeo?! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! That’s hilarious. No wait… I don’t “don’t like” the dub. It’s just funny that these 3 people are gathered in one show. But in all seriousness, the dub is really fucking good. Monica Rial as Krul Tepes is a nice choice. I actually don’t have any problem with her playing as Krul which is surprising. I really hate all her roles apart from Kuroki and Stocking but as Krul, she was perfect. I could not ask for a better voice actress for Krul apart from Monica Rial. Now… Sub vs Dub… Hmmm…. Let me think about this carefully. The subs sound cool (and I’ve finished it in sub) but I kinda wish I waited and watched it dubbed. Maybe I’m biased because I like dubs but I don’t think that’s the case. It’s probably because the Funimation lineup is better than the japo lineup. And even that guy (forgot his name) who played as Mikaela, it was his debut (according to MAL) in voicing anime. His debut… What… the… fuck?! I’m out! *smashes door*

Verdict:

All in all, I actually enjoyed watching this series. It was a car crash, but it was an entertaining car crash. It was fun and mind-numbing which opened up discussions among friends. Overall, the show didn’t even try to break away from the mold. It did not do anything to escape the shadow of Attack on Titan which is sad because when I watched the first episode, I thought it had potential to be Anime of The Year. And of course, like always, I was wrong. I actually have high hopes for season 2. What do I know? I haven’t read the manga past what was shown on TV. Maybe it will turn out to be just like Aldnoah.Zero whereas S1 was good but S2 was shit. Maybe it’ll do the opposite and season 2 will be the best season in all of anime. Who knows? Only time (and those who have read the manga(without hype)) can tell.

And with all that said, after pulling random numbers out of my ass, molding it into a tablet to be consumed to become a black, Sepiroth-like creature (shout-out to FF VII Remake! Fuck yes!), I’d give Attack on Vampire an overall score of 6.46 out of 10. Just watch Attack on Titan. Though it’s incomplete, it’s a much more enjoyable experience and I think S2 comes out on 2016 so… yeah… You do that.

Alternate Anime Recommendation:

For alternate anime recommendation, why don’t you try Shiki? Though not in the more shounen-like formula, Shiki also revolves around the concept of “killing vampires to save humans”. Ending is a bit out there but it’s still a fun series.

There’s also… hmm… Ah! The ever-popular, Hellsing Ultimate. Hellsing Ultimate is not that good but the gore, the dub, and the Alucard will be worth the 10 hour experience.

That’s it for me as always. Thanks again for reading. And see you, next time!

I must admit that I was disappointed when I finally got around to finishing Owari no Seraph. What had looked like a promising dystopian action/horror anime turned into a much tamer, somewhat lacklustre affair. It presented a few issues in particular which didn't make it so that I couldn't enjoy it, but surely tarnished my view of the anime. I will watch the second season most likely to see what they plan to do with what we learnt.

Story - 6
Of course it's very rare now that we find something with a completely unique plot. Most series are rehashes of common plot make up, at least ... to some extent, but the difference lies in how it is executed - if the same idea is done well 3 times, and each time there's some major differences (enemy, pacing, characters, setting...) it can seem pretty unique and enjoyable each time. But I digress.
The story in Seraph was not bad by any stretch, it was just a bit bland. I enjoyed the first 2/3 episodes immensely because it looked like we were getting some interesting view into a dystopian, vampire-filled future from Yu's point of view, but instead we get weird giant monsters that aren't explained (well, I don't think they were ever explained?), a boring protagonist and some very s...l...o..o..o..w pacing. 1-3 episodes were promising, quite fast paced and interesting and then up until about episode 9 we basically watched the characters meandering through their life and the events happening around or to them didn't seem to up the ante at all. There was no sense of urgency at all which didn't seem to make sense considering how deadly the vampires were described.
The series was saved from a lower rating by the last two episodes, which gave a decent enough pace and enough story to create some interest in knowing what happens next season. I hope they decide to explore the concept of who are REALLY the bad guys a bit more (what was revealed in episode 11-12 could create a nice segue into exploring that).
It's probably a moot point but I don't really think the Horror tag is relevant for Seraph, there was very little/no psychological aspects or anything that could be considered horror (torture, lots of blood and gore, etc). There was a little blood but I never felt particularly worried or scared about anything because unless they had the balls to do the mother of all plot twists main characters who are liked are NOT going to be killed off in an anime such as this. Anyway. Moving on.

Art - 7
The art itself was nice. I noticed some really pretty backgrounds which looked like they had been done in watercolours and some of the scenery when they entered the dystopian landscape also looked painted, and it gave the art an interesting feel. The character designs were okay, nothing too startlingly original, we have the blonde tsundere one, the red haired firey guy, and the black haired, green eyed protagonist. The vampires probably had a better design overall, they looked elegant and powerful, with the exception of their queen, who was basically a Gothic Lolita. I did quite like the uniform designs that the two "factions" had, though. Again, the vampires' was quite elegant whilst the humans' was more practical and dark.
The issue here lies within the animation. A lot of still frames with mouths moving for speech were used. There was rarely more than one character animated at once (at least to any noticeable degree). If anyone had a one-to-one battle we would see them sort of run at each other, clash weapons and just stand there talking. The fights were paced slowly because, instead of having characters go head to head in an action-filled battle, they stood and talked at each other for a while. For example when they are in the subway, the vamps just sort of stand there and watch them discussing how they should be able to take them all because they are all family or something along those lines.
I really wanted some high-octane battles with pretty visuals but honestly I could count the number of actual fights on one hand. They seemed to cut corners in terms of actually AVOIDING fights - again, I reference the scene in the subway. We see Yu run at one vampire and stab it. Then they all start talking again as more vamps arrive and then we see a black screen and everyone is outside. Clearly they have won the battle but why didn't they even try and include some action there?! It could have been awesome to see the group's synergy and fighting styles develop through such battles but we get no such luxury here.
Bah.

Sound - 7
Voice actors did a good job, Saori Hayami is one of my favourite seiyuu though so I may be biased. This wasn't her best role in my opinion but it wasn't bad.
I wasn't really a fan of the OP. It fit the series fine, but I skipped it every time. It also revealed pretty big spoilers so I wouldn't recommend watching it for the first few episodes.
I didn't really notice the background music which is usually a sign that it is distinctly average. If there's a really terrible low-quality sound I tend to notice, conversely if there's a blood-pumping tune that's really well placed I will notice it in as much as it raises the excitement/tension of a scene. I think what music I did notice (which was usually during action scenes) was decent, though, and didn't detract from the experience overall.
Honestly there wasn't much to say in terms of sound effects. They were good, sounded like what they were supposed to and all.

Character - 5
I was expecting to give character a high mark on starting this anime but honestly this was one of the most disappointing aspects of this anime for me. I'll go through the main problem areas first.

- Yu's character could have been interesting, but ended up being kind of bland and nonsensical.
Okay, so. Generic revenge-driven protagonist? Check. I MUST PROTECT MY FRIENDS complex? Check. All good so far - nothing out of the ordinary for a Shounen-type anime. But where it gets weird is that's literally all that defines Yu. He didn't want friends or family but was forced into his first 'family' and forced to make friends at the school later on. And yet he strives to protect them. Huh? His other noticeable trait is that he is easy to anger and usually acts without thinking. But three traits don't make an interesting character because there's no flesh there, just bare bones. What does he like to eat/drink? What is he actually interested in? Maybe he has a secret thing that he loves or enjoys doing? But all we know is he hates vampires, wants to kill vampires, and apparently loves Mika and his friends. And often gets angry without thinking.

- There was little/no development throughout the series.
//SPOILERS! I would have had a little more sympathy for Yu's character if we had actually seen his skills/personality develop, but all we get is revenge revenge and family. Yu is somehow able to defeat the first demon without even knowing what it could really do, what's at stake, HOW to defeat it, he just runs in and is somehow able to overcome the mental obstacle all on his own. Then when he gets his weapon, he doesn't need to practice or anything, he's just suddenly a master of swordsmanship. I know this is rather common in Shounen (the main character being overpowered or gaining some new ability out of nowhere) but honestly I just sighed inwardly when they all gained their respective weapons and were able to use them without practicing. Yoichi can shoot a bow? Check. Red-hair glasses guy can use twin swords perfectly? Check.
I know the anime only had a short span of 12 episodes for the first season, but if the way they "develop" characters makes me roll my eyes something is up. //END SPOILERS.

Other than that, the other characters weren't particularly memorable. The ones that stuck in my mind most are the vampire queen and Ferid. I was interested in Ferid's relationship to Mika and what went on before the first episode and I was interested to know why the queen was so interested in Mika. But we barely see them throughout the series, which is a shame. Maybe they will give them some screen time next season.

Enjoyment - 6
Honestly, I can enjoy almost any anime if I set my mind to 'standby' and just watch without being critical. I enjoyed Seraph to a degree, the first few episodes piqued my interest but I was disappointed until episode 11-12.

Overall, I think people would enjoy this anime a) if they really like dystopia/vampires (though be warned, we don't see that much vampire activity) and b) if they don't mind the lack of action. I think those who are able to watch anime without a critical/analytical mindset would enjoy it more than those who watch anime and look at it critically/analytically. The premise is similar to Attack on Titan, Black Bullet, the currently airing Kuuden Madoushi...so if you enjoy that kind of anime, give it a bash, you might enjoy it, particularly as something to watch between powerhouse series. However I wouldn't recommend it to those who watch anime with an analytical eye, as the cons outweigh the pros in the most important areas.

Seraph of the End Thoughts/Review

Story: Story wise, the anime had a lot of potential and premise, but it also shows similarities to other clichés and tropes from other modern anime (Attack on Titan and Black Bullet). Humanity is mostly wiped out by an unknown virus leaving a tenth of its population in surviving. Our main character survives the outbreak and it shows his struggles in the new world. What I liked about the story was the introduction to the setting, I mean everyone died in the first 20 secs. NOW that escalated quickly. The separation of our main characters Yu and Mikaela was also ... an interesting plot device when we realized in the opening, that he was still alive. It reminded me a lot of Aldnoah Zero where we see two perspectives from the respective sides of the story. The only flaw I saw in the story was the slow pacing. The first 2 episodes set the story, but on wards it felt dragged to the point where I felt 3 of the episodes could be combined into a single one. It wasn’t until episode 11 that finally shit went down! As for the conclusion, it was very anti-climactic and lack luster with only more questions. It didn’t hype me up for the 2nd season, but nonetheless I’ll be watching it for answers.

Characters: I liked the characters, but the emphasis on bonds and friendships often suffocated me in taking it seriously enough. Yu is a hard headed individual with social issues in the beginning because of his past and is dead set on vengeance since his childhood incident. We see him develop more into a friendly character and is confirmed in being a tsundere waifu. Shinoa, our female lead character, is my favorite in that her personality is different from all the characters in the series. She’s playful and quite the jokester towards everyone and mostly Yu. In other wards she’s a real life troll to me. Now I know what you’re thinking, is there romance? Strictly speaking minimal. The relationships between the characters are all about friendship and being comrades with similar circumstances. What I don’t get is the relationship between Shinoa and Yu, there was no signs or rather visible signs Shinoa was interested in Yu until the ending. But hey, I like that pairing more than Yu x Mikaela. We will have to see for more. Next character I’ll be talking about is Mikaela, there’s not much to say here since he DOESN’T GET SCREEN TIME FOR 10 EPISODES. He’s basically the only person who is recognized by Yu as true family or like a brother. He’s willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of others while Yu will not let anyone near him be taken away from him. His true motives aren’t revealed until the end.

Animation: As for the animation, I honestly think the animation is rather poor. I expected amazingness from the Wit Studio, the animators for Attack on Titan, but it obviously didn’t transfer over. The main issue I have is the backgrounds, which though are beautiful by themselves, only make the animated characters look bad. The water painting like look makes the cell shaded characters stand out more which lets us see some poor looking animation from a distance. It’s like in the old days where in Dragon ball Z, you saw and knew what rock was going to blow up before the attack. Also with more than 90% of the characters wielding swords, I expected at least a decent number of sword fighting sequences, not quick time single slash attacks. I’m sorry to admit, but the preview and opening have the best animation sequences compared to the entire series.

Music: Probably the highest score I’m giving it. The OST is created by my favorite composer, the godly Hiroyuki Sawano. Same composer who created music for Attack on Titan, Kill la kill, Aldnoah Zero, and my favorite Guitly Crown. The music fit really well throughout the series and the opening sounds amazing. I didn’t realize it was all English until I found the lyrics for it online. It stuck to me when I first saw the preview for the anime and the first episode.

Recommendation: Binge Watch it. Or skip over until 2nd season comes then binge watch all of it.

Seraph of The End has an adrenaline pumping start, but the slow pacing makes the anime stale until the very end where we crave answers.

~~~~~~Spoiler free~~~~~~~

I'm tired with this trend where more and more of anime/movies/TV shows antagonize humanity in a distasteful way, pushing us to think about our "humanity" and to sympathize with the human's enemies within said world. Very, VERY, few shows manage to do that, and it's as clear as day that OnS is nowhere near to being one of them. It bothers me, really, because making humans to be true monsters is so easy it's despicable just how many shows tend to fail at it. OnS falls straight into that category.

TL;DR - pros/cons

+ Decent animation during fight sequences
+ Relatively easy watch
+ A few ... interesting characters
+ Decent room to grow
- Too much pointless drama
- Dialogue
- Lackluster story
- Generic characters
- Inconsistent both in animation, story and characters
- Ending's just a bait for 2nd season, so no satisfying conclusion on its own

Surprisingly enough, there's a lot of story here - yet, nearly all of it is wish-washy bullshit you've seen in about 50 shows even if you've only watched 55. Nearly all plotlines are generic, boring, dull and uninspiring, and follow all the tropes you can think of. Anger, revenge, calmness, disobedience, willpower, you name it - OnS has it. By the time episode 12 rolls about you can fill up a checklist of generic shounen traps every mediocre writer falls into. Inconsistencies within the story are abundant, overshadowed only by the terrible cast of characters. There's never a clear-cut line of who's stronger than whom, and most battles you'll see depict Vampires to be the strong ones in the beginning, yet always wind up with humans coming out on top. Fallacies in through storytelling are plenty, but I'll only mention a few, since I don't feel like analyzing this generic trash.

Apparently, there's a huge difference between "normal" and "noble" Vampires, so much so that our main cast can easily fend off 15+ normal Vampires yet struggle to defeat even 1 noble. Yet, when the story calls for it, they'll struggle against the "normal" Vampires and dash around the "noble" ones like it's nothing. No reason, no logic, merely a convince on the writer's part.

In addition, there's the subplot of childhood friends torn apart by different spices and goals, that we get yet another generic "I'll save you" plotline which, with my whole heart, I recommend you skip completely. Not only is it generic, boring and cringe worthy, it also begs the question of just how stupid and inconsistent our characters are. On the other hand, if you loved Naruto/Sasuke bullshit, you'll probably love this one too.

Another low point of this show is the dialogue - since it's the embodiment of generic shounen. You'll find yourself (at least I did) skipping a bucketload of "character development" moments because they're the exact replica of things you've seen in every shounen ever. Things they say roll through their lips but don't make any sense, and each time the "character development" moment rolls around, you'll be rolling your eyes in disbelief as to how can characters say those lines with a straight face.

All in all, story is a generic mess, and while it does expand upon itself in the 2nd season, you shouldn't get your hopes up. It's not the worst thing in the world though, so kudos for that.

Production values are hit or miss; at times, animation borders amazing, while at others it looks so amateurish you need to look away. Character design and world design don't fit with one another because characters look like those you'd find in high school SoL rather than in the post-apocalyptic survival story. In addition, even designs clash, since characters are drawn with clear-cut lines and detailed to hell, while the world around is too edgy, so with each sequence it feels like they just don't belong on the screen; it has the "green screen" effect of sorts like in the movies, whereas you simply have a hard time believing in what's happening in front of you.

Animation is on par with today's standards - at least for the most part. Majority of battles are animated well, and are pleasing to the eyes, yet it's clear that nearly whole budget went into them, because the moment you step away from the battlefield, the quality of animation plummets. I didn't mind it too much though, since there's a high chance you'll be watching this for fights alone.

On the sound department, it's decent enough not to care too much about it. The high point are probably special effects, while the low point is the score, as it's really forgettable and, again, quite generic. Voice actors did their job fine, with a few notable performances, but, again, you can't really be at your best with dialogue like the one of OnS.

Speaking of characters, they're not the worst - mainly because of 2-3 side characters. Most of our main cast is generic throw-up and a spitting image of things you've seen in Naruto, Bleach, Fairy Tail, One Piece, AoT etc. etc.

Main character, Yu, is your everyday shounen lead and he stays as such. He's boring, at times even annoying, and, most of all, uninteresting and unable to hold the show on his own as a character. I'm really surprised sometimes that writers expect characters like him to hold the shows as a MC, yet it appears I'm in minority.

Aside from him, you have your generic cast of tsundere, rival, childhood friend/Sasuke, pussified weakling, and the only interesting, yet at times bordering "just go away, you're annoying" character with the name of Shinoa. Her playfulness was at times the only reason I didn't skip a scene, and, in truth, she should have been the main character (as in, the MAIN character). Aside from her, there are a few other interesting characters but nothing to spark your interest too much.

For what it was, OnS was relatively enjoyable. I never thought to myself "fuck this, I'm stopping", and that's always a plus in my book. Although it has its fair share of stupid, cringe worthy and plain insulting moments, OnS holds its enjoyment factor at a relatively steady pace. Mind you, you'll still be quite bored at times, but at least you'll never feel like skipping an episode.

In the end, OnS is a completely average shounen. It has decent production values, but its core is, at best, sub-par. Production is what really holds it from being generic trash, but if you're into generic shounen, you'll love this show. Recommended only if you're bored/love shounen/love vampires.

The main reason I'm giving this show a 6 is because I did enjoy it, even if it's not one of the best shows I've seen. It's good if you're looking for a dramatic shounen series with comedy, fighting, and vampires, but not so good if you're looking for unique plot or character development.

Story - 5

Pretty typical apocalyptic story. I did like how there was an effort to make the humans and the vampires morally ambiguous, and the different designs for the weapons. However, the story was by no means outstanding. There wasn't a consistent tone since part of it took place in a ... school, and the tone was much more lighthearted than you would expect in a world overrun by vampires and monsters. (I think the scenes at school were my favorite, since they were better than the main plot).

I had a hard time taking things seriously because of all the melodramatic character backstories. At first, I liked how flashbacks were incorporated, but they were quickly overused. I didn't need to be reminded every freaking episode that the main character was a tragic hero, thank you.

The story also moved extremely slowly - I'm pretty sure it could have been condensed to 4 or 5 episodes. And yet, there wasn't much development about the different creatures in the show. Like, what was that mysterious disease that wiped out the human race? How did vampires come to be? And there are demons and monsters too? Where did they come from?

Art - 6

I'm going to be honest, I know practically nothing about art and animation. Still, the art didn't strike me as being particularly good or bad. There were times where the quality was very low, but I think that was just the site I was watching on. As for character designs, there was some creativity and variation. However, some hairstyles - especially for the girls - were strange, elaborate braids and pigtails that didn't make any sense. The outfits were pretty decent and the weapons looked nice.

Sound - 7

I usually don't pay too much attention to the soundtrack while watching. Though, I liked the instrumentals for the opening sequence, and the soudtrack was good.

Character - 6

I liked the characters, I really did. Sure, many were stereotypical and underdeveloped, but that was part of their charm.

Our main character was the usual revenge-obsessed power-hungry anime mc with a tragic backstory. I liked him at first, but his character pretty much stayed the same the entire time. Eventually, he became whiny and borderline obnoxious. Mika, his childhood friend, was more interesting but got much less development. Saotomi, the main female lead, was one of the stronger characters. I like how she was a mix of sarcastic and pleasant. And the blonde girl with pigtails was an obnoxious, whining caricature. I did like some of the side characters, especially Guren and some of the vampire nobles.

Enjoyment - 8

I pretty much marathoned this show, just because I was curious to see where it went (and, since it was summer, I had time to spare). Okay, I did enjoy it, but I would categorize it more as a 'guilty pleasure' kind of show. I was just in the mood for something dramatic that had to do with vampires, not something with quality storytelling. If that's what you're looking for, go ahead!

Unfortunately, the first season ended without any major resolutions. I'm holding out hope for the second season.

If i could describe this in just two words: wasted potential.

the premise of the show is great, the art is on par with other anime for the most part, the sound and OST are great, but it falls flat almost immediately. The story is forced rather than being allowed to flow naturally, mostly caused by the one dimensional characters who react only to fit a trope, and are far from what you'd consider "human". Everything is designed to make the plot move forward without thinking about how much that detracts from the plot. Precisely zero of the characters would ever reasonably respond to the situations ... they're put in like they did.

If they had spread it out over 25 episodes and worked on actually developing the characters rather than hamfisting them into the desired end-scenario, the anime could easily have been a 7/10 or even 8/10. As is, it's pushing a 4/10

Note: This review is influenced by knowledge that a second season is coming.

Seraph of the End is a action anime that revolves around the struggle between humans and vampires with the key characters being two friends (who are essentially brothers).

We should get the characters out of the way. For the most part they have boring personalities. Yuuichirou Hyakuya, the main main character, has an undying hatred towards vampires (and rightfully so), but his entire character for most of the show is "Must kill vampires". Of course, this is challenged at the very end, and hopefully will be more so in season 2. Mika ... is the only other character who has something interesting happen to him, and that's near the middle of the show and it's incredibly obvious what's going to happen to him.

Other characters have interesting background, or potential to be interesting, but they just are not really utilized that much. For the most part they are just set pieces. An exception is Shinoa Hiiragi, who has shown sparks of being an important character, and probably the most complex out of the lot.

The animation is wildly inconsistent. However, for the most part it is rather pleasing to the eye. Speaking of eyes, this show has some pretty well done ones imo. They are clearly the most standout piece in the character design. It's also clear though that there were a lot of corners cut in production near the end of this season.

The sound is pretty good, probably one of the stronger points of the show. The OP, which I didn't really like at first, is now one of my favorites of the season. It just has a really catchy intro and bridges into the melody part very well. The rest of the music and sound is pretty on point too, even if it's not as spectacular as KLK and AoT.

Finally we get to the story. In a nutshell the story of S1 is a huge tease. I was completely about to give up on this being anything but some by the numbers shounen but they finally showed their promise, like in the last 2 episodes of the season (and only one of those episodes is actually good).

Despite being predictable a lot of the show is actually pretty enjoyable though. But it does keep you perpetually annoyed because you know that it could be a lot better. This show is an okay anime that looks like it's going to have a juicy second half, too bad this season isn't really enough to sink your teeth into.

Here's one of the most highly anticipated runs of the season, Owari no Seraph.
But, does it live up to the hype? ... Not really. Anyway, let's start.
Story- 6
... It's not great, seeing as it can be summed up in one sentence:
It's Attack in Titan with vampires.
At the same time a mysterious virus named called the Apocalypse Virus spread, the vampires emerged from the shadows.
As a result, 90% of humanity was slaughtered, either by the vampires or the virus.
And most of the remaining 10% was enslaved by the vampires.
Again, it's simply Attack on Titan with vampires.
The story, compared to the manga, is extremely slow-paced, so much ... that by the end of the series, I was nearly ripping my hair out.
Art- 6
The art is painful to watch.
It's not bad, it's just inconsistent. Extremely so.
Of course, we'll get the occasional mind-numbing action scene that made us love AoT, but otherwise it's kinda pathetic.
The characters movements are often stiff, and at times the shadings look just odd.
Sound- 9
It's Hiroyuki Sawano. What did you expect?
I could gush on and on but I won't.
Characters- 6
The characters are bland.
Yuu simply wants to kill the vampires.
The other two have differing reasons for fighting.
And the other two don't really have an explained reason for fighting.
Enjoyment- 5
It was ok.
Definitely not the worst, but far from the best.
Mediocre, I guess.
Overall- 6
It's not as good as the manga.
While the manga was far quicker paced and didn't waste time getting into the darker side of the existing world, the anime adaptation drags it's feet.
I fell like the butchered a good manga.

Owari no Seraph is one of your classic "cool-weapons-monsters-battle-blood" shonen anime that is pretty in-your-face predictable which can only be sightly redeemed by it's fantastic art and music.

Story: 6
The setting takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where humans nearly become extinct due to a virus and now must fight for survival against vampires. In all honesty, even though it sounds corny, I wasn't questioning the story too much while watching this and kinda went along fine with it. The problem with the story lies in the plotholes that form as the it goes on. Yes, there's plenty and it kept pricking the back ... of my neck so much that I couldn't even enjoy the anime.

Art: 8
The art is fantastic, the characters and costumes and weapons and monsters all look pretty kick-ass and the fight scenes are cool as well. However, near the end of the anime, the animation goes to shit. The fighting occurs in like 2 frames and the dynamics are all wrong.

Sound: 9
Sawano Hiroyuki. Nuff said.
If you don't know who he is, he's the same dude that did AoT, Nanatsu no Taizai, Guilty Crown, and other big game anime's. His soundtracks always rock

Character: 5
Now this is what pisses me off the most. The characters in Owari no Seraph are the most textbook, flat characters you could find, and the main character is the worst. So I'll just chop on him for now. He's basically a cocky little kid that breaks the rules and does whatever he wants, but because he's the main character, he doesn't get punished. Furthermore, there is almost zero character development, so if you think they sucked in the episode one, they're probably only gonna get worse

Enjoyment: 6
Basically, if I turn off my brain and just watch the explosions and fighting and killing, this anime would be fantastic. Unfortunately, with all the annoying characters and plot holes, I couldn't help but nitpick.

Overall: 5
Honestly, I would give it a 6 or 7, but this anime became very popular and it's rating is much higher than it should be. I came in expecting a lot from it because of it's rather high rating and was thoroughly disappointed. This is to even out the curve a little bit. If you're looking for a mindless, action, shounen anime, this is for you!

Owari no Seraph is a stinking pile of poop topped with a cherry named Mikaela Hyakuya.

This review covers both seasons of the show (no spoilers) and has nothing to do with the manga.

ONS follows your angry, unintelligent, revenge-bent but “incredibly talented” shounen lead and his friends, who I call Should-Have-White-Hair, Tsundere, Megane, and Female Love Interest. (Fun Fact: I call another character Exists-To-Make-Guren-Look-Better. Any guesses as to who?)

In both seasons, the cast has the personality of toast, relying on the stereotypical lines of their respective Anime/Manga trope to the point of nauseating predictability. If you’re looking for character development, give up now.

Tossed into ... the mix are cheap one-liners about family, desperation, and the will to survive (as a race). It seems like the writers watched the most popular Anime and pulled out the “best lines” from each until they vomited up the disaster that is ONS’s dialogue.

Season one consists of training with a battle thrown in at the end. Season two is a poorly explained string of events that I’m forced to call a “plot”. Instead of following any sort of logic, the show is filled with “black holes”, where terms like “Owari no seraph” are tossed around and spat out later without much explanation.

It’s not hard to follow, though. I mean, I have seen this show dozens of times before with more interesting characters and plots that at least make sense.

Painfully predictable, I almost didn’t finish this show. The reason I swallowed it down: Mikaela Hyakuya, aka “Mika”. Unfortunately for me, I love this character and found him fascinating enough to watch all 24 episodes of this franchise.

That being said, you might want to save your time and skip this, since Mika barely gets any screen time. His development becomes difficult to follow because of that, but I let my own crazy brain fill in the holes.

So the reason I watched this Anime is because 2 friends of mine had a pretty heavy discussion about it.

On one side we had the offender friend 1 with his statement : "This Anime has one of the worst storywriting ever. It's so generic."

On the other side we had the defender friend 2 who said : "Yeah that might be true but it's still enjoyable so I like it."

Well to start off with of course both opinions aren't wrong but I was still intrigued to see for myself and confirm these statements. So after 3 episodes (which in my opinion is enough to judge ... a show) I reached the following conclusion :



Statement 1 - Owari No Seraph is generic :

Yes, in my opinion this holds very true. After seing 3 episodes of this Anime I just couldn't think of anything else to say about this show than : "A mashup of some popular shounen Anime (or Anime in general) such as Code Geass, Attack on Titan and many others, mixed together into an Anime with vampires in fastforward mode.

The Anime tries its best to just show as many cliches as possible in the fastest way it can.

OWARI NO SERAPH CLICHE CHECKLIST :

(x) Humanity at the brink of extinction desperately fighting back
(x) Main character looking for revenge after losing something precious
(x) Main character being naive and just trying everything way too hard
(x) Whimsy side character that also lost someone dear and also tries hard to be a badass
(x) People falling on other people in sexual ways
(x) Best friend / worst enemy
(x) MC having some kind of superpower exclusive to him
(x) Forced comedy that just looks cringy

Statement 2 - It's still enjoyable :

Well for me this one isn't true. I had a hard time watching this as (how I stated before) I thought it was just a fast forwarded version of trying to show as many cliches as possible appearing in Anime. It was more like a parody. Hell I think watching this Anime as parody of shounen Anime I'd even rate it higher since it was so funny. Too bad though.

At the end of the day it depends on the viewer to decide if this Anime is enjoyable for you or not. There's a chance you will like it anyway despite me saying bad things about it. I mean we all have our own opinion right?

To finish up my review I gotta say even though the story is kind of meh the artwork and OST are still somewhat above average.

So how would I describe OnS in one sentence?

A typical shounen Anime with vampire elements trying way too hard to be something good but ends up looking really weak and almost comedy-like but also having a somewhat good artstyle as well as a good music.

TL:DR

Fight scenes are not that good, later half in particular.
ART is average.
SETTING is interesting enough to want to learn more.
CHARACTERS have back stories, still menages to not really get fleshed out somehow.
STORY is also interesting enough to want to learn more about what happened before and what is going to happen after.

The show is carried by a bunch of what ifs', which is pretty bad considering because the main cast can't carry the weight of the show.

This is an average shounen, that the average public will like, it gets another point because of mystery & setting.