Rosario to Vampire

Rosario + Vampire the anime is the adaptation of a manga of the same name, or at least, thats what it was supposed to be.

Story: I'm trying to best not to rip this show apart but bear with me, Tsukune is your unfortunate high-school male who has just been enrolled in a school he doesnt even know when his parents found an admission pass on the ground by accident. Little does he know is that the school is for monsters than hate humans and would prob kill any on sight. It is when he meets Moka, a beautiful girl who in reality is a powerful vampire. What I just wrote was basically what you would get introduced with on the first episode, everything was cool then. As the "story" moved on, I slowly started to get irritated at the EXCESSIVE amount of panty shots this anime had. Now I enjoy fanservice every now and then like any other guy but in this show the fanservice was given to you in large and unnecessary quantities, a girl could be standing doing nothing WITHOUT EVEN WIND BLOWING, but they would still show you her panties for no real reason. I thought this was just another one of those fanservice shows so I didnt really wanted to hate this show for that reason. Around ep 5 I decided to pick up the manga as well since I heard good things about it, it was then when I realized what a mess this anime had become. They turned a good manga with interesting plot and good action, into a fanservice driven anime that had tunned down the action and REALLY changed the storyline just to turn it into an ecchi comedy. Also EVERY episode follows the same old formula, If I could describe a R+V episode it would be as follows:
Tsukune meets Moka
Tsukune meets an antagonist
Tsukune gets in trouble
Moka tries to help
Tsukune accidentally removes Moka's rosary
Vampire Moka beats everyone up
Everything is happy again
This same formula is applies for every episode of this show with exception of the last 2 episodes, which were good on its own right but still managed to butcher the goodness of the manga. If you watch animes to get a good story you wont find it here.

Art: As terrible as the story is, this anime's best feature was its animation. The colours were all great and the animation was fluent everytime. I failed to notice any sign of quality drop throughout the show. I will give this show props for that.

Sound: It wasnt bad, nothing really out of the ordinary. The ED song was really good though....IMO the best part of every episode was the end credits XD

Character: The characters of this anime are likeable, well Tsukune is the typicial guy who tries to help but ends up being helped instead because of its uselessness. Moka's normal form is a contrast to her vampire form as one is sweet and friendly and the other is rough and swift to act. To be honest my only motivation to finish this show was Shirayuki Mizore aka Ice Girl. Voiced by Kugimiya Rie it was nice to see her use a non loli voice and well the character itself IMO is awesome. She could've been the main character :)

Enjoyment: I'll keep this simple, I didnt like this anime. It was hard to finish some episodes and then try my best not to drop it right after. Its safe to say I will not be watching the second season if they havent learned their lesson on this one.

Overall Rosario + Vampire was a rather disappointing show considering how Gonzo had a really good source to work with but decided to ruin it in order to bring ecchi comedy and pointless plot. If you are the type of person who likes this kind of ecchi comedy and mindless fanservice then R+V will be a good show for you to watch and I recommend it for you (also rejoice as a season 2 will be coming). For someone who likes a good story, dont bother, this anime is not worth it.

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"Side tracked from its original story and ended up being a half-baked series."

Before we begin, let me drill this into your mind. Fan service; Fan service; Fan service; Fan service; Fan service! That's the theme for this anime so don't start having high hopes for an amazing story or what not (at least nothing in comparison to the manga original). Rosario + Vampire, like many manga-to-anime adaptation series, made fans screamed with joy at first, but only to have their hopes and dreams shattered bit by bit as the anime progresses. It is true that the anime's story plot deviates from its origin, but it is also true that the artwork is astounding (the animation version of the characters look more attractive to me). So let us get into a deeper analysis of Rosario + Vampire.

Story:
The anime is considered pretty episodic (ie. standalone episodes) with a few exceptions near the end of the series. This goes parallel with its manga originals so it is nothing new to the readers. However, what is new is the extremely formulaic sequence in all episodes with an introduction to the "monster of the episode" (these monsters tend to get defeated and then become friends with the protagonists). Not only that, but the actual story coverage is also very minimal in the anime (only covered up to chapter 10 of the manga out of 40 chapters). But that is not to say it is all bad. In fact, certain portions of the story that were remade into anime were better planned (events flow smoother/made more logical sense) than the manga version. Overall, the story serve its purpose as an introduction to the Rosario + Vampire series.

Animation:
Consistent animation quality throughout, beautifully animated characters, plus smooth transition from scene to scene, what more can you ask for? Gonzo, while not exactly known for extremely high quality animation (at least not at the level of KyotoAnimation), does indeed proved itself a worthy opponent to other studios in the industry.

Sound:
OP and ED are both very enjoyable for me (I didn't skip them like I did for a lot of other anime). It should not be an annoyance to you either (I hope). As for seiyu, there are many talented and well known professionals to voice for our pretty girls (and boys). For instance, there is the cute Rie Kugimiya voicing for the "icy cold" Mizore, and Saeko Chiba voicing for the "very funny" Ruby.

I would like to bring the attention to Nana Mizuki who is the CV for our super hot/cute/pretty/gorgeous Moka and also the singer for the OP and ED of the series (and the singer for Capu2 as well). Nana is not only famous in the seiyu community, but is admired by all. She has an amazing ability to sing (even rivals those so-called "professional" singers) thanks to her powerful singing voice despite being a pretty tiny girl. She was also the winner of the “Best Musical Performance” award in the first Seiyu Awards. For those who have not yet experienced her excellent character voicing ability (and as a singer), I strongly suggest you give this series a try.

Character:
Aside from the fact that most character's hidden abilities were not included in the anime, the show did a pretty good job with the characters. Plenty of character developments and showing their inner feelings toward each other (especially near the end when certain secrets were discovered). In addition, the interaction between the many different types of monsters can be quite refreshing from the traditional harem-oriented anime.

Enjoyment + Final Thought:
Judging Rosario + Vampire solely as an anime, it has plenty of ups and downs. Judging it as an adaptation from a manga, it was pretty disappointing except for the animation and sound department. I recommend this to all people who have not yet read the manga (got some nice fan service), but for those who know the story already, you might want to skip this and move on.

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Rosario Vampire is a typical male targeted anime filled with comedy, ecchi, and action. Typical school comedy with typical jokes associated with high school comedies. The "special" twist for this show would be that this school happens to be a school for monsters. To twist it even further, a human is accidentally accepted to the university and if he's found out he will literally be killed. Reading from the other reviews it appears that the manga had a "real story and plot." ...lets think about it for a second. How can someone take a story so serious about a boy trying to survive a monster school? Regardless, this review will be biased based on the anime and not being tied to any book.

As I was saying, this show is about a human boy accidentally being accepted at a monster school. But on his way there the literally gets hit by a beautiful girl on a bike. Long story short, he finds out she's a vampire (hence the title), they hook up and the adventure begins. The episode structure is typically built the same for every episode: Story + new character + problem + fight = one Rosario vampire episode. Some shows don't pull that formula off very well (Jigoku Shoujo Season 1) but R+V does it pretty good. Each episode is very different from the last all thanks to being a high school full of monsters. Being a Japanese anime, it would be easy for them to follow the normal Japanese way and make their own random monsters. Thankfully, they pulled MOST of their monsters out of typical folklores and old wives tales like vampires, succubus, witches, etc ...with their own anime twist of course. At least they use east and and west references instead of making their own which is very refreshing. But the story line isn't the shows strong point....

This is an ecchi comedy and you will figure that out within the first 15 seconds of watching the show, that it's more ecchi than comedy. And the only way to be a successful ecchi show is if the art and animation is top of the line, this is where the show shines the most. All the backgrounds are hand painted with care. They even designed the school to resemble a Gothic style building with excellent accuracy. All the main and background characters are drawn with such perfection only an ecchi fan can understand. Every girl is drawn beautifully and have their own style. It even looks like they borrowed a few things from the book of Tenjo Tenge: Hairstyles, miniskirts, fighting, and even Moka acts alot like Aya Natusme But then again, they do pull off a few subtle spoofs and parodies.

Speaking of characters they're all very ...addicting. As an ecchi comedy they covered all bases of moe. You'll most likely get addicted to one or more of the main characters or villains. And to top it off, their voices are so mind numbingly addicting, you'll practically melt. (Kappuchuuu~). Apparently it's a requirement now that if you have fan service characters, their seiyu's have to have their own music cd. Each girl does have one and they even have some songs posted in the show. Be sure to look out for Kimiko Koyama (I'm listening while writing this ^_^) As for the op and ed songs, they fit perfectly for what you would expect from an anime titled Rosario Vampire. Other than the great music and great seiyu cast, the sound effects are pretty standard.

Sure theres alot of fanservice in this show...it is an ecchi comedy after all. I don't understand why people are so surprised. This is the 21st century, movie/tv adaptations NEVER follow the book/manga. So haters should get over it or they will be constantly let down for the rest of their lives. Take this show for what it is... a fun ecchi comedy with great characters, fun fight scenes, and hilarious fanservice. I sure hope this show will last a few seasons.

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Rosario + Vampire is a typical Shounen, Supernatural, Harem, Romantic, Comedy about an average, human, high school boy (Tsukune) who couldn’t get into any private schools and was stuck going to a school for monsters. This may sound interesting but there’s nothing particularly special about this set-up, since it is just your average school Rom/Com but with monsters. What’s more is that each episode has some very predictable outcomes that get boring fast (monster appears, Moka transforms & sucks blood). So in the end, the weak and repetitive story turned this into a series that you can only enjoy once you turn off your brain.

There’s nothing unique about the characters, seeing how it does the same old thing; by having yet another “loser-kun” male protagonist and surrounded by hot and cute girls. Their personalities usually match the way they look as well, so don’t expect anyone to really stand out in this series, except maybe Mizore (snow girl).

The quality of the animation is probably the best aspect, as the backgrounds and environments completely suit the ever changing horror atmosphere. Also everything is somewhat fluid, from the bouncing breast to swift action sequences. The music is also well done, especially during the short burst of action but it becomes fairly repetitive.

Overall Rosario + Vampire proved to be a somewhat entertaining Rom/Com that quickly turns into a typical harem, full of everything shounen (misunderstandings, ecchi, nosebleeds, etc.). Apart from the supernatural element, everything else is the same as in any typical school comedy with the usual cliché situations we are all used to seeing. Fans of the manga will most definitely feel let down by the series, as it never managed to deliver the same story the manga produced and instead all it did deliver was an excessive amount of fanservice (100 panty shots per episode). Some may still enjoy this while the rest will wonder why you wasted your time on such a show.

^_^

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