Karin

Adding one anime only character apparently can completely change (Ruin) the entire story, this is NOT an over exaggeration.

STORY: This is the adaption of the manga Karin (AKA chibi vampire in the US, and by the way is my favorite romantic comedy manga) which is about a unique vampire girl who instead of drinking blood, shes injects her blood into her victims and the injecttee becomes hyper active for a while.
But if she doesn't, her blood literally explodes out of her nose (Which this and the concept itself is what the series is known for).

The anime only covers like 20 something chapters of the ... beginning of the manga then goes about with completely different story than what the source material did.
Which in truth I usually have no problem with that, many anime went this way, Fullmetal Alchemist ended up great, the second Negima anime was okay.

And with like most adaptions Karin, the anime adds in a new character, Winner Sinclair
........................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................huh?
Oh I'm sorry I blacked out for a second there.
What was I talking about? Oh Winner.................
I'm sorry but, I really hated this character, his appearance, his voice (I'll get to that in a bit), his role!
His role in the anime is to be the bishonen rival to Kenta Usui, the main male role of the series, for the affection of Karin (The main female role and titular character), but to me (And to hopefully everyone else) he is irritatingly annoying to the point of instant hatred, all this character does is get in the way 24/7, nearly every episode after episode 6.
I'm not going to lie, the story is okay, but pretty generic, for the most part and Winner's job is an interesting plot twist which allows an interesting story development, especially the last 4 episodes, but Winner's personality, his presence just ruin's so much of that, he is the annoying kid who hangs around the circle and just never wants to leave.

But at the very least winner is the only major headache in the anime, well in the japanese dub.

ANIMATION: Okay, not great but good enough.
The character designs are true to the source material, but looks like a typical low budget shojo anime, and the opening animation makes the series look like a hentai or something, so it's unclear which audience this anime is made for.
Karin's nose bleeds are censored with... flowers... it's unique and a creative way to censor something, but only adds to my argument of who this series is intended for.

SOUND: Both theme music are okay, six for both opening and ending songs.
Okay I'm going to get this strait, do NOT watch the english dub, stick to the subtitles only (Which gets about a seven)!
The english is just terribly bland, typical no emotion script reading with voices that do fit the characters, but are performed so bad.
And of all of them, Winner has the most atrocious ear bleeding noise you will ever hear, this is no over exaggeration, no dub hating or trolling (I love english dubbed anime), I really really mean it.

OVERALL:
+ Different story that has an okay plot
- Winner Sinclair
- English dub
- Unclear of who this anime is intended for

Adaptions of manga are notorious for messing with the source material, but some end up just fine, while others are a disaster, and it's quite a feat for just one character to ruin an entire anime.

For a show about vampires, this is very fruity. I consider it almost like the Twilight of anime Vampires though I did enjoy it. It has an interesting feel to it even though it doesn’t go for a normal vampire storyline.

The characters are rather odd and are sometimes annoying. Karin is whinny, her friend Maki is a annoying little bitch that creates some of the trouble for Karin, her brother Ren is a womanizing whore, her father is a dotting father, and her mother is really abusive. It does make a lively bunch but sometimes a little two lively. It just doesn’t have much ... structure except for the fact that Karin’s family does care for her even though they don’t act like it.

The relationship between Karin and Kenta is pretty generic. Girl is in love with boy but clueless about it and same for boy even though everyone around them can tell that they are together. Even in the beginning, you can tell they were getting together.

The artwork is pretty standard for slice of life school life specials. It just doesn’t stand out. I can understand why they call it Chibi Vampire and that’s because it’s really cutesy. I’m surprised that Shinbo, the person that did Dance in the Vampire Bund, didn’t direct this. There is a lot of times that Karin is naked (Although most of the time it’s more in expression of something) and even a lot of other characters. The only thing different then his works is that for a high school student, Karin is pretty stacked. The characters don’t really have a good profile. It just looks off. The water color ending is really cute and pretty.

The English voices are alright, but one of the big let downs is how whinny Karin sounds. Everything she says sounds like whinning. Even Anju sounds more adult then Karin. Every word feels like an after school special for little kids. This does not work because of Ren’s little fun he does all the time.

... Hmm... I liked it, but it as no comparation to the manga! The story is too poor compared to it! If you like the characters, read the manga instead of watching the anime ;)

Wow, so I've never had a anime be so good for 20 episodes, then completely crash and burn as hard as the last 4 episodes did for me. I actually quit watching at episode 23 out of revolt at what was happening. The last episode is just a mockery of the whole series in my opinion and for nothing, it ends just as you would expect if the last 4 episodes didn't exist.

This to me is raising the stakes for the sense of drama, and the cost of everything else. It's a terrible way of handling a series and wrecks what otherwise was a ... great series overall for me. I really did enjoy it before the last 4 episodes, to the point of which it might have been the best handling of vampire romance I had seen.

I took the time to write my first review simply as a warning. It was a great series that crashed and burned amongst the hardest I've ever seen. And in the end for nothing, it accomplished nothing that wouldn't have happened if they had not tried to artificially raise the stakes by making all the character simultaneously become incompetent, idiotic, and pathetic all at the same time.

Karin: Chibi Vampire was a great anime, and had potential in the beginning. I loved the inappropriate jokes that were slipped in periodically. However, sometimes they overdid it. Also, the title sequence is a little creepy. I loved Karin's family. However, it left me wanting more.

The characters didn't develop enough, and the last episode had a terrible ending. The ending just ticks me off. I feel like recommending this show but at the same time.. I don't want to. Karin, the main character, I thought her personality was solid. Due to her being the main character; her personality had a chance to develop.

However, ... I really wish she wasn't an un-vampire. It made her seem pathetic because she acted like the most helpless girl in the world. Normal human girls can take care of themselves so, why couldn't Karin? Next, I'd like to discuss Karin's parents. Her mom Carrera, lacked a complete personality.

Most of the time, she was hitting her family. However, when Karin truly needed her help; she was there to offer advice and protect her daughter at all costs. I really wish I could have seen more of Carrera. Henry seemed to be a loving father that would do anything for his children. I would have liked to see more than just the surface of him. He lacked a in-depth personality but, he showed potential as the sweet father he seemed to be. -unfinished-

Ah, Karin chibi vampire, actually my second anime.

What I have to say about it?

For the story there are two things that annoy me "a bit". First, why she had to be different from other vampires? That sounded so cliché, i would prefer Karin to be a normal vampire from the begginning.
She didn´t needed to be different from others, a romance between a vampire and a human is very commun but between a special vampire and a human gets even more commun afterall.
Second... I hated the ending. Unconsistent, fanservicing... and why that drama with the characters if in the end they... well... who ... saw the anime knows what I am talking about. I was so wtf was that drama if they all were well?
Elda romance story had a good concept that ended up not making too much sense.
And Karin and Usui are not much of a strong couple.
But of course there were some good points on this anime.
The fact that the vampires are addicted to traits of a person is very well thinked (example: Ren with stressed people).
Loved how the characters were all so different between them.
Winner was annoying but I really shipped him with Maka.
Karin`s voice was so annoying by the way... but I like the opening.
And the art style is good, not the best, but plain good.
My favourite characters of the show were Ren an Anju, brothers of Karin.
I kinda crushed on Ren, I have to admit, and Anju was just adorable (lacks a little bit of personality but had the potencial).
I also loved the bite scenes.
Oh, one last thing... that chapter with "Yaoi fanservice" was just there because... no reason. Totally unecessary.

In conclusion, it`s not a anime that I recommend.
But if you don`t mind a little fruity anime with chibi vampires you can try to watch it and possibly you will enjoy it.

Story - 5
Art - 7
Sound - 6
Character - 5
Enjoyment - 5

Total score: 5

Ok, well normally I don't tend to write reviews, but as a fan of the manga, and after finally getting around to watching the anime I thought I'd take a moment to write this for two groups of people: Those who didn't read the manga and are curious about this as a general rom-com, and those who did who want to see the anime.

I'll keep this short and spoiler free. This is just going to be a quick insight for what both groups should expect to see, and my reasons as to why I think you should or shouldn't watch this.

I'll start with the ... NON-manga readers.
Given how this is a somewhat old show, you probably clicked on Karin's page based on a recent review, recommendation, or some other link on MAL's page.

Let me say that if you enjoy rom-coms and vampires you'll probably enjoy this. If you don't mind, or even enjoy older art styles then that's a bonus. There isn't anything that really stands out about the show. This is something to watch if you enjoy the full spectrum of rom-coms. If you've only dipped your toes into a few shows, you probably wont care for this.

My recommendation to all non-manga watchers is to go read the manga as soon as you're done this. There are A LOT of differences and I truly believe you will find the manga to be much more interesting.


Now, this part is addressed for the manga readers.
If you're like me, you most likely read the manga first, and then found out there was an anime adaptation made and decided to check it out. Well let me warn you, it falls very short of the manga. It starts out as very faithful, but eventually it starts to head downhill a bit; introducing some anime only characters, anime only scenes, and twisting around a lot of the character's backgrounds and development. Is it a bad thing in itself? Not exactly, which is why I recommended it to non-manga readers.

However, in my opinion, the fact that they decided to stray away from the manga and make this mostly anime original content made the story fall short on a lot of levels. I believe the story in the manga was a lot more intense and captivating, while the anime story was basically a generic rom-com, with some forced plot and drama towards the end.

If you were wanting to watch this because you expected to see a faithful adaptation of the manga, then avoid this at all costs. You will be severely disappointed. But, if you wanted to watch it just for the sake of being a fan of the franchise in its fullest, then go ahead and do so.

[Might contain a few spoilers]

I understand anime adaptations are bound to change a few things but this adaptation took it way too far and often times try too hard that it's cringey

I don't understand why they introduced such an incredibly annoying character that DID NOT EXIST in the manga. From his voice to his behavior, it makes me want to summon a convoy of Truck-sans to run him over. It's ridiculous that he gets away with a lot of questionable things without consequences, it makes the show look so stupid. I'm just in awe that the people behind the anime think that Karin's overprotective vampire ... family with bats that always keeps an eye on her let a guy who calls himself a vampire hunter chase their daughter.

What's more infuriating is how Karin reacts to him compared to how she reacts to Kenta. She acts so docile and doesn't seem to know that the word "NO" exists.

I really wanted to try finishing the anime but this was so far from what I expected. All they had to do was follow the manga and make MINOR adjustments. I'd rather reread the manga

Coming from the manga, the anime is kind of a letdown. It goes on its own side path, making Karin develop a love-triangle relationship with Usui and the mysterious main character they hide for half the season who did not exist in the manga. I feel it's also raunchy in some parts for no reason, like the opening. Otherwise, if you're coming in on a fresh start, you may genuinely come to enjoy this anime. It's a cute and funny rom-com and gives you something to watch for a couple of days. Plus it was made in 2005 so if you like older anime this ... is a good one.