Set in a high school -- yes, it's one of these shows -- on a space colony in Earth orbit, the mostly adolescent characters find their world turned upside down when the love child of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, Dorssia, invades their country JIOR, which being based on perceptions of today's Japan, is run by pusillanimous wimps who are determined not to fight back. However, they have a secret ultimate weapon underneath the school, the Valvrave, which the otherwise passive Haruto Tokishima is the first of several students to take over and fight back against the Dorssian onslaught. As you might guess, the story has a rather camp feel to it, and sometimes goes into weird slice of life territory, reminiscent of screenwriter Ichiro Okouchi's previous work Code Geass. And similarly, it does take some rather dark turns later on, and has its unexpected moments. It's not brilliant, but it's captivating, to say the least. A warning for some people: there is a mostly off-screen rape, as well as some gore in this series.
Characters are, well -- if you've seen other anime series, you probably know these characters, since they mostly follow established archetypes. And with so many of them vying for screen time, their backgrounds aren't explored much during this first season, though some complexity is hinted at. I found myself developing favourites, and loving to hate some of the others.
The art is fantastic, with character designs by D.Gray-man creator Katsura Hoshino, and cool mechanical designs for each of the robots. The attention to little details in many scenes, the crisp and clear animation, and exciting action sequences make this show a pleasure to watch.
Sound is excellent as well, with great voice acting performances from Yuichi Nakamura (Yamada "Thunder" Raizou), giving the character a sense of badassery; Aoi Yuuki (Akira), giving a true sense of her character's crippling anxiety; and Daisuke Ono (Cain), capturing the evil menace of this character. The music is great, too, with the first ending theme, "Boku ja nai" by Angela, as a ear worm that left me feeling especially emotional after the show, along with the exciting opening theme "Preserved Roses", the haunting second ending theme "Soba ni Iruyo", and great background music during some of the darker sequences.
Overall, while the story feels a bit like a slow start of something potentially great, the first half of Kakumeiki Valvrave has still been for me the most enjoyable anime of the Spring 2013 season. Even though some of the lines are often silly or melodramatic, making this show a bit of a guilty pleasure to talk about, it drew me in and became the one anime I was certain not to miss each and every week.
