"No, this is our fight!"
- Akatsuki Kojou & Himeragi Yukina, respectively; dialogue from perhaps every episode of the entire anime.
And by the end of the series, I have realized that it was my fight as well - I had to fight the urge to drop the series as a whole. The story begins with the main character, Akatsuki Kojou, who is the epitome of the standard harem protagonist. He is forced to accept his new found vampire powers and the misunderstandings that come with it, misunderstandings meaning a flock of girls including the main heroine, Himeragi Yukina. It is the standard harem/ecchi/supernatural anime. And yet the anime leaves so much to be desired.
Story: 5/10
The story teeters between explaining too much and answering too little - the anime quite frequently drops embellished familiar names one after the other, while shying away from actual plot background. At the end of the anime, we are left with snippets of Kojou's vampiric origins, an uneasy plot device, and a flimsily assembled "conclusion" that abruptly ends the show.
Art: 7/10
The saving grace of this show. The fights were appropriately coordinated, well drawn, and were exciting to watch. The characters looked pretty in all but the budget scenes (which were sporadic but easy to point out).
Sound: 6/10
The soundtrack was decent, despite the fact that it seemed like the entire show had only maybe three or four OSTs not including the OP and ED. It did its job and did not detract from the show.
Characters: 5/10
Every character fell flat and did not stir a sense of personality. Kojou's interaction with every single girl can only be described as irritatingly futile. From the span of 24 episodes, not once did Kojou feel like he was developing as a character. With perspective to the main antagonist, his main reason for being is that he was adequately bored enough to become a villain. I found myself only drawn to liking one character, Astarte, if only because she was purposefully written as one dimensional and not an irritating mess of a character.
Enjoyment: 6/10
By the end, I was left with more questions than I had when I started the anime, a puzzling sense of confusion, and slight relief that I don't have to watch Strike the Blood anymore. The fight scenes were pleasant to watch but I cannot say the same for the rest of the show. The comedy was bland, the fan service was blatant and mediocre, and the potential harem/romance was forced at best.
Overall: 5/10
A good anime to watch when you have more free time than you wish you had. A must-see if you're a fanatic of exceedingly mediocre anime with fan service, jumbled fantasy plots, and underdeveloped characters.
