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.
