An awful Twilight-esque story with Tokyo Ghoul elements that are meshed in and didn’t really fit well with bad to poor execution.
Devil’s Line tells the story that was founded on Twilight…only that there’s coherent but sometimes confusing or misunderstood storytelling, but nothing exciting nor engaging. It’s the equivalent of “Hey, you’re a vampire with your fang teeth and I’m a normal girl, let’s date!” And that sums up how I felt with the entire premise of the series. Not to mention that they have added the police-like feel of betrayal and camaraderie just to get you invested in the series, and guess what? It added a tiny breath of fresh air, though I can tell that most people will not care for this, and for that, I will tell you to read the manga adaptation that’s not as great, but you will understand what I mean.
So…ok, human and vampire. What could go wrong? The answer? Anti-vampire groups, that’s why! Most notably the CCC, who works as a police target group in disguise under the boss Kikuhara Kirio, monitoring the main group’s vampire movements and executing what they feel is right of a vampire-free world.
The characters literally write the same story as Twilight, only that the former does it WAY better than what’s found here. Tsukasa Taira is NOT the equivalent, but a dumbed-down version of Bella Swan, mute, expressionless, and there as a plot device to keep the story entertaining as its romance-supernatural genre can go. The same could be said for the MC vampire, Anzai Yuuki, a half-vampire, the dumb-down version of Edward Cullen, trying to control his half-demon, half-human powers and constantly breaks the mold for his police group (Public Safety Division 5 F Squad) into trying to live in a world that’s Twilight (where humans and vampires can co-exist). Johannes Kleeman as a half-vampire, I’d say he is only the handful of good characters that doesn’t have a backstory, but yet is kind to everyone, is intelligent and is able to discern stuff very well. Other characters are generic, bland and uninteresting, the only one-liners I can say about characterization (if there was ever any to begin in the first place).
I have never personally heard of the new studio Platinum Vision before, most particularly they made Servamp (with Brain’s Base) and the spin-off from the Saiyuuki Reload series, but this anime just proves that just like many 2nd or 3rd rate studios, it falls in the category of being mediocre and bad. The manga-to-anime adaptation…is quite frankly nothing more of good. I get it that the producers tried their best to replicate the manga, but try as hard as they can, it still falls short. The animation is less than Tokyo Ghoul quality, more so than ripping it off, it’s bearable to watch but when the action gets heavy, RIP animation quality.
The sound is another story in and itself. I get it that the setting has to be the super “edgy” feel, but they are only OK at best, nothing to write home about. Both the OP and EDs are unmemorable, but if I had to decide the good out of the bad, it will be Mamoru Miyano’s ED that takes the icing on the cake. Action scenes feeling empty, there’s not a ton of sound and sometimes poorly used.
At the end of it all, is Devil’s Line a worthy “Twilight: The Animation”? Certainly not, and it doesn’t come close to touching anything that is noteworthy nor remembering about. I’d guess for die-hard fans of Twilight, give this series a try and see how fast it sweeps you off so much that it becomes unwatchable.
Was it engaging? I’d say no, and please don’t waste your time if you desire decent quality-made shows.
