It’s quite unusual for P.A. Works to jump into a show with a vampire genre. They’re mostly known for their slice of life shows and coming of age stories. Sometimes, they can pull out a surprise or two like Spring 2016’s Kuromukuro. However, this isn’t mecha so you’re not going to encounter giant robots. Instead, Sirius the Jaegar deals with a time of crisis when vampires are on the loose in the city. In the year of 1930, we are introduced to a group known as the Jaegers who act as specialized hunters with a goal to exterminate vampires. The plot focuses on a young man named Yuliy with a vengeance to kill vampires after his hometown was terrorized by them.
Sirius the Jaeger marks its spot very early in the show with its beautiful setting of the 1930s. The dark domain of Tokyo looks and feels like it’s a time era for revolution. In fact, the first minutes of the episode had my eyes glued just at the background setting. P.A. Works are well known for their well-polished cinematography and production quality. In this series, they didn’t disappoint with that in any way. The eerie alleyways, artistic architectures, and the old fashioned vehicles are just a few innovations to admire. Still, I think what people mostly are interested in here is the story. Vampire storytelling tends to be very niche these days that often involve in soap-opera like modern stories. For this show, it takes on a darker tale of revenge and self-discovery.
In wasting no time, we discover quickly that vampires are ravenous monsters with little care about mortality. In essence, they are beings with a desire to eat and kill humans for their own desire. Some vampires in the show are more sophisticated than others but most if not all possesses a insatiable appetite. They attack a party in the first episode while Yuliy and his gang of Jaegers hunts them down. It established them as a mercenary-like group who work like professional hunters. Yuliy tracks down a vampire named Agatha and the expression on his face says it all. It immediately gave me the impression that his hate of vampire runs much deeper than just what they are. Through flashbacks, we also learn about his past and how he became the person he is today. It’s a tragic story that changes a person forever and he still seeks vengeance for his loss. Meanwhile, the vampires themselves have their own goal in the story and that’s to find a mysterious object known as the Ark of Sirius.
At the heart of the show is still Yuliy. No matter how you look at it or accept him for who he is, it’s very plot driven about his character. Yuliy is bent on revenge although he also cares about his comrades and certain people in the show that he encounters. This includes a girl named Ryouko who gets involved in his affairs. While not being an official member of the Jaegers, she does learn much more about the nature of vampires and occasionally provides assistance. The series also made it obvious that she develops affections towards him although their relationship doesn’t really become a loving couple. This falls under a bit of the character cliché that I’ve seen over and over again in vampire theme shows. However, there are several other characters in the show that are worth looking into. First, there’s Williard, a man who acts as commander of the Jaegers. He genuinely cares about his comrades and the show makes it clear how far he is willing to go to make the world into a better place. Dorotha is introduced as the main female of the group. With her expertise using firearms, she provides invaluable assistance on their missions. Similar to Yuliy, we also meet Philip, who shares a hate for vampires. Fallon offers more of the muscle for the group as the Jaegars needs a balanced team to get their business done. As impressive as this cast is, don’t expect too much characterization on them. Yuliy is the one that gets the most spotlight and his character relationship with others is quite important.
One of the most prominent character relationship in the series is between Yuliy and a man named Mikhail. Rather, they are actually brothers but now stands on the opposite side of each other. While Yuliy plays the role of an action hero, Mikhail follows a darker path that resulted in him becoming a vampire. As such, he is now the very embodiment of what Yuliy despises in the world. Their complicated relationship is told through meaningful dialogues, flashbacks, and how much each have changed. It sort of gave me the impression of a show called Owari no Seraph so for those who are familiar with that, this anime may be a treat for you. On the other hand, the vampire side of this series is mostly clouded in mystery. We meet characters like Yevgraf and Kershner with mysterious motives. Others like the vampire girls in the series are mostly added to bring in more action. There’s even a mad scientist named Klarwein who allied himself with vampires for his experiments. I’m also quite disappointed that one of the vampires advertised for this show got killed off way too quickly. In retrospect, I think there’s a big gap between the antagonists of and heroes of this series in terms of presentation. And unfortunately, the vampires took the pitfall.
Original series made by P.A. Works can be a bit of a hit or miss. But as I mentioned before, it’s hard not to take eyes off of the exceptional visual quality of this series. From the very first episode to the end, everything looked fluid and in style of the 1930s. Vampires are designed with a menacing look and their action speaks for themselves. Expect graphic violence to happen often in the show including blood being spilled by being bitten brutally or limps being torn off. It sells its fan service to make the vampire society look as dangerous as they can be. The Jaegars themselves also have distinctive looks especially for Yuliy’s trademark blue eyes and hair style. Others such as Mikhail and Yevgraf are dressed in a more gentleman-like manner as a deception of their true nature. I should also mention that characters in the series all speak in their native tone regardless of their origins. Most of them deliver their personalities to the bone. Similarly, the theme songs in the show adds a feeling of dark melodrama with and unsettling mood.
I think in the end, Sirius the Jaegar is a show that took on the vampire theme and made it into an action thriller with a feeling of suspense. P.A. Works remains one of my favorite studios for not just their production quality but also being able to continuously reinvent itself. For this particular show, it managed to do that by taking on a darker side of storytelling. To me, that’s a thing of beauty.
