Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign

Episode 13

Editor's note: technically, the second season of Seraph of the End is called Seraph of the End: Battle in Nagoya. However, Funimation is not rebranding this second cour under that new name, and it also makes more sense to keep this second half in the same directory with the first 12 episodes, so for these reviews we are keeping the name and numbering used by Funimation.

Seraph of the End is back! After three months away, I'd actually begun to crave more of these idiots killing vampires in post-apocalyptic Japan. It's not the most ambitious show I've covered, but at its best Seraph can deliver some fun shonen action – and this episode starts out by ramping up the stakes.

First, a quick recap: after a virus wipes out most of humanity, vampires become the dominant life form. They keep a small number of human children alive as a source of food, raising them like chattel in their cavernous, underground cities. Our hero, Yuichiro Hyakuya, is one of these children. Before the apocalypse, he lived in an orphanage alongside a number of other children. His BFF (with an emphasis on the BF) was the kind and angelic Mikaela (Mika) Hyakuya. Post-apocalypse, the two co-parent their fellow orphans in the vampire farm-slums, until the day they try to escape. On the brink of their success, a vampire lord, Ferid Bathory, massacred Yu's makeshift family, including Mika. But before Ferid could kill Yu, the boy stunned him with a surprise blow and ran off into the wilderness. Yu was picked up by the remnants of human civilization, who are organized around the anti-vampire Japanese Imperial Demon Army.

Now high-school-aged Yu is a full-fledged member of the Japanese Imperial Demon Army. He gets his own special anti-vampire armament, a katana infused with the soul of the demon Asuramaru. During his first major battle, Yu encounters Mika...as a vampire! Instead of killing him all those years ago, the vampires turned him into one of their own. Not that Mika likes it. He's only in this to find Yu, trying to whisk him away as soon as they run into each other. Yu refuses, having formed a bond with his teammates. Mika implies that the Japanese Imperial Demon Army is up to something sinister, then gloomily returns to the vampires. So the star-crossed lovers friends now yearn for each other from opposite sides of the battlefield.

The first half of Seraph of the End struck me as a solid but more conventionally commercial version of Attack on Titan. It has pretty much the same conflict as that megahit – in the apocalyptic future, the remnants of humanity fight to protect their territory from invading monsters. Our protagonist is a hotheaded idiot with a vendetta against the invaders. In order to exact his revenge (and save the world), he needs to navigate an unsavory military bureaucracy. Both narratives pull double-duty as human vs. human and human vs. monster stories, and they do it well. It's just that while Attack on Titan feels like a sincere creative vision, Seraph of the End seems more like it's been focus-tested into existence. I can imagine some anime executive saying, "The central rivalry's homoeroticism needs to be just overt enough to draw in fujoshi, but subtle enough to not alienate preteen boys." It's a product directed toward the broadest mainstream audience possible, like the Japanese equivalent of a Marvel film.

The first season's biggest problem was that it dragged too much getting Yu and vampire-Mika to encounter each other, holding out until near the end. With that introductory material out of the way, I'm hoping that this cour will dive right into some intense intrigue and action. Right off the bat, this first episode exceeded my expectations. It contained about twice as much story progression as any given episode of the first half. All of that foreshadowing about the Hiragi clan – the clan that makes up the top brass in the Imperial Demon Army – is starting to pay off. The high production values, which ran out of steam halfway through the first season, are also back. It looks like we're about to start getting into the story's meat and we might even get some pretty fight scenes too.

In the aftermath of Yu's rampage at the battle of Shinjuku, higher-ups in the Japanese Imperial Demon Army have taken notice of him. Having just learned that Mika is still alive, albeit vampire-ified, Yu begins searching for a way to save him. Shinoa claims that there's no way to de-vampire-ify someone, but Yu remains insistent. That's when he's called in to meet with Kureto Hiragi, the army's lieutenant general. Taking Yu for either a vampire spy (incorrectly) or a pawn in one of Guren's schemes (correctly), they try to pry some information out of him. After testing Yu's skills, Kureto escorts him to a room where Yoichi and Kimizuki are being tortured. When that doesn't work, Kureto comes to the conclusion that Yu was most likely a guinea pig for the Hyakuya Sect. They're the largest organization for spellcasters in Japan, known for setting up orphanages as a front for human experimentation. They're also probably the cause of Yu's berserk mode. Whatever the cause of it, Guren knows about Yu's powers and wants to use them. Kureto asks the distraught Yu to work for him rather than Guren. Rejecting the offer, Yu reproaches Kureto's brutal methods. Still, they're allowed to leave unharmed. As soon as they're out, Yu offers his services to Guren in exchange for helping him find a way to rescue Mika. If humans can be turned into vampires, why can't vampires be turned into humans? Guren accepts, and the two reach a new understanding.

So far, known members of the Hiragi clan include Shinoa (aka Best Girl), Mahiru (Shinoa's dead sister), Kureto (evil Guren), and Shinya (Mr. Sniper-Rifle-That-Shoots-Tigers). We first hear about Mahiru in this episode. Apparently she was the family genius, fell in love with Guren, and now lives as the demon inside of his sword. Guren killed her, probably because she was doing some scary stuff with demons. He claims that she's not possessing him, but we'll see about that. Shinoa confronts Guren about this, but claims not to care about her sister. Instead, she wants to know what Guren intends to do with Yu. D'awwww, she has a crush. It's cuter this season in light of her horrific family situation. This might be the most affection Shinoa has ever felt for another person.

It looks like Kureto is our new villain. He's a lieutenant general, the Hiragi family's current heir, and he looks exactly like Guren, just less bishonen. (Weren't the Ichinose's just a branch family? This is “evil twin” levels of resemblance. I sense a dramatic family secret...) We needed a character like him. Guren's clearly being set up as the show's deuteragonist (or tritagonist?) He's a Roy Mustang-like figure, heckling our teenage hero and utilizing some shady methods, but ultimately he's on the side of good. That was a problem last season; Guren was also our primary representative for the big bad army. He was likable, but at some point he also needed to become sympathetic, and the army's increasingly obvious bad intentions detracted from that. Kureto does a lot to further my sympathy for Guren, fulfilling the role of “evil Guren who makes the original look good by comparison.” He's Guren minus all of the positive traits, like his underdog status and secret belief in the power of friendship. Although, his katana does shoot lightning. No word yet on whether it's also his girlfriend. Tiger-sniper Shinya, meanwhile, is an adopted member. He doesn't seem to like the Hiragi family all that much, commiserating with Yu about what a jerk Kureto is. He's even Guren's friend. Still, Shinya seems to be working for him. I'm sure we'll learn more about him later.

This was all setup, but it was fast-paced, intriguing, and character-driven. The first cour did its job endearing me to the characters, and now it's paying off. It seems like I shouldn't have to praise a show for accomplishing this, but I've seen too many series fail at this depressingly often. Sometimes, competence alone is refreshing. If you're a fan of anime for the sheer artistry of animation, Seraph of the End is also a series to watch on those merits. It's hit or miss (later episodes were almost slideshows), but when Studio WIT has the time and money, they produce something very impressive. This episode in particular had some excellent, subtle character animation. They pay attention to stuff like how a character's hair should move when they turn aside abruptly rather than gradually. It even works into the characterization – the ways in which characters sit or stand reflect their personalities. For example, Shinoa sprawls herself out to take up as much space as possible. Defiant Yu, meanwhile, is constantly thrusting himself forward. It's basic cinematic storytelling, but the artistry is more impressive than what I usually see in anime.

Loose ends include Mitsuba, who received a promotion due to her efforts in the previous battle. It's a sham promotion and she knows it – she's being raised through the ranks out of nepotism, because she's a member of the prestigious Sangu family. Mitsuba resents this, preferring to earn her victories and spend time with her comrades in the Shinoa squad. Mika is still starving himself of human blood so he won't become a for-real vampire. So Yu has a time limit for turning him back.

Subtitled “the Battle of Nagoya,” this season looks like it'll culminate in another multi-episode fight. Ideally, we'll get some decent action before the budget collapses again. At least tiger-sniper-rifle man has been elevated to supporting cast. Who could ask for more?

Grade: A-

Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign is currently streaming on Funimation.

Gabriella Ekens studies film and literature at a US university. Follow her on twitter.