Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign

Episode 14

After last week's intense politicking, our heroes are finally learning how to properly use their demon weapons. This involves spending the night outside of human territory. You see, they've got to talk to their demon weapons again, which means that they're at risk of possession. If they do get possessed, they'll try to kill a bunch of people, so they should be somewhere their teammates can easily dispatch them. Fortunately it doesn't come to this, although Kimizuki does throw them for a loop.

Since he's a nice guy with high magic resistance, Yoichi has already reached an understanding with his demon weapon. Yu and Kimizuki have much worse personalities, so they have to go through demon hazing. It's kind of the same thing that happened when they first obtained their weapons, but this time they've got to convince the demons to do magic super attacks for them. Yu goes first and doesn't have a rough time. Asuramaru confronts him with familiar images of his dead FAMILY and Mika. New to this montage is the image of Yu's dad trying to kill him for being “the Seraph of the End.” However, Yu manages to fight back all these visions and get himself into a direct conversation with Asuramaru. That's when he unleashes his ultimate weapon: an offer of friendship. Asuramaru, rendered impotent before the shounen protagonist's ultimate attack, relents. Yu obtains cool demon powers.

Now it's Kimizuki's turn. Since he didn't get his character development back during their first demon trial, he gets it now. He has a bad trip, getting into a losing battle with his own demon, Kiseki-o. It shows him memories/visions of his time living with a ragtag gang of children. His sister was bedridden, but they needed to move to another location. Without Kimizuki, the gang – including his sister – agreed that she needed to be left behind. They told Kimizuki to kill her, but he refused, fighting them off. Kiseki-o preys on the fact that Kimizuki sometimes feels that his sister is a burden. He sacrifices a lot for his sister, and her healthcare is the reason he joined the Japanese Imperial Dragon Army. On the brink of despair, however, Kimizuki manages to fight off Kiseki-o, inspired by Yu's noble idiocy. He embraces his sacrificial nature, turning it into a strength. He wakes up, kicks Yu in the face, and the two proceed to have a standoff with their newfound demon powers.

Meanwhile in the vampire zone, Ferid is trying to manipulate Krul into working with him. He gives the Progenitor Council evidence that a human with Seraph of the End powers (Yu) is still alive. It was Krul's responsibility to wipe out the Hyakuya sect (the people who were giving kids Seraph powers) years ago, so this would damage her position. It's especially bad that she turned Mika, a person with the Seraph gene, into a vampire. Ferid would also be complicit in this, since he's the one who let Yu escape. With this move, Ferid has strong-armed Krul into an alliance. Krul is livid, but she can't do anything about it. I wonder what Ferid's goals are? He's up to some serious scheming involving both humans and lower vampires. I guess we'll learn eventually. Maybe it has something to do with Guren? As a low-ranking schemer trying to pull one over on the high command, he's the Japanese Imperial Demon Army's Ferid-equivalent. I'd bet money that he's Ferid's human contact.

Speaking of Guren, Shinoa's been investigating his business. She finds that Yu, Kimizuki, and Yoichi's records have been erased. Suspicious! At least she genuinely seems to want to protect her squad. Yoichi and Kimizuki try to probe her about it, but she maintains the façade of distance with them. Shinoa has begun developing attachments to other people, but that doesn't mean she's ready to share them.

Once again, this episode had some stunning art design and animation. The demon's hallucinations are distinguished from the real world by a sort of rainbow watercolor filter. It looks great. There's a lot of subtle motion, and the sketchy effects surrounding the demons are unique and distinct. The demon powers are also neat – Yu gets like ten swords floating behind his back while Kimizuki summons...a coffin? I wonder what that does. I presume that we'll get a good look at it in the next fight. I wish that every show I cover could look this good. Seraph of the End's fans should be very happy with this production. The story is progressing at a solid pace, the characters are charming, and I'm intrigued by what happens next. No complaints.

Grade: B+

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.