Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign

Episode 22

At long last, Seraph of the End has delivered what the viewers really wanted: Mika swallowing Yu's bodily fluids.

Pretty much the entire series has been building up to this moment – it's time for Yu and Mika's real reunion. While they met briefly at the end of the previous season, they only had time for a short chat. Now that Mika has stolen Yu from the Japanese Imperial Demon Army, they can finally have some quality time alone with each other. Hiding out in an abandoned supermarket, their suppressed emotions start pouring out. They become instantly casual and readily physical. As they bicker like children, it's like the past four years never happened. (Except for the fact that Mika is a vampire and currently dying of blood deprivation.) He's run out of Krul Tepes' blood, so every fiber of Mika's being compels him to jump Yu and suck out his innards. Still, Mika resists, not wanting to become the monster he despises. It's all made more difficult when Yu tells Mika to drink his blood, stating that he'd prefer his best friend become a vampire than dead. After a prolonged and delicately animated back-and-forth on the subject, Yu cuts himself, spilling blood. That's when Mika snaps. He lunges for his beloved's neck, knocking them both to the ground. As they lie on the floor, Yu cradles a suckling Mika with an expression of pure bliss. After a seeming eternity, the moment ends, and the two stare into each other's eyes. As Yu watches, Mika's eyes change from crystalline blue to piercing red. Having consumed human blood, Mika's transformation into a vampire is complete.

If that description sounded over-the-top in its homoeroticism, then you have not seen the scene in question. Yu and Mika's long-awaited reunion is framed like a love-making scene in every respect except for the actual sex. Instead, they engage in a more PG-rated fluid exchange that still happens to contain ecstatic butt-wiggling. Their facial expressions throughout this encounter could fill an encyclopedia of bedroom eyes. It will definitely get fujoshi's lower brains excited. For people who aren't (or won't admit to being) into that, the scene is also plenty enjoyably on an ironic level, since Seraph continues to only take itself half-seriously.

At this point Seraph of the End almost reminds me of a Kyoani show in quality and artistic value. It has the same combination of impeccable production values and a well-executed if rote narrative, and while Kyoani tends to lean on yuri hintings for its otaku fans, Seraph goes yaoi for the benefit of a (mostly) female viewership. The boys' mannerisms during the love scene were especially telling in this regard. Yu and Mika interact like K-ON! characters. They're super physically affectionate for being canon "friends", and the ways their bodies interact are subtly and painstakingly illustrated. Always, the camera lingers on contact. Replace these soldiers in a post-apocalyptic wasteland with moe girls in a sunlit school yard and it'd be any number of scenes from Sound! Euphonium.

There are some good bits of character exploration too – Yu admits that he knows Guren is taking advantage of him, but doesn't care because he's FAMILY. Mika reveals that they are the products of evil genetic experimentation, but Yu doesn't care about that either. It's like Yu knows that ignorance is his strength. During another intense bout of platonic affection, Mika tries to get Yu to elope run away with him, but Yu refuses because the Shinoa squad still needs rescuing. Remember those guys? Yeah, I almost forgot about them too. The Yu/Mika bomb pushed everything to the wayside, but now Yu and Mika are headed back to rescue them.

At this point, the anime is about current with the manga's Japanese release. Interestingly, this upcoming finale will likely be based on chapters that were released just days before the second cour's October 10 premiere. I don't know how unusual that is, but I'm impressed by how well put together these episodes are for such a tight schedule. Kureto is about to unleash his evil plan, which seems to be based on turning living children into anti-vampire weapons, including Kimizuki's sister Mirai! No! Isn't she FAMILY?! There's one thing that Seraph of the End holds sacred, Kureto, and you've gone and messed with it. There's no hope for you now.

Grade: (y)A(oi)

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.