Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign

Episode 24

In Seraph of the End: Battle in Nagoya's concluding episode, the situation continues to go to hell, as the gang receives a visit from a heavenly being.

Using Kimizuki's sister Mirai as a channel, Kureto has succeeded in summoning a Seraph of the End under his control, the angel of destruction Abaddon. While demons are nasty, angels are the real bad news in the Seraph-verse, bestowing apocalyptic punishment unto those who break their taboos. It proceeds to wreck everyone, human and vampire alike. In order to protect his FAMILY, Yu is forced to unleash his own angelic powers, becoming the King of Salt. His whole thing is a reference to the biblical story of Lot's wife, who was turned into a pillar of salt for looking back on the sinful, burning city of Sodom. Seraph!Yu does the same thing to people, but with black angel wings and a cool spear. That's enough to send Abaddon into remission, thus ridding Kureto of his superweapon. At the same time, Ferid launches a surprise attack on Krul, taking her out. While she's unconscious, he exposes her as a traitor for her involvement with the Seraph of the End. Her fellow Third Progenitor, the shota vampire Lest Karr, takes power in her place. In the epilogue, Mahiru!Guren works towards her/his ambitions – apparently a world where Shinya and Guren aren't mistreated for their secondary status – alongside Kureto. Yu, Mika, Shinoa, Kimizuki, Mitsuba, and Narumi escape and live in hiding. They plot to rescue Guren and Mirai (alongside Shinya and Krul. presumably). The villains have strengthened their positions, but they've lost some of their capacity to surprise, and our heroes are more unified than ever before. Asuramaru also manages to take Yu out of his demonic possession, since that whole “irretrievably succumb to their power” thing was apparently a lie. Some time later, the reformed Shinoa Squad (now featuring Mika and Uncle Narumi) head out on their new mission.

If this is an anime original ending, then Seraph of the End has basically fallen prey to Berserk syndrome. Like that infamous 90s anime, this season ends on a climactic event that dramatically (and violently) upends the status quo. It is also in no way a conclusion to the story. The villains - Ferid, Kureno, and a Mahiru-possessed-Guren - have triumphed. Our heroes occupy the position of exiles, plotting their counterattack. The only silver lining is that the FAMILY is all together (albeit with Narumi substituting for Guren), which means that we won't have to endure any more long-distance Yu/Mika pining.

The quality of this season's conclusion absolutely depends on whether or not there'll be any more after this. As the topper to a season, it's fantastic. It's gratifying enough to leave me satisfied for now, but also suspenseful enough to make me excited for more. The production work was great as usual. That Berserk comparison wasn't just narrative – from the red amphitheater to the people-eating vagina monsters, it looks like Studio WIT might have been deliberately evoking that show. But if this is all we get, then the story is just unfinished. What we got was fun, but it might not be worth watching in this state.

As it stands, Seraph of the End is one of the most improved shows I've ever covered. It's never been outright bad, but the first season was much more plodding and uneven. Something just clicked in this second cour – maybe all of my affection for the characters finally spilled over into investment in the narrative? The plotting became a lot more complex and suspenseful. The production values also improved, while the direction (art and otherwise) has always been exceedingly strong. Usually Seraph of the End wouldn't be something I'd get excited for, because it's just so rote. Above all else, this is an exceedingly competent production on every front. It turns out that's enough to get me excited. I'd recommend Seraph as an introductory series to casual fans of anime action. It seems like this would do well on Toonami, so I hope that we get more. This could turn into something like Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood: a beloved action-adventure classic.

There's also just so much we don't know yet. What does Ferid want? What about Mahiru? What's her history with Guren? (I know that this was explained in some side-story light novel or something, but please put necessary information in the show proper.) What's the deal with the Hyakuya cult or the Hiragi family? I'm invested. Hopefully I'll be seeing you all again in the near future for more screaming about the vampire FAMILY apocalypse.

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.