Studio: Wit Studio

Director: Tokudo, Daisuke | Air date: 04/04/2015 | Priority: High

Conclusion: Yikes!, an apocalyptic / dark fantasy anime. And this coming from the studio that brought us Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan). With this anime though, we don’t have huge gigantic humanoid monsters targeting humans. Instead we have…..vampires. That’s right vampires and they don’t sparkle. Let’s roll!!.

Owari no seraph or seraph to the end, is an interesting anime. The premises of the story is that a human-made virus wiped out the bulk of the human race. However the virus only affected anyone over the age of 13. So this left the children of the world as orphans. Now you’d think they’d be all safe, right?. Evidently not.

This void also gave way to something more sinister. This catastrophe gave rise to the vampires. Who, in one fell stroke subjugated the remnants of the human race. And took the children under ground to be used as human blood bags (they feed on them, but not kill). Humans however endured and built walls to keep out another horror in waiting – the horsemen of the apocalypse or more commonly know as the horsemen of John. The story follows Yuu, a member of the moon demon imperial army and his struggle to avenge the loss of his only “known” family, who were killed by vampires.

This should sound vaguely familiar to everyone. Because if it doesn’t, it should. The main character sounds like Eren Jaeger. Yuu is always; aloof, angry, picking a fight whenever. But also kind and cares for his loved ones. He wants vengeance – just like Eren. In fact the initial cast, baring Shinoa are similar to the AoT characters. You can actually spot who is who. Is this a good thing??. Maybe, it makes the anime more easier to follow. And it helps that you can recognise some traits off characters from other shows. Making it more relatable, so to speak. Shinoa, however me reminds me of Inori Yuzhuri from Guilty Crown. For some strange reason.

The anime differs from the manga. The anime uses a high school setting, whilst in the manga this is omitted from what I’ve been told. Whether this is disappointing is entirely up to you the readers.

The pacing of the show is okay. You get to know the characters and the world well enough. The weapons are interesting though. Yuu and co use something called a cursed gear. Basically they make a contract with a demon. These cursed gears can take form of weapons. And they are ranked depending on the strength of the demon. It is implied that the vampires have something similar to it.

The anime follows in the vein of AoT. It doesn’t explain anything immediately like; how did the virus get out, where did the vampires exactly come from. Why did it effect humans of a certain age. I’m sure it will as the series progress. And it will be interesting.

The problem why this show isn’t making such waves, might be because it is up against other heavy weights. Like Fate Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works, Arslan Senki. So it is surprising to see that the studio that brought us AoT, isn’t hyping this nor making such waves about it. Sawano Hiroyuki is credited as the composer for the music in the show – so it certainly has some weight behind it. The opening is excellent. The ending is enjoyable too.