Gamer--freakz

Gamespot Score: 9.0 (Editor's Choice)

My Score: 9.0


(+) Pros: - New setting is interesting and well executed, - New environment types are great to look at,- Reworked game play is superb, making the game faster and more aggressive is a great idea, - New weapons are unique and fun to play, - Plenty of build paths and high replay value, - Great enemy types and boss fights all around.

(-) Cons: - Long load times and crappy chalice dungeons.


Gameplay time: 100 hours +

"Bloodborne". Seriously, what is there to say about this game? I got a PS4 not too long ago and its mostly to play this game along with "MGSV". "Bloodborne" is just a godlike experience, that goes without saying. All of the games in the "Souls" series have been absolutely godlike in terms of gameplay and immersion, being the spiritual successor to those games, "Bloodborne" achieves those same heights of greatness with flying colors. In some aspects, "Bloodborne" even far exceeds those of the "Souls" game, especially in terms of immersion and the combat. Unfortunately, I'll have to say that compared to the other games in the franchise (I consider "Bloodborne" to be in the same franchise as "Souls", they are SO similar, after all), "Bloodborne" is easily the "shortest" and has the least amount of content. Otherwise, quality over quantity, "Bloodborne" has become one of my few guilty pleasures ever since I started playing, and I've finished the game 4 times since then. Its an amazing experience for fans of the franchise, and even if you're not, this has NOTHING to do with the previous games AND has new mechanics...it's a good place to start.


Yharnam is a city of death and bloodshed. Hunters are consumed by the scent of blood, and transform into blood hungry beasts that are void of any sense of morality. Beasts are then in turn, hunted by other hunters, this vicious cycle repeats itself in Yharnam. Your character, a foreign hunter, finds themselves in Yharnam for an unknown reason, and has the blood administration ritual performed on them. When all is said and done, they are blessed with the old blood, and with it, they are now as good as any other Yharnam citizen. However, since you arrive on the night of the hunt...everything has already gone to shit. Beasts roam the street, crazed villagers roam around trying to kill anything that isn't siding with them: which includes you.

The hunt...is on.

First things first, as the "newest addition" to the franchise, "Bloodborne" takes a much darker tone and a more unique setting when in compared to previous games. Sure, its supposed to be a whole different thing on its own when compared to the "Souls" games, but damn, this is WAY too different, so much to the point of awesomeness. As much as I love the medieval setting of "Souls", "Bloodborne"'s gothic setting looks and FEELS amazing. Immersion is greater than its ever been, and I find myself pretty much ABSORBED into the game. The feel and thrill of the hunt just got to me, and at every turn of almost every area, monsters of various grotesque appearances wait to jump you. In a way, it feels a little bit more like an action/horror game this time around because of how horrifying the game feels.


Yharnam is a doomed nation, instead of knights in armor and spell casting mages we are treated to bloodthirsty hunters with their very own muskets and cleavers. The transition is quite magnificent, and you'll adapt to the game soon enough. And speaking of which, because "Bloodborne" took on a whole new setting, the environments are a lot more different than in previous games. Sure, there's the shitty forest and swamp level (even that was done well), but the city of Yharnam is home to a lot more varied looking places than Drangleic or Anor Londo. The world is a lot darker, streets are filled with lighted up dwellings of bystanders, and beasts roam the streets. There are a lot of urban areas in "Bloodborne", the architecture of the streets, churches and multiple districts make the for some interesting encounters in mostly congested areas. Then there are areas like the nightmare realm and woods that seem a lot more fantasy themed, but are also fun to play through.

Confused villagers love to stare at fire.

With a brand new theme and game comes a brand new reworked combat system. While most of the core controls and feel of the game are similar to that of the other "Souls" games, "Bloodborne" is a lot more aggressive compared to its predecessors. The shields of old have been mostly removed, and with a secondary weapon on your left hand instead of a shield, the game is instantly a lot more action based. Defensive play is actually punished in "Bloodborne", and because of this, highly aggressive play is rewarded. You can both kill your enemies faster and even regain lost health if you just go completely ham on your enemy. To compensate for the lack of any defensive play, "Bloodborne" gives you a health regeneration system in combat; whenever you're hit by enemies, you can quickly hit them back after taking damage to restore some, if not all of that lost health. This means that instead of sitting back to bait out enemy attacks or attempt to dodge them, you dodge TOWARDS them most of the time and keep hitting them.


The new "fast" combat is excellent. While I feel that the overly aggressive game play makes the game a little bit too easy at times, its a lot more fun, its a lot more interactive, and its a lot more engaging. More than ever, you'll need to pick your fights properly, with defensive options nerfed you're going to have to try your best NOT to get grouped up against, and when you do, you need to be able to burst them down quickly, or you'll suffer. And since you can pretty much heal off your attacks like lifesteal, they've limited your healing resources. In this game, blood vials, your new "Estus Flasks", are not replenished upon death, no, like the grass in "Demons' Souls", they must be looted and hunted from by enemies. While that means you'll have to grind for these things from time to time as you'll be using these things quite a lot, its the game's way of telling you to BE MORE AGGRESSIVE. When you get hit, don't back off to heal, CHARGE IN, hit the bugger who hit you, get your health back. This makes encounters more intense and exciting.

The hunter's dream is where you'll be adding stats and smoking the blood echos of your fallen foes.

With the game actually encouraging you to go ham more than ever, they've got to give you the right tools for the job. Enter the world of "Bloodborne"'s arsenal...the trick weapons. These are EPIC instruments of death that far outshine almost every other weapon to be created in other "Souls" games. These weapons, while little (compared to other games in the franchise, this game's weapon count is far inferior), pack variety and uniqueness in their move list. Every trick weapon has an alternate stage or form that can be swapped on the fly during battle. Be it the Saw Cleaver unfolding its blade for longer reach, the Thread Cane unleashing it flay of blades, or using the sword in Kirk's Hammer as a handle for lifting the massive hammer behind your back...you've now got 2 ways to fight for each weapon you have equipped. And since you can hold 2 of these...you pretty much bring 4 ways to fight all the time.


It's take me hours to sing praises and write about all the interesting trick weapons in the game, so we'll move on to your secondary arsenal. Primarily, your guns. Since there aren't any shields left in the game anymore other than the crappy Plank Shield, your left hand's gotta be occupied, and that's were your firearms come in. While there is a stat completely dedicated to firearm damage, these bad boys usually aren't used as your main form of damage, that's for the trick weapons. Firearms are more of a means to parry and stun your opponents as you go in for the kill. Guns are limited by Quicksilver Bullets, and even though they run on bullets, their damage isn't on the high end most of the time. Guns are a way to open up opportunities for your character to either go in for the kill or regain their footing from a bad engagement. These are MEANT to be saved and not spammed, since they also, do not replenish upon death, like the blood vials. Of course, not ever gun has to be used to utility, there are firearms meant for damage. This only opens up for more build paths.

Paarl you motherf**ker, calm the f**k down with those lightning bolts!

Speaking of build paths, as with all the previous games in the franchise, you have options here in "Bloodborne". I've played the game 4 times, with a total of 3 character builds. but there can easily be more. While they completely streamlined the game and took out the different kinds of addable stat types, there's still fun to be had experimenting with the various build options. Strength, Skill, Arcane and Bloodtinge are the 4 main offensive stats, but by no means does that mean that the game only has 4 ways to be played. There's a lot of fun to be had experimenting the various kinds of shenanigans and the different weapons combinations only serve for us to have more fun f**king around. While there aren't as many ways to play the game like in "Dark Souls" or "Dark Souls 2", the replay value here is still strong enough to warrant a compliment.


The game wouldn't be "Souls" if not for the enemies and bosses you face (technically, it isn't a "Souls" game, but still). I'd say that there are a lesser variety of enemies in "Bloodborne" than in the "Souls" games, but the game makes up for it with their strange behavior and algorithms. While most enemies before are straightforward, some enemies in this game are tough to take down and behave in strange ways. Crawling corpse enemies lay in wait for you to pass before striking, the masked cleric enemies bombard you with a variety of attacks, the brain suckers tend to run from you, then binding you with magic before they close in for the kill. Mosquito men assault you to build up your frenzy meter, nasty bell ringing ladies make her allies respawn over and over. There are some TRULY BIZARRE enemies in this game, and its because of its setting. I love it though, while the game doesn't let up in terms of difficulty in its monsters and levels, its still a great experience.

Watch out for the 3 fat naked men that attack you without mercy.

Boss design in "Bloodborne" is severely improved and are a massive jump in quality compared to some of the bosses in "Dark Souls 2". You face beasts and foes that come in a variety of shape and size. As usual, they are hard, but admittedly, there aren't any EXTREMELY difficult bosses in "Bloodborne". Before, every "Souls" game had a boss that's the very definition of soul crushing regret and never ending sorrow...I find that "Bloodborne" lacks such a boss. While there are some great fights, none of them had me die like more than 10 times a row to win, where as in previous games, there are bosses where I died upwards of 20-30 times or more just to even come close to winning. That's cool though, I'd rather they focus on the quality of the boss rather than just making it cheap, the bosses in this game, other than 1 battle, are mostly fair and fun to play against, especially the final battle. Its a DAMNED good battle, probably the best final battle in the franchise thus far, NOT counting the follow-up boss battle if you intend to go for the true ending...that one wasn't as epic.

Eileen is badass indeed.

The game does suffer from exceedingly long and frequent load times, I won't defend the game for that. I mean, holy shit, every time you go to the Hunter's Dream or enter a whole new area, loading screen. You get one when you die too. I used to be fine with this, but load times in "Bloodborne" are pretty long, so you'll be stuck reading item descriptions, I hope you have fun with that! Chalice dungeons are also an awkward new addition. Sure, they add to your play time with the randomly generated dungeons and almost rogue-like play style. But these chalice dungeons, no matter how many times they are randomly generated, while they have different layouts, they look devastatingly bland, and have plenty of glitches. These don't hold a candle to the main game, and are pretty boring. The boss battles in the chalice dungeons are even just supersized versions of normal enemies with health bars. Yeah, that's not impressive.


I can take about this game for hours but let's just end it here. "Bloodborne" is a fantastic addition to the franchise, not counting the DLC that just released recently. Even as somewhat of a side project, I think Miyazaki definitely went for broke here. This is another amazing game in the franchise that stands equally to the other games alongside it. Fans of the franchise will definitely not be disappointed, and trust me, when you get a taste of this new aggressive playstyle, you can't ever go back again.

Opening Songs
OP 1 - Knight March (Angela)

Ending Songs
ED 1 - Requiem (CustomiZ)

Genre: Action, Science Fiction

Episodes: 12



After a short break, its time again for everyone's highly acclaimed, favorite CG mecha alien busting series. "Knight Of Sidonia: Battle For Planet Nine" is the sequel to the original "Knights Of Sidonia", and probably takes on a more character driven arc than the previously more action packed one. Obviously, fans of the original should take "Battle For Planet Nine" with a more conservative approach, because there's honestly a lot less explosions and lasers going on in this one (not to say they are completely absent, just slightly toned down). Strangely though, I enjoyed this second season a lot more, because there's just so much more character interaction here that made me feel more at home with all these characters that just didn't get too much screen time in the first season. Also, they introduced a core new character that's almost possibly the MOST likable character in the franchise thus far! This whole second season as a whole feels more accessible and honestly, even more fun than the original, in my opinion, that's an improvement by itself. "Battle For Planet Nine" brings more laughs, smiles and can still easily satisfy mecha fans at heart with its well orchestrated CG space battles that it has done well since the first season.

Behold, the unlikely heroes of Sidonia.

The opening theme is "Knight March" by Angela, which is a band that's recently been getting better IMO. "Knight March" doesn't quite improve their standards too much, but its still a good song worthy of the franchise, its actually even better than their opening for season 1, "Sidonia", though not by much. The ending theme is "Requiem" by CustomiZ, which is another slow song. Nothing much to see here, moving on.



Rating: 8.0/10



This is easily a better run than the first season for me. "Battle For Planet Nine", despite having a title that hypes up some sort of an epic fight, has a lot of character building that brings us a lot closer to the cast than season 1 did. Not only that, it introduces a brand new character called Tsugumi who's interesting and quirky as hell. Tsugumi ALONE made this sequel a lot more compelling and fun to watch! Aside from that the story takes a little bit of a slower pace here, though its sort of justified because they're circling an entire season around this new Tsugumi character that they had to build up from the ground. The CG animation STILL doesn't sell to me, but as mentioned in the previous review for the first season, the CG in "Sidonia" is good enough to not make you puke, and shines especially in the space mecha battles with their flying tentacle aliens, laser rifles and fancy looking team formations. Its also worth noting that it has....some sort of a mini harem field in this second season. However, it doesn't take away from the overall action and awesomeness that this second season provides.

Tsugumi has gotta be the cutest little Pokemon looking alien EVER.

Following the events of the first season, Tanikaze is now known as a hero and savior to the floating planet of Sidonia. He has gained respect and recognition throughout, but somewhere in the dark depths, his friend, Kunato, has encountered a problem. After opening the forbidden area of his mansion, he is possessed by some...otherworldly specimen, alongside his aide. He then resurfaces as a genius who intends to incorporate alien technology to protect Sidonia. Through retrieving the homunculus already stored deep in the planet's premises, Kunato managed to create Tsumugi, an experimental alien creature that has the mind and consciousness of a human being. She was taken to battle to prove to Sidonia that she wasn't hostile...and she succeeded. Despite being the target of positive acclaim, the only one to ever accept her as a person was Tanikaze. He started to meet her on a regular basis, and alongside Izana, they became good friends quickly.



"Battle For Planet Nine" is a very successful sequel that manages to build up a lot of powerful character relationships. With the manga finally over, I hope we see a conclusive season 3 to end all of it, and I want to see them do it WELL.

Ayumi Fujimura

Here's another girl I wouldn't mind voicing my big sisters....or my busty, sexy females. Ayumi Fujumura's kind of hard to make out because like many others, she has quite a range. I do seem to think she has a knack for the older sister characters, because I do kind of like it when she goes slightly funky. Girls like Yuzuriha (UNIB) and Roe2 (Log Horizon 2) hit the mark well for the sexy onee-sans. She uses the same tone for Ibuki (Street Fighter Series), but she's a whole different character overall. She can also do a semi protagonist-esque voice with characters like Misaki (Maid Sama!), Mary (.Hack// Quantum), Masami (Rolling Girls) and to some extent, even Fukiyose (To Aru Majutsu No Index). How about young cute guys like Mitsuru (Ladies Vs Butlers)? Arguably her best voice though, belongs to Chiharu (Hayate No Gotoku), who's a strict high school girl that also plays as a maid. ....Kind of like Misaki, but deeper.


Characters from left to right


1st row: Fukiyose (To Aru Majutsu No Index), Yuzuriha (Under Night In Birth), Misaki (Maid Sama!), Roe2 (Log Horizon 2), Mary (.Hack// Quantum)

2nd row: Ibuki (Street Fighter Series), Masami (Rolling Girls), Chiharu (Hayate No Gotoku), Mitsuru (Ladies Vs Butlers)




Junji Majima






Here's another guy who's done his fair share of protagonists. To be fair, like many other seiyuus, Junji Majima's "protagonist voice" is rather distinct and easy to tell apart since he uses this for almost all of his roles. That's not to say he doesn't do a damn good job at doing these characters, because to some extent, his main characters do sound a little bit tough/rough, which brings forth an aura of awesomeness in comparison to other seiyuus who do a lot of main characters, like let's say, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka or even Yuki Kaji. Majima's protagonists, Toru (Hitsugi No Chaika), Ryuji (Toradora), Kimihito (Monster Musume) and Ayumu (Kore Wa Zombie Desuka?) sound pretty badass. Not to say he can't do other roles as well, he's got the older figure voices down with Shimomiya (Shirobako), Roreil (Log Horizon 2) and even Run (Akame Ga Kill). How about a downright comedic voice with Prinny (Disgaea series), or an emo kid like Ryunoske (Assassination Classroom)? I feel like we haven't seen this guy's final form yet.


Characters from left to right


1st row: Toru (Hitsugi No Chaika), Ryuji (Toradora!), Kimihito (Monster Musume), Ayumu (Kore Wa Zombie Desuka)

2nd row: Shimomiya (Shirobako), Roreil (Log Horizon 2)

3rd row: Run (Akame Ga Kill), Prinny (Disgaea), Ryunoske (Assassination Classroom)




Sakura Tange





Here's another voice actress who's been around for quite awhile. She may not be the most popular seiyuu around, but for sure, she has done some incredibly memorable characters that'll stay in my memories for a long, LONG time. First and foremost, let's just get one thing out of the way, she's the voice of the legendary Sakura...from "Cardcaptor Sakura", one of my long lost childhood shows. With that done, let's get down to what she does best at the moment: teachers! Ono (Mahouka) and Remi (Sket Dance) are both likable senseis, when it boils down to it, she has a great voice for the soft, loving and caring teachers. Need a villain? She did a great job as one of the final baddies as Chaika Haltgen (Hitsugi No Chaika: Avenging Battle). Need a modern day high school girl? Mei (If Her Flag Breaks) is kind of 2 sided, and Chloe (Girlfriend BETA) is just a foreign cutie. Saber (Fate/Extra) is kind of cocky, and she does a fine job as an AI as X (Gatchaman Crowds).


Characters from left to right


1st row: Chaika Haltgen (Hitsugi No Chaika: Avenging Battle), Ono (Mahouka), Mei (If Her Flag Breaks), X (Gatchaman Crowds)

2nd row: Chloe (Girlfriend BETA), Sakura (Cardcaptor Sakura), Saber (Fate/Extra), Remi (Sket Dance)



Sayuri Yahagi





Hereee we go! See all these beauties, there can be no doubt about it, Sayuri Yahagi's got some nice girls in her resume. I'd like to say that she has range, and without a doubt, she DOES, because half the time, I never know that its her behind the character. I can't find a similarity between her characters other than the fact that she has voiced a good share of twin tailed blonde loli characters...yeah, let's just go with that. Ania (Asura Cryin) is serious as an adult and super cute as a child, Hagimura (Seitokai Yakuindomo) is just a girl who tries TOO hard to act like her age, and Himegami (Maken-Ki!) is an over the top tsundere. 3 twin-tailed blondes, all 3 are...quite different, to say the least. Other than that she voices her share of school girls. Okuda (Assassination Classroom) and Haruna (To Love Ru Series) are quite and shy, Izumi (Hayate No Gotoku) is kind of a doofus, Noa (MM!) is as much as a seductive loli as you can get, and Michiru (Saekano: How To Raise A Boring Girlfriend) is pretty easy-going. She can do young boys like Zack (Plastic Memories) and villains like Mysteltinn (Yumekui Merry), so there's that too.


Characters from left to right


1st row: Okuda (Assassination Classroom), Izumi (Hayate No Gotoku), Noa (MM!), Mysteltinn (Yumekui Merry), Zack (Plastic Memories)

2nd row: Ania (Asura Cryin), Hagimura (Seitokai Yakuindomo), Himegami (Maken-Ki!)

3rd row: Haruna (To Love Ru Series), Michiru (Saekano: How To Raise A Boring Girlfriend)




Kazuhiko Inoue





The last boss. The old man. The badass. The teacher. The ultimate voice actor of the ages. The list of aliases goes on. This man is insane, having done voices for anime for well over 30 years, he's a freaking beast in the industry. It says something when your voice is still wanted for most modern games and anime when you're over 60 years old. Seriously, this man is a legend. Sure, his voice range isn't the most amazing thing ever, but, his voice is SEXY. Its calm, its magnificent, and it fits some of the most badass characters around, whether they are villains or heroes. Reiji (Namco X Capcom), Kakashi (Naruto Series), Angeal (Final Fantasy 7 Crisis Core) and Ozpin (RWBY) all fit this category. Then we have the sexy villains in Kars (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure) and Truth (Eureka Seven AO). When it boils down to it, he can even get rough and gruff with characters like Gotou (Parasyte) and Kuraha (Noragami). Sure, he has PLENTY of other voices to add to his insane pool of roles, but again, what do I know? He's too awesome to put behind.


Characters from left to right


1st row: Reiji (Namco X Capcom), Kakashi (Naruto Series), Kars (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure), Gotou (Parasyte)

2nd row: Truth (Eureka Seven AO), Angeal (Final Fantasy 7:Crisis Core), Ozpin (RWBY), Kuraha (Noragami)

Opening Songs
OP 1 - After School Revolution (Hokago Rakuenbu)

Ending Songs
ED 1 - Paradise Fanfare (Hokago Rakuenbu)

Genre: Action, Comedy, Slice Of Life, Supernatural

Episodes: 12



Enter one of the most fun shows of the year. There are shows you watch for the badass factor. Shows that you watch to satisfy your inner shounen. Shows you watch for the fan service. Then there are the shows you watch just to have fun. "Mikagura School Suite" is one of those shows. To be honest, its probably the most "fun" show of the year, it's been non-stop smiling when I was running through the series. Sure it gets more serious towards the end but even so, its such a bright show with such bright characters, its hard not to get...excited. Like "Mekakucity Actors" before it, "Mikagura" is an anime based off a series of vocaloid songs, this time by an artist called Last Note. While the series of songs by itself isn't as interesting as "Kagerou Daze", its safe to say that in terms of their anime adaptations, "Mikagura School Suite" is leaps better to watch as a standalone. Featuring one of the brightest and happiest protagonists ever, this is one show to start your day off with a smile.

The wonders of a new, crazy high school.

Both the opening and ending theme are performed by Hokago Rakuenbu, a group that consists of the voice cast of the characters in the show. Its also worth noting that both themes go full blast fun and cutesy, especially the opening theme, which is "After School Revolution". Its catchy as hell, with all the cheers/chanting in the background and is the clear stronger song of the two. The ending theme is "Paradise Fanfare", its also nice, but slightly weaker than "After School Revolution".



Rating: 8.0/10



Its quite hard to properly describe "Mikagura School Suite". Sure you can easily call it another "High School Action/Battle" anime with its own twists, but its...slightly more than that. Sure, almost everyone has a power and everyone fights for school related reasons. Its also worth noting that while the overall visual quality and production value of the anime is average at best, I think the fights are at least very well animated. The anime introduces a cast of mostly likable characters that each get their own separate episodes for screen time, while some of them may not have the most interesting back stories, they all come together to form a perfect blend of characters in a well written story. Speaking of the story...it starts of light and kind of goes nowhere for awhile before somewhat piecing itself together towards the end, so that's kind of a downside. The best thing about "Mikagura" though, is Eruna, EASILY. She's so upbeat and energetic that even the dull moments are made bright because of her just being there to blabber something silly. She caries a good portion of the anime, that's for sure.

Unfortunately, she didn't. She deserves to, though.

Ichinomiya Eruna is the most energetic girl around who's kind of a bi. She swings both ways when it comes to romance, though she tends to favor fellow girls, which is troubling, to say the least. She doesn't let this slow her down though. She's graduating from middle school, and is looking for a high school that she can enjoy enrolling into. Her weeby cousin Shigure introduces her to Mikagura Academy, the academy that he's currently attending. Eruna is attracted by the cute school uniforms, but the nail in the coffin was the model in the school catalog, the girl who's the granddaughter of the school's owner. The model, named Seisa Mikagura, caught Eruna's attention IMMEDIATELY, and she wanted to enroll into Mikagura ASAP. After an incredibly questionable and laughable entrance exam with a talking cat, Eruna was enrolled into Mikagura. That's where she realized, that she was going to be in for one of the most memorable phases of her life.


"Mikagura" will be sure not to disappoint fans who like light hearted shows. Its likable protagonist and simple premise makes it an extremely easy show to watch. Surely its not quite as up there as many of the top shows this year, but I can safely say I enjoyed the hell out of "Mikagura School Suite".

Opening Songs
OP 1 - X.U (SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]: Gemie)

Ending Songs
ED 1 - scaPEGoat (SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]: Yosh)

Genre: Action, Drama, Supernatural

Episodes: 12



Here we are with one of the contenders for the most popular animes in the year. Sporting an amazing visual style, fancy character designs, a unique story and great character development, "Seraph Of The End: Vampire Reign" is a solid first offering that the franchise has to show for it. And this isn't even counting season 2, which is airing at the moment. Considering the quality of many similar anime in terms of quality alone, "Seraph Of The End: Vampire Reign" is a little bit of a godsend to those seeking their daily dose of Action/High School shows that can ignite the spark for their inner shounen soul. I say shounen, but "Seraph Of The End" is slightly more hardcore than your average "Ao No Exorcist" or "Tokyo Ravens". Just for the premise of a vampire invasion alone, I'd recommend "Seraph Of The End: Vampire Reign" for the amusing and interesting setting that it brings.

Shinoa is a lot more of an amusing character, and she's cute too.

"Seraph Of The End: Vampire Reign"'s opening and ending themes are done by SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] (which is still a weird name), the same group behind the "Aldnoah Zero" themes. For "Seraph Of The End", the opening theme, which is "X.U", is pretty good, as it fits with the whole tragic backstory that the main character has. However, it lacks a punch to it which makes almost every action anime opening theme work, which is somewhat of a shame. The ending theme, "scaPEGoat" is actually quite rock heavy and probably works at least as well as the opening theme, or maybe even better.



Rating: 8.0/10



I do love me some demon slaying high school students! Instead of demons, I guess its vampires here, but you get what I mean. "Seraph Of The End" builds up a great opening episodes and eventually delves into the wonders of its ruined world. The ideas and premise behind "Seraph Of The End"'s setting just drives me to admire it more so than I should, despite it being a LITTLE bit too..."gay"-ish for my tastes. It quickly grew onto me, the simplistic story that opens up to being something more complicated that it seems, the likable characters that just continue to grow, as well as the whole idea of a vampiric domination. Oh, and the action, its pretty damn solid too. The animation quality is top notch for the most part, and the visual style is honestly impressive. There's little to NOT like here, other than the fact that on a 12 episode schedules, some of the parts do seem a little bit rushed. The show keeps a consistent pace through and shows content that is relevant, though the flash backs can get rather draggy (this show is quite flash back heavy sometimes). Otherwise, its a great experience that keeps you peeled to the screen.

Ah, nothing like spilling the blood of children early in the morning!

Yuichiro is an orphan that has led a tough life, just like any other one of his kind. He was accepted into the Hyakuya orphanage at a young age, and during his time there, he met and befriended all the other orphaned kids who shared his fate. He was close to all of them to the point of being family, and was especially close to another boy of his age, Mikael. Yu, Mika and the other kids were inseparable, they lived closely knit lives until the calamity hit. Those above the age of 14 were killed off, and the kids who stayed alive were taken in by the calamity's cause, the vampires. For more than a year Yu, Mika and the other kids lived under their rule, as they constantly offered blood to their vampire overlords in exchange for food or supplements. They had enough of it, and Mika cooked up an escape plan. They tried to go through with it, they were this close to escaping, but they were stopped by a vampire noble, Freed, and they were all killed while attempting to escape. All, except Yu, who managed to make it out of the Vampire's holdings despite watching his family members die one by one. Being the sole survivor of his family, he was left alone once again, he was then picked up the by federation, a faction made to combat the vampires threatening Japan. He swore to avenge his family and to kill off the vampires, fast forward 4 years later, he is now a member of the military, with skills sufficient enough to fight against the average blood sucker.


"Seraph Of The End" works for most people. Its rather good story telling and compelling characters make the entire viewing experience a pleasurable one. A second season is airing right now, and I can't wait for it to end so that I watch it as well. The fate of the Hyakuya brothers is just too compelling interesting to give up.