Although quite a few different people may be tired of vampires, I think that Seraph of the End has a chance at giving us a fresh look into a world of vampires. Of course, the fact that zombies have now replaced vampires may play a hand in this fact. Current zombie television shows include Z Nation, iZombie, Fear the Walking Dead, and The Walking Dead. Seraph of the End is visually pleasing. In addition, it has enough action and drama to keep us entertained now that Tokyo Ghoul: Root A is over.
I think that Seraph of the End is definitely a new anime show that horror fans can enjoy. The vampires are cruel and unforgiving. Various scenes involving the children can be hard to watch at times. We see the children are kicked and we watch as their blood is harvested for food. Every human adult died at the same time and chaos ensued as the vampires immediately began “protecting” the children that remained. Every child who is under the age of 13 is immune to the virus that has wiped out the adult civilization.
Even though they are fed and taken care of, I would not say that they are living a good life. They are sheep and they are treated as such. They have no choice but to donate their blood if they want to survive. However, Yu is feeling a little rebellious. He wants to destroy the vampires that have destroyed the lives of the people around him. When he realizes that his best friend Mikaela has been offering himself to vampire royalty, they get into an argument. Yu spends most of this time brooding and feeling angry. Mikaela has his own agenda in mind. He is offering his blood in order to have access to things that other human children would not have access to otherwise.
Yu is obviously the hero of this story while Mikaela is the martyr who is only there to give Yu the push that he needs in order to continue his life’s journey. In addition, it is apparent that Yu has a destiny that has not yet been fulfilled. He had a hard life growing up and this is supposed to be why he is a little rough around the edges. He doesn’t get along with others and has no problem standing up to people who are much more powerful than he is. Before his parents died, they called him the devil. There must be some underlying reason for this.
As the episode ends, Mikaela finally tells Yu why he was giving up his blood. He was planning a way for his foster family to escape the clutches of the vampires. After gathering a map of the city, a weapon that can kill the vampires, and the other members of their little family, it looks like they may actually escape the city. Yu makes promises of some sort of heavenly place where the children can do whatever they want in order to get them to follow him.
As it turns out, the entire escape was a trap set up by the Lord Mikaela was using. Mikaela and Yu essentially lead their family to death. Mikaela tries to fight back. Lord Ferid is too strong and too fast. While Mikaela distracts Ferid, Yu somehow manages to dodge a couple of attacks and shoot him in the head. This entire scene is pretty graphic and bloody. It can be a bit hard to watch at times for some people, though I will admit that I enjoyed every minute of it. It all seemed so effortless. The children never stood a chance. I do hope that future fight scenes will be more detailed. I look forward to seeing a real fight between a vampire and someone who actually stands a chance.
After Yu attempts to save Mikaela, he finally escapes. As soon as he enters the real world, he finds out that he is not the average child. A mysterious prophecy has foretold that he was destined to escape the clutches of the vampires in order to destroy them. He meets the Japanese Imperial Demon Army. He immediately accepts their prophecy without asking any questions. At the end of the episode, we are shown a vision of Yu four years into the future. He has become a member of the Japanese Imperial Demon Army. I can only imagine how far he has come since the massacre of the only other family he knew.
We have good news! We have just received volumes 1-4 of Seraph of the End. Seraph of the End fans, this is your chance! We want to give these volumes to a fan so we are doing a giveaway for one week. Check back for more details!
