By Nicholas Santos
“Owari no Seraph” is an anime adaptation of the ongoing Shounen manga series written by Takaya Kagami. The Owari no Seraph anime is licensed by Funimation for both video and streaming in North America. The source material has also spawned several other adaptations including two different light novel series, a voice comic, two video games and a spin-off manga.
Japanese animation does not let fans down in this iteration of the Owari Manga series. (Google Images)
This ‘Seraph’ series is very complicated but simply it is about a virus that kills everyone in the world over the age of 13.
With all the adults gone vampires emerge to subjugate society. They promise to protect all the survivors of the virus, but not for free. They require donations of blood. So, the human race becomes cattle to the vampires.
“Owari no Seraph” takes place years after the last episode. The protagonist, Yuuichirou (yes, this is spelled correctly), is a trained member of the Japanese Imperial Demon Army, whose purpose is to exterminate the vampires in Japan. Yuuichirou is consumed by thoughts of revenge on the monsters who slaughtered his family, but will he lose his own humanity in the process?
The biggest drawback to “Owari no Seraph” is that the story attempts to be everything all at once. It is very difficult to consume all the information that is presented in the beginning, but then the story does go back to clarify what the plot. There is some plot elements that get left out with little or no explanation at all. For example, the Four Horsemen Johns just disappear and are not heard from again.
A saving element of this work is the artwork of the characters. They look good with traditional Manga colors and even the hairstyles that they have. All the parts of the characters help to identify who they are. The characters are round in nature and they change and learn over time.
This is an epic story for those who already are fans of Anime and Manga, but it should also draw in others who have not yet experienced this art form.
