Blu Ray Set Review: Seraph of the End
By: Scarlette
In a world overrun with vampires, humans have been hunted to the brink of extinction. The only way they can fight back is with a series of demonic weapons known as Cursed Gear. Reserved for soldiers with exceptional talent, these weapons require humans to form pacts with ancient demons in exchange for their power.Yuichiro Hyakuya is a young member of the Moon Demon Company, a prestigious army squadron armed with Cursed Gear and tasked with exterminating vampires. After the blood-sucking monsters killed his family when he was a child, Yuichiro vowed he wouldn’t stop fighting until every last one was dead. But when a familiar face from his past appears sporting a new set of fangs, the line drawn between good and evil begins to blur. There’s something special about Yuichiro—a dark power that the vampires call the Seraph of the End. When that power is unleashed, will he be the key to humanity’s salvation or its complete destruction?
Box Set Review
Pretty sure Funimation loves to trigger my rage when it comes to box sets. My biggest peeve with the Seraph of the End blu ray box set is that it clearly says "LIMITED EDITION." I even have proof! But everything that comes in the box set, as a collector, I cant classify as "limited." Everything that is included in this set is actually pretty standard.
SPECIAL FEATURES
I think its pretty clear that Momo and I do not find the "limited" box set of Seraph of the End is terrible. Go back and try again Funimation.
Anime Review
As much as I disliked the physical box set for Seraph of the End, I will freely admit I VERY MUCH enjoyed the series. Stop the presses! Scarlette actually ENJOYED a show she had to review!? Why, YES! Yes, she did! Whatever faults the box set has, the anime off sets, making the asking price for the set seem reasonable.There is no denying it, I love vampire stories. You throw a vampire into a plot line and Im willing to give it a shot, even if the rest of the world says its garbage. However, in Seraph of the End's case, the rest of the world seems to agree with me: It's a damn good show. I think what really makes Seraph stand out is that it takes many of the failing tropes or pitfalls of vampire stories and tries to make it better.Instead of forcing a dramatic love story into the plot line (Looking at you Vampire Knight) it decides to go a different route and emphasizes a different relationship: CamaraderiThe human race is on the verge of annihilation, only about 10 percent of the world's population remains after the vampire (so it is presumed) unleashed a devastating virus. The Moon Demon Company, the military heroes of Japan, put a strong point on team work--because they know that no human can beat a vampire one on one. It takes a squad of highly trained, armed to the teeth, soldiers to dispatch vampires of worth. The Moon Demon Company goes as far to NOT enlist members who have no friends, or do not understand and appreciate the concept of team work. No lone rangers or wolves are welcome into the Company because they need to work together, and be loyal enough to each other during deadly situations---because every human life now counts and has value. The survival of the human race it literally hanging in the brink.Camaraderie isnt the only relationship aspect that is pushed in Seraph of the End. If you can manage to get past the screaming BL shippers, Seraph of the End has a strong message about "family" during the series. Your main characters are very close and orphaned at a young age--they become each other's family, brothers. They're eventually torn apart, left in the dark about each other's existences, but their memories of each other is what drives each character into their current situations. They seek to avenge each other, they seek to protect one another, with the tools that are available to them. Seraph of the End has a Romeo and Juliet vibe to it, minus the romance, but all the character drama--which earns a boat load of points with me.I enjoy that a series is looking to develop other relationships among its characters that isnt necessarily romantic.
What continues to earn Seraph of the End rave reviews from me is that humans arent exactly victims of vampires. It's hinted throughout the series that humans arent the innocent species they are painted to be in most shows; the vampires arent necessarily the monsters they are portrayed. Maybe, just maybe, the wolf in sheep's clothing IS the human race--and they absolutely deserved the virus was unleashed on them. The vampires are pragmatic balance keepers of sorts, concerned with the greater good. If there is a problem, it will be dealt with, even if it means exterminating an entire species. The addition of demons to the story is also a great twist--there is a third species involved, and though they may seem minor, the demons are a quiet, pivotal part of the plot. I like how the demons can be wielded as weapons, but the humans find themselves in a unique situation. They are sandwiched between two species that are looking to destroy them. The vampires want all humans dead for (presumably) disrupting the world balance, and the demons---well, they have their own agenda besides being weapons.Seraph of the End just does an excellent job of breathing new life into plot lines, tropes and arc types that we have seen many times in previous anime shows. I wouldnt say it delivers it flawlessly, Seraph occasionally suffers from hurried story telling, and a few flat characters, but it end product is a well thought out series that manages to avoid all the usual faults with humans vs vampire story lines.I suppose the biggest fault I could find in the series was how quickly our main character managed to find his "squad" and his first friend. That entire episode screamed "PLOT DEVICE, MOVING RIGHT ALONG." The beginning of the squad's making didnt feel natural. We all knew it needed to happen, but the writers seemed to get very lazy and just delivered what I would consider a throw away episode. It needed to be there, so here it is. Another thing that irked me was once a character was introduced, and we've established they're loyal to the company and their comrades, that relationship built between them and the main character just drops. The relationship between squad members is assumed to reach certain point, that they'll die and protect each other, but that's all the audience really gets. There are times where I feel the camaraderie is very one dimensional.Another, minor, fault that I can find with Seraph is the art style. I understand what the production company for was aiming for when they decided on this direction; the animation mimics very closely to the original manga art style. However, the manga style doesnt translate well into an animated format. Mangas have a heavy use of shading and line work to bring depth to art, to make up for the lack of color; but in anime because the color is, generally, very vibrant and saturated, many studios opt out of heavy line work and shading (super labor intensive for something that has to be out every week like clock work). This causes Seraph of the End to look a little half assed at times. The character's look flat, like no effort was put into them, but this is because the studio is trying to mimic the manga style without the attention to detail and line work.
Many group and foreground shots look like they were poorly done, like the animation team just rushed through very quickly. "Oh crap, deadline tomorrow!" But they were able to deliver for close ups of characters. When the audience's attention is pointed towards a single character, the animation is super gorgeous and detailed. The color shading, in personal opinion, still needs a little work to add much needed depth--but the line work is there to help define the character and give them a distinguishing features. 
The Verdict?
Seraph of the Ending is a great show. Its super enjoyable to watch, specially since it stomps on many of the pitfalls that make vampire stories a dime a dozen. It may have a few things to work on; like further developing relationships between characters, and considering more attention to detail to the animation as a whole, but those arent deal breakers for the show. I like the extra layers of story telling and world building that is in place for Seraph of the End, but with all these extra layers, the over arcing plot doesnt get lost in the mix.You can purchase the "limited" box set of Seraph of the End with Funimation for $63.74. Is this box set worth it? NO.Do NOT shell out the money for a very poorly executed box set. Instead, simply buy the standard edition of Seraph of the End and enjoy the show!