Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Rosario + Vampire (Season 1)



By: Robert Murphy

Tsukune Aono is just a normal high school student who unfortunately can’t get into any prestigious Japanese private schools due to his poor grades but a bit of luck occurs when Tsukune’s father happens upon an invitation to Yokai Academy. However on his first day, Tsukune quickly finds out that this isn’t a normal private school, this is a school for young monsters and creatures that are disguised as humans and are learning how to live among them. Tsukune does the smart thing and quickly freaks the hell out and tries to run for the hills until he meets a young vampire girl by the name of Moka who has a deep enjoyment almost immediately into the show has an attraction for Tsukune’s blood. This normally would make any human keep running for home, actually makes Tsukune want to stay, not because he’s into her sucking is blood but Moka quickly becomes his first true friend that he’s ever had, and the same goes for Moka. Moka though quickly discovers why Tsukune’s blood tastes so good and that is because he is a human, Moka who is initially upset by this agrees to keep his secret so he can stay with her at Yokai Academy.


Hi, nice to meet you. Mind if I suck your blood?

Now right from the get go you can probably tell what kind of show that this is shaping up to be, a young male student comes to a school full of monsters and immediately attracts a hot (forgot to mention above that Moka is very hot) female vampire, who pretty much gets turned on just by smelling Tsukune. This is a Harem anime, true as they come because not only does Tsukune attract Moka, throughout the show he proceeds to attract a number of other female monsters and creatures to his somehow amazing animal magnetism. Also, in a very Harem like fashion, Tsukune doesn’t seem to be too fond of the situation he is in, he likes being friends with Moka and maybe likes her a little bit more than that but as all these woman start to show him attention his dismay quickly rises (WTH am I right?). Some of these other woman include Kurono, who is a young Succubus to be who falls for Tsukune after her plans to make all the boys in the school her love slave failed and he shows her compassion and understanding which somehow seems to work on girls in animes more so than real life. The story continues on and we gain two more characters to our love group with Sendo, a witch who is technically not a monster and is therefore picked on and treated as an outcast for being half human, cue Tsukune the bleeding heart to the rescue. And finally we have Shirayuki, a snow demon who had been watching Tsukune since day one and has harbored a secret crush for him but was too shy to come out to him; she is our resident wallflower/emo type girl.


Woman of Rosario + Vampire

As for the story itself, things progress rather unimpressively, each episode is pretty much an introduction of a new character/monster to the show that gets introduced and it either is a girl that falls in love with Tsukune or it’s a male character showing off. This usually ends with this character getting their collective butts kicked by Moka who has a hidden personality behind her kind hearted and peaceful form that she is often seen in. This form appears when Tsukune clumsily removes the rosary seal around her neck and activates a scripted cut scene, this happens every frickin episode by the way, which explains how when the rosary is removed Moka transforms into a sexy ass kicker. I mean that quite literally too, Moka’s other form always seems to enjoy a good round house kick or any variation of it, leaving us with an up the skirt shot for all to see. This just so happens to be another theme for the show which is up the skirt shots, up the skirt shots EVERYWHERE and this is to be expected with the harem theme so we aren’t too shocked by this turn of events. But honestly what would have saved the show for me is if they would of done more with the split personality side of Moka, right from the get go she is an incredible fighter and a general badass with a sexy skirt and it is unfortunate that we don’t get to see or know more about her during the first season of the show.


 Moka’s other/more appealing form

To sum it all up, Rosario + Vampire, leaves a lot to be desired on a multiple of levels, I myself don’t have a problem with Harem animes, I do enjoy them for the reason all guys love them but they also have to actually have a story for me to get my head around and this one just didn’t. Each episode of the series consisted of a very basic formula which was, introduce a new character from around Yokai Academy, have them turn out to be mean or evil and then Moka’s other form will proceed to beat the tar out of them. And as I said, I wish there was more done in regards to Moka’s other form because not only is she an awesome character but the fact that she isn’t thoroughly explained in the show it makes for some unfortunate plot holes. If you are just looking for a show with up the skirt shots, interesting love triangles and supernatural monsters then you should check out Rosario + Vampire but you won’t find much else.

Good:

-Does what a Harem anime does best, upskirt shots and love triangles

-Moka’s other form is unique and an all-around badass

Bad:

-The story as I said falls flat and follows a boring formula for each episode which is upsetting considering the unique premise

-Moka’s other form never gets explained, she’s awesome but who the heck is she and why is she sealed away?

-The cut scenes that occurs every time Moka transforms gets old really quickly and pretty much ruins the action scene that follows it half the time


Scully Rating: 4.0 out of 10 

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