ROSARIO + VAMPIRE
Brought to you by the Red Cross, who remind you to give blood
Review by: Craig “Once Bitten, Twice Shy” Norris
Length: 13 episodes
Genre: Supernatural, ecchi, action, school life
Watched: All, subbed
It’s weird, the path that vampires in anime have taken. From badasses like D and Alucard to cute, fluffy, barely pubescent girls like Hazuki and Karin. Apparently, the main character of this series was supposed to be the culmination of the journey; kick-ass enough for a man, yet sweet enough for a woman. Granted it was achieved by giving her split personalities, but that’s beside the point. If you like your vampires bubbly, badass and behootered, prepare to meet your new queen.
Plot synopsis: Due to poor grades, Tsukune Aono is unable to be accepted to a private high school. However, his father finds admittance papers to Youkai Academy, and Tsukune enrolls. However, it is not until he arrives that he discovers that Youkai Academy is actually a school for monsters. But he meets a very friendly, seemingly normal girl named Moka Akashiya. Normal, that is, aside from the fact that she’s a vampire. And when the rosary around her neck is removed, her full vampire power is awakened, and she becomes the strongest, most fearful demon on campus.
Artwork: The art is very good, especially the designs for some of the monsters. They range from very human-like to extremely bestial, and are very diverse, touching on a number of famous and legendary monster types. There are two major elements of the animation: fight scenes, and creamy white female skin. Admittedly the latter is rendered with more care than the former, but everything looks good, or at least acceptable for a contemporary series.
Music: I wasn’t all that enamored with the opening and closing. Both are very high energy, but I just kept feeling that they didn’t quite fit. That’s an understandable development, since the mood of the anime often shifted dramatically, even during the course of an episode. The music during episodes was okay, but again fails to impress to any great degree. The soundtrack isn’t bad for supplementing the episodes, but it’s not something to rock out to while you fly down the freeway.
Characters: The fact that makes the characters very engaging is that the vast majority are some kind of monster, and yet they behave like ordinary high school kids. The only non-monster, Tsukune, obviously feels very out of place in a school full of monsters, but has no trouble making friends. His human values rub off on those around him, and seem to endear him to those monsters who have been shunned or bullied by humans in the past. Moka makes friends with Tsukune as soon as she meets him, and is the only one at the school who knows he is a human. She cares for him deeply and would do anything for him, one of the reasons being that she finds his blood so tasty. Kurumu is a succubus who targets Tsukune simply to get back at Moka for being more popular than she is. However, it is not long before she falls for him as well. Kurumu, being a succubus, is prone to being uninhibited and using her sex appeal, mostly on Tsukune. Yukari is a young witch who skipped several grades. Being younger and immature, she is often teased by her classmates, causing her to lash out with her magical powers. However, being around Tsukune and company causes her behavior to improve, and she, too, falls for Tsukune. (Are we noticing a pattern here?) Mizore is an antisocial snow woman who becomes infatuated with Tsukune (big surprise there) and tries to have him all to herself. However, after getting smacked down by Moka’s ultimate vampire powers, and receiving a little bit of faith from Tsukune, she is accepted into the fold, but still retains her feelings for Tsukune. And thus the stage is set for the typical dull, ordinary male main character surrounded by exceptional hot chicks. Excuse me while I go smash my head on the wall a few dozen times.
Plot: The plot tries to run too wide a gamut, shifting almost nonchalantly from ecchi comedy to monster fights to romantic tension to conspiracies. As a result, it’s hard to pin down exactly what the anime is supposed to be all about. One minute Moka is crying, the next minute she’s tearing some poor monster a new asshole, and the next minute there’s an SD bat stating how long the fight took. To be honest, I enjoyed the comedy and romance the best, but understood the need to have monsters fight each other. Still, a lot of other stuff was crammed in, most of which I thought was rather unnecessary.
CHICKS!: Are you kidding me? We all know one of the golden rules of anime: the less human a girl is, the hotter she looks. These girls are certainly not the exception that proves the rule. Let’s start with Moka, the hot vampire. When her powers are sealed she is a bubbly pink-haired goddess with a voluptuous figure. When her powers are released, she’s a curvy white-haired siren whose power is only exceeded by her beauty. Whatever form she happens to be in, the thought of her sucking blood from my neck is the hottest, sexiest thing I could ever imagine in the entire universe. She could bleed me dry and leave me a lifeless husk, and I’d be the happiest corpse to ever be laid to rest. Kurumu is a flirty, busty succubus that takes great pleasure in enslaving men. Well, one look at her body and I was enslaved instantly. Her ample, bouncy bosom is enough to mesmerize anyone, and I really want to hit Tsukune in the face with a crowbar for getting to feel it rubbed against him so often. Mizore is a bit of an emo, but she eventually opens up enough for anyone who likes the brooding type. There is also a very nice treat in the form of Shizuka Nekonome, a catgirl teacher with a really nice rack. Actually, anyone who happens to have a fetish for some sort of monstergirl will find a soul mate at Youkai Academy.
Overall: Well, it’s got a hot vampire, a hot succubus, and a hot catgirl. That alone makes it well worth the time I spent watching it. It’s also got some pretty cool (if not one-sided) monster fights, and some nice high school romance. If there wasn’t so much other stuff cluttering it up, this series may have been aces. As it stands, it’s pretty good and worth a watch. If possible, watch with your girlfriend. Especially those scenes when Moka sucks on Tsukune’s neck. It might give her some ideas. You’ll thank me.
IN A NUTSHELL
+ Hot, hot, hot, HOT vampire chick
+ Good artwork
+ Comedy and romance was well done
- Inconsistent mood
Rating: 8/10
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