Well then. We are now reviewing this anime!

Originally written by Takaya Kagami, art by Yamato Yamamoto and storyboards by Daisuke Furuya, I watched the first 12 episodes (series) of SOTE. (Sote, omg XD)

Now, I have the two first volumes of the series.

And in all honesty... This anime at the start actually followed the manga pretty well.

But then again, the first season was well... Lackluster. At the beginning for me atleast. It's a rare occassion where I actually found the series kinda boring at the beginning, but then near the end, everything just somehow flipped upside down and was amazing! I don't know if it was like that for you, but that's how it was for me.

Story

So, story. It's about this guy named Yuichiro Hyakuya, an orphan living in an orphanage with his "family". (The other kids). The end comes crashing down like hell on earth when Vampires (yes, VAMPIRES) unleash a virus where it kills everyone over the age of 13. The Vampires then also take in the surviving children and give them protection and shelter, for the cost of their blood. (Yay!)

The story goes on to where (minor spoilers) Yuichiro escapes the locks of the Vampires and finds out... Not all adults are dead...?

After that, he meets some new friends, duke it out with some vamps and yeap.

The story was actually very nicely paced and written, and the action (especially in the manga) was great, and I have to give WIT Studios' a great job on that. Also, WIT Studio did Attack on Titan! Like, that surprised me when I did my research on the company XD

But, more for animation, sounds, etc later...

Characters

The main character, Yuichiro is basically your average "I WANT TO KILL ALL (insert threat to humanity here) TO AVENGE (fallen friend/family member(s)) (or) BECAUSE I WANT TO BE GREAT!" hero.

I hated him.

At the start.

Now, I'm kinda liking him? You see, Yuichiro was built in a way that I DID NOT like him at all. Firstly, he's predictable, secondly, he was 10% non-human (which was about to make me think, "Ugh, great, he's a hybrid of maybe something to do with vampires or some shit" which was one of the reasons why I disliked Yukio from Blue Exorcist... Although, Rin NEEDED to be the son of Satan in order to let his character to be developed) and finally, I just don't like him in general... Even Mika states "Bland Main Character" in THE MANGA!!

However, his "family member" (a.k.a Mikaela Hyakuya, a.k.a the guy who has a giant crush on Yu) is someone I really freaking like, because his character, the way how he's written, I REALLY like him!

He (minor spoilers) became a Vampire, and now is on this quest to find Yuichiro and save him from the humans...?

Oh my God...

Anyways, Mika's aim is to find one of his lost friends, and that's something admirable, as he's also working against the vampires! (Kinda XD)

To have a character like that was the reason why I kept watching on, hoping for more Mika instead of Yu...

Annnnyways,

We have the main female character, Shinoa Hiragi.

Now, Shinoa is annoyingly caring, as she is Yu's overlooker? (Is that even a word?) and reports everything to Ichinose, who leads the team that slays vampires!

Shinoa is annoying, and I wanted to kill her at the start... But as the series progressed, I kinda liked her.

Now, ICHINOSE.

Oh boy, I don't trust this guy one bit. Infact, I bitterly dislike him. ALOT.

He's a shady character, and leads the Demon Moon Company, the army that kills Vampires. At the start I liked him... But as the series went on and a certain event that happened... I don't think I can trust the guy anymore.

Next character for discussion is Yoichi Saotome.

Oh, he's from SAO?

He also part of the rejected woman's club?

Wait, he's a male?

Looks like a female in the manga...

All jokes about how female he looks and how in his last name there's "SAO", Yoichi really stood out for me. A shyer character really had a nice contrast to Yu's more brash and loudmouthed personaility, and was someone I could get. (-ish.)

Design wise, he looks like a female XD

Now, onto the final character I'm gonna talk about, Shiho Kimizuki.

This guy right here...

Look, when I find the Death Note, I'll write his name down and slay the fucker! (That whole sentence sounded like a weeaboo's thing)

I HATE THIS GUY.

He's so fucking arrogant!! EEERRRRRGH.

Thinking he's the top... Now I'm glad he got pink hair and glasses!!

Sound (in general)

Seraph of the End's opening "X.U" was something that I had to take a bit of use too before enjoying it. At the beginning, I was unsure because the first line was: "I don't want nobody to get killed" in english (this whole song is in english) and well... It's really horrific grammar.

Bar the grammar, THIS SONG AFTER LISTENING TO IT A BUNCH OF TIMES IS AMAZING!! XD

It reflects amazingly on Yu and Mika, and it's just 👌👌👌

The ending theme "scaPEGoat" was something that also took a bit of time adjusting, and that song was half english and japanese, so I had mixed feelings. Overall, it was ok.

Now, for VOICES.

Because I trust Funimation to give me a decent dub and I normally watch dub... This was a HUUUUUGE disappointment.

Why?

For Yu's voice, it was the same as Yukine from Noragami, which made me have some hopes, as I like Yukine. But, the voices... Seemed a little off. Yoichi, which I thought would have a more feminine voice, had a voice that reminded me of Isogai from Assassination Classroom. WELL SHIT. And then there was Mika, which actually disappointed me, because his younger voice was waaaay better than his older voice. And it was a shitstorm. Certain parts sounded crap, others sounded meh, and I barely found any scenes where the acting was good. Overall, dub was pretty bad. Hope they do better for the next series... (I've yet to watch it though)

Quite surprised because this IS Funi we are talking about here.

Background music was okay at best, not the best, not the worst.

Animation

While I will praise the action scenes and how the characters looked, plus the pretty smooth animation, the 3D backgrounds.... We're to my disliking. ALOT.

2D on 3D is a BIG no no for me, either make it 2D, or 3D!

Idk if they did it with AoT as I haven't watched that (or will I ever will), but the two really looked garish against each other and I really disliked it.

Overall

Well... It's not the best anime, and it certainly isn't the worst... If your into vampires, world ending, this kinda stuff (which isn't my scene at all. I like more realistic animes, slice of life stuff like Free! And ReLIFE or mostly realistic anime with a few unrealistic powers here and there, such as Death Note and One Punch Man) go ahead and watch it. I've read the first volume of Record of a Fallen Vampire, and it was the main reason why I decided to watch the anime. I still think Fallen Vampire is better.

So, anything similiar like this I reccommend?

Record of a Fallen Vampire

Its a good book, and has an interesting art style. No clue if its an anime though

Attack on Titan

Made by the same studio, never watched it, but I heard it was good and it also has world ending, so go ahead...

And that's about it for now. With Shokugeki no Soma and Handa-kun being wrapped up soon, I'm gonna review them next (most likely).

For now, this is Fox, and enjoy some random SOTE moments from the manga.

(In coming poorly taken pics)

(Somehow my phone took the rest in landscape -.-)

That's all

Peace!