Does it hold up to the standards I set when I first viewed; or shall is crumble against a stronger willed man?
Well...
Rosario + Vampire is the story of Tsukune (Silent T) Aono, a 1st year male (Human) who becomes enrolled in Yokai Academy, a school full of monsters. There, he meets Moka Akashiya, a vampire in his grade who befriends Tsukune and protects him. As new friends, and foes, are introduced; hijanks ensue with Tsukune, Moka, and the whole gang of monsters.
Now, looking towards the characters, in order, we see Tsukune; the main protagonist, Moka, a vampire (Like stated) and 'main heroine' of our tale. Then we have Kurumu Kurono, a succubus, Yukari Sendo, a young witch (13 of age), Mizore Shirayuki, a wielder of ice, Ruby Tojo, another witch, Koko Shuzune, sister of Moka, and then Ginei Morioka, a pervert werewolf, and president of the Newspaper Club.
Tsukune is the protagonist of our tale at Yokai Academy, and all around chump of it as-well. I personally disagree with the who "Weaker then life," character cliche; however, with all the animes that do it, I wonder, "Why the hell aren't you given him a strength?"
Yes, Tsukune is useless throughout the entire series (With the exception of maybe one or two times.) and I question the purpose of this. Surely making a character who is useful will help us LIKE him... Right?
Other then that little misstep, standard fanfare comes with Tsukune; what is promising is his invention of the original definition of the Tetrahedral relationship which he holds up til the end of Season one. His clueless behavior is awe-inspiring, yet flat; and over-all, he is a rather boring protagonist to have.
Luckily, we have Moka to fix things. Oh, no, no, I'm not talking about outer (Pink Hair) Moka; I am of-course discussing the wonderful, not bland Inner (White Hair) Moka. She is; cute, wonderful, awesome, bad-ass. She has wonderful one-liners; her relationship with Tsukune is the only one that actually DEVELOPS wonderfully. The only problem with Inner Moka is her lack of appearance through season one and two. As for outer Moka... She is cliched main love interest, however, with a bitter problem that she is accused of so many times. Every time Tsukune is declared something bad, be it through rumors or a set-up; Moka is always questioning if she needs Tsukune.
Why couldn't we have a loyal Moka!? But noo, we get a Moka that wonders over and over and over is Tsukune is a "Good guy," which always results in the same way; she determining he is.
As for the others; let's start with Kurumu, a busty blue haired Succubus from episode two on-ward. She, might I say, is mostly in for the "Erotic" filler more then any other character; even so, she does hold up the romantic comedy along with Yukari; as the two often work together or fight (Depending on the situation.)
The main problem Kurumu holds is her breaking of pace and drama to add in the 'filler' she holds, which distracts the viewer, and sometimes ruins those heart-warming moments that are scattered throughout the anime.
Yukari is my second favorite character of the anime; though she has her problems. One major one being the obvious ignorance of introduction episode development. Introduction episode material, mind you, that would have improved her character pretty well, since, I personally would have liked to seen a slightly perverted girl who touches the breast of other women to hide the fact she is embarrassed over her own bust size. Second, her development is divided by two much distance within season one, which is a problem mainly due to her "Child-like attitude," only coming in for that episode; and it only coming in because the plot demands it. None-the-less, with Kurumu, she holds the main comedic elements, and has the good fortune to NOT cause strain due to her bust, and eroticism
.
Now we have Mizore; a shy ice women who loves and stalks Tsukune. I really don't have anything to say about her to be honest. I thought she was well established within her cliche, and the stalking scenes she had were hilarious, especially that of episode one season 2. However, one loose plot line within her made no sense (Will be discussed in the plot portion of this review.)
Ruby Tojo is alright; nothing much to say though. One thing I disliked however was the instant romance created (Though one side) with Tsukune. It felt forced as hell, and was extremely unnecessary (Plus it took the harem out of tetrahedral status.)
Next, the only main character introduced in season two, we have Koko; however, seeing how Season two was rather pointless and filled with pointless fan-service, I like to forget it. However, to say Koko was a bad character to introduce would be an "Eh" statement. Koko does set in stone a "Antagonist" throughout the second season; however, the fan-service under-minds that; plus; she is too arrogant. On the plus side however, she does have some pretty funny arches in episodes which made me laugh pretty loudly.
Finally, we have Ginei, a perv werewolf who is the president of the Newspaper Club. I have difficulty stating if I really like him, or really hate him, since, when he is in character, as in , he is a pervert; he is hilarious. However, we have the ill-fortune to find ourselves with an out-of-character, serious like Ginei within the last episodes of season one, which just does a mis-service is providing us with a good ol' fashion perv secondary protagonist.
Over-all, my main problem with these characters (Excluding Tsukune and Moka) is how these characters are introduced. Rosario + Vampire did this again, and again, and again; they had these characters start as the "Antagonist" of the episode, but then join forces with Tsukune and Moka. These may not be so bad, unless you account that each time they fight Moka, each time Tskune stops Moka, each time they fall in love with Tsukune (With the exception of Koko and Genei). This gets old, especially with the fact that we have no rest time, each protagonist is shot out one by one (With the exception of one or two episodes within the first 11)
Now, story-wise; Rosario + Vampire isn't divided into arcs, rather, they have random episodes concluding with a three episode arc in season one, and two. Over-all, I didn't like the arcs, which just shot out as mean spirited, with Tsukune doing nothing (Oh wait, doing one or two things at best.) Along with this, each episode just feels ill-paced, ending way to soon, and rather anti-climatically.
I say "Anti-climatically," because the budget for animation, it seemed, was low. The dubbing was poor, and distracting, with the mouth movements coming off weird. As for the anti-climatic statement, to get back to it; it is due to the lack-luster fight scenes that are within a minute-half time or less. This short fighting ends the same, with Moka always winning, and is pathetic compared to other animes.
As for the comedy; it is really hit or miss. I enjoyed several comedic opportunities, including that of Moka biting Tsukune's neck all the time, and the conflicts between Kurumu and Yukari. However, for the most of it; I felt they were trying to much, and getting too little.
Another hit or miss thing was the music. Though I enjoyed several cues and the intro and outro were good; many more cues were just... Plain wrong, and made absolutely no sense.
Over-all, Rosario + Vampire is a rather poor anime, and not as good as a remember. It doesn't take all the opportunities given to it, and is something that not even Inner Moka can save. That is why I do not recommend it; rather I suggest you go out and enjoy the manga, which, from what I've heard is much, much better.
Hey, maybe I can review it? If you want it, just comment, "Give me Rosario + Vampire Manga now," and I'll take heed and begin to review it. Till then, I rate:
Rosario + Vampire
4/10
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