(L) Owari no Seraph

[Yamato Nadeshiko]

The animation caught mine interest but on the other hand, the killing of children caught me off guard.

[kuromitsu]

Originally Posted by AC-Phoenix

I wish I could share your optimism.

They made a huge deal about the age thing so there's no way they're going to ignore something that goes so blatantly against it. My bet is that since they're vampire hunters, they're somehow special.

Personally, I just hope it's not going to be either or both of these things:
- turns out that the vampires are actually the good guys because omg vampires are sooo coool;
- the focus eventually shifts to the vampires and we'll have all sorts of eccentric and fun vampire characters and humans don't matter anymore.

[BPD Renegade]

I really liked the scenery; it didn't really seem like it was from an anime. It was gritty, dark, and set a nice tone. It's a shame the bright-eyed children ruined it. For living livestock, they seemed awfully cheery (shouting and conversing while escaping, really?), and I suppose it's callous of me, but I didn't really feel anything when they were killed.

As for the fallout from the episode, Mikaela is obviously still alive, as he's one of the guys on the key visual; he also seems to have regrown his arm or found a prosthetic somehow. Meanwhile, I wonder if vampire noble is really dead, being voiced by Sakurai and all, though he's also done quite a few one-episode-and-killed characters as of late.

As for our main characters, so far Yu seems to be one of those stereotypical indignant protagonists with a hero-complex. I'll wait to see if he demonstrates any growth, otherwise, not my cup of tea. Mikaela didn't seem like a character I would like, but he kind of grew on me by the end when he showed he actually did have some spine. (Speaking of which, is he really voiced by Ono Kensho? It doesn't sound like him at all!)

Meanwhile, not a manga reader, so I was expecting more of a full-fledged battle series, not for the setting to move to school. It was a bit unsettling seeing that, as well as the sudden appearance of the military guys. So far, it doesn't look like it'll shape up to be anything overly good -- more like standard fare to pass the time. Well, we'll see how it goes.

And lastly, it seems Sawano's the composer for this. Good thing he seems to be deviating from what he has been doing as of late -- Aldnoah had a severe vocal overload. This soundtrack so far seems to a touch more orchestral.

[Irenesharda]

Originally Posted by Solace

There are already viruses that affect children and adults differently. Chickenpox is a good example of this. Adult chickenpox (more commonly known as Shingles) is waaaaay more severe than when you get it as a child.

It may also not be a "virus" in the traditional sense. We can already create viruses to a small degree, and work is being done to "reprogram" viruses to attack things like cancer cells. With nanomachines, it would be possible to create a virus like machine that could target specific factors of the human body, all the way down to our DNA.

And of course, every vaccine is a human engineered, extremely weakened version of the full viral payload, intentionally designed to trigger an immune response the system can easily overwhelm. Once you have the antibodies in your system, it becomes much easier for the body to recognize and fight a full on viral attack, like the flu.

So it's not really that far into the realm of science fiction that someone could create a virus that targets age or gender.

I'm not too bothered by the age thing when it comes to the virus, like you said, viruses can affect one population differently than another and manifest differently depending on the person's age. It all depends on the virus' pathogenesis.

Like I said earlier, my bigger issue was the fact that every adult practically died all at the same time, and not just died, but died violently and in practically instantaneously. This would mean that the virus has little time for infection or incubation, so little time to spread for the person to person, killing them before they could really spread the virus to another host. And for this all to happen at the same time, that would mean that everyone in the world would have had to have been infected at the same time, and everyone's immune systems would have had to be similar as well, as they all "gave out" at the same time.
All of that is more ridiculous and hard to believe than the age issue.

Actually, it would actually make more sense if this was some sort of biological or chemical weapon like nerve gas, one that could spread pretty equally and evenly over a population practically at once, and kill all at once.

But again, this is a fantasy/sci-fi with vampires in it, so we have to expect some a lot of liberties.

Originally Posted by BPD Renegade

I really liked the scenery; it didn't really seem like it was from an anime. It was gritty, dark, and set a nice tone. It's a shame the bright-eyed children ruined it. For living livestock, they seemed awfully cheery (shouting and conversing while escaping, really?), and I suppose it's callous of me, but I didn't really feel anything when they were killed.

Well, children, especially young ones, are renowned for being resilient for the most part. As long as the children kind of had each other, their spirits were being kept up by the older kids, and their primary needs were being mostly met, they were okay. So, I can understand why they were a little cheery while in the sewers and in their hovel home.

[Master_Yoma]

Well every thing just hit the fan fast and seems to miss a lot as well but it was a good start

[DragoonKain3]

Yes yes, lets kill childhood friend(s) in the first episode because that seems to be the cool thing nowadays. (I'm also looking at you AgK and insect invasion from mars... >_>)

Seriously speaking, I'm a bit disappointed as it wasn't as graphic as I thought it would be. I dunno, Mr. Vampire killing all his family actually was almost comical because of how it was animated, so even I didn't feel anything. Overall, it's just kind of meh IMO.

[desrtsku]

Originally Posted by DragoonKain3

Seriously speaking, I'm a bit disappointed as it wasn't as graphic as I thought it would be.

It's either that or half of the screen being black, you know. Or in some rare cases straight up white beams of death. I'm actually surprised you expected something else.

[BWTraveller]

My best guess of how this is going, and I'm sure others have guessed as much, without knowledge of the original it's based on:

Spoiler:

A secret war had been going for some time between vampires and humans. Eventually, the Japanese government comes up with some trick, genetic or otherwise, that can make a human into a sort of powerful anti-vampire weapon and bring an end to the species. They perform experiments on a bunch of kids, whom they bring together into an "orphanage" for protection and easy access, hoping that the desired traits would develop in at least one or two test subjects and, once they have proof of concept, they'd start to produce more. The vampires get wind that Japan is close to producing a possibly devastating weapon, and decide to use their own previously developed failsafe: a virus that will wipe out the vast majority of humanity but won't harm children. This is a failsafe because it cuts their food supply and thus threatens them with potential problems; however, it also leaves a remnant that is far more easily controlled and managed, allowing them to turn most of the remainder into livestock. Whether prophesied or otherwise, if any of the small fraction immune to the virus (there's always going to be a few) knew about Hyakuya, then they'd probably keep watch around the stronghold in case one of the test subjects managed to develop right and use his superior abilities to find a way out. I'd guess most of the kids were either too young to be properly effective or just hadn't properly developed the skill needed, and the two left were still young enough that the best they could hope for was for one to escape. Thus, most were easily annihilated, while the oldest two were able to fight well enough to kill one, though still weak enough that it cost one of them his life.

On a side note, I don't know how people become vampires in this series, or whether they even can or they're just a separate species. If humans can be turned, I have a slight fear that Mika might be turned and used on account of his obvious ability. For that matter, depending on the methods, they may even bring one or two others back. It'd be heartbreaking to see the guy have to kill Akane.

As for concerns about the virus's effects and the speed with which it spread and other factors, first, one or two people were shown to take longer to die, we actually only know that five or six people in an intersection, a couple drivers and airplane pilots succumbed at approximately the same time. Moreover, we don't know how or when the virus was spread. Some viruses show little or no symptoms until they're pretty well set, so it wouldn't be too difficult with careful planning to inject a virus into one or two carefully chosen distribution methods that would infect a majority at similar times (locally) and then spread to the few remaining individuals, and if well-made a lot of people would feel the effects after very similar incubation periods; depending on the effect, one could possibly produce a virus that would leave a person healthy for a time and then quite suddenly put them on the brink of death. Imagine a virus that infects cells responsible for the heart's circuitry, which reproduces in the cells for about a week before overwhelming them and causing them to die. If infected simultaneously, you'd have a lot of people suddenly dying in manners similar to what was seen at around the same time. It'd be extremely difficult, and likely not quite that well-synchronized, but not really impossible.

[Malicre]

i actually hope that the anime takes a different route from the manga because well the manga isn't all that great.

[GDB]

Originally Posted by BWTraveller

My best guess of how this is going, and I'm sure others have guessed as much, without knowledge of the original it's based on:

How in the world can you make a half a page guess on the backstory of this series when the only line we've heard about the human world is that there's a prophecy and a virus exists?

[AkitoW013]

@BWTraveller : you should read the summaries the manga thread before making your own theory out of thin air.

[Irenesharda]

Originally Posted by BWTraveller

As for concerns about the virus's effects and the speed with which it spread and other factors, first, one or two people were shown to take longer to die, we actually only know that five or six people in an intersection, a couple drivers and airplane pilots succumbed at approximately the same time. Moreover, we don't know how or when the virus was spread. Some viruses show little or no symptoms until they're pretty well set, so it wouldn't be too difficult with careful planning to inject a virus into one or two carefully chosen distribution methods that would infect a majority at similar times (locally) and then spread to the few remaining individuals, and if well-made a lot of people would feel the effects after very similar incubation periods; depending on the effect, one could possibly produce a virus that would leave a person healthy for a time and then quite suddenly put them on the brink of death. Imagine a virus that infects cells responsible for the heart's circuitry, which reproduces in the cells for about a week before overwhelming them and causing them to die. If infected simultaneously, you'd have a lot of people suddenly dying in manners similar to what was seen at around the same time. It'd be extremely difficult, and likely not quite that well-synchronized, but not really impossible.

That would be a very interesting and engineered virus, and would still be a biological weapon moreso than a "virus" that "accidentally" got out or whatever excuse the vampires are giving.

But since there was no resistance to the vampires, its assumes all the adults died in a single night at around the same time. That's extremely hard to achieve, also since this is a big city, we can say that it wasn't just locals but tourists as well. You'd have to infect them all, hope that the virus doesn't mutate and does exactly what it's supposed to do. Somehow has a mind of its own and hides its presence in the body until some time frame where they suddenly ravage the body all at once? So basically a person would be completely fine, and then the virus kills them instantaneously? And considering that they are spitting up gallons of blood, I'm assuming hemorrhagic fever?
It would take a while for a virus to destroy cells to the point that their cellular infrastructure is breaking down, and these people should have all been feeling symptoms of some kind before keeling over, throwing up blood and dying.

As you said, it would be extremely difficult to do, and nigh on impossible. Especially if all the adult in the world were killed at this one time. Even if it's all the adults in Japan, it's still really hard to buy.

Originally Posted by AkitoW013

@BWTraveller : you should read the summaries the manga thread before making your own theory out of thin air.

Well, it's just speculation, some of us don't want to spoil ourselves on the show by reading the manga or manga threads. We can still speculate on the series, it's all part of the fun.

[Haak]

Man I'm such a cynical bastard. As soon as I saw those kids going off to escape, I instantly thought "most of them are going to die now.".

I kinda wish the girl survived though. Well actually, I was surpringly bummed out to see them all die. For some reason I actually liked them all, and their happy meal scene never struck me as cheap emotional button pushing, even though that intent was obvious in hindsight.

Overall, it was a good premiere. I see some are bothered the age selective death virus but that doesn't really bother me much either. For me it's just a part of the premise and I can just roll with it.

[Draco Spirit]

I suspect the virus and its nature is going to be a major plot point latter down the line. Lots of shows leave those kind of questions open till latter.

A good example would be the 'Angel' in Angel Beats and why is she's hanging around. Her nature not properly explained till rather late, and good stories often leave questions like that unanswered near the start.

[Kenju of the Right]

I kinda wish the girl survived though.

She was the side-ponytail wearing mom of the group. Her fate was decided....

[Hooves]

Originally Posted by Haak

Man I'm such a cynical bastard. As soon as I saw those kids going off to escape, I instantly thought "most of them are going to die now.".

I'm really sad that I thought this as well... Everything was just way too convenient.

[GDB]

Maybe if it weren't the first episode, or if it had been advertised differently (like, if it had been advertised similarly to Shin Sekai Yori), their escape might have been believable.

[Yamato Nadeshiko]

Originally Posted by GDB

Maybe if it weren't the first episode, or if it had been advertised differently (like, if it had been advertised similarly to Shin Sekai Yori), their escape might have been believable.

When they went up the stairs, I felt already that something is wrong. Instead of hiding in shadows, they're exposing themselves to light.

[larethian]

Originally Posted by BWTraveller

My best guess of how this is going, and I'm sure others have guessed as much, without knowledge of the original it's based on:

Spoiler:

A secret war had been going for some time between vampires and humans. Eventually, the Japanese government comes up with some trick, genetic or otherwise, that can make a human into a sort of powerful anti-vampire weapon and bring an end to the species. They perform experiments on a bunch of kids, whom they bring together into an "orphanage" for protection and easy access, hoping that the desired traits would develop in at least one or two test subjects and, once they have proof of concept, they'd start to produce more. The vampires get wind that Japan is close to producing a possibly devastating weapon, and decide to use their own previously developed failsafe: a virus that will wipe out the vast majority of humanity but won't harm children. This is a failsafe because it cuts their food supply and thus threatens them with potential problems; however, it also leaves a remnant that is far more easily controlled and managed, allowing them to turn most of the remainder into livestock. Whether prophesied or otherwise, if any of the small fraction immune to the virus (there's always going to be a few) knew about Hyakuya, then they'd probably keep watch around the stronghold in case one of the test subjects managed to develop right and use his superior abilities to find a way out. I'd guess most of the kids were either too young to be properly effective or just hadn't properly developed the skill needed, and the two left were still young enough that the best they could hope for was for one to escape. Thus, most were easily annihilated, while the oldest two were able to fight well enough to kill one, though still weak enough that it cost one of them his life.

On a side note, I don't know how people become vampires in this series, or whether they even can or they're just a separate species. If humans can be turned, I have a slight fear that Mika might be turned and used on account of his obvious ability. For that matter, depending on the methods, they may even bring one or two others back. It'd be heartbreaking to see the guy have to kill Akane.

As for concerns about the virus's effects and the speed with which it spread and other factors, first, one or two people were shown to take longer to die, we actually only know that five or six people in an intersection, a couple drivers and airplane pilots succumbed at approximately the same time. Moreover, we don't know how or when the virus was spread. Some viruses show little or no symptoms until they're pretty well set, so it wouldn't be too difficult with careful planning to inject a virus into one or two carefully chosen distribution methods that would infect a majority at similar times (locally) and then spread to the few remaining individuals, and if well-made a lot of people would feel the effects after very similar incubation periods; depending on the effect, one could possibly produce a virus that would leave a person healthy for a time and then quite suddenly put them on the brink of death. Imagine a virus that infects cells responsible for the heart's circuitry, which reproduces in the cells for about a week before overwhelming them and causing them to die. If infected simultaneously, you'd have a lot of people suddenly dying in manners similar to what was seen at around the same time. It'd be extremely difficult, and likely not quite that well-synchronized, but not really impossible.

I'm kind of impressed by the amount of stuff you can 'derive' from just one episode

P.S: this is neither sarcasm nor a negative comment.

Originally Posted by AkitoW013

@BWTraveller : you should read the summaries the manga thread before making your own theory out of thin air.

Except that he's just interested in watching the anime and speculating. And manga doesn't contain much of the backstory either, unless you were talking about the stuff I mentioned from the prequel

[Irenesharda]

I like the fact that the original creator is going to be directly involved, especially since I've heard this will be surpassing the manga in no time since the original manga isn't really that far along. It will be interesting to see what they do.