shinigami’s blog

Based on a manga by Atsushi Suzumi. The first chapter was action-filled and had the classic cool, mysterious, monster fighting, patch-wearing girl (goth loli Lucia) meets ordinary girl with a minor power (Sumire). There were some subtext vibes already, and the cover had them lying together, looking awesome. Needless to say, I was really eager to see the first episode of this new show. (Anime News Network recaps the chapter here, as plot summary for the series.)

Now for the anime…

The first scene is new, and not very encouraging, as it ends with the 2 protagonists fighting it out for no stated reason. But then the OP starts. I don’t know if I’ve seen so many shots of just 2 girls together since the Utena OP (I have, I was just making a point. :P) Very cute too. The song is not bad either, and neither are the lyrics. Could it be possible that, finally, I’m blogging an episode I like?

The anime introduces a shy guy that likes Sumire and a bossy chick that gives him tips on wooing her. He is so nervous when inviting her to the movies that she blows him off before he is done. Not that this scene isn’t cliched nice, but it’s quite a change from the horror atmosphere in the manga, with Sumire seeing monsters instead of her worrying she is going to be late… Btw, I don’t like the voices so far, they are all too high and screechy, even the guy and the older girl.

Surprise! Sumire goes in the clothes shop that serves as a base for the team in the manga, and she already works as a Venus. O.o Where is the nice meeting scene? With “her hand is so cold and she smells of roses?”

When we get to see the client going through a terrifying virus experience, the scenes are framed by pwetty colors. All in all, the anime seems much more mellow so far. Even the scary viruses can be kinda cute and make cute sounds, more like a Pokemon than an evil being. Also, Sumire is a clumsy, easily scared girl. At least Lucia is still cold and to the point. This, predictably, creates the whole “She hates me” confusion.

I must point out that Sumire is indeed annoying: Lucia saves her ass a lot, once because she had fallen asleep during watch; when she has to fight a virus, she shoots and misses till she is out of ammo… she is only useful as bait.
But when she is shot with antivirus goo, she goes to Uber form and killkillkills. She even stalks to Lucia, licking her lips in a very promising way (too bad she is also saying she’s going to rip Lucia apart at the same time), but then faints in Lucia’s arms and all is well again. Except for the villains commenting on ripe fruits and laughing in the Villain Way.

In the end, this first episode ended up being just a case they solved, with very little explanation as to what is going on. In fact, the only explanations given were what viruses are, that some people can see them, some can’t, and that the Venus(es) fight them . Nothing was said about the characters and how they came together, about why Lucia’s left eye causes her pain when used etc. The fact that Sumire says “I’m going to be used as bait again?” only confirmed the impression I got, that the anime takes off from the manga without bothering to go over the beginnings.

I’m going to watch the series, but I’m more eager to read the manga.

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