Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign

Episode 18

After episodes upon episodes worth of lectures on the harsh realities of warfare, Seraph of the End has finally decided to provide a demonstration. If last week was about a mission that went perfectly, this one depicts a more typical vampire-on-human bloodbath.

So the show needed to remind us that characters can die before the big confrontation, but it doesn't feel comfortable killing off anyone too important. So they've introduced someone new, characterizing her just enough within the span of one episode so that her death has impact. That character is AIKO Aihara, a sergeant in the Moon Demon Company. Her squad was sent on a mission parallel to Shinoa and Narumi's, but unlike them, she didn't return unscathed. Eight of her fifteen men were captured and killed by vampires. At the rendezvous with our heroes, AIKO is clearly distraught but retains a professional composure. While Shinoa, Narumi, and Guren's squads move ahead on the plan to eliminate progenitor Crowley, Team AIKO is left behind to relay information to high command. We follow her for the rest of the episode.

Suddenly, her missing teammates return, but the joyful reunion doesn't last long – it turns out that the vampires released them on purpose as a trap to locate their leader. They're after information, so AIKO commands her squad to take their mandated cyanide pills. They obey, dying en masse to prevent confessions under torture. AIKO, however, is not so lucky. She's captured by Mika, who manages to rip the pill out of her mouth. All seems lost, but fortunately, Mika has his own agenda. He's on a quest to retrieve Yu, not stop Crowley's assassination, and he needs to covertly get Yu's location out of AIKO. AIKO provides it in exchange for a bluff from Mika to protect her fellow soldiers. Mika acquiesces, shocked to see that a human has Yu's best interests at heart. Afterwards, AIKO demands that Mika kill her, but he refuses, so she attacks him to force his hand. Ultimately, Mika was softer than her. AIKO knew that she needed to die to protect her bluff, while Mika was reticent to kill a human. Mika makes his way over to Yu's location, where the mission to assassinate Crowley is about to begin.

This episode shouldn't have worked as well as it did. Plot-wise, it's pretty extraneous. Mostly, it provides an explanation for how Mika could locate Yu – information that I wouldn't be dying for when they finally meet up. Instead, this episode's purpose is almost entirely tonal, adding verisimilitude to the war plot and giving the subsequent battle more of a sense of urgency. I get the rationale – last week's uncompromised victory against Lucal Wesker was awesome, but it might not be the best prelude to a much more arduous multi-episode battle. This is a better transition, a reminder that this is an environment where friends die suddenly and easily. At the same time, it's not a total downer. AIKO wins the mental war by being a decisive leader and protecting her comrades, albeit at the cost of her own life. The show holds her actions in high esteem, and she seems to have touched something in Mika, whose demeanor grows more severe by the episode's end. Serious-business war stuff like suicide to avoid torture and psychological manipulation also make the plot seem more real and intense.

Crowley Eusford is adorable and I love it whenever he's on screen. He's just so calm and happy, and he seems pretty smart too. He's figured out that there's a traitor in the vampire high command, based on the fact that the Japanese Imperial Demon Army's anti-vampire weapons are progressing too quickly. (It's nice to know that humans killing vampire nobles is a new development. Seraph of the End's power creep is still manageable.) He even pinpoints the traitor as either Krul or Ferid. Of course, we already know that it's Ferid, who blackmailed Krul into going along with him. At the same time, the Seventh Progenitor's goals are still far from clear. Krul is also up to something, but I get the sense that she's more of a benevolent peacekeeper. The human mole's identity is also still unknown. Maybe it's Shinya? He's ostensibly an ally, but he broadcasts increasingly sinister overtones. He also occupies a strange position between Kureto's antagonistic faction and Guren's squad. He doesn't have a clear purpose in the narrative yet, so this seems like a good way to put him to use.

Next up, it looks like we're getting the beginning of the long-awaited BATTLE IN NAGOYA. I for one am looking forward to more of Crowley's smile. May its light shine down upon us all.

Grade: B

Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign is currently streaming on Funimation.

Gabriella Ekens studies film and literature at a US university. Follow her on twitter.