Well, it's finally here. I've been a big fan of this manga for a few months, and as I mentioned before in the entry on the Ouverture finale, I was very much anticipating its anime adaptation.
...Though not without a few hesitations. For one thing, I've never really liked a number of the names that became attached with this anime's production, but decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and wait until I watched the actual show before I made any judgements on the anime version. And so I did.

The episode starts off in a scene filled only with snow and an old church. We meet Lucia, the show's twin ponytailed main character with the gothic lolita complex, apparently emptying her gun in a fight with something inside. Outside, she meets up with Sumire, the show's other main character who's looking pretty pissed (as her lack of eyes illustrates). Lucia precedes to point her gun at her, but then quickly confesses that she's actually out of bullets. The two girls then pull out knives and square off... just as the scene ends.

The sheer overextravangance of that scene would have very near killed me, if I wasn't looking so forward to seeing the OP. The song, Bravin' Bad Brew, is actually very good, I think. Easily one of the best this season, so far. ..Too bad the OP animation is a little underwhelming.

Anyway, we're very soon introduced to some people that will eventually become familiar faces in the show, such as Mika and co. (Sumire's classmates) and Nene and Riku (Sumire's cousins. The former being her older sister type, that is in the highschool division of the same school she attends, the latter being the hapless elementary schooler with a crush on her). She even bumps into Yoshiki-san. Who I think I'll explain later. All this while Lucia waits for Sumire over at the Venus Vangard shop with a customer.

But not just any customer. One by the name of Toudo Risa who has the ability to see the hidden "Demon Exterminator" note at the bottom of the Venus Vangard flier. She's in fact come to the shop hoping Lucia and Sumire would be able to do just that, what with a mysterious, monstrous shadow following her around and her friends suddenly beginning to disappear. Lucia, who previously seemed rather uninterested and suspicious of Risa's story, thus determines the culprit to certainly be a Virus and decides to take her case in a rather quick change of heart.

In the park where Risa last saw the shadow, we get a lot of searching for Viruses, a lot of explanation of Viruses, but no Viruses. Oh, except for the one that attacked Sumire.. but she didn't really see. Wow, so useless.
Lucia then goes into her room to check on an exhausted Risa, who is currently borrowing her bed. She uses this oppertunity to take off her eyepatch and give the girl an.. "examination", but soon is overcome with pain. She tells Sumire that she'll have to take over this case, much to Sumire's surprise.

Later, Sumire is in Risa's room where she's doing a stellar job of being a bodyguard by falling asleep. Suddenly, the mysterious shadow slithers out of Risa's sleeping frame, and prepares to attack Sumire.. just as Lucia steps in to stop it. She explains that Sumire was just being used as bait so that the Virus would show its true form (much to Sumire's chagrin), and a battle ensues. After a few elevations in the animation quality level, and some not-so-fancy shooting by Sumire, Lucia manages to take the Virus down.

...But not for long. It resurfaces, even more horrible and tentacle-y than before, and takes poor Sumire hostage, preparing to devour her. Lucia, however, steadies her gun and fires it -- at Sumire.
This sets off a reaction in Sumire's body, sending the mousey girl straight into Beserk mode. ..A mode in which she makes quick work of the Virus formerly holding her captive. However, she's still hungry. She taunts Lucia, telling her that she's next. The two square off once again, in a scene that mirrors the opening. However, Lucia is currently no match for a very hungry Sumire.. but before she can strike, the bullet's effects wear off, and she collapses into Lucia's arms.

...All seen via creepy eye-monster cam by a mysterious woman (Sonoka), and her gang of shadowy miscreants.


Opinions (warning; light spoilers)

And there you have it. To be honest, I didn't much care for this episode the first time I watched it, but after the second viewing, I didn't mind it too much. Maybe it just took me a while to get used to all the new things. After all, if you've read the manga, some explanations of plot points you'd hear in this episode will be nothing new but the overall story, on the other hand, seems to have been turned on its head.

The most obvious of changes, of course, being the new character, Lola. She seems a little superfluous, really, taking over part Nahashi's job of working in the background, and will probably be used to fill a number of cliches in this show. Her very presence is a cliche, after all. Granted, she may eventually come into real use later on, seeing as she seems to be the twin of Layla -- someone who really is a character in the manga, and on top of that, a villain (we see her in the OP, standing next to Lola, actually). However, this all doesn't change the fact that her voice is pretty annoying (what with her seiyuu being Ayumi Tsuji, who previously did Minamo in Gokujou Seitokai. ..Man, that brings me back).

But speaking of voices, I'm quite impressed, so far. Minori Chihara sounded a little squeaky as Sumire a few times, but was good overall. I knew she would do a good job for Sumire's Beserk side, however. Though what I was really impressed by was relative newcomer Ayahi Takagaki's job as Lucia. I thought she was a great choice, and I'm very glad they decided to make the change from Hitomi Nabatame, who did the audio drama. Sakura Nogawa ain't too bad a choice for Nene, either.

But getting back to the story, in addition to adding characters, I certainly think they're speeding things along quite frankly. So far, 3 volumes of the manga have been released and Lucia is yet to remove her eyepatch. And yet, the anime wastes no time having her take it off within roughly the first 10 minutes. Hell, it's off in the bloody OP.
I also thought it was weird that Sumire would bump into Yoshiki-san already. Especially weird, since the girl apparently fell in love with him at first sight in the manga. This time, she goes about her merry way without giving him a second thought.

But probably the most important of the changes that the anime makes: Lucia wasn't anywhere near a cigarette for the entire. episode.
I mean seriously, wtf? Man, if I don't see her light up soon, I'm gonna forget why I have such a ridiculously huge crush on her. And that's the last thing I want to do.


P.S., I like to pick on Sumire, but actually I like her just as much as I do Lucia. ..Well, almost.

Labels: Venus Versus Virus

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