Sirius

You know what we have a lack of lately? Good vampire anime. Which is a shame because vampire anime can be diverse from the typical Horror anime to a more light hearted comedy anime. Normally, vampire anime land in the former with vampires either being the main villains or just being bad asses as the main character. Thankfully, P.A works has given us a vampire anime following a group of vampire hunters hoping to wipe them all out and stop any plans that they may have. But is the anime just style or does it have substance as well? Sit back, relax and burn allcopies of Twilight and then show the fans what a real f*****g vampire looks like as I present to you the anime review of Tenrou: Sirius the Jaeger.....wait. When did they decide to change the name? Oh never mind. Lets begin shall we? Story: 4.5/10 In this world, vampires have been manipulating humanity for a very long time, influencing events so that they can maintain a food source, like the entire Earth is just one entire farm for them. However, once people starts realising what's going on, they will retaliate. Enter the Jagers, group of vampire hunters vowed to hunt down every single vampire. One Jager, Yuliy, has a bigger reason than most since he is the last survivor of his village which was destroyed by vampires. That is until his brother, Mikhail, returns from the dead and says that the vampires are looking for their peoples' greatest treasure, The Arc of Sirius. So Yuliy and the Jagers must stop their plans and kill all vampires that stand in their way to obtain The Arc of Sirius. Sounds like a pretty good base for a story right? Well, when you start watching it, yes. The show does start out good with some bad ass vampire slaying and an overarching major plot element that is building in the background. But it then starts to slow down and the momentum of this show starts to halt. Now I blame this on the fact that the story just doesn't have substance to it. There are side plots in this show that don't get developed enough to make them interesting and can make them forgettable. But these side plots could have helped make the story more dynamic and added some context to some of the characters motivations. The focus is always placed on stopping the vampires from obtaining The Arc of Sirius, but it stumbles in that area too. It lacks detail and context behind some elements in the plot that can help make the plot more interesting and dynamic to help give intrigue of what the actions of the heroes and villains could cause to the main plot of the show. I've watched all episodes and I still have no idea what The Arc Of Sirius actually is. Instead, things just simply happen and we then move on to the next part of the story. Characters: 3.5/10 The shows biggest weakness is without a doubt its characters. Outside of one character, the cast of characters are just either boring, bland or just one note. Yuliy exemplifies this because he has no unique qualities. He is single minded and filled with revenge against the vampires for destroying his village. He sees his life have no purpose outside of killing vampires and when he hears about The Arc of Sirius, he realises he has a purpose in life but he must do it alone because only he can do this task and must shut out everyone. Talk about being boring and generic. When I saw that Uemura Yutto was voicing Yuliy (who also voiced Hiro from Darling in the Franxx this year, who I also thought was generic and boring), I knew that we were getting a generic character. What Yuliy says and what he does doesn't surprise or intrigue me because his motives are nothing new or unique from what I've seen from other main characters so I get an idea what he will say and do next. This also applies to the Yagers as they are just as uninteresting as Yuily. Willard is the level headed leader of the group. Fallon is the happy and strong "bro" character. Dorothea is the smart but sexy female character. And Phillip is the back talking, sarcastic t**t character. The fact that I dismissed these characters with one sentence just shows how uninteresting they are. Willard is the only one that has some intrigue due to his backstory but not enough to get me interested. There is even a love interest, Ryouko, that goes nowhere. Like seriously, she has no relevance to the plot whatsoever and normally ends up being at the wrong place at the wrong time. The only interesting character is Mikhail, Yuliy's brother. Since he became a Vampire after their village was destroyed, he essentially becomes a point of conflict with Yuliy's desire to kill all vampires. But even though he his essentially the enemy, there are hints that he might be indirectly helping Yuliy stop the vampires from obtaining The Arc of Sirius. He becomes a more intriguing character than Yuliy because you don't know where his true loyalties lie until near the end of the series. Does he want to help Yuliy or does he merely manipulate Yuliy to trust him only to betray him later on? Animation: 10/10 This show's animation is fantastic. Whether it is from the art direction or the fight scenes, everything in Sirius the Yager looks superb. The 1930s setting is greatly captured here with the character and environment designs being very distinct from one another. Now, in terms of the animation in the fight scenes, it is important that the fight scenes are fluid through the animation itself or though its use of clever cinematography to capture each scene. Thankfully, P.A works capture this very well and the fights are just an enjoyment to watch every single time due to the fluidity to it all. It helps distract the viewer of the poor story and characters because it is fun just seeing them slaughter vampires and show them who's boss. Sound: 7.5/10 The OST is something that also captures the scenes but not enough to make it stand out. But unlike other shows, I know that it is there and is does help set an atmosphere and I appreciate that. Rather the sound effects were more noticeable to make it sound more realistic and add to the scenes. This especially true in the fight scenes where the clashing of weapons helps us feel the impact of each swing and clash. The opening "Sirius" by Kishida Kyoudan & The Akeboshi Rockets is a very solid opening. Its use of silhouettes in its imagery help set a rather dark and broody atmosphere with the song being catchy enough to make the opening enjoyable to watch and listen to. The ending is again, very solid. It helps emphasise the fact that Yuliy and Mikhail were very close as brothers and had a lot of fun together before being torn apart when the vampires attacked their village. Kind of sad when you think about it. Conclusion The main problem that I have with this show above everything else is that the overall show is just....boring outside of its animation quality. It's difficult to review something that does not do anything good but not anything bad, but instead is just bland. I said earlier that does this show just have style or does it have substance? No. It is all but style and little substance. The high quality animation can only carry this show so far before its story and characters have to help carry this show but it then stumbles when this happens. It doesn't develop its plot well enough and its overall characters are just too one note and boring to make me care. I like to prioritise story and characters to look for good anime since animation and sound only enhance the anime. This show is the opposite of this and it is a shame because I wanted to enjoy this show. It looks and sounds good but unfortunately, that is all there is to it. My Personal Enjoyment: 5/10 Overall score: 6.1/10 Recommendation: Don't Bother

Watching this series reminded me so much of spectacular vampire-supernatural series that have gone by like Hellsing Ultimate or Owari no Seraph. It's a good series through and through, and although there are many whom have milked the genres and put their own spin on it (only to fail badly), Tenrou: Sirius the Jaeger offers something up its sleeve to the point of being captivating, and yet being so underrated. Story: Similar to series like Princess Principal for the old 20th Century London-esque time period, we have the usual Van Helsing or Constantine type of shows, where said person arrives in some place that is chock-full ofvampires to hunt, then meet up with people (presumably the Japanese government) that liaise to do and deal the same treatment: investigate, plan, seek, kill and destroy the source. That's what Yuily and his team of vampire exterminators are here for this purpose. For Yuliy, it's a fight that has been overbearing since his childhood days: The village of Dogville, the people residing there may look normal, but with Yuliy being the last of its kind as Sirius, there presents an unescapable fate with what is the triggering catalyst: "The Arc of Sirius", a ball-shaped item of powers unimaginable meant to keep both Jaegers and vampires away that could reshape humanity according to the user's wish. This is protected by Yuily's father, in preparation for the future to come, and for both survivors of the massacre, Mikhail (older brother) and Yuliy (younger brother) must both protect at all costs. Midway, the unexpected betrayal ensues that Mikhail changed sides to help the vampires (with Yevgraf), presumably to keep his life intact from protecting Yuliy from the vampires. With that in mind, Yuliy has a number on his shoulders to not just fend off vampires alone, but to awaken his brother back to his senses. For such a story, it's refreshing to have an omage to certain series and the tried-and-true methods past. However, you're gonna have to plunder through boring and slow parts (say for the majority of the series), but when it picks up steam, that's when the story gets more interesting and engaging with the ever-so-constant build-up towards the end. Characters: The "Jaeger" team: Yuliy, Dorothea, Philip, Professor Williard + the side counterparts (Fallon etc.) A merciless band of vampire slayers crafted from their usual expertise, I must say that these characters, as fun as there is to watch their every move, they give the sense that for all their strengths and weaknesses, they balance well together, making up for the subtle differences which testifies their skills to a T. And if you can tell from the usual cliche of a team of men and a woman, where the female is the damsel in distress? Sorry, but that ain't the case as Dorothea is a skilled shooter herself, firm and able to be trusted with much. The commoner team: Ryouko, Hideomi (and I know I've missed a few others) For once, I thought that her love obsession with Yuliy was just for show...but for her to follow Yuliy along with his plan is underwhelming to say the least. At most, she's just there for story exposition to make Yuliy's life a bit more interesting, but other than that, a filler character. At least there are people in the Japanese government would be concerned The vampire team: Yevgraf, the vampire Twins (vaguely shown), Kershner, Klarwein, Mikhail (through blood pact), the catalyst Agatha Yevgraf is the epitmony of evil: the Devil incarnate himself. Awaiting the Arc of Sirius that has been laid dormant for the vampires for an insane amount of time, he does not stop at anything to achieve his ambitions, at the expense of others. The fearsome enemy who uses a blood pact to hold those who has been resurrected as vampires, and then sees them as a tool to help aid in his efforts. Kershner is no different, except that he sees it as being Yevgraf's strategist and most capable helpline to him. Same issues and characteristics with Klarwein, the insane experimentalist (equal to Back to the Future's Doc Brown). All are committed to seeing Yevgraf's vision happen, with the side-effects of being tools just for the moment. An overall (almost) well-rounded character lineup, but the problem of being one-dimensional is truly the weakest connection here. Art and animation: Whenever P.A. Works are down for almost any anime, I'm a hardcore fan for whatever shows they make for their beautiful artwork and great animation, and Tenrou: Sirius the Jaeger doesn't disappoint. Since it's an action-oriented show, what better way to call forth a director who handles good action, and that name is Masahiro Andou, known for his works on Fullmetal Alchemist, Ghost in the Shell and more. Not to mention that this series is a major departure from their usual SoL or coming-of-age of works past, but what's best to know is that everything about it is left intact, and is safe to say that this series stands out because of impressive art and animation. Good game and a job well done. Music: Damn, yet another area where the series nailed it to perfection. The OST is a spectacular pickup just for the series alone. Both the OP and ED helped set the pace for the series to follow, shadowing the events that lie ahead for everyone (especially Yuliy and Mikhail), and is a blast listening to. As with any action series, the SFX really gets loud under load so much so that it causes some distortion and causes a major distraction sometimes. It's noticeable, yet it feels just about any other action anime would be at its best caliber. Tenrou: Sirius the Jaeger is quite the production, but production itself can't tell the whole story, and that's where the series' Achilles Heel start to show up: The slow and methodical story along with the characters, emotionless and only care about their field of range (or mission). After being burnt by so many vampire series, I'd say this is at a level where it's neither good nor bad, but the hopes of knowing whatever the heck is going on here is least to say the best. Good try, but one could hope there's improvements to be made. Recommendations though? Just purely for action alone.

Sirius made me realize something that'd been on the back of my mind for a while now, like a sneeze that won't quite come out. In a way, I feel like that describes the series in a nutshell. The plot is the story of all time: a protagonist driven by revenge and a tagtag bunch of misfit hunters race against several factions to obtain a McGuffin, one of which involves the MC's sworn enemy, and which acts as the... antagonist, I guess. Now, formulas work for a reason: you just have to know how to work around them. Tales as old as time will continue tobe retold for generations to come, and thousands, millions will fall into obscurity, while a few will survive, even if not by name, as inspiration for future artists. As a creator, which one would you rather be? How do you wish to achieve that? What separates your tale from the rest? What gives it meaning? Now, it's not to say that 'mediocre' series can't stand out in their own way (just look at SAO). There's a something that makes them stand out, a concept, an idea, a character, regardless of whether the product as a whole passes the MAL vibe check or not. That's fine. Quintessential Quintuplets, for example, might not be high literature, but its character interactions and surprisingly heartfelt story has inspired many with stories of their own, so that even if/once it's forgotten, its impact will remain and, again, I wouldn't call it the pinnacle of anything. It's aight, but it works. What's aight and doesn't work? This series. Many others (maybe most), but this one was what finally got that sneeze out, except that, instead of catharsis, I got phlegm. The characters, save for one, maybe two, feel like salad dressing diluted with water because the restaurant you got it from can't be damned to do anything above serviceable. The protagonist started out fine, honestly, a silent, strong type with an interest in botany, who's also kind of weird and out of the loop, and whose actions baffle the rest of the squad until they have the necessary bonding. See? Doesn't sound too bad. Alarm bells rang when at the end of the first episode he began screaming about revenge, but, sure, I told myself, sometimes people act very differently under extreme situations. And then... poof. No more plant talk. No more quiet weird OP kid. For the rest of the series it felt more like I watched a puppet show where the puppeteer forgot to disguise himself, and no matter how much I tried to block them out, they were always there, with the face of someone who worked 70 hours this week and not someone proud at their own creation. The protagonist then acted the way millions of others have because that's what other stories have done, screamed about revenge when needed, had a breakdown when apt, cried when Emotional Beat happened, and like... sure, in a vacuum, the scenes might have been well-done, but people/characters have PERSONALITIES for a reason. Not everyone reacts the same way. By the end, he was nothing more than a vessel for the story to story, and for me to get depressed. So if that's the main character, imagine the rest. EXCEPT! Except for arguably the second most important one. They were the only one whose actions felt as though he were the one in charge, consistent with what was established, and had actual conflict, both inner and outer, which lead to legitimately emotional payoffs the rest of the puppets failed to pantomime. They were my favorite by far, and probably the only thing I'll remember about this show once I'm done with this rant. A minor character seemed to be following the same line, but unfortunately he didn't have much screentime, and the puppeteer found his string, so his IQ dropped and he got drunk in order for the story to story. There's a third one I was fiercely protective of, moreso because her archetype is usually hated than her being or doing anything (because her archetype never is or does anything). I wouldn't call her good, though, just... she was cute. Yeah. The rest are the water dripping off the salad dressing; you take it off and nothing changes. The antagonist was boring, had a glimpse of something more, then turned into an Antagonist because they also found his strings. When will anime stop doing that thing where their villain loses all semblance of self to laugh maniacally, gloat about conquering the world, and start indiscriminately killing allies to show how Evil they are? Stop. It's like hitting a candyless piñata. Just cancel the party at that point. The plot is lettuce without condiment, and I already summed it up above. It doesn't matter. It exists because Stories have Plots. Themes? Eren Yaeger (story was called Sirius the Jaeger and got renamed LOL). Animation and music were great because P.A. Works. Seriously, what is it with their original shows (save for Angel Beats and Nagi no Asukara) having great production values but mediocre to terrible writing? Out of all things to emulate, why Guilty Crown? So anyway, I wouldn't be wasting my time with this review if it weren't for the last episode, because it was, in my opinion, legitimately good right until the end. Why couldn't the rest of the series have had that, you know, actual humanity? Sure, there was still the antagonist being an Antagonist and the rest of the characters not mattering, but the final encounter and ultimate MC's goal almost reflected this story's sad excuse of a theme, on top of a resolution that could've been good had the GODDAMN puppeteer not found the strings. Stop it. Stop adding stuff you say elsewhere just because you thought it was "cool". That's what this story lacks, I think: humanity. There's plenty of anime I enjoy and consistently rewatch that doesn't pass MAL's vibe checks, but which feel like the writer cared. That's all I ask for: heart. Hell, even Seikon no Qwaser did the revenge plot better, and that was a fetish show with plot as an excuse. It helps that the characters had actual chemistry (no pun intended If you know you know). What did this show accomplish? A passable character, to make me want to rewatch a gross fetish show, and despair. (PLEASE stop doing that with the villains. On my knees. Begging.)

Honestly it started ok with the first episode, but then the story felt extremely rushed. It felt like I was missing episodes, heck hole story plots. It just jumps from one thing to another with no prepose. There a bare bone story here. There is not a lot to say about this anime's story. Other than I have seen this story done before and WAY better than this. It's just pretty moving art at this point. There's is nothing else here.It's so boring and incredibly bland. I honestly wouldn't waste your time with this show. I know I have. Be good or be bad, just don't be boring! I hate dying of boredom in the things I watch.

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