Rosario to Vampire

The Winter 2008 season is coming to a wrap now though it is hard to make a solid conclusion about it given the fact that I have fallen behind on several series like is often the case with me. Anyways, I had no real reason to watch Rosario to Vampire other than that m.3.3.w., one of the best new sub groups, was going to work on it. It also happened to be the first winter season anime I watched subbed (although I watched H20 raw). I remember this because I was still on vacation at the time and was laying down on my coach at home watching RV on my TV while my little brother face-palmed.

From the very get-go, I had no real expectations so I was willing to give it a shot. However just like most other anime bloggers at the time, I was turned off by the excessive amount of fan-service. I don’t normally care either way for fan-service (afterall I read Negima!) but the omnipresence of it in RV was way too distracting. I hope no one decides to make and play a drinking game involving taking a shot after every pair of panties, bras, etc. and whatever else I don’t feel like listing (use your imagination) because you would die of alcohol poisoning in no time.

Given this reason, you would most likely guess that I would have dropped this series after the first episode. However, there were three main reasons I decided to see it all the way to the end. The first is a modification of my stance on anime in general which is “I watch everything.” I changed it to “I watch everything so you don’t have to” which is something I do as part of my job as the officer in charge of showings for UVA’s anime club. The second reason is that the main female, Akashiya Moka, is such a sweet and nice girl plus she is voiced by Mizuki Nana For The Win!

Although the first two reasons, particularly the second, were what allowed me to put up with the half of the show I did not enjoy AKA fan-service, they were not the reason that I ended up rating Rosario to Vampire as high as I did. The first hint that is was getting better was when Tsukune-tachi joined the newspaper club and everyone started working together and began acting like friends. This was key for the introduction of Shirayuki Mizore, the sole reason that I raised Rosario to Vampire’s score as high as I did. Since I lack the words to describe her adequately, I will copy and paste her MAL profile and bold important parts:

Her true form is a Yuki Onna, an “Ice Woman”. Keeping in line with the Japanese mythological creature, she has the ability to control ice at will. She also has the ability to make multiple ice clones of herself. First appearing in ch. 18, she returned to school after a long absence and showed an immediate interest in Tsukune. In truth, she had become completely infatuated with Tsukune, going so far as to create her own journal/scrapbook with all of Tsukune’s newspaper articles. She once confessed to a teacher she liked, but the teacher tried to take advantage of her and she froze him. That and the rumors that spread after, made it hard for her to trust anyone. She took a liking to Tsukune because she believed that he was a loner just like herself. She believed that Moka was in her way of getting Tsukune’s complete affection and thus tried to kill her. She eventually warmed up to the others after being saved by Tsukune in his temporary vampire form. After being saved she also begins stalking Tsukune on a daily basis.

In short, she is a hikikomori stalker yanderekko. The way she pops in randomly from the weirdest places and how she goes ji~ when she stares at everyone else is just too adorable. The way she told Tsukune to call her Mizore-chan and always having a lollipop in her mouth is also pretty cute. Besides her awesome personality, she is also quite cute-looking. For one thing she is the one who wears the most clothes and her body is only exposed in 2 major areas. She wears knee-length stripped socks which means she creates a nice zettai ryouiki. The second key area is produced by the lack of a real collar on her sweatshirt exposing her delicious shoulders! I don’t even know why I like that but I do. On top of all that, she has purple hair which is always fantastic.

Furthermore, I was also surprised by the ending which I liked quite a bit and wish the rest of the series was like it. It really showed the resolve of everyone in the Newspaper Club and highlighted everyone’s good points. I don’t want to get into specifics just in case someone feels inclined to watch this but I really feel that the second half of Rosario to Vampire demonstrated the potential the series as a whole should have strived for.

Thanks to Mizore and also Moka and the ending, I surprisingly ended up enjoying the Rosario to Vampire anime more than I expected. If there wasn’t so much in-your-face fanservice like the later episodes (not too say there none in the final episodes), I think I would have enjoyed it even more but ignoring a good chunk of the show also works. Anyways, I actually want to go read the manga now especially as preparation for Rosario + Vampire Capu2 which I hope will be less infamous for its fanservice. To summarize everything, if you like fanservice, watch this if you already haven’t and if you don’t like it at all, avoid the anime version of Rosario to Vampire at all costs and go read the manga instead.