(24 episodes)
What’s it about ?
Urban fantasy, set in a man-made island city in the middle of the Pacific, built as a refuge for vampires, half-demons and various other nearly extinct supernatural species.
Characters
Kojou, our protagonist. Up until three months ago, he was just a normal high-schooler ; now he’s “The Fourth Progenitor”, a super-powerful vampire. He’d rather do without that, mind you ; the random brutal cravings for blood are quite annoying, and he’d rather live just a normal life.
The previous Fourth Progenitor only appears in thoroughly unclear flashbacks ; the only thing he can clearly remember is that she gave her powers (and then faded away) without him providing much consent.
Yukina, a middle-schooler in the same school complex who just transferred in ; she’s very obviously stalking him. After the token confrontation, we learn that she’s a reasonably powerful mage from some governmental agency, who consider Kojou as about equal to a nuke and sent her to investigate him. She does eventually agree he’s a decent guy ; she’s still going to keep close to him forever, just in case.
There’s a couple of asshole thugs (whose predator behaviour border on paedophilia) who serve as our cannon fodder of the week. Presumably they get taken out in the stinger by the small kid and her bodyguard who look like serious business.
(Kojou has a couple of “normal” friends, but I have doubts we’re going to see much of them from now on. Instead, the OP sequence playing at the end shows off many other girls.)
Production Values
There’s some good directing at work here, especially with the creative use of colour and degenerative artefacts to provide atmosphere (as you’d expect from a Silver Link co-production). Nice score, too.
It’s a shame it has to be applied to a script that requires Yukina’s panties to be showed off repeatedly over the course of the episode.
Overall Impression
Oh, dear. There are some semi-interesting ideas here, as well as a protagonist with more personality than the usual bland everyman, and a strong build up to the atmosphere. But it’s wasted on a script that constantly undercuts itself with very annoying “fanservice” events and generic romantic comedy hijinks. I really get the impression that even the director doesn’t have much interest in those elements, and only includes them as some obligation to the producers and the source material (a series of light novels, of course). It’s all very perfunctory, and would be a much stronger show if omitted.
I fear another Index : some decent worldbuilding and characters ruined by contrived and joyless irritants. I’m giving it at least another episode to see whether it cuts down on the crap, but I’m not too hopeful.
