yuu and guren represent the side of humanity that would do anything for their loved ones, even commit heavenly sins and break taboos. it's not realistic, but in the grand scheme of things, that's the essence of being human⎯struggling with losing people you didn't think you were supposed to.
mika opposing that wanting to let the dead stay dead while he himself is no longer human sets him up as the perfect foil for guren, i would say, because you're right: ons wouldn't be ons without either of the two characters.
adding on to that⎯yuu not being entirely human either and swaying between selfishness for the sake of it and saving everyone bc it’s “right” almost signifies that battle between his human side and the other (seraph? demon? angel?) side. yuu's an interesting case bc he and mika have this whole past (and they aren't even humans) that adds to their story line because then it raises the question⎯is it human to be selfish and then regret it and wish to atone? is it inhuman to be selfish with reckless abandon?
Is the story in Owari no Seraph good? Heard it's just your average shonen manga.
Thank you for the question, anon! Owari no Seraph is not just “your average shonen manga” it’s THE AVERAGE SHONEN MANGA, it is every single average shonen manga ever combined into one and that’s why I love it. I might as well turn this into a reccomendation post to answer your question.
You Should Read Owari no Seraph
Owari no Seraph is like several different shonen manga sewn together in a horrible frankenstein’s monster, but once again as I often say on this blog tropes are not bad things. They’re all about the execution. Owari no Seraph is like, one of five exorcism/demon fighting manga published by shueisha right now (Chainsawman, Kimetsu no Yaiba, Jujutsu Kaisen, Ao no Exorcist, Owari no Seraph). It stands out by raising the stakes as high as they can possibly go, it has no reservations at all over the fact that it’s a tropey, pulp, nightmare. It knows exactly what it is and just tells it’s story anyway.
So here are a few things I like about the manga that make me want to reccomend it.
1. The World
The worldbuilding of Owari no Seraph sounds like it was made up on the spot. This is coming from someone who has read the entire manga through twice, and every single english translation available of the spinoff novels. It basically goes like this, there are exorcists who fight demons with magical swords. Then there are vampires but they’re way too strong for an exorcist to ever defeat. Demons are former humans, or maybe former vampires. Eventually the exorcists learn to put demons in swords and allow them to possess you. The world ends because of things called seraphs which are children that were experimented on to turn them into angels to call the end of the world.
It’s basically a mythology where every single supernatural creature exists simulatenously. It reminds me a lot of the Buffy mythos, where all sorts of supernatural creatures exist and vampires sort of just reign supreme as the strongest.
While it is kind of a mess, it works well for the story. It basically creates a world where literally everything is out to kill humans, and the humans themselves can just barely fight back. It makes humans seem even more smaller and insignificant in the world they are inhabiting because there are just so many types of magical creatures that are infinitely stronger than them.
What I love about the exorcists in this manga is how physically weak they are. Literally no matter what desperate strategy they pull, even if they are a once in a generation genius, or from some kind of chosen bloodline, every single character in the manga is desperate to survive at any time. No victory is ever achieved without tons of losses. The characters backs are perpetually against the wall.
The exorcists really do come off like underdogs just trying to survive the extinction of humanity, because the world of magic is just so overwhelming and unknowable to the human characters. It’s like if the world exploded and every single fantasy creature came to life at once, and they all hated humans and wanted to stamp them out.
Another thing I like about the vampires is that they’re not X Men. Sometimes when writing vampires authors just make them X Men, as in rather than being vampires themselves they just all have some kind of mutant power like flame conjuring or shapeshifting. The vampires are at the top of the hierarchy in this world because of their sheer strength alone, each one of them is a powerhouse of raw strength.
2. Yuichiro Hyakuya
Yu’s character is interesting because it’s so weird and offputting but only if you read far enough in the manga to realize why. Yu’s attitude is something that is eventually deconstructed to horrifying effect much later on in the manga. People often call him a boring shonen protagonist who only cares about fighting and friendship, but to me he’s always been more like Gon. That is a deconstruction of the “Pure-Hearted Hero” protagonist.
Yuichiro tends to naturally attract people around him, especially damaged and lost people because of how accepting and trusting he is. The problem is Yu is able to accept everything because you get the sense that he doesn’t care. He just doesn’t even think about or consider the consequences of his actions at all, or even how his actions will affect other people.
Yu cares about the people he considers family and that’s it. The rest of the world might as well not even exist. And this is never once framed as a good trait. Yu just doesn’t think at all before he does something, and it’s not even him being stupid it’s him being suicidally reckless. He just kind of assumes that if he wants it everything should work out in his favor.
It’s gotten to the point where people around him are constantly bringing up the consequences of some of the reckless things he wants to try and he just shrugs it off. Somebody warns him reviving the dead is a bad idea, and he just says “but I want my family back.” He trusts and allies himself with complete enemies if he thinks it can return his loved ones to him.
Yu doesn’t actually trust anyone. He just has the part of his brain where he distrusts people completely shut off. His complete and total blind faith in people ends up becoming a bad trait because as much as it brings his comrades closer to him, you get the sense that he just doesn’t care what happens in the end. As the manga progresses what seems like a typically all loving hero just becomes more and more distant from other people. The fact that he trusts without question is presented as something that makes him seem inhuman.
3. Shinoa Hiragi
Owari no Seraph is one fo the few manga where the female of the main character trio is just as connected and important to the plot as the two boys. Shinoa’s arc about learning to love and trust people also works because she was raised in a family with no love at all that only ever saw her as a tool.
Shinoa is probably the most complex of the main three characters because she engages with everyone behind a mask, but she’s also not a perfect actress. What’s great about her is that she’s flawed, she’s kind of a mess. Unlike her older sister who can manipulate anyone flawlessly, Shinoa is much more human behind the mask and has a difficult time repressing it.
Shinoa’s arc is as central to the story as Yu’s. However she’s also his opposite and a good complement to him because while Yu is wild and reckless Shinoa is reserved and overly cautious. It’s not a fear of being weak in the same way Yu is afraid to be weak, what Shinoa fears is being out of control. However because she’s not the genius her sister is for Shinoa she only ever really has the illusion of control over situations.
It’s a female character where basically the entire conflict of her character revolves around her agency, and trying to be her own person separate from her sister. Which is so rare for female characters to be that well developed and present such an interesting conflict. Which is another thing I likie about ONS, it’s a mishmash of tropes but it always uses those tropes very smartly. She fits in so well with the series because basically everyone in the series knows they’re already doomed and we see how each of them cope with it and struggle against it.
4. Guren Ichinose
Guren is hands down not only the most complicated character in the series, and also one of the best mentor characters of all time, he’s also where the excellent moral ambiguity of the series itself shines the brightest. Guren is basically the second protagonist of the series at this point because he has his own light novel spinoff and is just as important to the plot as Yu.
What makes Guren compelling is that he’s not a bad guy at all, but he ends up committing some of the worst deeds in the manga. It once again solidifies the theme that life is more complex than bad people do bad things, sometimes in fact good people do a bad. Guren is great because he’s always one person who is basically struggling against the whole world, and sometimes you get the sense he wants to destroy it because that’s the only way he can throw his burdens off of him.
But at the same time, this cold blooded guy whose constantly doing terrible things, and is desperate and hungry for power really is just a person who wants his friends to be safe and happy. Guren is someone whose lost literally everything to an uncaring world, his family, his close friends, his lover, he’s also been kicked on and stamped down his entire life. You understand why Guren would end up becoming such a selfish person because literally the world has always told him that he doesn’t deserve to be in it, he’s not a part of this story.
It’s like the struggling of a side character whose not even involved in the plot forcing their way in and trying to be the main character. Guren is so much weaker than everything around him, but he’ll keep fighting. And it’s amazing when Guren does literally every single thing, sacrifices everything, throws away everything and then he still fails in the end. That’s what makes his character compelling because he never gets what he wants no matter how desperately he struggles but he still keeps on fighting.
His foiling with Yu is also incredible, and you get the sense that Guren is a worse person because he actually cares about things unlike Yu who is so reckless and doesn’t even think about the consequences of his actions.
5. The Conflict
Here’s how the manga starts. The world ends. You’ve been enslaved for several years by vampires that suck your blood. You finally escape but all of your family that was introduced died in the first chapter.
It’s overload but yet, Owari no Seraph always manages to keep these stakes consistent. It’s a manga that actually feels like the characters are struggling at the end of the world. Literally every single person there is past the point of no return in one way or another, and yet they keep fighting.
Which is what makes every fight fresh and compelling to read. Because the main characters don’t even win that often, or if they do win it’s a minor victory that’s evened out later by some loss. Every battle is for survival, not gaining territory. Which really helps along the themes of the story as well to create this picture of a severely broken world, where individual people are all desperate to band together to survive.
The story itself also never grows stale or stagnant because things are constantly developing and changing around. You never feel one arc drags on too long. Because every single faction is just trying to survive, enemies from yesterday will become allies today and you end up getting to understand the perspective of each faction.
If you can get past the premise, the manga is actually pretty grounded. Most of the emotional stakes comes from the connection between the characters and the fear of losing them, and that’s the primary focus of the story. It’s about inhuman tragedy and circumstances, and a world that’s so fantastical it’s almost impossible to believe, but there are humans still in the middle of it trying to survive and live even though their lives are insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
I’ll address what people have expressed concern over. And forewarning, I’m a positive thinker. I know there are people who express themselves by making posts expressing their discontent, and that is totally fine and a way to cope. It’s just not mine. So some of what I say may seem optimistic, it doesn’t mean I’m not disappointed or worried about the issues, it’s just that I’d rather focus on the possibility of what I’m disappointed about turning into something else more preferable in the long run. So again, it’s not that there’s no problems, it’s just that I like to think they can be fixed. And note that this is all based off of what I can get out of the Japanese raw, not the official translation.
1.I agree that Guren and Yuu’s reunion lacked tension/angst. They are my favorites and I’m not one for unnecessary angst/talking, but that went too smoothly. However, I do have two possible reasons for both of them glossing over anger on Yuu’s side and apologizing on Guren’s.
1a. It’s possible that Yuu isn’t straight up guilt tripping Guren and lashing out because he’s the other one who knows what it’s like to lose control and attack others against your will. (I’m not saying it’s an excuse for the actions as previous decisions lead to their possibility for possession and such) However, Yuu felt horrible about it when he was told what he did during his berserk time and he may be under the impression he understands Guren and doesn’t want to hold his actions under possession against him. (He believes Guren didn’t want to do it because he saw Guren crying).
1b. And Guren not apologizing could stem from how he was raised. He has always been under the impression that as a leader, if he maintains his composure, those around him will as well. If he’s calm, his followers are calm. In the LN, he makes Shigure worried by showing his own concern when his father is (unknowingly to Shigure) taken hostage and given a death sentence. He berates himself for letting his concern show and worrying her. Its possible he believes that others will reflect the state of nature he exudes. So in this case, he’s staying calm and pretending there’s no problems because he wants them to feel calm and assured as well. Yuu does immediately demand explanations, and Guren’s giving them. So it’s not like they’re shooting the breeze like old pals.
2. Mahiru’s speech at Shinoa about awakening her demon powers by giving into sexual desire and losing herself (with someone heavily implied to be Yuu.) Yikes. I will admit that I ship Yuunoa over Mikayuu, even if it’s only a tad amount at that. However that whole thing doesn’t feel good at all. Shinoa’s so much more than gaining “power” from sleeping with somebody. Having said that, maybe there’s something else going on here.
2a. This is said by Mahiru, the most unreliable of unreliable narrators imo. She may believe it, but I’m not convinced she’s right. It is how she gained her full demonic powers. However, I think it’s because being with Guren is what she “lusted” after for so long. And once she got what she wanted, the demon got what it wanted because Mahiru had nothing left to aim for. I think that made Mahiru believe that that’s simply what lust is because that’s how she experienced it. Therefore, that’s how everybody must do it.
2b. I’d like to believe that Kagami will stay true to his word and keep this his story about family. I get the feeling he’s setting this up for Shinoa to reveal that the thing she had “lusted” for was the family that just couldn’t exist within the Hiragi controlled surroundings she grew up in. The reason she slightly blushes looking at Yuu in the chapter (leading Mahiru to think he’s the one she’ll lust after) is because Yuu is the center of this makeshift family. She doesn’t look straight at him, she looks at him being surrounded by others before looking at him specifically. He brought together the squad, Mika, and Guren. (and Crowley I guess) I said in a previous post that I believe Shinoa is really curious about this idea of family Yuu has and that’s why I think that’s what she’ll end up “lusting” for and finding herself/losing herself in getting. Though I don’t foresee it being to a negative extent like Mahiru. And that’s how they’ll differ. (my ideal endgame is zero couples and a massive platonic family vibe when all is said and done)
2c. I personally would rather have had the time spent on Mahiru’s speech with Shinoa slapping Guren on behalf of her team (family). Actually, if she could have knocked both Yuu and Guren on their heads, that would have been amazing.
Do you think kiseki-o was also a third prog?so all black demons weapons are progenitors?
Do you think kiseki-o was also a third prog?
I’m not sure if Kiseki-ou, Noya, and Ashuramaru being chibis are related to their progenitor ranks. Noya in Guren LN said that a demon’s appearance is related to the moment in their life when they had the most desire. For Noya, that was the explanation for his looking like a young boy.
Whether the Third Progenitors’ experiment was related to this demon appearance thing is a possible theory (the one from amethystcria).
There are quite a few “rules/realities of the vampire world” that we know of but we don’t know when or how they were implemented. For example, were there really only 3 Third Progenitors created from the very beginning or were there only 3 left by the time Crowley found out the information and the vampire society had been governed by Urd for hundreds of years?
Urd’s reign started at the earliest roughly 1000 years ago (after the Disappearance of both First and Rigr). So we know the realities of the vampire world from 1000 years ago and onward but what about the beginning of the vampire world?
This distinction is important if you think First Progenitor made more than 3 Third Progenitors. I don’t know! First Progenitor made some rules but we don’t know what he made and when. :)
I’m just pointing out the possibilities for people to think up theories because that’s the most fun part of all of this. haha
so all black demons weapons are progenitors?
Black demons were definitely noble vampires aka progenitors. So they were a progenitor rank but we don’t know what the cut-off point is (like what progenitor rank is the minimum requirement for a black demon). There are many ranks of demons too.
My opinion is that it’s highly likely black demons were former HIGH RANKING Progenitors (up to 6th). We already can surmise that Ashera/Ashuramaru was a high ranking progenitor due to having the First’s blood (he called the First “father”).
Mahiru though was at most an 8th Progenitor since she was sired by a Third. But she also fused with black demon Noya so I don’t know if she got her black demon designation from the fusing or if 8th Progenitors also become black demons. Both are possible at this point!
Now I’ve always wondered :D how did Hiiragis get all these black demons :D who used to be progenitors? :D :D :D :DDDDDDDDDDDDD [insert my tinfoil theories here about the First Progenitor lol]
Did First Progenitor only take Ashera to Japan or did he take a bunch of progenitors too? lol OR Did First Progenitor make some new nobles in Japan after he went there? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ All things I’m eagerly awaiting for confirmation in canon.
TL;DR: Black demons = progenitors but we don’t know at what rank they stop becoming black demons. Black demons include at least up to 6 and maybe go up to 8 as we see in canon.
That’s what the fanbook has to say on the topic of nobles (x):
“The select few who are distinguished from common vampires–Nobles are those who inherits a progenitor’s blood.”
With the release of a new novel we know that both Ferid and Crowley were called “Michaela” at some point. Both of them are quite powerful nobles.
If fanbook is anything to go by, then those who were/are called Michaela (destiny and stuff?) may be those who “inherit a progenitors blood”.
Since it seems like vampires existence is heavily intertwined with angel Michaela, that would possibly made him/her/whatever a first progenitor?? Thus, everyone who inherits a name may as well inherit blood too, right?
Also, look how is says “inherits”, because technically every vampire should have at least one drop of progenitor’s blood - it’s what made them vampires in the first place. And we also know that vampires don’t do the do to make their population bigger, so it’s not exactly biological “heritage”.
[That’s, of course, If we roll with the theory that vampires even have blood and ignore information in the fanbook (about them not having body heat). Everything with it is so inconsistent it hurts. We see how Krul bit her lip and let Mika drink his blood, also we see vampires blushing. {if I’m not mistaken we see blushing only Mika and Chess with Horn and the two of the ladies are nobles}.
But could it be that only nobles have blood to give to someone? Maybe others are incapable of turning someone because they simply don’t have it. Who knows.]
P.S. Maybe that’s why Krul saved him? Like Ferid saved Crowley because he was “Michaela”? (whatever that means)
