Rosario Vampire is an anime adaptation of the manga of the same name. Youkai Academy seems your typical high school except that the students are all monsters in human form who take regular academic subjects. The rule stats that any human found on campus must be killed. Tsuki Aono, a student whose abysmal grades prevent him from getting into any school except Youkai Academy. He encounters Moka Akayashi, one of the prettiest and most popular girls in school and falls in love with her. He finds out that she is a vampire and the other students will kill him if they knew he is a human. Moka bites Tsuki and she becomes somewhat addicted to the taste of his blood. She develops feeling for the kind and gentle Tsuki and the pair has to conceal his humanity from the others.
The episodes follow the Tsuki and Moka as they try to avoid Tsuki identity being discovered and follow the pair on their misadventures. The episodes are formulaic and predictable. Each day focuses on a different monster with an evil plan and Moka and Tsuki having to stop the monster from succeeding or some disaster is sure to occur. Some episodes did not have much of anything going on and just were meant as padding. Other plot points from the manga were not brought in to the series and it indirectly left some plot holes. Characters in the show are almost not like their original counterparts and are watered down to the point of stupidity.
With just 13 episodes, the series was short and ended without a fulfilling conclusion, especially since the new manga of the series is being printed. The characters were stock cliched types, without depth and any growth and development. The art style of the show is not too bad. The monster designs were ok but the world inhabited by the monsters was bland even if it resembles the manga. The musical score was typical j-pop music mixed with some classical arrangements. The audio quality was a hit or a miss. Some areas had some pretty good sound effects that was clear while other parts sounded particularly grating.
There is a lot of fanservice and if you are into that kind of thing, expect to see it very often and it happens so much that it’s easy to get distracted from the plot. In the manga it was there but not to this extent where it becomes excessive. This show also has to be one of the most closeup shots you could see in an anime.
Tsuki is a pushover and your typical nice guy. He doesn’t really do much of anything but get into trouble and serve as a food source for Moka. In addition, he often goes on about protecting his friends but ironically, they always end up saving him.
Moka has 2 sides, one is the typical perfect girl like Yuno Gasai but just like Yuno Gasai she’s a psychopath unhinged when her rosary that seals her vampire powers becomes unleashed whenever its removed.
Tsuki and his relationship with his friends felt very one sided without much chemistry amongst the players. Moka and Tsuki was pretty static, Tsuki likes Moka, Moka likes Tsuki and that’s just about it, no real development after that.
Other characters were just there and had no real purpose but to just add in more drama between the characters and lead to many unnecessary arguments.
One of the biggest things about the show is that Youkai society teaches its students how to blend in human society. Near the end of season one where Tsuki is suspected of being a human, they plan on executing him but his friends saved the day. None of the villains were memorable, just your everyday evil doer.
The humor was just annoying and forced in every few seconds. The dialog was very cringey and combined with bad voice acting, this has to be one of the worst cases of dubbing I ever heard. The action was repetitive and underwhelming it followed this formula.
-One of the characters gets into trouble
-Tsuki somehow manages to awaken Moka’s inner powers.
-Moka defeats the villain in a matter of seconds
-Everyone lives happily ever after.
The animation felt pretty stiff even by mid 2000 standards. Some scenes looked pretty sluggish and not fully polished, something Gonzo is notorious for.
I really do not recommend watching this show.
It gets 1 out of 5 stars.
Don’t expect a 3rd season either especially considering the slow nature of the anime industry. Even with the manga being finished, it’s highly unlikely Gonzo would make another season. This show does not deserve the kind of popularity that it has and it should serve as an example of why Hayao Miyazki calls the anime industry of today “People who cannot stand looking at other people”.