The sub of the second (and last) episode of the StB OVA came out today, so I can post a review.

It isn't very good.

Sometimes a series OVA is excellent. (Just wait a moment; I'll think of one.) But usually they amount to a curtain call for the cast of the series, and everyone has to show up and get a moment in the spotlight, plus all kinds of things that happened in the main series have to be reprised in the OVA.

And that's what was going on this time. And that's the problem. There was too much they felt they had to dump in for just two episodes, and it felt cluttered. It also felt rather considerably contrived, because the situation they created had huge potential to change the basic canon.

Most specifically, the canon is that Nagisa and Asagi don't know that Kojou is a vampire. Now that can be handwaved for Nagisa. The spirit of Avrora has possessed Nagisa, and she has the ability to jump in and take control any time she wants. It's likely that she can also manipulate Nagisa's memories. So she can make sure Nagisa doesn't find out. But that explanation doesn't work for Asagi, and entirely too much happened in the OVA which could have given away the game to Asagi.

We know from the main series that eventually Asagi figures it out, but this OVA isn't part of the normal story line and it wasn't the right time for it.

Leaving that alone, the ultimate solution to the big problem was really stupid. The solution to Kojou being controlled by the bad guy was the smell of a sweaty school girl? Right.

Anyway, it's pretty clear that someone sat down and made a list of all the things that had to be in the show to avoid angering the fans, and you can almost see them ticking off the entries on the list as the show proceeds.

The only thing I really liked was how Kanase Kanon was handled. That was really neat, and long overdue. But that wasn't enough to save the show.

NOT recommended.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in General Anime at 08:58 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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