Valvrave is an ambitious series, that aspires to do a lot. But unfortunately, it only maybe does half. That said, its best to talk about the seasons separately.
Now in all likelihood, you've seen this premise before; evil empire invades peaceful nation, and a student gets some great power and fights for truth, justice, and the Japanese way. Nothing new there, but the series makes up for it with some good action, some creative details, and some intriguing characters. And while you may have seen some of these tropes before, I doubt you've seen them all in one product. The story, while done before, is done in a unique, and creative enough way, that it kept my attention, and the characters have a definitive arc they go through. Unfortunately, the second season is where the series starts to lose footing.
Let me start off by saying that there's a framing device for this series, which you probably will figure out fairly quickly, but I won't say. While that's often a good thing, the framing should be built around the story, not vice-versa. It seems like the writers thought of the framing device first and then decided to do the story, and were more interested in filling out a checklist than a plot. Starting with the second season, the story becomes increasingly expansive and intricate, enough so that the story starts to buckle under its own weight. Come the conclusion, so much has happened, that there's no way to really wrap it up. We're sort of told what happens, but we never see it, and I was left with more questions than answers.
Aside from that, the second season had the problems. While the characters are fine, the romance takes a nose dive. Shoko and Haruto started with some good chemistry (and so did he and Saki, who is a far better character in my opinion), but they spend so little time together come season 2, that the chemistry evaporates.
Ultimately, while I did enjoy some of the series, I find it hard to recommend it purely on its own merits.
Good start, poor finish
Valvrave is an ambitious series, that aspires to do a lot. But unfortunately, it only maybe does half. That said, its best to talk about the seasons separately.
Now in all likelihood, you've seen this premise before; evil empire invades peaceful nation, and a student gets some great power and fights for truth, justice, and the Japanese way. Nothing new there, but the series makes up for it with some good action, some creative details, and some intriguing characters. And while you may have seen some of these tropes before, I doubt you've seen them all in one product. The story, while done before, is done in a unique, and creative enough way, that it kept my attention, and the characters have a definitive arc they go through. Unfortunately, the second season is where the series starts to lose footing.
Let me start off by saying that there's a framing device for this series, which you probably will figure out fairly quickly, but I won't say. While that's often a good thing, the framing should be built around the story, not vice-versa. It seems like the writers thought of the framing device first and then decided to do the story, and were more interested in filling out a checklist than a plot. Starting with the second season, the story becomes increasingly expansive and intricate, enough so that the story starts to buckle under its own weight. Come the conclusion, so much has happened, that there's no way to really wrap it up. We're sort of told what happens, but we never see it, and I was left with more questions than answers.
Aside from that, the second season had the problems. While the characters are fine, the romance takes a nose dive. Shoko and Haruto started with some good chemistry (and so did he and Saki, who is a far better character in my opinion), but they spend so little time together come season 2, that the chemistry evaporates.
Ultimately, while I did enjoy some of the series, I find it hard to recommend it purely on its own merits.