Reviews for Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul

So, Shingeki no Bahmut: Virgin Soul. The much anticipated sequel to the 2014 anime (in my opinion) Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis finally aired it's 24th and final episode and boy was it a major let down. Let me get straight into it. Story: 3/10 The story picks up 10 years after our heroes have saved the planet from a certain destruction. And what did they get for their selfless sacrifice? Favaro is MIA for half the season and Kaiser in stuck in stagnation as the commander of a dying-out military force. Some nobody is out of the blue named King and is following closely in the footstepsof an all-to-familiar 1939-1945 dictator from west Europe. Janne is exiled for reasons beyond my understanding. Demons are discriminated and considered as trash, angels are being massacred left and right for no reason and humans are just kind-of there. A NEW character is introduced, without any background or foreshadowing, without any character development or contribution and we're somehow supposed to jump aboard.

Skip a few episodes (23 to be precise) and we come to the conclusion where, SURPRISINGLY all the bad guys turn out to be ACTUALLY good guys, some people die, get forgotten and the BAD guys, who turned GOOD guys get to live happily ever after as heroes. Sound like LeLouche? Well, it's LeLouce only without him dying but instead getting everything he wanted and more.

(those of you, who actually sit through this 24 episode of time-waste will understand)

Art: 8/10

Just like the prequel, the art in this sequel is top-notch. It's not on the level of Unlimited CashWorks but it will leave you satisfied if visual effects are all you're looking for.

Sound: 5/10

Let's get this straight - the bad-ass opening from season 1 is gone and it's not coming back. The OP and ED in this sequel are not worth mentioning and the soundtrack in the actual anime is almost forgettable.

Characters: 3/10

Bland villains, bland main character, little to no character development, lots and LOTS of plot armor for the important characters. NO plot armor for the side characters. Not really the strong point of this anime (much like the story). Bad guys turning good - cliche as cliches get. The true bad guy defeated, but not really, so that a 3rd season cash-grab can be made - check! If you're into mindless action and shallow storytelling, with little to no character presence, then this anime is PERFECT for you.

Enjoymend: 5/10

The first half of the anime had potential. The second half ruined it all with it's horrendous storytelling, cliche characters and predictable plot. Not to mention the sacrifice of key characters without their contribution to the story being fully told.

Overall: 4/10

I wish I could give it a lower score but the average from the above 5 categories prevents me from doing so.

To summarize: if you are into a shallow story, with bland characters, no development, lots of minutes (potentially hours) wasted in idle chatter, some battles and some moral discussions, all leading to a predictable ending (with a few sad but overall overlooked deaths here and there) then this anime is definitely for you (poor soul).

I do hope we NEVER see a third sequel, as that will most certainly butcher an already massacred anime.

I will be starting this with a warning: If you are looking for fast paced action, suave dialogue, likable characters and great fight choreography… which is to say, an actual sequel to Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis, then turn back right now. Close this tab and never look back at this show. This is not the sequel that Genesis deserved… or even one that it needed, looking at the end result. Virgin Soul can only be described as a convoluted mess, which not even the returning characters could save. If that wasn’t descriptive enough, then read on. Below, I will attempt to explain exactly what went wrongwith Virgin Soul. Do expect some minor spoilers with regard to the initial few episodes.

Story (4/10):

The story of Virgin Soul starts 10 years after the events of Genesis, and the world is quite different from how we remember it. Humanity has extended its reaches, as far as to bring demon-kind to its knees, while achieving great power along the way. These changes bring with them quite some intrigue, and world-building progresses at an optimal pace. Then, they introduce the new protagonist, Nina Drango. Even ignoring her endless libido and her shoujo manga-esque encounters with pretty much any young man, the story seems to be progressing somewhere. The themes of morality and sociology were quite strong in the initial few episodes, especially from the likes of returning characters such as Kaisar and Azazel. So far so good…

Then, somewhere along the way, the series started on a downward spiral that never really stopped. The intelligent conversations and ideas just slowly faded out into the background, and the focus moved on to a romance which would make the likes of Twilight look half decent. I can state without doubt that the romance in Virgin Soul is the worst I have ever witnessed on screen. One could hope that at least this subplot may help develop the characters in question… well, in this case, it outright broke the character of the male participant, making his personality impossible to salvage.

The rest of the story can’t exactly be called intelligent, with multiple contradictory or even outright stupid reveals and ‘plot twists’. Worst thing is, every single thing just somehow leads back to the central romance, which just sucks the life out of the series. Honestly, if this were advertised as a shoujo anime which was unrelated to Shingeki no Bahamut, it may not have felt like such an insult, but the way it went, it simply became a detriment to its ‘prequel’.

Art (7/10):

The artwork and animation are quite reminiscent of Genesis, and are quite pleasing to look at. The only real gripe I have is how they use some outright atrocious crowd CGI in some scenes, which seem completely out of place.

Sound (6/10):

Above average, but nothing really special. The openings and endings are all decent, yet forgetful. All the Engrish in the songs didn’t exactly help that. Even the soundtracks weren’t anything to write home about.

Characters (3/10):

The greatest failure of Virgin Soul was certainly the depiction of the characters and their interactions. I’ll be analysing this in two parts: New characters and Returning characters.

When talking about the New characters, the first and foremost would be Nina Drango. The best way to describe her would be a female version of Hyoudou Issei. She spends most of her time drooling over any good-looking guy (which, for some reason, seems to be the norm for men in this show), and the rest of her time utterly wrecking the sho…. Umm… Causing trouble for others. Other than her, we have Charioce and Mugaro. Charioce had some great potential, and his views were quite intriguing to begin with… but of course, they decided that he was better off as a pretty-boy version of Hitler. As for Mugaro…. He was literally a walking plot device from beginning to end.

As for the Returning characters, we have Favaro, Kaisar and Azazel (well, there was Jeanne, Bacchus, Hamsa and Rita, but they’re not really worth mentioning at this point). We start off with quite a bit about Kaisar and his views. This was interesting while it lasted, but he started to become more and more insufferable as the series went on. Near the end of it, you’d be left wondering if it’s even the same character anymore. As for Favaro, I had great hopes for him. He flourished in the leading role of Genesis, and I was hoping that he would breathe some life into the show… sadly, all he got was a minor supporting role as Nina’s father-figure. The one good character that we got out of this series was Azazel. His development was exceptional. He portrays a loner, in the truest sense of the word – he fights alone, and takes the full brunt of the responsibilities for himself, including the failures.

One strange thing I noticed is how the characters were never particularly consistent, and their behaviour varied quite wildly from episode to episode. The character interactions ranged from decent to horrendous, depending on the characters in question and the mood of the writer at that time.

Enjoyment (2/10):

Extremely difficult to watch. My tolerance for bullshit is generally pretty high, but this one made me absolutely lose it. There were some moments in the latter half of the show that made me scream abuse and point rude gestures at the screen, simply because of how frustrating and annoying it was. Watching this show made me question the writer’s intelligence (or the lack thereof), at multiple occasions. I had to force myself to watch the last few episodes, just for the sake of finishing this review.

Overall (4.4 ~ 4/10):

With this, it is quite clear that the anime was a disaster, and that the new writer was a mistake. In fact, I’d be glad if she never touches anime ever again. So to speak, avoid this anime – there’s absolutely nothing good waiting for you in this one. With this, I conclude.

The original Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis was perhaps one of the most surprising anime of the last few years in the sense that it was an ultra-rare case of a game adaptation that actually didn't suck. In fact, it was actually a really solid fantasy adventure, albeit perhaps not with the best ending. Virgin Soul can be roughly described as a more extreme version of the same pattern: it's even better than the original for the vast majority of its runtime... but also somehow has an even worse ending. Virgin Soul takes place approximately 10 years after the events of the original. At this point thehuman realm is the dominant force in the world, lead under the ruthless King Charioce XVII. He has managed to effectively steal the powers of the gods and used them in order to turn the demon residents in the capital area into slaves. Both Heaven and Hell have rebellious thoughts on their minds due to the oppression they're suffering, but they have a hard time doing much against the overwhelming power which Charioce possesses. It is here we find our new protagonist Nina Drango: a young and energetic bounty hunter who arrives at the capital seeking her fortune. As a tiny little catch, Nina has the ability to transform herself into a dragon, but only spontaneously, involuntarily and uncontrollably.

As the story goes on, many more characters are introduced, including both new ones and returning ones from Genesis. And what I really like about them is that they're not only extremely well characterized, but you get so many different perspectives about the conflict in place in Virgin Soul. It's not just that many of the characters are quite likable on a personal level, but the agendas of Heaven, Hell and the human realm respectively are all very logically depicted. It's a very balanced cast both in terms of differentiating back stories but also in terms of personalities. Nina herself may be extremely naïve and overly optimistic, but that's also part of her charm and her personality is frequently played around with as a means to drive the story forward in certain directions. And on the opposite side of things, I also have to say that Charioce is one of the more interesting villains I've seen in quite some time. There's so much mystery regarding his true intentions and motives that pretty much up until the very last few episodes of the anime, you still don't know for sure if he's really good or evil, or why he's doing any of the things he is. Yet at the same time he's extremely charismatic, and the peculiar Romeo & Juliet-esque relationship he forms with Nina throughout the story is very unorthodox in nature.

The world-building in Virgin Soul is also excellent. It truly feels like a living and breathing fantasy world in its own right, and it helps magnifying the importance of the consequences of any major event that takes place. And there truly are a lot of major events in it, with its large scale storyline and grandiose vocal + instrumental soundtrack. It just feels epic in general, but without being excessively overdramatized. But unfortunately, for some reason the story just can't keep up all the way to the end. I can't really go into detail without spoiling some of the biggest plot points, but basically there are several plot twists towards the end of the anime which quite frankly don't make any sense. They undermine the credibility of large portions of the anime's storyline leading up to that point, and as a result it leaves you with a bad taste in the mouth by the time you actually finish the show. Of course this is only a small part of the anime as a whole, but the ending is pretty important for a story like this, so seeing them slip up at the end like this is a bit frustrating. Especially considering that it's the second time in a row it has happened for the franchise.

That being said, for the most part Virgin Soul is still a very good fantasy adventure anime in my opinion, even more so than its predecessor, and while it certainly left a lot more to be desired in the end, ultimately the level of the journey leading up that point is enough to make up for it. I also firmly believe this is an anime which most people will enjoy regardless of what your usual genre preferences may be. Honestly I generally dislike action anime and typical battle shounen adventures even more so, but I like this anime quite a bit. Virgin Soul just feels more believable than most series of this genre. No one feels unreasonably overpowered in this story, it's not too predictable and other than the disappointing plot twists towards the end, the various motives for its rather diverse character cast are quite logical. Even when it does go into action scenes, every move feels perfectly plausible based on the characters' own writing, and you don't see any forced turnarounds as a result of plot-convenient power-ups or dumb luck. It all feels relatively fair.

Virgin Soul is a solid continuation to an already good anime, making great use of its world-building and characterization to deliver a very enjoyable final product. Yes, the ending kind of sucks (again) but don't let that discredit the quality of the show leading up to that point. Overall it's still one of the better adventure anime in the last few years.

So, the story, is a gigantic disappointment as far as I have watched (Episode 6), I mean the joke with the main character is SO lame that it is BEYOND cringeworthy... But the rest was okay so it gets a 5. Art and Sound, 10/10 Character, again the main character just sucks... and the disappearence/death of two former characters were both DEVASTATING and made a HUGE hole in the cast.... Its a 3... And the enjoyment is even less for the reason I just mentioned, and I know I'm being pretty darn ridicilous but I am gettingout my 1 hammer on Enjoyment -_-

Overall, it is not much more than a disappointing sequel to a great anime...

It's a 3...

Shingeki no Bahamut: Virgin Soul aired in spring 2017, Animation by studio MAPPA. I'll write this review presuming that the reader has watched the prequel. Story: 8 The story of SNB:VS takes place in the same world as its' prequel, but 10 years after the events of Bahamut's ressurection and fall. During those 10 years, Charioce XVII (the new king) has destroyed the demon capital of Cocytus as well as invaded sanctums of the gods. The demons are now enslaved and the Rag Demon (Azazel) is seeking revenge and to free his brethren. We currently follow the dragon/girl Nina as our main character, but have yet to see muchplot development except for her being thirsty for young men, stupid and extremely powerful.

The plot of SNB:VS is not as immediate as it's prequel, but I daresay that it might have more potential. It's a 24 episode show and we are most certainly missing something in the current story as well as a few characters that are bound to show up later. The reason for me saying this is that the prequel packed an extreme amount of content into a 1-cour show, it was executed well but it could have been more elaborate if given the time.

The plot is not generic, it could be regarded as an anime original due to its' source material being quite unclear. There is a manga called Twin Heads but it's a prequel to Virgin Soul. The story originates from a card collecting mobile game.

What will happen in the end? Will Bahamut rise again? It's not as clear what exactly will happen compared to the prequel.

Art: 10

Studio MAPPA did a great job in this department, it's quality throughout the episodes and I have trouble finding anything to complain on. So far, they've improved on the art of the prequel, although we have yet to see any extremely high-qual scenes like the scene with Lucifer in the prequel yet. Looking forward!

Sound: 10

Great OP and ED songs. the OST of SNB "Chorus of Despair" is also a gem.

The sound effects are almost all high quality.

Characters have good voice actors, especially Rita.

An interesting point about the sound in this series is how it uses different sound filters depending on the environment, same with prequel. Just one easily regognizable example of this would be that you can hear echoing in the throne room, and the voices sound a bit more metallic. It's clear that Studio MAPPA didn't cut corners on neither Art/animation nor sound.

The only VA I could "complain" slightly on is Azazel, it might also be that either the character has changed slightly but he definitely doesn't sound like he used to in some moments.

Character: 10

We have Rita, Nina, Kaisar, Azazel, Bacchus&Hansa, Mugaro and Charioce as our main cast currently. We are still missing Favaro.

Bacchus gets a lot more screentime and even some character development in this season, we now know that he really is a fallen god and that he can reclaim his place in heaven. He's still got a great voice actor and his facial expressions are golden.

Even though Nina is the real current MC, Azazel is fairly similar to it. He has a lot of screentime and the history between him and Charioce with the demon capital being destroyed and the demons enslaved makes him a great protagonist to fight against Charioce who is the current antagonist, I do have a feeling that something will change about this in the future however.

Nina is a sweet girl who has a lot of weirdness surrounding her. We know that she is a dragon, but she can only change into one when she gets aroused. She also has no memories of when she turns into a dragon and is probably connected to Bahamut in some way.

Mugaro (M/F?) is a mysterious character who will receive a lot of attention, but we currently know little of him apart from his powers.

Rita and Kaisar currently fills a supportive role, they are missing FAVAROO to become the unbeatable trio.

Every character in this show is unique and interesting, it truly deserves a 10 in this area.

Enjoyment: 8

While the specs of this show are mostly top-notch, the episodes feel quite short. It's a 24 episode show so things are bound to be more elaborate and slowly paced than a 1-cour show, which means that the enjoyment factor will change in the future. The most enjoyable current parts are definitely the comedy in it. The battles are handled well but it's still too early in the series to really enjoy them.

Overall: 9

This is a show that has LOTS of potential. studio MAPPA are not cutting corners when it comes to animation and there is a lot of room for the story to develop over these 24 episodes. The characters are all great and unique but we are still missing a few of them, which means that before I can give this show a flashy 10, I need to see more of it. Definitely one of the best shows of spring 2017.

This anime will probably never get a 3rd season since it has done so poorly but besides all that its a decent enough series it def isnt as good as the first season and part of that reason is because of the entire nina and chris dynamic which really takes the series from like an 8 to a 6. If you've watched season one you know how great the ending was i've grown to appreciate it more over the years but it was really good it defintely didn't need a second season in my eyes but they gave it a second season so like mostfans i was excited but then you see nina and not favaro and it leaves a sour taste in ya mouth personally i didnt care because she was so eccentric and just had a lot of high energy so i liked her the season was good for a whlle but then the king comes in he's basically made a society in which the demons are slaves to the humans and has some crazy ass army with magic powers and shit at first you'd think his only purpose was to be an asshole.. but cool hes a basic character then you have to factor in nina dragon changing ability at first it was whenever she became attracted to a guy she would turn into a dragon fast forward her meeting the king for the first time but the king is disguised and basically helps her out when a bunch of dudes were tryna beat her up or some shit llike that my memory isnt the best bare with me she ends up falling for him not knowing hes the king and because she ends up falling for him shes the only guy she is now attracted to her first love and he is the only person at that point which can turn her into a dragon. I thought the king would use her and the story would go in that direction but it didnt and that was my problem her loving the king him clearly having feelings but repressing them and him being a terrible dictator yet she still loves him. Her completely negating all the shit hes done because shes in love is retarded and it ruins the series in my books. They had previous characters from season one bacchus,jean,zombie girl,kaisar and favaro even back when favaro came back i was hyped but then he didn't really contribute much to the season even though in the moments where he did help nina out they were great but having nina as the main character and having favaro exist being a much better fleshed out character also made the series suffer. I'm just gonna skip to the ending it was good and bad but because it left me kind of frustrated i'll side with the bad more than the good. The fact that jean and Azazel allowed the king to live when they had the chance to kill him is beyond me the fight with the bahamut was a cup of coffee the result of the bahamut with nina ending up becoming mute and is unable to speak while the king has become blind in both eyes... i mean wtf kind of shit is that. The good about the ending was nina meeting amira in the light of the bahamut which was cool but it didnt last long nor was much of anything and then the scene where favaro tells everyone hes leaving this occurs after the fight and nina and the others are having a meal she goes with him and ends up writing out a message on the ground because she cant speak anymore she tells favaro that she met amira in the light of the bahamut and relays a message she told her during that moment for favaro that was really cool but other than that the final episode was dissapointing the entire season has been disspointing and its a shame there was many good moments in this season but towards the ending half of the series it was very wishy washy and ended up falling off a cliff. Its not a bad season but it doesn't live up to how good the first season was so its a dissapointment. It really did not need a second season at all.

If you thoroughly enjoyed the first Shingeki no Bahamut, I strongly do not recommend this sequel since it isn't worth it. The art and music continue to be mesmerising and breathtaking, but both of which cannot compensate for the lack of good storytelling and character developments. The story in general has a great plot going for them that has sociopolitical tones which follows after the events in the first anime, but is frustratingly overwhelmed by a romantic subplot that is arguably unnecessary, and ludicrous. The female protagonist was wasted on said romantic subplot although she was formerly presented as an individual who was not onlyvastly intriguing, but also reasonably appealing. Not the same could be said with the other characters, most of whom do return to the screen, unwaveringly charming and significant.

Overall, I am vastly disappointed and infuriated with the turn of events in the anime that could all have been avoided if the writers had decided to not add said subplot.

It's honestly disappointing that I have to write this review because I adored Genesis. But for some reason they decided it was a good idea to turn a adventure fantasy anime into a soap opera with one of the worst romances between two of the worst characters I've ever had the displeasure of watching in an anime. While the visuals are gorgeous, the same can't be said for the plot or characters. Ironically, the only characters that are enjoyable are the ones from Genesis. But even that enjoyment is short lived since the writers of this season go above and beyond to shit on thosecharacters while propping up the horrible new ones. Nina who starts off as an enjoyable and energetic character turns into this mentally handicapped lovestruck idiot who constantly makes questionable decisions that ends up hurting her own friends. And the old cast from Genesis are either treated horribly or used as a mouthpiece for the writers to justify the nonsense in this series. And this leads to the character that I have the biggest problem with, Charioce. The definition of Gary Stu, nothing goes wrong for this guy and despite the fact that he's a horrible person, the writers try to justify it with the whole "he did it for the great good" nonsense which immediately falls apart if you even slightly think about it. This series is a cautionary tale of how not to make a sequel and is an insult to it's great and fun predecessor Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis.

If you want to learn how to screw up a hero's journey story, a love story and a "good all along" story - all at the same time - look no further than Virgin Soul. I don't think i've seen an anime trip over itself more in its 3rd act than this one, and it's a real shame, because for the most part you have a cast of characters that mesh really well together. Even though I found Jean D'Arc and the angels quite boring and they suck up a lot of screen time in the 2nd half, that's really only the beginning of Virgin Soul'sproblems.

Virgin Soul starts off 10 years after the events of the 1st season. I wouldn't recommend watching this without first having seen the prequel.. but I wouldn't recommend this anime at all to begin with. But i'm getting ahead of myself - our main character this time around is Nina, a bubbly and energetic young girl looking for an adventurous new life in the capital. Over time, she eventually gets entangled with familiar cast members, although you'll have to be patient for some to arrive.

The villain - at first - seems to be the stern and unwavering young King Charioce, who has enslaved and killed thousands of demons and angels with a powerful magic bestowed on his personal army, effectively placing humans at the top of the world's food chain. Nina, befriending characters such as Jean, Bacchus and Azazel, is very much aware of this and vows to join their efforts to stop him.

But then.. well, our little starlet Nina unknowingly falls in love with him. And you could forgive some young puppy love - especially if you don't know your crush is a genocidal psychopath hellbent on world domination. But then it keeps going - even after she realizes who he actually is, she insists that he should be spared - because how could her naive feelings possibly be wrong? And thus Nina goes from being the ambitious, likable young sprout to a completely insufferable, selfish brat who consistently screws over her friends.

And all this culminates to what has to be one of the most confused, muddied and bizarre disasters of a 3rd act of a story. There's only so much I can give away without completely spoiling the entire sorry excuse of a story, but I will say this - the plot "twists" are totally insulting to the audience, and everything that made this franchise good gets sidelined in favor of shoving in a totally unappealing romantic sideplot as the crux of the 2nd half.

The final episodes, while exciting and heartwrenching for brief moments, are totally baffling. That the writers thought audiences would buy into everything that was shoehorned into this anime legitimately puzzles me. And how all of Nina's friends weren't absolutely infuriated with her is equally confusing - but also probably just lazy writing.

And that is really the main issue with Virgin Soul. The set-up is fantastic, but it can't deliver on one-upping itself. Maybe the writers got lost in the story and simply ran out of time to come up with a good ending. We'll probably never know. And it doesn't matter. What matters is that in the end, Virgin Soul is a great example of what NOT to do with the story paths the writers chose to follow.

If they had found a way to wrap up the story in a neat bow in 12 episodes, I would have recommended this anime. But it kept going, and it kept getting worse, and they ruined it. I only give it a 4/10 because I did enjoy the first half - a solid 8/10. The 2nd half is more like a 2/10. So yeah - if someone gave you a sandwich with random splotches of mold on it, would you eat it? You can't cut it in half and only eat the good parts. You've got to eat ALL of it. Don't go into this anime without expecting to be let down.

My pulse is still a bit high after this experience that was “Shingeki no Bahamut: Virgin Soul”. When I heard that a 24-episode sequel to “Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis” was to be released, I was both part overly excited and part anxious. I loved the prequel, it instantly became one of my all-time favourites. So, naturally I was very nervous when I was watching the first episode of “Virgin Soul”, would it be as good as Genesis? I would have been satisfied with just half as good, but was rewarded with, that yes, it was indeed as good as Genesis. Or maybe even little betterbecause it had the double amount of episodes, which they used with exactly right sorts of material. You know, right amount of background stories, that fill up the gaps from the past 10 years since the prequel, and on world building. The extra time also gives the opportunity to knot every main and side character together in a story-wise appealing way, which neither forces their interaction or totally neglect it.

Well balanced, is the short term I seek to give a fast summarize of “Virgin Soul”. Just as it´s prequel, “Virgin Soul” mixes fantasy, adventure, action, drama, comedy, magic and romance in such a fluent and balanced manor.

And leaves me now with mixed feelings. I´m equally satisfied and sad that the adventure is over. The story, the characters, the action and the fights, the friendships and the romance, the epic adventures, and not to speak of the awesome animation and choreography, makes “Virgin Soul” shine like a star. Especially compared to many other shows this past two seasons, it is in its own league. I´m going to be honest, I´m absolutely biased. Not only cover “Virgin Soul” my favourite mix of genres, its execution, in my eyes, it’s done in an absolute perfect manor, and certainly worth the title masterpiece.

Now, when I got that of my chest, let´s talk about “Virgin Soul” in a little more practical way.

The story takes place 10 years after the end of the prequel. I highly recommend you to watch the prequel first, it makes the sequel 10 x more enjoyable. A lot have changed since that last destructive battle with Bahamut. Humans have with their new king Charioce XVII in the lead, turned their backs to the Gods and are ransacking their holy temples for power. The humans have used that power to attack the Demons Capital, and forced even the strongest demons into hiding. The ones not so lucky to escape, was turned into slaves to rebuild the Human Capital, Anatea. Demons are also forced to fight as gladiators, used for experiments, and to work as prostitutes. The gods have so far stand hand fallen at the march of the humans, and desperately seeks the one child that can turn the war to their favour. Only one Demon and his mysterious companion, seem to fight for the imprisoned demons, the Rag Demon. Disguised, he attacks and kills slave traders, soldiers, and noblemen that do horrific things to demons. Kaisar, now Captain of the Orleans Knights, are pressed by king Charioce, to obtain the Rag Demon at all costs. Rita now works as a doctor, and do everything in her usual calm, cool zombie manor.

And perfectly oblivious to all of it, Nina Dragno, a teenage girl from the far East who has come to the city for work, lands in the middle of everything. As the story progresses, the fates of those who was around last time, and new faces, are drawn together, and starts to spiral towards the inevitable ending.

This is the start ground of one hell of an adventure-fantasy-romance story. As in the prequel, they manage to weave this story web as neatly as ever. It´s coherent, balanced, and even paced. They manage to link the story to the prequel, so the characters actions get more weight behind them without feeling forced. Not many unnecessary, words or conversations. Their exchanges bear all meaning and clues to the plot, and how different characters are connected. They do a great job with keeping us in what’s happening and why, by cut in previous scenes that gives the information you need, and knit the story together. “Virgin Soul” has little slower pace than “Genesis”, but it has twice it´s time and the little shift of pace only left room for more exploring of the characters and the world setting. Like, why is he or she in that particular situation, with this or that character, or in that mind set.

*A tip while watching, many of the episodes have extra material relevant to the plot after the ED-song. So, if you not want to miss anything, check the remaining minutes of the episode when the ED starts. It´s a good chance that there is more material.

The concept of actions having consequences, are highly applied in the “Shingeki no Bahamut”-series. You can feel the brutality of deaths, the emotional scars they leave, and what those scars can lead to. That, is no small task to manage to display on screen. To provoke and establish those type of emotions, make me feel for the characters, their cause, and why they are fighting. That is what makes the fight scenes and action so good. I could feel the underlaying conviction, rage, determination, vengeance, love, or the regrets that drives the character. “Virgin Soul” have them all. It for sure has it´s lights part as well, which creates a very harmonic contrast. A warm delicious meal, with companions in a fairy tale cosy setting, or an everyday errand that ends up in an unlikely encounter, or the shopping for some goodies in a small shop, or a dance at a festival, are all details of light and easy happiness. The mood of “Virgin Soul” skews towards more darker tones the later half of the show, which makes the warm and happy parts clench your heart an extra bit more.

The characters are as well fleshed out as they can be. Their background stories, developments, relationships, and personalities are all satisfyingly explored and coherent. And here have “Virgin Soul” managed to do what so many before them have failed with, all the main and side characters feel equally important and interesting. In many shows, you get the feeling that many of the side characters are just there to make the protagonists look good or better than they are. That´s not the case for the characters in “Virgin Soul”, each of them are equally exciting to watch, and they all feels important to the plot. Some minor details, can at first seem very cliché, but are turned and used in a very heart-warming way, at least I could see the beauty of it. Of course, the personalities are exaggerated, this is anime after all. But, for me, it only highlights what´s “Virgin Soul” is all about. It´s about epic battles, people, and monsters. It´s about adventure, love, and hardships. It´s about family, bravery, vengeance, betrayal, and choices. About people brought together to write history.

I´ve read some complaints about Nina´s character, but I have only positive things to say about her. Nina was a fresh breath of air as a fantasy-heroine to me. She isn´t overly pretty, or overly smart, and for sure not a damsel in distress. She is however, independent, wild, caring, strong, fast, carefree, brave, and positive. Her character felt multi-layered, believable, and relatable to me.

This is an overall theme for the characters in the series, they have their personal traits, but are for sure not static. The things they go through, how they handle it, and how they grow from it as individuals, is just as different as it would be for you and me. Their reactions to certain events, felt in harmony with their character, but in the same time left them space to grow and change in a believable way.

The soundtrack is outstanding, to put it short. Dramatical orchestral music, during those intense battle scenes, beautiful and peace giving tones for the light and happy moments, and heart-clenching pieces for the emotional scenes. They even have some nice opera pieces. Can just say “Aaaawe”, and thank you for their good work. The sound effects are always spot on, and matches the great visuals perfectly. I could feel the impact of someone thrown into a stone wall, the power of an energy blast land, the rubble raining down across the city, or the chilling sound of a sword leaving its sheath.

The voice actors (Japanese) are outdoing themselves, each character is well matched with it´s voice actor. The cold and powerful voice Charioce, the honourable and passionate voice of Kaisar, the positive and carefree voice of Nina, the calm and un-faced voice of Rita, the desperate and rage filled voice of Azazel, and the fierce and strong voice of Jeanne D´Arc - they are all spot on. They made me cry and laugh many times during my watch.

The art, animation, direction, and choreography is in its own league. Top notch, it doesn´t get much better than this. Half the budget most`ve been spent on the characters eyes and faces, for not to speak of the backgrounds. The facial expression is so clear and intense, brought forth by those masterly done eyes. You can see the slightest shift in an emotion, how much they communicate with them. Bright colours and light are used to lift a burning determination, surprise, or warmth. The scenery is always gorgeous; no matter if it´s a bird´s view of the Capital with its stone and wooden houses and enormous lake, or the shiny lands of the gods, or a local festival with its tents, foods, dances and fireworks. It all looks positively stunning. The choreography is bloody perfect, the movements of the characters or objects, the angles they are followed in, are just so darn awesome. Just watch and see for yourself.

So, did I enjoy “Virgin Soul”? I think it is pretty clear that I enjoyed it a hell of a lot. Each episode felt like a well-rounded satisfying piece in the adventure that was “Virgin Soul” to me. Best damned thing I watched since its prequel earlier this year. And I´m quite thrilled that the show leaves it open for a continuation.

The characters were as awesome as ever, the story as interesting as ever, the battles as badass as ever, the romance one of the best I seen in a long while, the art and animation reached new heights, and the music was mind-baffling. “Virgin Soul” just landed on my all-time favourite list, no questions asked. Hands down, this was bloody awesome. Thanks again, studio MAPPA, who once again shows that they are a studio to be reckon with.

“Where does the wind blow? It blows towards tomorrow.”

As far as sequels go, I think Shingeki no Bahamut: Virgin Soul did a decent job. The story focuses on a new character Nina this time around and the old characters such as Favaro and Kaiser, while still important to the story, they play more of a supporting role this season. I thought the story was enjoyable overall although I'm probably being more lenient than most others. The writing in the story does have it's issues, especially in the second half of the season. The art and the animation were outstanding and I feel as if it was a step up from what the first seasonwas if I'm remembering it right. Also the soundtrack did a fabulous job of setting the atmosphere for the anime. The characters were good but the way some of them were handled could have been better.

Overall I had a great time with Shingeki no Bahamut: Virgin Soul and I thought it was near the level of where the previous season was.

I've spent the whole of yesterday watching the first season. Then the first episode of the second season and after realizing it's inferior, I fast-forwarded the rest of the second season up to the 20th episode. Simply put, the second season is a disaster, a letdown, really boring and overall bad. The first season in contrast felt a bit more mature, straightforward and to the point, while the second one has twice the episodes, some episodes feel like 90% fillers and 10% content or useless flashbacks taking up to 90% of the episode when they can take about 30% (at best) and leave the restfor the story to unfold so that it all falls into 12 episodes again.

It feels to me like this show has deteriorated the same way Shingeki no Kyojin did (similar names irony pun maybe?) - they both started out good in their first season, but at the second one went on, it became clear that they are being dragged to make more money rather than leave the viewers satisfied.

Now, what made me dislike the second season:

The characters - the new protagonist is a girl with striking similarities to the old one that kinda died a little (or whatever) - both are naive, both are obsessed with eating, both have a funny side, in season 2's case, the protagonist gets uncomfortable near hot men and while this can be fun to see one or two times at best throughout the show, it gets boring, WHEN IT'S HAPPENING A COUPLE OF TIMES EACH EPISODE. It also really bothers me how the two (remaining) protagonists from season 1 feel like secondary characters in season 2, one of which actually makes an appearance during THE MIDDLE of season 2 and most of the primary characters in season 2 are either new ones or ex-secondary ones from season 1.

The story and setting - while season 1 felt more like One Piece (characters traveling around the world, seeing new locations), season 2 feels more like Naruto (characters spending the entirety of the show in the same few locations).

The theme of the show - the theme has changed between season 1 and 2 - while in season 1 it was more serious and dramatic, in season 2 it has become more light-hearted and funny, relying on stupid puns to pass the time and I really hate that in anime I watch (if you check my profile, it says I like serious and thought-provoking anime such as Mushishi for example contrary to stupid ones relying on puns to pass time) and ones as Shingeki no Bahamut season 2 are pissing me off to the point I might even give anime a break, but I won't because there are still very good ones that I wouldn't want to miss out on. xD

If you've read this far into it, thank you for taking your time to read my take on this show and I hope this review helps you decide how you spend your time better rather than get you angry at me because we have differing opinions.

Why is everyone hating so much? I also hated this sequel because I hated Nina and I only cared to see Amira again, but compared to the other anime that were airing at the same time, this was definitely one of the good ones. The characters are original and the art is really nice. The intro was shit compared to the one before, and I hated this anime actually at the start, but the end was so sweet and now I kind of like it. Nina is actually a very nice character and stop rating this anime so low because it was not bad at all.

Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis was a fun, vibrant, swashbuckling adventure in such a clusterfuck setting. To quote Tolkien's "On Fairy Stories", it's a Secondary World that does not inspire Secondary Belief. But it works for the kind of story Genesis attempted. Shingeki no Bahamut: Virgin Soul attempts to expound on that simple narrative with a far more ambitious story, one that is set up to fail in the light of the world built in Genesis. The established world simply does not hold up to scrutiny once a more serious narrative repeatedly brings forth its glaring flaws. Virgin Soul is set 10 years after the events ofGenesis, under a new social equilibrium and power dynamic of a new world order. Enter the ubermensch, super-powered, menacingly armored humans under the control of the king. With humanity's newfound might, they now waged war upon gods and demons. The latter has been soundly defeated years ago and made slaves under the cruel whip of the species they once tormented.

Here, the most glaring problem arises almost immediately. Ethics, morality, socio-economic realities, these are such complicated concepts for a setting with so many holes and so many facets still left unestablished.

The power dynamics introduced in Genesis is one where humans fight an eternal war with demons, with the occasional help from the gods thrown in. One can infer from the events in Genesis that humans are merely proxy in the wars of the gods and demons. It's so simplistic in nature and now that the wheels had turned, you cannot bring yourself to care. Now humanity has the upper hand and by god, they have every right to hold demons in contempt and to flaunt their power against the gods whose whims and fancy they are no longer under the mercy of.

And what is ethics? At what state of social equilibrium is this world under? How do they view slavery? A necessary evil in rebuilding? A proof of humanity's triumph? This should clue you in to how secure or how tenuous the king's hold is and how the events of the story changes that.

On the side of the gods, their effort to bring humanity back into their fold calls forth into question the benefits of such an arrangement. Aside from ready cannon fodder which seems to be composed entirely of one kingdom, there is no other stated benefit for their leader to be feverish about. There is still the matter of survival, though certain conversations side-line that in favor of the idea that humanity, that the sheep has strayed from the flock and requires a shepherd. Or maybe the gods are the supreme arbiter of the world order? Except that the events of Genesis says otherwise.

What is faith? How does it work in pantheon of what seems to be a shit-ton of deities? Are angels gods? Are they minor deities? What do they inspire in people? We have a world where deities have physical manifestations. Surely its not your usual Abrahamic belief?

It's hard to be invested in a setting you keep questioning. Other reviewers will say the failure of Virgin Soul lies in the characters or the story. They are wrong. The failure of Virgin Soul lies in the setting that should have given more depth to the story and more nuance to the characters and their decisions.

Exploring nuance in the politics and ethics of a setting with the barest of social equilibrium... it's simply isn't done. Especially so when much of the meat of Virgin Soul before the final third of its runtime is an attempt at that.

Not much else can be said about Virgin Soul. If you know your Gaise Macon, your Arthas Menethil, your Lelouch Lamperouge, then you've seen this story done better, even by such an infinitesimal degree.

An insult to the Bahamut's name. Major downgrade from S1. [Light spoilers] Tl Dr: - "The wrongs justify the rigths" This is the anime message, who was visible from the very begging (Ep 7?).Story 3: As said above, the anime plot was visible from the begging. Disappointing.

Art 5: Very bad. Almost all women have the same model with different hair.

Sound 8: Pretty good. Like the animation, the strong point here.

En

Characters 5: Almost none for everyone. When the first plot happened, I felt nothing.

Enjoyment 6: I felt I could've watched a better anime..

Overall 6: If you have nothing to what, maybe you can lose some time here.

I initially dove into the season think that it would be about favaro looking for a way to rescue Amira but noo it’s about a stupid girl named Nina who is half dragon and fall for The villain while that was going I’m thinking really dude massacred angels and demons yet you still love him basically what I’m saying is the story was straight donkey poop It stole hours of my sleep let’s just hope if they ever do a third season they focus more on the characters of the first season instead of giving new main characters that makes a person wish they couldjump across screens just to punch the character in the face

Hours since the end and it is still in my mind. Cant get myself together! I feel for that series. Dont want to analyse and put in formulas anything. Series left me lifted. From the first episode to the last it was an exiting and heart touching journey that was gaining momentum with each minute. I liked the action and romance weave. Nina is a surprising caracter, who turned out to be a strong and courageous woman. The love intrigue will be one of my all time favorites. I love that the end is not "right". I love that the LOVE justifies everything, that fellins cannot be changed, that hearts got tied up in a knot.

Absolutelly loved endings by DAOKO, espesially "Cinderella".. so lovely! Openings were bald!

My second Review is about Shingeki no Bahamut: Virgin Soul which continues the tale of the social and moral conflict between humans, gods, and demons, and their struggle for survival and dominance Story: 8/10 In Terms of Story Writing it did a lot of things good like unexpectedly deaths of characters,introduction of the main cast Nina and telling a high quality fantasy story .In the ends it lacks a little bit of quality because you see that they tried to put as much as much as possible in the last few episodes instead of telling a story evenly exciting. Art: 9/10 Just like the prequel,the art in this Anime is the best you can hope for a fantasy anime ,sometimes its a little bit overexposed but still top-notch animation from studio MAPPA

Sound: 9/10

Even trough i didn't liked the first opening very much its second opening and ending is on the same eargasm level as from the prequel . The Background sounds in fights or in emotional moments enhance the feelings that the show wants you to express.

Characters: 8/10

It has some Clishee characters like the King or Azazel but still it has a good main cast Nina which continues the good female part like in the prequel.

Every characters backgrounds get explained really good so that you feel with them as they die or have epic moments. Same Thing as in the Story Section

the ending for each character felt a little bit to swift thats why only can give 8 Points.

Enjoymend: 10/10

I really liked the anime not only because I'm a fan of fantasy but also of great emotional storys and musicial background.Each episode got me really

excited and through the good animation i felt entertained.

Overall: 9/10

to summerize the whole show i would say that if you have a thing for fantasy storys with great characters and good animation you should watch this and the prequel.

The show has finished yet, and it's my first time with the series, so I'm just gonna give a quick thought of mine: The story is pretty generic, humanity fighting Gods and demon and that kind of stuff, featuring a 16 y/o girl who owns some secret power, an alcoholic, a talking animal, a trap and a bunch of smokin hot characters. But it's pretty enjoyable. Storytelling is great, I don't need to see the first season to understand what's going on. I can see the progress is being made, but not character's developments since it's just the beginning of the show. The humor doesn't feelforceful at all, I've had some good laugh, but shit does get real when it needs to.

The art is on point. It makes the atmosphere really immersive. There is CGI mostly used for the background characters, but they are definately not perfunetorily, but very detail, lifeful and connect with the scene instead. They really put a lot of budget and effort into this.

Music is kinda meh. Maybe it's because I've heard to much from top-tier producers.

In summary, this is being the most enjoyable show of this season for me till date. One thing I wound recommend is to wait till it has finished and then watch it all at once, since you would probably forget about it in a week or so to focus on AoT or Hero Academia.

Total and utter disgrace to Season 1. The new writer just shits all over the Genesis character. Holy heck I was soooooo pissed after watching that ending. And I haven't been this mad in a long time not since Guilty Crown anyway (although with GC, that show is just consistently bad and riddled with plot holes unlike Virgin Soul). I'll be honest here, this show had sooooooo much potential, but it feels like the writers forgot that they only had 24 episodes for this season. The beginning and middle were really enjoyable and I was eager to watch the next episode, but the last severalepisodes leading to the end were just plain wtf, and that very last part where they opened it up for a third season SHOULD had made me happy, but instead it gave me the feeling that they were using that as an excuse to be lazy with the ending. With Genesis we had a concise and proper ending that made me super hyped for the inevitable sequel. Here though, it just makes me concerned for season 3 considering what they did to Virgin Souls' ending.

To sum it up, avoid this like a plague, but if you haven't watched the first season, Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis, then do yourself a favaro and do it. Right. Now.