Diabolik Lovers Episode 1
What They Say:
“The girl learns her fate amongst the beautiful scent of wild roses. The girl encounters them, as if being drawn there by the threads of fate. ‘Yours Truly is going to take her every first experience.’ ‘Tell me, do you hate me? Do you want to learn more about me?’ ‘Does it hurt? You poor thing… Okay, I’ll make it hurt even more, little bitch.’ ‘I know why you came to this house. This blood (of yours) is of the finest quality.’ ‘Humans are nothing more than containers of blood.’ ‘Stay out of my business! Come any closer, and I’ll destroy you!’
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
More of a multimedia project than a direct adaptation of any one thing in particular, Diabolik Lovers comes from studio Zecxs and has one of the more hilarious promotional concepts out there, which you can read above if you skipped it. The show is a bit different from most, though I like that it’s at least working with something that may be tighter and better for it with a fifteen minute run time. Rather than padding it out, it may play more concisely overall as we’ve seen from the few recent shows that do work with that run time. Reverse harem shows are always tricky in some ways, but Diabolik Lovers at least starts off with a certain kind of style and sense about it that definitely paints it as something different.
The series revolves around a young woman named yui who has come to a particular dorm hall to live for school. This turns out to be news to those that live there though and Yui runs into problems right away as one young man named Ayato there that she thinks is dead actually is alive and seemingly threatens to drain her neck dry. Her presence in the place is a curiosity there as nobody knows what to make of her being there, but as more of the young men of the house arrive, they actually get close and lick her, getting a taste for a yummy looking human. It’s a simple series of quick introductions of several very pretty young men with pale skin and open outfits. Yui’s presence is unnerving for some of them since she is a human, and they’re obviously not, and her scent is something that raises a fair number of problems for some of them.
Though she tries to leave, silky words manage to get her to stay longer and she finds herself drawn into this group of young men and talk of brides. Yui’s confusion is kind of fun to watch, especially as it’s given some fun gothic trappings with the visuals and music, and the young men certainly torment her in their own way. An abusive relationship certainly forms right from the get go here and Yui finds herself trapped, though at least she does try to make an honest run for it and use some of the classic trappings to deal with vampires as she realizes what she’s facing. Each new instance only makes it clearer though that these young men will definitely make her life a living hell, from the names they give her to the tone and words they use in general. Yui’s sense of desperation is quite well done and feels honest as she runs, only to be scared more and more by them and realizing all the more just how trapped she is.
In Summary:
I had no idea what to really expect with Diabolik Lovers going into it, but I have to admit that I’m hugely intrigued to see what they do. Yes, it’s abusive. Yes, Yui is going to suffer here physically and mentally with what the boys are like. But taken into context, we’re getting a show where our lead is simply prey to be toyed with and it’ll be interesting to see how it works and whether they can pull it off. I’m not one easily offended and I do generally feel that even if material is abhorrent, it’s worth being explored rather than denied and ignored, as that often makes a problem worse. Will Diabolik Lovers make men abuse women more? Will women submit more because of it? Or will it all just be a bit of fun play that some couples can use in their lives to enrich things. All three aren’t exclusive… and the show certainly is done in a really engaging way.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
