Anime Review | Servamp (Episode 7)

Its been a long time since I’ve sat and watched something and begged myself to stop and sadly Servamp has me doing just that. I honestly don’t know where I’m getting the strength to stick this one out.

The Story so Far

54155Servamp revolves around Mahiru Shirota, a 15 year old boy who likes things that are simple and dislikes things that are difficult. One day on his way home from school Mahiru finds a stray kitten and takes it home with him, naming it Kuro. As it turns out, Kuro is actually one of seven Servamp – Servant Vampire – who each embody one of the seven deadly sins with Kuro being Sleepy Ash, the Servamp Sloth.

After accidentally forming a temporary contract with Kuro, Mahiru finds himself and some friends under attack by Belkia, a vampire sent to kill Kuro who starts by attacking Mahiru’s friends. After somehow finding the determination to defend himself and his friends, Mahiru forms a permanent contract with Kuro by feeding him his blood and officially becoming his Eve. They easily defeat Belkia with Mahiru seeing for the first time how vicious Vampires, even Kuro can be.

As things progress we discover that Belkia is the Subclass of the eight Servamp Tsubaki who for yet unclear reasons wants to bring about death and suffering to everyone, starting with his 7 Servamp siblings (they’re all related apparently). After facing off against Tsubaki, Marhiru decides that Tsubaki must be stopped and over the course of the episodes eventually meets and befriends Misono and Lily, the Eve and Servamp of lust as well as Tetsu and Huge, the Eve and Servamp of Pride.

Where we are now

After meeting Licht Jekyalland Todoroki, an 18 year old world class pianist, and Lawless, the Servamp of Greed in the previous episode. Mahiru and Kuro and still trying to recover from the effects of the massacre by Lawless of Tsubaki’s subclasses as well as the effects of Licht’s musical attack.

Kuro has very obviously been heavily impacted by his encounter with Lawless who began dredging up bits of his past as well as whatever yet untold tragic memory he was forced to relive due to Licht’s song. Dispite this however, Mahiru directs his focus on helping one of the Tsubaki’s lone remaining Servamps, Lila and trying to plan the next move with Misono and Tetsu. Kuro shows some major signs of distress and when Mahiru attempts to confront him, he is overwhelmed by the pure malice and darkness radiating from Kuro and, out of fear, chooses not to confront the issues at hand, instead choosing to focus on dealing with Tsubaki.

When it is later revealed that Lawless was captured by Tsubaki and that Licht may be in danger, Mahiru rushes into action to try and save him, once again without seeking assistance from his allies. This time, despite the urging of Kuro who is still not fully himself the events of the previous night. They find Licht locked in a losing battle against Higan, the strongest of Tsubaki’s subclass’ who they were just recently warned about by Lila. When Mahiru and Kuro decide to jump into battle, Kuro is over taken by the same dark aura seen the night before and gets transformed into a black crystal ball. When Mahiru attempts to summon his weapon it too gets sucked into the ball, leaving him powerless and defenseless.

An injured Licht tries to save him but despite his powerful skills and bold words to Mahiru, he is defeated and captured. The episode ends with Misono and Tetsu deciding to try and save Licht and Lawless on their own as Mahiru is now powerless. After they leave, Mahiru is stricken by remorse for his actions taken and somehow awaken discovers that Kuro is still conscious and trapped within the crystal ball.

Episode Summary

The episode does nothing to strengthen Mahiru as a character which may be the major short coming of this anime. At this point, most character’s motivations seem clear even if the story has not revealed much of their backstory but that is simply not the case.

Servamp Ep7 pt2
Kuro trapped inside a black crystal ball

Mahiru continues to crusade against Tsubaki’s war but his willingness to lead the charge is still not understood. He claims to be motivated by the need to protect others one minute but then the other he seems to be solely motivated but the need to act because he can. Which reflects poorly on the story.

To be quite honest, while the characters are indeed quirky and entertaining, they all just seem like a weird mix of character traits which is meant to make them each unique and refreshing but yet comes off as off putting and just out there. I’m not sure if its the lack of character building or the manner in which the plot itself is progressing but at this point we are still left needing more out of these characters but sadly not caring enough to actually want it anymore.

Hopefully next weeks episode can shine some light on what makes the battle against Tsubaki so important to Mahiru or at least finally reveal the deep dark secrets hidden in Kuro’s past. The climax should be coming soon but at the moment the most that can be asked out of Servamp is some clarity.

Adrian Moses

A massive biggest One Piece fan who just wants to spend his days on a world adventure.