Valvrave: 01 - First Impression

Shoko being confessed to

Valvrave's description was almost identical to that of Gundam Seed, and while Valvrave is an original series, I was skeptical about the show's ability to surprise me, but then my mind was blown.

3 seconds of random boob action = SURE WHY NOT

Valvrave's first episode wasn't very unique per say, in fact i'm sure a lot of people predicted what was going to happen. While the structure of the show is similar to Gundam Seed and various other shows depicting a normal high school boy ending up gaining some sort of power, it was well presented and kept me entertained.

The episode split itself between two events; the regular high school slice-of-life of Haruto, and the infiltration of the space dome by kids with messed up personalities. Obviously the two events intertwine and Haruko ends up piloting the Valvrave; an awesome looking mecha that ends up defeating the infiltrating army set on capturing the Valvrave itself.  Overall the plot is ordinary and somewhat bland, since everyone has seen this type of beginning before. Still, the Haruko and Shoko relationship conflicts were enjoyable and I do think they make a perfect couple.

This sentence pretty much sums up Haruko

What I do like about the show is Haruko himself. Haruko reminds me Shu from Guilty Crown, except Haruko isn't as pathetic and actually grows a pair, instead of withering like an insecure brat. Haruko is shown as a quiet, laid back guy who blends in with everyone as a real standard character in comparison to his aggressive friend and his secret crush Shoko.

Haruko actually blends in with the rest of the characters, almost to a point where the show could have gone into a slice of life story where everyone fits in equally. This portrayal of Haruko blending in well with his friends helped drive the sudden change in events surrounding him into something I actually cared about, rather than hoping the show would just get to the mecha battle to progress the plot. Gundam Seed is one example where you really don't care about the character conflicts in the beginning since you know it's just going to end up in a mecha battle and that the initial events wont have any impact on the show after the first episode. Valvrave on the other hand has some quality character relations where I actually enjoyed watching the events unfold and ultimately I did feel a slight heart wrenching moment near the end when I had already anticipated the results.

I do enjoy this show and the surprises at the end of the episode pretty much blew my mind, I like Haruko as a character and I hope we get to see more of the slice-of-life stuff to build character rather than have another super serious and somewhat boring plot with lame character conflicts like Gundam Seed.

~Djr7