Initial Impressions: Kakumeiki Valvrave

I know opinions are fairly split on this one, but I at least enjoyed the heck out of this premiere.

When you've gotten through your fair share of stories in any medium, you start to realize that there's no such thing as originality. For as long as humans have existed, we've always told narratives, and every idea has already been used in some shape or form at some point in time. That being the case, there are some narratives that are so obvious in their borrowing methods that it's tough not to give them flak for doing so, and I can see where a lot of the criticism against Valvrave comes from. Sunrise is pretty much the origin of the legacy of mecha as we know it today, but it borrows from itself as heavily as it does from others. Code Geass, Gundam, etc., there's so many similarities it's kind of hard to call this original material. However, to say that the episode wasn't entertaining is going a bit far; at the very least, Valvrave knows how to keep your attention firmly glued onto it for its twenty-odd minutes.

Though there's nothing particularly unique or eyecatching about this series in its singular components, it does all come together really well. The character designs and colors are more pleasing than they should be, though nothing objectively special, and though the events are those straight out of every mecha series ever created (more or less), they just work here. Tokishima Haruto (the excellent Ohsaka Ryouta showcasing his talent once again) is a normal student, albeit a citizen of a neutral space colony called JIOR, who has no more worries than how to confess to his spunky friend Sashinami Shoko (Seto Asami). When JIOR is invaded by the Dorssia Military Pact Federation despite JIOR's neutrality, Haruto's normal life is shattered, and vowing to get revenge for the attack, he throws himself into the cockpit of a conveniently available mecha hidden beneath his school, signing away his "right as a human being" in the process.

What Haruto doesn't know is that the school had earlier been infiltrated by a set of youths from Dorssia pretending to be students, and that they're the ones responsible for getting Valvrave, Haruto's mecha, out in the open. Their leader, L-Elf (Kimura Ryouhei) hunts Haruto down and kills him... except Haruto's contract to give away his rights as a human being has turned him into some sort of immortal vampire, and things are suddenly way more complicated than they seem at first glance. It's a great twist, albeit a somewhat insane one, but it does go a long way in helping to establish just what it is this series is trying to do. Original or not, Sunrise has created something at least interesting and at most entertaining, and I don't think it's really trying to be different from most mecha. Like Ginga Kikoutai, Valvrave is harkening back to the roots of the genre, though it takes itself far more seriously than the former and does a good job at it. Really though, ultimately all that matters is how much you as an individual like something, objective criticism aside, and far from perfect though it is (oh how I want less CGI), I had a lot of fun watching Valvrave; look forward to its inclusion on the season schedule.

Episode 1 Screencaps: "Revelation of the World"
ED "Preserved Roses" by T.M.Revolution x Nana Mizuki