Rating: 8.9/10

Impressions:

Although the quality dropped a helluva lot this episode, it somewhat reforms around the middle and end. I believe this would be the first episode chronologically, but I doubt this is the same type of shuffling Suzumiya Haruhi employed for the airing of its episodes. Th re-ordering of these episodes seem more strategic and thought out, presenting action first to grab attention, then go into the details later. Regardless, I enjoyed this episode a lot more than the last two. A decent amount of story is covered, and Sumire’s first encounter with Lucia is shown. Already, we can see the bonds of friendship, and perhaps more, forming between out two heroines.

It really is pretty cool seeing Lucia discharge her weapon with that pro aura. It is equally enjoyable to watch Sumire when she goes berserk, as it is the exact opposite of calm and composed pwning which Lucia delivers, but rather rough and savage ownage, which is awesome in its own right. I think now that the essentials have been covered, perhaps some more plot movement continuing from the first episode, and increased action. I guess the major points to work on here is Sumire’s ability to control her berserk mode, and the four elemental types she possesses. And of course, Sumire’s and Lucia’s development as a team; that needs to increase as well!

Rating: 8.7/10

Impressions:

I admit this show isn’t impressing me at the moment, but let’s not forget it’s only up to episode 3. I think I’ll wait until at least episode 10 before really judging it. I’m also in a similar dilemma to those who are watching and dropping D.Gray-man. I, who have read the manga, know it gets a lot better later, as do many others who’ve read the manga. I’ve been told by people who have read the manga that Venus Versus Virus is good, which is why I am going to stick with it. However, even without that assurance, I would still continue with this show. It’s not boring me or anything at the moment, which is a good sign.

Before the main plot, many series really can’t help from being repetitive. I’m not going to complain about that now, though if the ‘find client – exterminate virus’ layout is used too many times, I wouldn’t help but feel slightly bored. But still, this is only the intro of the series. However, one difference this episode is that someone actually dies, and it’s an incredibly adorable little girl at that. It makes me very sad, I hate it when the cute ones die…It’s pretty obvious that she’s the virus though at the beginning of the episode. Even so, I wish the boy died…sigh. Although her being the virus is obvious, her dying really surprised me.

The problem with her dying though, is that the aftermath didn’t seem appropriate. We only see the brother in tears, and immediately after he is shown to be happy again. I doubt a lot of time passed, perhaps a few days, and so the whole ordeal being waved away like that seems really out of place. However, having someone die is a sure way to interest viewers further, and show that it’s not afraid of killing people off. And also, signs of yuri yes! Sumire’s new love interest is probably going to fall victim to a virus, and then there will be no one left for Sumire except….Luchia! Yay! Actually, that’s just my own wishful thinking.

Rating: 8.6/10

Impressions:

I know a quite a few people must be disappointed after watching this episode, which heavily develops Sumire’s character by exploring her recent past. However, I’m not the kind of person who only wants action in an action series, and it’s the same with other genres. This type of episode would otherwise turn up sooner or later, and I rather like it, so I have no problem with it coming this early. But with that out of the way, hopefully the story can really begin. Now I wonder how the plot will work. Will there be a set goal, or a loose one like ‘exterminate all viruses’ and the story will just go in a random direction and somehow have an ending.

Sumire’s elemental berserker modes sure are interesting. It’s a good thing I can read simple kanji (studied Chinese for 7 years then forgot everything except the most basic stuff T_T). Apparently, there’s an earth, air, fire and water version, or something like that; can’t exactly remember. But nevertheless, her berserker mode is awesome regardless of what element it is. The problem is, Sumire’s seiyuu is pretty crap IMO. She’s not convincing at all when it really counts, such as when she is supposed to be sounding aggressive or desperate. Luchia’s seiyuu is a lot better, though she remains calm most of the time so the job would be easier.

The quality is rather low this episode, and the animators probably took this chance to cut down on spending as quality isn’t a big issue where nothing big or important happens. Come to think about it, although I already know, they have yet to show how Sumire obtains her powers. I just hope that a whole episode isn’t dedicated to one event like that, and if it is rather long, it should be inserted into an exciting part of the story so the ‘boredom’ is reduced. Though like I said before, I personally don’t mind much. It’s also why I like shoujo, drama and slice-of-life shows. Actually, I like basically any genre in anime, except shounen-ai (and perhaps historical as well).

Genres: Action, fantasy, shoujo-ai(?)
Studio: Venus Vangard (not a misspelling according to ANN)
OP: “Bravin’ Bad Brew” by Riryka
ED: “Shijun no Zankoku” by Yousei Teikoku
Official Site: http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/vvv/

Rating: 9/10 (to make things clear, there are NO lolis)

Impressions:

While I don’t want to get sucked into something by just the first episode, judging by the beginning of this series, I can conclude one thing: I like! This is definitely the best first episode of the season I’ve seen. I haven’t read the manga and knew nothing about this show before seeing it (except for a few details from ANN). Anyway, what I got when I watched this, like everyone has mentioned already, an interesting combination of Bleach, Busou Renkin, D.Gray-man and Chrono Crusade. The reason it resembles the first three shounen series is because of the familiar concept of some sort of evil, inhuman spirit or being. With Bleach, they’re called Hollows. Busou Renkin features Homunculus, while D.Gray-man has Akuma. Venus Versus Virus features…yep, you guessed it: Viruses! Viruses are essentially souls that have lost their bodies and need to find other hosts to continue living. This parasitic spirit feeds off their hosts until eventually killing them, and then of course, moving onto other hosts. And only some people can see Viruses, by the way.

The only way to counter and kill them is by using anti-viral chemicals encased in the shape of bullets. These bullets are fired from your ordinary revolver, and this is where the resemblance to Chrono Crusade comes in: the protagonists are two females! Main girl character + old fashioned revolver = similarity to Chrono Crusade. But how does this show actually compare with these other shows it resembles? To say the truth, I haven’t seen Chrono Crusade so I’ll skip that. Compared to Bleach…well, no shounen can compare to Bleach (go away Narutards). Compared to D.Gray-man and Busou Renkin though, this first impression really makes me want to say that Venus Versus Virus is better than those two. I’m pretty confident in saying this when I’m comparing with Busou Renkin, but not with D.Gray-man, since I’ve read the manga and know it gets a lot better. Also, those who have read the VVV manga are confident that this show will be good, and I’m willing to bet on that. But then again, Busou Renkin also has a manga…but let’s not get into that.

I really like the strong colouring and clarity of the video. Some anime love to create eerie scenes with strange lighting, but that sometimes ruins the clarity completely, which I severely dislike. I like the character designs too. The quality is perhaps above average; it’s certainly not something to complain about though. The actual fighting scenes are a bit lacking, but you can’t do much with just a plain old gun. Oh but did I mention that one of the main characters goes emo in this first episode? Well see, of the two female leads, the trained professional Virus killer is called Lucia, who also happens to posses a gifted eye that can see Virus-infected humans (reference to D.Gray-man!) But she’s not the one that goes emo. Her ‘real’ secret weapon is actually her clumsy, inexperienced side-kick, by the name of Sumire, who when shot by one of the Anti-viral bullets (or perhaps its another kind of bullet – I’m not sure) invokes her menacing side, and immediately she becomes a psycho killing monster who can’t tell from friend and foe.

Another thing worth noting is that this series is supposedly shoujo-ai as well. I can totally see that happening, since the two main characters are both girls! Lucia is obviously the more masculine one, being the one in control (and physically bigger). Sumire is, like I’ve said before, clumsy and dependant; thus the more feminine of the pair (no offence girls, it’s just that this is the way things usually work in anime). Well anyway, I sure wouldn’t mind to see some close bonding between the two, but rest assured that this is not some Strawberry Panic + D.Gray-man combination. It leans much more on the action and fantasy side and only has hints of yuri (when I say yuri, I mean shoujo-ai, not the hot, pornographic girl-on-girl yuri). Surely this show will turn out to be something special (at least for me) if I’ve managed to churn out four paragraphs of this first episode. I especially like the OP too; not just the music but the animation sequence as well. The fast-paced techno tune really suits the show IMO. The ED is sort of slow, but ok as well. Well enough talk, go watch this ep for yourself!

Short Summary:

Before the OP, we get what seems to be a teaser of a fight between Sumire and Lucia, the two main girls of this show. That’s not important now though. In the real beginning of the episode, Sumire hurries off to the Venus Vanguard, ditching her friends and unknowingly rejecting an admirer who was practicing to confess to her! Venus Vanguard is what seems to be a small little shop that can solve any problem. Sumire meets up with Lucia and head to the basement, where a special client has appeared. Her problem seems to be a virus one, so the three head out to where she last saw the Virus.

At the time, she doesn’t even know what Viruses are; all she knows is that two large eyes in the ground = bad. Sumire explains about the Virus to her as Lucia wanders off to investigate. While she is gone though, Sumire is attacked! When Lucia returns, both Sumire and the client are unconscious. That night, when Lucia becomes suspicious of the client, visits her as she is sleeping and scans her with her special eye. And as expected, there is a virus dwelling inside her client. While she keeps this knowledge to herself, she asks Sumire to watch over the client one night (obviously to bait out the Virus).

Sure enough, when Sumire falls asleep on the job, the Virus appears, only to be ambushed by Lucia. However, the Virus is stronger than expected and manages to disarm Lucia of her gun after taking the battle outside. Sumire rushes in and fires wildly at the beast, but misses every time. What she does achieve though, is to divert the Virus’s attention from Lucia, who retrieves her gun and shoots the Virus. However, the Virus survives and grabs Sumire with its numerous tentacles (kekeke) as a hostage. Lucia then shoots Sumire, which invokes her hidden demon, which causes her to utterly destroy the Virus.

Opening Sequence:

[Bravin' Bad Brew] by Riryka

Download TV size mp3 – 2.03mb: Mirror 1 | Mirror 2

*Note that the above and below screenshots are not of the OP. I have not taken any screenshots of the OP.

Ending Sequence:

[Shijun no Zankoku] by Yousei Teikoku

Download TV size mp3 – 2.06mb: Mirror 1 | Mirror 2

*Note that the above and below screenshots are not of the ED. I have not taken any screenshots of the ED.