The countdown to extinction begins on Sunday with the arrival of the Septentriones, otherworldly invaders set on the eradication of mankind. Caught in the crossfire, Hibiki Kuze and his friends join in the war for humanity's survival by signing contracts with demons to become "Devil Summoners." Soon, their abilities attract the attention of JP's, an underground agency led by Yamato Houtsuin. Once recruited into JP's, Hibiki and his friends fight and bond alongside other ordinary citizens who are Devil Summoners.
However, with each new day, another Septentrione appears to wreak havoc upon Japan. Even if many lives are lost in the process, before that night ends, the young summoners must defeat the invaders at all costs.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
GaryFrost
Neon Genesis Evangeli- I mean, Devil Survivor 2 the Animation, is a great example of an adaptation from a video game to television gone wrong. Having beaten the video game myself, this anime adaptation was a severe disappointment from start to finish in many off-putting ways. The writing in this anime is childish as it constantly uses well-known clichés, character archetypes who never develop past their cardboard cut-out selves, spills melodrama all over the floor, and everything feels rushed and unconvincing. It is rather, to put it simply, a monstrosity. Now, the story of the video game wasn’t exactly original nor was it interesting, soI wasn’t expecting the anime to have a storyline to be on a whole different tier. However the anime definitely could had improved on the overarching story in various ways. Unfortunately, the anime never really improves anything throughout its entirety and leaves off a trail of poor writing everywhere.
The story starts out when a colossal, unnatural disaster hits Japan which pushes civilians and society into desperation, as any major disaster in real life would. Soon, invaders called Septentriones appear and humans must defeat every one of them using demons they can summon in order to survive. Wait a minute, doesn’t this premise sound a bit familiar? Devil Survivor 2 borrows a lot of the same concept from Neon Genesis Evangelion. However the video game managed to blend in its own traditional and original aspects of the Megami Tensei franchise, (Devil Survivor belongs to the Megami Tensei franchise), thereby allowing the game to hold onto its charm. The same can’t be said for the anime adaptation. Unlike the video game, the anime sheds off every inch of strategy in every battle, and replaces it with random attacks that seem to serve no purpose other than for eye-candy and to weakly move the plot forward. The result is mainly dull action and boring battle scenes.
One of the first problems that appear in the anime is that it never really genuinely shows how such a monumental impact is affecting the civilians and society. In Devil Survivor 2’s case, world-building is essential in order to allow the viewer to sink in the necessary details so that important aspects such as pacing and plot and character development feel natural. World-building in this anime’s case could had provided more details on the nature of the post-apocalyptic setting, what the order of society is currently like, how various civilians are holding up, the government’s reaction, etc. Unfortunately, the viewer gets none of this in a genuine manner but gets instead various plot devices that jump out of nowhere which feel jarring, unnatural, and in certain cases, make for unconvincing writing in both story and character-wise.
Enter Hibiki, the main protagonist. He encompasses everything that many other battle shounen protagonists there ever were. He is the hero who jumps straight into action without rational thought. He is the hero who has to save everyone simply because he has the power to summon stronger demons than anyone else. By the way, why Hibiki has been granted this special power while almost everyone else has been left with much weaker demons is never explained until the last remaining few episodes. Even then, the reasoning for this special power is as cliché as it can get. The unexplained unique powers he acquires acts as plenty of plot devices, as Hibiki manages to defeat foes left and right with the help of his powerful demons, and without any convincing struggles. To hurt the writing further, for the first few episodes, this power is the only reason that drives him to become the typical hero that he is and jumps into every battle he can get his hands on. When Hibiki lacks such motivation for his heroic behaviors, he comes off as a very unconvincing character and becomes hard for the viewer to sympathize or understand with. Other characters beside Hibiki also never properly develop, and this makes for much unfruitful viewing containing melodrama and rushed events. In fact, the majority of the characters are hardly even realized, it’s as if they were put into the anime simply to fill up more cast and time and amount to nothing more.
On top of this, well-known clichés pretty much plague many parts of the anime. One notable cliché and theme used throughout the anime is… the power of emotions. Yes, screaming out loud while also screaming cliché lines can save the day in this anime.
Devil Survivor 2 the Animation was very disappointing. There is not much of a single redeeming aspect about this anime. Cliches, bland characters, overdramatic scenes due to poor development, weak narratives and overall plot really plague this anime, ultimately coming off childish and dull. And to those who played the game and hoped for a faithful adaptation in terms of story, you will be disappointed. To make it worse for the video game fans as well as for the rest of the Megami Tensei franchise fans, a lot of the Megami Tensei aspects seen in this anime are terribly realized. The anime breaks the laws of the MegaTen universe, such as how Hibiki can somehow summon Byakko as his first demon in the first episode, a high-level demon in the video game. It was also disappointing how the Demon Fusion was actually introduced in the last episode, and it didn’t help that it was intertwined with horrifying writing. Also, did I mention that Jungo is the most awkward character I’ve ever seen in any anime?
The video game is very fun and addicting. This adaptation can leave one with the impression of the exact opposite.
Keirik
I had my share of problems with Persona 4's anime adaptation. Actually, I had a truckload of problems with it. Scratch that, I was finding stuff to complain about every single episode. And yet, I look back on it and think "oh wow they actually didn't do that badly, considering they condensed a 70-hour RPG into 25 episodes". Indeed, Devil Survivor 2: The Animation served to put Persona 4 into perspective for me. In spite of all its issues, it really didn't do that much wrong. The story was well developed, the characters all got their moments to shine, and there was still time leftover for fluffy social linkage.
Yeah, uh, DeSu 2 doesn't do any of that. What we have here is the boring parts of Mirai Nikki with the basic premise of Neon Genesis Evangelion tacked on, infused with Megami Tensei lore. P4 wasn't exactly a paragon of originality, but the tricks it played to stay above the typical worked well. Here, however, everything is strictly by-the-numbers. Chosen one, blah blah blah, pointless friends, sexy rival, blah blah blah, end of the world, boss battles, mysterious otherworldly ally, this has literally all been done before. Even worse, this show is as predictable as it is boring. I could see all the plot "twists" coming, -especially- the ending. Oh, wow, the ending. Don't even try to pretend you were shocked. It was so, so obvious.
One of my biggest problems with this is the cast. If your name isn't Hibiki Kuze, you're shit out of luck. This show doesn't care about you, and you won't get to do anything, ever. The only other characters to get any screentime are Hibiki's two friends, his sexy rival, and the mysterious otherwordly ally. Everyone else is mere decoration, which is extremely sad, because the minor characters happen to also be the most interesting ones. I was charmed by Jungo and Airi from the first moment they appeared, but "Jungo = chef, likes cats; Airi = kind of a bitch" is the only thing we ever get to know about them here. This is a huge problem, because when the show starts killing characters off and treats it as a huge deal, I was unable to care. They weren't killing -people-, they were killing concepts. None of these characters were developed enough for their deaths to have any sort of impact. Speaking of development, though, not even Hibiki gets that. Indeed, his only privilege is the vast amounts of screentime. He starts the show as a generic, personality-free protagonist, and ends it the exact same way. The protagonist, Yu Narukami, was one of the things the P4 anime did extremely well, so seeing them utterly fail here was kind of sad. Perhaps 13 episodes just wasn't enough for such a large cast of characters. Wait, perhaps? There's no "perhaps" here.
I suppose the show being short kinda starts making up for it being incredibly boring. Hey, let's be positive some more! Electropop magician kz of one-person music "group" livetune composed the opening, and he has, of course, delivered a total jam once again. It may not be a complete banger like his other op of the season, OreImo's Reunion, but more kz is good kz. I cherish kz's compositions. On a similar note, the ending song (Be by Song Riders) isn't bad, either. Both songs eventually found their way into my playlist, where they both got their heavy rotation. Oh and the animation is kinda nice I guess.
Let's have a bottom line, a line at the bottom. Devil Survivor 2 is boring. Really boring. Uninteresting and bland, even, and I can't think of this as anything other than a failure. I suppose it's a bit better than Mirai Nikki, one of my least favourite anime of all time, on account of this just being dull, as opposed to face-breakingly bad.
Although, technically, isn't making a bad impact better than making no impact at all? Mirai Nikki -did- have some absolutely fantastic stupidity...
Er, yeah. To close this review, I can't recommend this to anyone. To fans of the game, this is a shitty adaptation. Don't bother. To fans of the genre, Evangelion is there for a reason. To fans of SMT, just rewatch Persona 4. To everyone else, this is one boring piece of work. I suppose the best way to describe it would be "mediocre", but it's -so- mediocre that it crosses into being god-awful. After all, aren't the worst shows the ones you can't even enjoy for their badness?
Your anime's death clip has been uploaded. This outcome cannot be avoided. Have a nice day!
Stark700
You know you're in for a ride when you read that first line of the synopsis and realize that the world is about to end thanks to some mysterious invaders. These invaders are called Septentriones want one thing: your life. It all takes place on the holy day of Sunday where the lives of the main characters are in danger. Why? Because the world is about to end and their only chance now is to survive. That's right.... Welcome to the world of Devil Survivor 2, where survival is a word that you'll be hearing more than meets the eye. The series is based off the videogame, Devil Survivor 2 of the same name. It is based off of the Megami Tensei so expect some similar themes to its other products such as Persona 4. Otherwise, this series is not a sequel despite being labeled seemingly as such. Rather, Devil Survivor 2: The Animation is an animated series that brings out survival at its finest. Hmm, or does it....
Taken from a survival standpoint, the series begins off with a strong promise. In fact, the subway station and the threat of being exterminated after a faithful event seemingly sets the course on its scale. It is on rail as we can tell that the mysterious invaders known as the Septentriones aren't messing around. As a matter of fact, anything coming in contact with them will likely end up a quick journey to the next world; aka death. It presents it visually well too. The way the characters panics in the beginning as well as the deaths of innocent people makes the series seem gruesome. It's not realistic but keeps up with its pace in terms of 'survival'. It holds true to the extent of its main tagline that features two prominent words:
Let's Survive.
The series follows main male protagonist Hibiki Kuze. The guy is seemingly who attends a normal high school with his normal friends until that not-so-normal day. To me, the character seems just like any other typical boy with no special qualities of notice. Well, except perhaps by that distracting hood he often wears with the funny ears, he is just a student. However, it is noticeable that the boy is fearless against certain situations and is able to make crucial decisions that can potentially lead to important outcomes. Then, there are his friends Io Nitta, the school beauty who comes with a package of both brain and looks. Unfortunately, she too gets caught with the events from the beginning of the story. But hey, friends can conquer all right? Wrong. Well, not entirely they need a little help from the supernatural. This comes in the form of cell phones. If you think today's cell phones are flashy with the latest gadgets, just get a load of the ones in this series.
The cell phones from this series comes with a special feature you won't find anywhere. That feature is the prominent device known as a demon APP. Luckily, this APP isn't just for decoration but an important tool to fight off the mysterious Septentriones. Thus, the APP functions as both a tool and weapon for the protagonists to use. They are able to summon demons for assistance, creatures who are not just badass looking but also packs powerful abilities that makes the characters awe of their appearances.
As for the demons themselves, they seemingly serve for no other purpose other than obeying their master's commands. In other words, this isn't' a friend/partner relationship between the summoners but rather as master/servant. At the same time, these demons are designed in the way that shows off how powerful they are. Take for example, Byakko the demon that Hibiki commands. He represents the ferocity of his nature through his sabertooth-like appearance. On the other hand, the Septentriones are designed to reflect their strange nature. Most of them are difficult to relate with in terms of realistic nature because of their odd appearances. They don't seem to have any personalities but rather surrounded by mystery. What we do know is that they are the executioners of mankind. Their appearances resembles otherworldly beings being perhaps comparable to Vividred Operation's Alones or Eureka Seven: AO's Secrets. In other words, they serve as the most mysterious factor of the series as they threaten the very existence of humanity.
The series takes off with a good start but quickly loses its interest after its memorable first episode. The premise is easy to follow with the key word 'survival' being a central part of the series. However, it's the pacing that causes the problem here. Unless you're a fan of the original game series, it's quick to pick out what happens and its upcoming events. Needless to say, this series follows the more of mindless fun in terms of action rather than anything serious. It's honestly hard to take this series seriously despite the given premise as well. I mean, the characters use cell phones, a tool that should be used for communication rather than summoning. In this series though, we see these kids using them as a tool of war. However, the way it employs it is rather blend. Most of the time, the kids themselves relies too much on their summonings rather than themselves. I mean, they rarely comes up with the thought of 'what happens if I lose my demon?' It's pretty lame to see their summoners just sit back and let their partner do the job.
Devil Survivor 2 does pull out some unusual events through the appearances of 'death clips', scenes that depicts a characters' outcomes in the series. Then again, there's the Septentriones flying around causing panic to everywhere with a seemingly lack of explanation of their origins. Although it seems fun to dig clues about the series, it just seems blend through their certain appearances. As for a animated series of only 13 episodes, Devil Survivor 2 is one of those adapted anime that is crammed by its game material. This leads to problems with character development, relationships, world building, and the story itself. To make matters worse, there are even episodes where hardly anything happens but creates a setup of what's to come. It creates barriers that prevents the series to succeed in this way and doesn't help the fact that not every characters gets to shine in the spotlight.
The bright side of this series though (I don't mean this literally) with its idea of survival. Characters do actually die off rather than being a tease, at least for the time being. Even the credits played after each episode presents this visually as it removes characters after they are killed. There's also an unusual relationship between Yamato and Hibiki that is hard to paint later on. Yamato is one of the most mysterious figures. Despite seeing Hibiki as a friend at times, he is also brutally honest and makes decisions with cruel outcomes. Speaking of outcomes though, the story comes out as perhaps quite weak. It's problem again lies in its adaptation of being a condensed 13-episode series. It also pulls out the deus ex machina when the opportunities come. Furthermore, it even has bits of fan service by the characters' designs such as Airi and Hinako. To present material like this in a demonic series such as DS2 makes the show more messy than it already is.
As for the series' visuals, it represents both a gruesome nature and also one that is hard to take serious at times. Well, there's the way that Hibiki is designed along with other characters such as 'The Anguished One'. The way the characters look doesn't make them look like survivors of anything. They look like people out of a video game. However, there are a few characters who are dressed in an unusual way that may raise a few eyebrows. Our mysterious Septentriones also are presented in a way that is completely out of this world. The apocalyptic nature of the series does fit though so I give some praise to that.
Perhaps one of the stronger points of the series is the soundtrack. The OP song, “Take Your Way” takes the stance of an artistic way of presenting the series. We can see the characters digitally with enhanced features of their profiles as well as some depictions of the events. The OST is hardly noticeable though except during more of the crucial or more emotional scenes. Otherwise, the ED song as mentioned before shows the survival theme as when characters dies off, they are removed from the credits. It's all about survival people.
All in all, this series is fun for some full shock violence and action. It reflects the idea of survival and gives it away immediately. However, its story is dry as paint and its cast of characters seems unbalanced with their weak development or structure. Furthermore, the series seems to be rushed and has some nonsense as it loses energy. The first episode had my eyes glued to the screen but quickly changed my mind afterwards. It's one of those series where patience is a key to getting it through. If not, then tough luck. It's just like the main characters too where they need everything to survive whether it's strategy, power, and luck. Well, for luck, they're going to need it.
Asfaria
Devil Survivor 2 aired from April to June of 2013. What starts off seeming to be similar to Mirai Nikki as the characters’ cell phones are given a “future sight” ability quickly turns into a “save the world from demons” kind of show. Unfortunately, DS2 has many problems with pacing, characters, and just an overall confusing plot. It is based off of a game by the same name, which I have heard is much better. First I want to mention one thing. Whenever I say anything is bad in this show, it excludes Jungo and Airi who are two supporting characters and who are gems thatreally stand out in this mess of a show.
Story – 4/10
The story begins with Kuze Hibiki and Shijima Daichi, two best friends in high school who are preparing for college. One day as they are about to board the subway, a strange message comes onto their cellphones. It shows a video to them of the subway train derailing and crashing into the station they are standing on killing everyone around them. As they stand there freaked out at the video, the train comes into the station and proceeds to do exactly as the video showed. The two boys barely avoid being crushed by the crumbling station and were much more fortunate than the people around them. Still, they’re not safe yet. Strange monsters have appeared and are attacking a classmate of theirs who also happened to survive the incident, Nitta Io. Nitta and the two guys all saw the same video and all soon find out that that’s not the only thing their phones are now capable of doing. They somehow manage to fight off the monsters surrounding them by summoning demons from their phones, much to their surprise.
After escaping from the subway, they learn that similar events have happened in other places. Everything starts to turn chaotic as monsters appear in the streets and start attacking. Still inexperienced with the new abilities of their phones, the three somehow manage to survive with their own strength before being found by members of an organization named “JP’s.” They learn all about the demons which are called “Septentriones” and that the world will be destroyed in a week by these Septentriones. JP's was created in order to fight the Septentriones and try to protect the world. However, the leader of JP’s, Yamato Houtsuin, seems a little untrustworthy to the trio.
While I admit it is a good setup, the plot is heavily confusing. It is never explained very well what the Septentrione are and only adds more confusion later on. All I can figure is they are similar to the Angels from Evangelion (one even resembles humans). The characters jump around between sides a lot as well. By that I mean that the people surrounding Yamato never really understand his reasoning for things, and he is one of the most confusing parts of the story. The show is very indecisive on whether it wants to portray him as a villain or a hero. Yamato, while apparently trying to protect the world from the Septentriones, will use any means necessary to stop them, and he sacrifices people without showing a single ounce of regret.
One last major issue is the disconnection you have with the important fighting demons of the main characters. Aside from Hibiki’s, Yamato’s and Daichi’s main demons (just one from each), I don’t remember a thing about any of the other characters demons (even Jungo and Airi’s). Having not played the DS2 game, I don’t really know how important they are, but I really wish more focus had been given to the powers and abilities of each of the demons. As similar as they are to Pokémon or the “box-weapon animals” from Katekyo Hitman Reborn, there’s just nothing in the show that helps make them memorable like in those other shows.
The first two episodes of DS2 are pretty good, but from there, the story just dive-bombs lower and lower and never recovers. Even at the very final episode, I have no clue what this Polaris thing is or whether it's good or bad, and the ending itself is weak.
Art – 7/10
Aside from some scenes being a little too dark and difficult to follow, the art is fairly standard. While it has some great moments, the action scenes are nothing special. In addition to the poor explanations of the demons, in many cases, the characters send them out to fight and then the story focuses on the drama between Yamato, Hibiki, and everyone else instead of showing the action in detail. The character designs (excluding Jungo and Airi) are not very original. There’s one woman, Hinako, who kind of takes a motherly towards Nitta and the other characters. Her design (which I really did not like) is just bizarre as I have no idea how the two flaps that are her shirt stay on her breasts.
Sound – 6/10
I noticed in Episode 12 that there were a few great songs playing during the action scenes, but other than that I hardly noticed the music at all. The voice actors for the most part are decent at best. Daichi’s voice is really annoying, but at least the VA cast has Sawashiro Miyuki as Makoto who is one of my favorite voice actors (she also voices Celty in Durarara!!). I also found Hibiki’s voice to be sub-par for a main protagonist. As much emotion as he shows, he never really sounded the part to me during those scenes.
Character – 5/10
This would probably be a 3/10 if not for Jungo and Airi. Despite being supporting characters who are not even introduced until around episode four or five, to me Jungo and Airi were really the best characters in DS2. Their relationship was more of a big brother (Jungo) and little sister (Airi) relationship than anything romantic. Jungo is a fairly quiet, tall man while Airi is kind of a brat who talks a lot and gets embarrassed easily. When I first saw them, I thought they were kind of similar to Jesse and James from Pokémon (they’re first seen sneaking into a rebel building), but they quickly show that they are much more than that. Like every other named character in this show, they have cellphones which can summon demons to fight.
Now onto the main cast. The main cast greatly resembles the cast of Durarara!! (main trio who look very similar, long-time rivals, and Makoto and Celty have the same VA and similar roles). I thought Hibiki was a pretty weak and stereotypical protagonist. He’s thrust into a supernatural world he doesn’t understand with an unusual amount of power and he is basically forced to save the world with said power. Daichi is just annoying. He’s Hibiki’s best friend who can only summon small useless demons at first. Nitta is a girl who has trouble comprehending everything at first as she is thrust into this world while worrying about her family. She also has a strong desire to protect everyone. I already talked about Yamato so now I’ll talk about his “rival” who he has known for years, Alcor (Ureu Mono). Alcor is a Septentrione who has the form of a human (though what’s up with his huge white eyelashes?). He is interested in Hibiki and wants to help him save the world (I think, like Yamato, Alcor’s motives are a little confusing).
One thing about this show (which you’ll notice as you watch the ED after a few episodes) is that it is not afraid to kill characters. I already mentioned that Yamato sacrifices people (tens of background characters get wiped out from a single attack from Septentriones many times), but this show does not give you much time to grow attached to a few characters.
Enjoyment – 5/10
I just barely enjoyed it enough to finish all 13 episodes. To me, this show is a butchered mix between Neon Genesis Evangelion and Mirai Nikki for the plot and Durarara!! for the characters. It’s confusing, only has two strong characters with a weak main cast, and does not even have the art or sound to really back up these huge faults.
Pros:
+ Jungo and Airi
+ The first two episodes are not bad
Cons:
- Weak main characters
- Confusing plot
- Music is never very strong
- Weak action scenes
- Demons are forgettable due to lack of screen time
I would recommend avoiding this anime. Similar things such as Neon Genesis Evangelion and the Yumekui Merry manga did the “save the world from mysterious creatures” concept better, and I would recommend them over DS2.
evelynie
Overall the anime was good I enjoyed it, I watched it in one day which may skew my perception of it. Probably if I had to wait week by week for this anime I would have dropped it at episode 3. I do not know anything about the game, nor did I read the synopsis of the anime beforehand, so I had no expectations. Story (7/10) The story was very shounen like, if I could compare it, the 13 episodes seemed fairly similar to a first arc in a shounen manga. The characters are introduced, the main character is more awesome that theothers, and has to rise to the occasion to battle it out against the "evil".
Art (7/10) The characters were pleasing to the eye. There were alot of scenes in which spoke volumes in terms of the story. While Alcor and Hibiki are talking on the bridge the scene of the void taking over was pretty meaningful especially with the dialogue. The fights in episode 10-13 were a bit different. I felt like some of the fights were reminiscent of Neon Genesis and also GANTZ.
Sound (8/10) I am just rating this on feelings. I liked the theme song a lot. The ending songs were okay, but I didn't listen to them every episode or anything. The sound during the anime was good, although I am not an elite on sound, so I wouldn't be sure.
Characters (8/10) I really feel Hibiki, Daichi, Io were lacking in this series as far characterization goes. We get a flashback of the reason why Hibiki is such a do-gooder, but the director I feel did not direct it properly because it did not come off as either sentimental or that you knew more about the person. You just came away with the feeling that he use to go with the flow of his parents expectations than one day his friend was talking about what he wanted to do in high school and BAM he changed? I don't get it. Io is the archetypical girl that you feel sorry for and gets lured into traps etc so the main character can create a miracle for her (she doesn't cry that much though so that's good). Daichi well what can I say he is like the idiot friend that has good intentions but is just not as strong or intelligent as the main and merely becomes comedic relief. The other characters are better, Alcor was by far the most interesting. Some of the characters I felt were purely fan service and could have been done away with, though I am sure they appeared in the game so they had to be included.
Enjoyment (9/10) I enjoyed it, I think it was good that it was not made into a 24 episodes. In fact I think it would have been better as movie or 3 part OVA. Since there are 13 episodes I expected more either character development or fight scenes, but instead air time was wasted on useless character to character dialogue on food or building up supporting characters like the Airi and Jungo, and the person with barely there clothing. While fans of the game probably liked this, I thought it was worthless and had no point in anime adaptation. I also liked the philosophical aspect of it, I felt that it could have been done better rather than spelling it out, it could have been symbolic but, I guess it fits shounen-like genre to spell it out for people.
Yemi_Hikari
I picked up Devil Survivor 2 because the summary sounded interesting and not because I've played the game it is supposed to be adapted off of. The series is similar to Mirai Nikki and the two Persona adaptations. Unlike said series the plot of DS2 doesn't flow well at all, so I know the problem doesn't lie with it being an adaption off a game, particularly since both Persona adaptations turned out well despite being a game. I've also seen a few other series with a similar plot line and I was quite fond of said series. This though I was not, and that isnot a reflection on the game at all.
Going into the series I didn't realize that the series' plot line involved tricking fate, but after the first episode I knew that it shared a similar plot line as quite a few other series I had seen involving tricking fate. The problem is, unlike the other series the characters are not actually able to trick fate and everything turns into an over blown blood fest with no sense of direction. Interesting characters would appear, only to be killed off shortly after they appeared, thus there was no getting to know said characters beyond the basic quirks that they were shown to have in the series.
The plot line was also overly depressing as was the ending. My enjoyment for the series had been high at the beginning, but quickly dropped as the series progressed. It felt like the show was missing something and over all it was very bland. The art work and sound really were the only thing going for this series.
Vision2344
Oh man, going into this anime I honesty had high hopes. I really should have known better. Story The start of the anime was pretty good. It starts with two normal high school living their normal lives, while going to someplace somewhere to do something they see a beautiful girl by herself. While talking about her, they get a video showing their own deaths and the show begins. It starts somewhat strong and interesting but as the story continues it starts making less sense and becomes extremely boring to watch. Characters All the characters are bland and weak except for Hibiki (he's boring, just not weak) the protagonist.All other characters play unimportant roles (except for the guys with white hair), HECK the other two that were with Hibiki were only there to try and be characters who the audience could sympathize with and to be a "reason" for the protagonist to fight. Hibiki is honestly no better than any other character, the only reason why he's more likeable than the others is he's strong and the others aren't. He's the VERY DEFINITION of a generic main character, but hey it is a game adaptation.
Art & Sound
The only thing that saves this anime is it's good art and animation. The characters look nice and the battles are nicely animated but very boring to watch after the first few fights. The music didn't really stand out much except for the ending.
Enjoyment
I really forced myself to watch this anime often going into a trance like state causing me to miss most of what happened in the current episode.
Overall
I really forced myself to watch this anime often going into a trance like state causing me to miss most of what happened in the episode. This is a really big reason why I try my best to not get hyped for anything (I still don't know why I was even hyped for this anime).
Goukakyo
Devil Survivor 2 is an adaptation of the game developed by Atlus. Opinions about this anime will be different from person to person This review shall be made taking into account the game, I played it long before seeing this adaptation. The anime had potential to become one of the best of this year 2013 if the creators had taken more seriously the game, in my opinion i believe that neither they played it and only guided themselves by summaries of the game (who knows? Seems like it to me). I'll start by comparing the anime and the game in several areas: Story: The story in this animegoes way too fast.
The game had many missions that didn't belong to the main story but that affected the course of history and all of them were not shown in this animation.
The anime is just 13 episodes and that affected the character/character development and the moste important, the finale ! I would not mind if the anime had 2 seasons if that meant covering all parts of the game.
I still don't believe they skipped the battle beetwen Hibiki and Polaris (major flaw!).
Characters: The characters are not well developed and some even only appear in 2 or 3 episodes and the relationships between some are a bit forced due to the reduced number of episodes. In the game, you have the opportunity to socialize and get to know better each character and their problems and their life before the invasion but the reduced number of episodes made it impossible.
Sound: In my opinion the soundtrack from the anime meets the recommended and has a great ending (better ending in this summer for me), as well as the OST fits well.
Battles: The battles in this anime were good but could have been more and better, if the anime had traversed the whole game we would have the opportunity to see more demons and various attacks.
The final battle (i do not want to spoil) is too short in my opinion and could have more drama and more action.
The games of the saga shin megami tensei are famous for having a great story to develop and its interaction with all the characters and addictive battles but the anime was slightly below expectations but i disagree when people say it was a failure because i found it nice to see one my favorite games adapted for television.
Who knows if they do not make the adaptation of the first game Devil Survivor, but this time done by taking better account of the game.
I hope this review helped you in some way and always remeber :
LET'S SURVIVE !
SNaG21
Note: Spoilers are in this review. I tried my best, but I can't really give a good critique without implementing them. Furthermore, I could not avoid comparing this to the game. Still, I reviewed this on its own merits. I have played Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker for the 3DS for 100+ hours, so I have a good grasp on the game’s strengths and weaknesses. I’ve sometimes wondered why Shin Megami Tensei games don’t get adaptations, but then a bit of thinking always leads me to the answer: many of them would be the same. See, since the core SMT series typically boasts multiple endings, thestudio would have to adapt one, and the one it chooses to adapt would be the Neutral route, as that would probably have the most story. This is why we see more linear games (plotwise) like Persona 4 get adaptations. Devil Survivor 2, the second in the Devil Survivor branch of SMT games, has a tone right in between SMT and Persona. The game is considerably more lighthearted than its parent series and its predecessor, and even though it has multiple routes, they’re very similar to each other. So, how does the anime adaptation work out? Not well, I’m afraid.
Devil Survivor 2 the Animation is based on a manga that is based on the game. It follows the main character, renamed Hibiki Kuze, a bunny-eared hoodie wearing high schooler. After signing up for a macabre site, Nicaea, that promises to show death videos, or clips of people dying, the world seems to turn upside down; a subway train crashes, monsters only describable as demons pop out of peoples phones, and mysterious invaders called the Septentriones threaten the balance of the world itself. Hibiki, who has a greater potential than others, can summon stronger demons like Byakko; as a result, he and his friends are forcibly enlisted into the government agency JP’s (pronounced Jips) to fight against these monsters. Hibiki often comes into conflict with the cold and ruthless leader of JP’s, Yamato Hotsuin. He also comes into contact with a number of different people, most noticeably the Anguished One, an enigmatic being who knows more than he’s letting on and is decidedly not human.
The plot of the original game was never its strong suit (with plenty of dumb anime tropes and stuff like "The Dragon Stream"), and for the most part, the anime doesn’t strengthen it. Urgency and despair are rarely felt, despite it being a Shin Megami Tensei title; honestly, this doesn’t play out as anything other than a disaster-based anime, much like films such as Twister and San Andreas. Where the game did excel, however, was with its characters. A total of 14 main characters rounded out a robust cast in the game, and each character had enough time to be fleshed out. Even Hibiki bucked the trend by being a rather witty hero, calling people tsundere, nicknaming them, and flirting with everyone to no end. The cast was creative.
The anime doesn’t do that. Almost every character is reduced to a singular trait or trope, or even less so.
Daichi? Good friend of Hibiki, and dumb comic relief (A recurring gag has him yelling "My Demons are weak!" which gets old fast).
Io? Dandere who seems to like Hibiki.
Makoto? Serious.
Fumi? Uncaring.
Ronaldo? Justice.
Characters like Joe, Otome, Airi, Jungo, Hinako, and Keita don’t even get an iota of development to make you give half a shit about them. Joe's a guy, Otome's a doctor, Hinako dances, whatever. Not a shred of their personality or motivations are retained from the game. The most we get is maybe one or two stills (quite literally stills, not even a scene) worth of flashback for Airi and a short scene for Makoto. Hibiki might be one of the worst off; after having such a creative personality in the game, and then having the voice actor to be able to match (Hiroshi Kamiya, who also did the manic Araragi from the Monogatari series). Hibiki is reduced to nothing more than a serious shounen hero who wants to save everyone. Hooray for a generic hero.
And, well, it also doesn’t really help that pretty much everyone dies in an extremely haphazard manner. In the game, Death Videos were supposed to be avoided by arriving in a timely fashion. And while the game had time to let you feel the weight of your incompetence, no such element exists in the anime other than Hibiki beating himself about it, as you can't connect to many, if any, of the characters. In one of the early episodes, the character Keita is introduced, only to die in that same episode. The end of the series gets particularly dumb, when pretty much everyone dies in rapid succession.
(Incidentally, during a fight with the Anguished One, Yamato avoids getting killed. Somehow. Despite being exploded upon. Never explained.)
As far as characterization goes, it’s not an entire wash. The Anguished One is roughly the same as his game counterpart, but the clear “winner” is definitely Yamato, who’s roughly the same as he is in the game. However, he’s significantly more ruthless in this anime than he is in the game, and that produces mixed results. On the one hand, Yamato is permitted extra development even over the game, especially through his childhood and his interactions with politicians that led him to his meritocracy beliefs. On the other hand, Yamato is hard to sympathize with on almost any level; the game, which allowed you to join him in his quest for a meritocracy, included a few light moments, made him a much less “evil” character than he is in the anime.
It’s because of this overall weak characterization that prevents the extremely talented voice cast from reaching their full potential. There’s a dynamite Japanese voice cast featuring a very strong list of A-list seiyuus, but bland characters can’t really be saved by good voice acting. No one performance is bad (far from it!), but the only one who stands out is Junichi Suwabe as Yamato, even if his great performance only serves to make Yamato more unlikable.
Ultimately, all of this can be attributed to rushing, only highlighting the plot points. A playthrough of a route, even quickly, can take around 15 hours, and while not all of that is plot all the time, everything feels stuffed into this 6 and a half hour adaptation which focuses only on the major plot points. If I had to appreciate the plot in any way (besides them somehow paying a lot of attention to the fusion recipes: they were all correct!) it would be the fight with Lugh, which was much plainer in the game.
Thankfully, we have some strong animation here. Maybe after seeing a bunch of semi-static sprites all of the time in the game lowered my standards, but the animation is always clean and consistent. A-1 manages to make the demons look terrifying, and the character models by Durarara!! and Danmachi artist Suzuhito Yasuda are brought to life here, with a focus on details. While other aspects of the anime may be suspect, Seiji Kishi does a great job of directing this series, and the cinematography is quite well done.
The fight scenes are a mixed bag, much like the Persona 4 animation; like that, it feels like glorified Pokemon, which is definitely not what Shin Megami Tensei is. To its credit, the fight scenes look pretty enough, but their length, choreography, and character interactions (which is mostly reduced to yelling stuff like “Go Byakko!”) leaves plenty to be desired.
You shouldn’t have much of a reason, if any at all, to watch this anime unless you’ve played the game (or fall into a group where you don’t own a 3DS but like the SMT and Persona series). Maybe for morbid curiosity, but not much else. My main reason to watch this was to experience the Japanese cast, which is unavailable to me unless I buy a Japanese 3DS and a Japanese version of Record Breaker, but thanks to the uninspired characters, even that isn’t a good enough reason. I’d recommend you skip this series. It has its strengths, but its weaknesses far outstrip them. But buy Record Breaker if you have a 3DS.
Score:
Story - 4
Art/Animation - 7
Sound - 7
Character - 3
Enjoyment - 5
Overall: 5.1 (Rounded to 5)
EDIT 6/29/2015: Made a dumbass mistake that Otome was a nurse. Sexism is alive, folks. Corrected to doctor.
DynamicDylan
Going into this series I had absolutely no expectations, I went into it blind and I think that helped my enjoyment of the series. Story: The story's pretty simple in the beginning. Similar to Gantz, the main characters die in the first episode and get the chance to live again. However they have to defend themselves against the demons that now plague the land, known as Septemptrians. The story really gets rolling about halfway through, the ending is especially awesome. It reminds me of Wolf's Rain in a lot of ways. Art: The animation was good, I really have no complaints. Ilove the designs of all the demons and creatures. They all looked badass and awesome. Especially Cerberus and Byakko.
Sound: This is a sentai dub, so naturally I enjoyed it for the most part. I'm pretty much a sentai fanboy. I shamelessly bought the series blind because one of my favorite actors Greg Ayres was in it. He played a very good Daichi. Peter Poole as Hibiki was especially awesome, he's even a newer voice actor. That makes me very excited for his future rolls. And then Jessica Boone played Io, and did a fantastic job. I loved her in Princess Tutu, as well. I also like Illich Guardiola's role as Alcor. He's another talented actor with a very unique voice, he's easy to pick out in a show. John Gremillion as Yamato was a surprise. He did so much better than Hakuro in Utawarerumono. It's great to see how he's grown.
My only problem with the dub is that the minor character performances were a bit bland. That could be the lack of character developement, however. Which is the result of time restraints.
The opening and ending themes were catchy. I can't get the opening out of my head, currently. It made it hard to get to sleep last night. Totally going to find them and listen to them over again on youtube.
Character: With the exception of the three main characters, the rest of the cast was mostly uninteresting. I only really got attached to our main leads. As previously stated, the supporting cast struggled to stand out for me.
Enjoyment: In the beginning I only somewhat enjoyed it. It was enough to keep me watching, but I wasn't dying to watch more. Only when I got to the last half of the series did I really find myself liking the characters. It made me cry, which I wasn't expecting at all.
Another thing I enjoyed was the philosophy at the end of the series. I won't go into too much detail,, but that was the most interesting aspect of the series. The biblical references also added to the philosophy of living and wanting to survive.
Overall: This series surprised me immensely. Especially one based on a video game. I enjoyed the story and main cast, and the dub was solid, albeit had it's flaws. If you're going into this show without expectations, you'll probably enjoy it. I haven't played the video game franchise it's based off of, so I can't say if that's a reason to watch it. It's at least worth checking out in that case. If you're looking for a fun show that gets darker as it goes on, and if you like philosophy, I would definitely recommend Devil Survivor 2. This series is licensed and available from Sentai Filmworks. Please support the official release.
mercury1980
Seriously, what is the meaning of life? Honestly, when it comes to game adaptation, I always have the lowest expectations because I know most game adaptations might not fulfill the requirements the game had to offer which results in poor ratings. I have completely forgot about 4/5 of this anime. But as I think about this anime, I am leading into a more "I don't like this anime". I will explain them as I move along. STORY (2): The 3 protagonists Hibiki, Daichi & Nitta were thrown into a virtual world whereby in order to protect Japan, they have to defeat the Septentrions. Yamato Hosuin, the leader ofJP, recruited 3 of them to join their force in destroying the Septentrions and many things start to happen.
The story was full of plot holes and cliches and the battles were not epic at all. I couldn't get invested in the story and the characters which is very sad because when I watch anime, I am always interested in the story and characters and how they deal with life. I will explain in full detail on the animation, characters and my final thoughts of this anime.
ART & ANIMATION (1):
The animation is so dull which means the animation was so bright on some parts while the animation was so dull on some parts like watching a near-black screen.
The anime also made use of "Baka & Test" when they summon beats and especially when Airi summons "Caith Sith" a reference from Final Fantasy 7. However, in FF7, Cait Sith was designed with a cat on top of a huge monster. Well, I don't even know how to describe that. These references are negated by the dull animation.
If you want to pull the audience in, you have to make the animation look fantastic, not dull.
SOUND (3):
The opening and the ending was forgettable. I just forgot about the opening and ending theme. Even the music in the anime was not memorable, I just didn't care about the music.
CHARACTER (1):
Oh boy! Don't get me started on the characters. The characters are all unlikable and annoying with the exception of Yamato and Alcor. The 3 main characters are like Twilight characters.
To me, Yamato and Alcor are only the most developed characters in this anime but then they got pushed aside and that was the last we ever seen of them.
Hibiki Kuze was one of the worst protagonist I have came across in an anime. His character was like Yukiteru Amano from Mirai Nikki. He just couldn't think straight and he always value his life more than anyone else. He always sulk a lot. The only think that his character develops is that he forms a good relationship with Daichi & Nitta.
Daichi Shima was always overreacting.
Nitta Io, a crybaby, who always cries when things go wrong. She never grows as a strong character. In fact, she relies on Hibiki too much. Just another Orihime, damsel in distress.
The most annoying girl is Airi. To me, she always never care about the situation and the world. She always complain a lot.
I just can't believe that the 3 protagonist are just babies and they value their life more than protecting others. They really have no goal in life. In fact, I don't feel that their situation was dire. There is no weight to the situation.
CONCLUSION (2):
The characters all just go through the motions with this anime and I didn't get invested in their cause and dilemmas. The characters just stayed the same throughout the anime.
In episode 11, they mentioned Jack Frost but it was supposed to be pronounced as Black Frost in the game. Though I haven't played the game yet.
The anime just neglects the appearance of Polaris and the 3 protagonists' parents. If their parents were there in this anime, why didn't I get to see them. It leaves me with a sour feeling of the ending.
And speaking of the end, this is one of the worst endings I came across. By the end, I came to realise that the characters that go though the battles, relationships, their causes, struggles and mysteries, it was all for NOTHING!
By the end of the series, the characters just go on with life as if nothing had happened. Which means to say that this whole adventure didn't matter at all. It was just an illusion after all so we might as well just forget about it.
I was so angry about this ending that everything that they work for is for nothing. The more I think about this anime, the lower the score gets.
So overall I give this anime a 2 out of 10. I sat through 13 episodes and I realised none of that really mattered.
Falcie
Devil Survivor 2 The Animation is an adaptation of a well received game from Atlus's famous franchise Shin Megami Tensei. The game is one of my favourites and I enjoyed it thoroughly. But this anime adapatation is a downer, to say the least. The story is quite simple, the world will end in seven days, demons have appeared in Tokyo, there is a website that tells you when your friends will die, each day there is a boss. Now, that premise works well on a videogame, since everyday there are lots of optional events you can do, like a free battle, talking to a party member,training, etc.
The one thing that they handled horribly was the pacing. The game isn't long, but not short either, but there was no possible way 7 days of gameplay could fit into 13 chapters. As a result, the pacing was too rushed, with boss battles every two chapters or so and little time to develop the characters and story. And since they couldn't spend too long on anything, most of the battles are won by asspulls, like stronger demons out of nowhere or the power of friendship. The moral dispute between the characters is handled poorly because there is no development.
Since it also strayed from the original source, many important characters were reduced to mere fodder. The 13 summoners are your party members, each with interesting personalities, roles and skills. But only a few are explored and the rest, well...don't expect more than 10 minutes of screen time. One of the problems when adapting rpgs with silent heros is giving them personality. In game, they are a reflection of what you think, YOU decide what to do. The game gives you the fun of choice, but in the anime, the hero is given a personality and a name. Hibiki Kuze is the name given to the silent bunny hero from the game. To be straight, he is the epitome of a generic, boring shonen hero. That, and he is insanely OP, him being the biggest plot device from the anime.
The soundtrack is good and the art and animation are bearable. The opening was nothing too special but I enjoyed the ending. Being a fangirl of the game I set my expectations too high only to be disappointed by a rushed mess of an adaptation.
The main reason my score is relatively high is because my husbando Yamato appears and was developed more than the others at least. And also because I'm biased.
So, if you aren't already a fan of the game, this anime isn't for you. But if you watched it and thought it was bearable, you should play the game.
sushiisawesome
The Shin Megami Tensei franchise is probably my favorite franchise of all time, and I honestly can't recommend it highly enough. There's something in the franchise for everyone, whether it's the post-apocalyptic setting of the main SMT games, the technological themes present in all of the games, the mythological aspects/themes, the contrast between order and chaos, the alternate history of the Devil Summoner games, the psychology of the Persona games, incredibly complex storyline of Digital Devil Saga or the subject of the review in question, fascinating perspectives on disaster striking in the Devil Survivor games. The franchise, with the potential exception of the main SMT games,excel in making their characters feel and act extremely human and realistically. The games avert many common anime-related and fictional (as well as historical and religious) archetypes, which is done very differently from game to game.
Before you read the rest of my review, I propose you start playing a MegaTen game (if you haven't already) and hopefully you'll understand exactly why this adaptation irritates me to no end. You can start from Persona 3, Digital Devil Saga or the first Devil Survivor ideally speaking, and don't be hesitant in asking for help or assistance from the fanbase (the games are very well-known for being extremely difficult).
Now, I was extremely excited for the Devil Survivor 2 adaptation. The game deals with how a society reacts when it's on the verge of losing everything, deals with various complex political themes and aspects of government with a great deal of balance and moral ambiguity, and has one of my favorite cast of characters out of a video game. Even if I felt 26 (later reduced to 13) episodes weren't enough, I felt I can at least enjoy it as a fan of the game, just like I did with the Persona 4 adaptation (which was nowhere near perfect, but still fairly enjoyable as an adaptation and as a standalone anime).
These expectations weren't much, but they were not met. In fact, the only thing that met my expectations in this mess was the soundtrack, which is really good and fitting of the mood of the show, and the artwork (designs being the same as the game) as well as the animation quality, which looked very pleasant to look at throughout the show.
This is where my praise for the show ends. The story resembles that in the game on a basic and superficial level, that being the premise. While many aspects in the story resembled Neon Genesis Evangelion in the game, the game focuses more on the setting and how people react to the disaster striking. The themes were handled masterfully and carefully, from the various factions and their flawed ideals, their reasons for fighting and a lot of small scenes between the characters where they voice their doubts and question their reason for fighting in a world that has been razed to the ground.
This is gone in the adaptation, as the futuristic aspect that was so important in the game is shoved aside and treated as a tool for drama rather than slowly but surely dropping hints about the nature of the plot. The fights against the Septentriones are not as satisfying as the fights in the game and lack the strategic depth that one would expect from a game adaptation that revolved around predicting your opponent's future strategies.
I don't expect the fights to be the same as the game, but a lot of thought goes into beating those bosses and I at least should expect some strategy involved. Instead, the adaptation resorts to a lot of yelling and screaming to beat the bosses, which is extremely bad and makes the characters look like a bunch of idiots rather than them coming up with plans.
The story doesn't resemble that in the game in terms of explanations either. Almost nothing about the demons or the events are explained, very little foreshadowing is present and almost no perspective or focus on the setting is present. I can think of only 7 minutes present in the entire show that attempted to present the setting properly, but even those are only within the first and second episodes, which are paced completely differently from the rest of the show.
Speaking of pacing, have I mentioned how bad the pacing is? The first few episodes are slow paced and attempt to build up carefully. This isn't a bad thing, mind you, but you can get the impression from them that this show was going to be 26 or more episodes, because the events of the game happen in 8 days, while episodes 2 to 4 (4 is where I'd argue the series completely lost it and started rushing to hell and back) focuses completely on the second day. The pacing feels inconsistent and nothing feels natural or planned out, almost as if the script was constantly being rewritten and the writers weren't entirely sure what to do.
The writing in this show is pathetic. The game knew when to be happy, when to be tragic, when to be dramatic and balanced switching between the tones extremely well. This is all but gone in the adaptation, and there is absolutely no subtlety or balance in tone.
The futuristic aspect doesn't work here the same as the game either, since the characters only, and I mean ONLY receive notifications in the game if someone close to them dies in the immediate future rather than receiving a notification every time someone is put in anything slightly resembling danger in the adaptation. It's similar to a small extent to how future diaries work in Mirai Nikki, except that it's more consistent and logical. In the adaptation, the power is inconsistent and weak, and the characters hardly react when someone is in danger or about to die, which means that the notifications about their future are more common and not taken as seriously by both the characters and the viewer.
This brings us to the characters, who are mere shadows of their former selves at best and absolutely different people from who they were in the game at worst. The characters were very well-fleshed out and far from their basic archetypes in the game, and there were a LOT of small interactions that humanized them and made them more likeable and made us see them in a different light.
This is completely gone, and the characters have been reduced to mere archetypes of who they were before. Hibiki was reduced from a snarky, flirty, random and sarcastic yet loveable and brave main character into a typical shonen hero, Daichi was reduced from a hesitant and rather cowardly but constantly gets braver character into the typical best buddy who says dumb jokes and is nothing more than a running gag, Io was reduced from a fairly shy young lady, hesitant about sharing her thoughts with others but straightforward and increasingly opens up to those around her to just the shy character archetype, and I can go on and on but I'm pretty sure you've gotten the idea by now.
The characters never speak to one another and never act in any way resembling the way they acted in the game, and hating the characters here doesn't mean you'll hate them in the game considering that they share almost nothing in common with the exception of their appearance. They do resemble their characters in the game slightly in the beginning but honestly don't expect any normal or sane character interactions while watching this, because you will not find anything resembling that here.
The Devil Survivor 2 "adaptation" is a complete and utter abomination that does not resemble the game in any way, shape or form. Everything has been reduced in both scale and implementation and is simplified for an audience that can just watch something better. The show doesn't resemble the game in any way, shape or form, and I honestly recommend you just start playing the Devil Survivor 2 video game instead of wasting time on this trash.
As far as I'm concerned, this adaptation doesn't exist and it's a shame, because this show could have been very popular and well-received if a better studio and production team was responsible. I wouldn't mind a remake in the future, but the chances of that are slim considering that the first "adaptation" didn't sell well in Japan and messed up as far as ratings are concerned big time.
Oh well, back to playing my copy of Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker, I guess...
hisoka_kanjou
I started this anime without really high expectaitions, so I was positively surprised when I watched it. First, the story: I really liked the setting, though I expected something diefferent. I thought it would be more game-like, because that's what I read in an recommendation before. But it isn't really a game in wich they have to survive and there wasn't really the goal to win against the other "players", they fought more or less together against some god-like things. But I think it was better like this. The story was well-paced and though it were only 13 episodes, it didn't proceed to fast. It wasexciting when they fought and you couldn't tell already 5 minutes earlier if someone was about to die or not. Also, I liked the development it took towards the end. Only the end as such was not too great. I don't know, but it wasn't so exciting. Just the few last minutes could have been a little bit more...how to put it without giving spoiler...well okay, you'll see. If you don't, that's okay, too, But it left me a little bit like that: "Oh, it's over. Okay." I wasn't dissatisfied, but I didn't think: "That was it, Great! Just..Great!! I'm impressed!!" And that is somewhat what a really good ending should be like.
So now the art:
I really liked the art. It was nice to look at and the characterdesings were really cool. I especially liked Alcor's design, he looked kinda special. Okay, his eyes were strange because they were white around them - I identified it as extreme long white eyelashes but some people also say it was makeup. I don't care, it was strange but gave the character a very special feeling and I liked it. Okay, the women were all a bit too curvy if you'd ask me, but it didn't really annoy.
The sound:
The sound did what it should do, I wouldn't say it was very special but it delivered the mood, so it's okay. I liked the opening. But all in all it didn't really stand out.
The characters:
Those were really, really cool, I think. My favorite is definitely Alcor. I think he was somewhat really cute and I liked the way he cared for the humankind. It is difficult to write about him wothout giving spoilers, but all I can say is, he really, really is cool and his way to see things was interesting to me. Also, he had a quite nice character-development.
Hibiki was cool, too, but he didn't have that certain something that made me like Alcor that much. He was calm and that without being heartless - I liked that. But there wasn't much more to him than that, to be honest. Then there was Yamato. He was somewhat cool, I must admid, buuut - in the end he just pissed me off. He is a good character and I didn't lose all sympathy for him 'till the end, but...in the end, he was just so...you will see. His extreme stubbornness and elitist thinking were pissing me off in the end. Daichi was not obviously special, but his uncertainity made him somewhat liekable. He didn't really develop in the beginning and to be honest, he didn't develop in the progress of the Anime, too... but when he did in the end, I was somewhat proud of him and liked him even more. Plus, he was important for the character-setting, I think, because he somewhat lightened the mood. I think this anime could have been somewhat depressing without him...I don't really know, but there was really no woman I really liked in this anime. There were good composed characters, but I just couldn't really like them. Io was somewhat boring, but not annoying. Makoto was okay, no, she was actually quite cool. She wasn't so "perfect", if you know ehat I mean. She had to handle an inner conflict and always struggled between what was "right" and what she wanted to do. Yes, she was really okay, but I didn't really care for her.. And Kanno Fumi was okay, too. But I didn't sympathize with her. I think that was because her motivations and stuff were never really explained, if she even had something like a motivation...she didn't really seem to care.
In the end, I'd say the male characters were definitely cooler, but the female characters didn't annoy, either and that is already something if you watch at all the annoying anime-girls in so many animes....
So my conclusion:
It was a really nice Anime worth watching it. I liked the conflict it thematized; the question what was right and what wasn't, and I liked the way the characters were. I had a good feeling with them all and Alcor was just great. The Anime didn't get me too excited, though...it was good to watch, well-paced and had a certain depth. Well the fights were exciting, too, but the whole Anime didn't make me feel too strong with the characters..I didn't cry and wasn't happy with the characters, like it is with some other animes. Okay, I felt with Alcor, but he is special. *^*
In the end, I'm really glad I watched it and would recommend it to everyone who likes apocalypse-settings, interesting charakters and big monsters/demons.
lavendertea
It should be noted that this is my first review on this site, and I never played any of the Devil Survivor games. Devil Survivor 2 The Animation: A perfect example of an anime that'll draw you in with a great sounding synopsis and fantastic looking art. But looks can be deceiving, and that's certainly the case with this anime in particular. It's a show that bubbles with potential but only ends up fizzling out in the end. Story: 5/10 Believe me, the plot of this anime is in no way original or ground breaking. It's pretty predicable if you ask me. But I found that evenwith it's flaws, it was just good enough to make me want to complete the series. It starts out slow, but eventually begins to pick up about halfway through.
Art: 8/10
The art is probably the strongest aspect of this anime. I thought the art was pleasing to the eye, and the battles against the Septentrions were always very entertaining and looked fantastic.
Sound: 7/10
I really like the music they used for the opening and the ending. The soundtrack for the anime really fit the anime and fit with what was going on.
Characters: 3/10
This is where the anime really crashes and burns. The biggest problem with Devil Survivor is that you feel nothing towards the characters. There's pretty much no character development, no back story. You don't really care what happens to them. If one dies you don't cry or feel much of anything but, "Aw, they died, that's too bad." I feel like this anime could have been a lot better if they had given us some insight into these characters and what they were really like.
Enjoyment: 4/10
This anime had it's enjoyable moments, but for the most part it wasn't anything that I was super excited to watch. I wasn't addicted, I wasn't hooked. Really I just watched it because I had too much time on my hands.
Overall I give this anime a 6. It's characters and story were pretty bland, but it's art and sound saved it from being a complete train wreck. I'd say unless you are completely bored out of your mind or have nothing else better to watch, try to avoid wasting your time on this show.
Uitchou
Devil Survivor 2 The Animation Anime Adaptation of the Atlus game Devil Survivor 2 Let's start with the story. Personally, I love apocalypse-themed stories. Devil Survivor 2 gives you that feeling. Who will survive, will you be dead or alive. Though not much thrill as expected, it's still good enough. The plot twists are awesome! Rating: 7 Art. The art is SMT-styled. The characters don't look like each other - unlike some animes with characters that resemble someone else. I love how they animated the demon summoning and things. Gotta love the flying ice-cream. Rating: 8 Sound. Oh my Gosh. The OP and ED themes are awesome! Them rightit is! And when a character dies, they're stripped off the ED. And the soundtrack just fits the anime well. Rating: 9
Character. Hibiki is the typical Ash-like protagonist. I'll protect you blah blah blah. They should've made him more awesome-er and funnier. Yamato is made more evil and Hibiki made more cliche. I hate how they messed with the characters. Oh, and Io is supposed to be more shy. Rating: 5
Enjoyment. I don't really recall some 'fanatic' moment with me and the anime. Let's just say we just want to watch how it ends. Enjoyment is fair. Rating: 6
Overall Rating: 7
The story, art and sound are awesome. Characters are messed with, boo. Enjoyment, really not much. But you have to admit, we all want Hibiki's jacket.
khunter
This anime had the potential to be a good one, but it lacks in so many ways. 13 episode series can be very good but this one failed to live up to that fact. It hardly developed the characters in any proper light, nor did it give any adequate or interesting background to any characters. The viewer is just thrust into the world their in with little knowledge. The anime does not explain the plot well, a plot which is lacking. The entire idea of the anime is people can summon demons through cell phones & these people have to kill other demons. The actualidea of demons fighting demons is not a bad one, but the way the anime does it is incredibly dumb, i mean summoning through a cell phone?, which has little weird guys that pop up in the phone that shows "dead clips" of your friends? it's a bit much. The sound for one is not entertaining, and the art is severely lacking. The animation if good, but the costume designs are so very stupid. The main character was wearing a bunny hat for gods sake, retarded. I would only really advise watching this anime if you have nothing else, otherwise go masturbate or something.
Charliegone
While the concept in this anime is pretty cool, the characters and story line fall short. It's kind of mix of digimon mixed with yuigoh except people summon with their phone instead of cards, etc. Seems less childish and corny that way I guess. While the summoned demons are pretty cool, the characters are ehh. The main character is such a goody too shoes I just can't ever relate to him. He's just TOO good to be true in my honest opinion that it makes him seem unrealistic, childish and foolish. They did show us a bit of his past as it being a roughchildhood, but it just wasn't enough to really give us any relation. The rest of the characters are just your typical run of the muck characters you find in a ton of anime. I really didn't get the relationship with the main character and the main antagonist at all. The Main (Hibiki) referred to the antagonist (Haruto) as his friend when I never really saw any sort of relationship whatsoever in the anime between these guys other than "Hey you Hibiki do my bidding or else..." and like a moron Hibiki complies. It seemed more like a bully pushing around people instead of trying to understand each other. So the way they ended it was just plain dumb.
Story wise it just seems to just pop out of nowhere without explain certain characters, monsters, etc. It just seems to have left so much unclear. Just a small minor explanation with no certain motives on why the Septenriones and their master wants to destroy humankind other than the typical "humans are destructive" moniker.
In all I thought this could've been much better. Music and artwork was pretty good, but just like Guilty Crown it completely falls flat in the characters and story departments. In the end it just ends up a mediocre anime at best. 5/10
pluslethatminun
"I live while eveyone dies. I have to shoulder all that, and survive." - Hibiki Kuze Devil Survivor 2 The Animation is from the game Atlus produced(Nintendo DS), which brought us Persona 4 The Animation(PS2 console). Most of the game nowadays that's been turned into an animation don't pan out. Wonder why? I seriously think you can't cramp a 30+ hour gameplay RPG on a mere 12 or even 24 episodes. But let me tell you something, Atlus did just "THAT"! They've crammed 30+ hour games into 13 episodes! But worry not my dear friend, this time, it actually panned out. Of course they didn't include minordetails in the animation, but its still worth watching. Oh, and in the game, there's a lot of options/choices to choose from(typical SMT game).. And of course, at the game, you get to have your privy time with the supporting characters! Yatta! Oops, forgot I was making a review about the "animation". Sorry about that. Back to the main topic, the retelling of the story in the animation is a lot different from what's in the game. So even if you played the game, you can still enjoy a quite different story in the anime. Like I've said, they've cramped a lot of hours into 13 episodes, so expect a fast-paced story when watching this. Unexpected things which weren't common in the game is always present in the anime version, and that's what made the animation good.
Although there have been slight difference on telling the story, the main plot doesn't change from where the game has led to. So I can safely say that what came out of the animation is on par within the game's story.
The story doesn't quite drift away from most shounen shows nowadays, we have our Protagonist stuck with a difficult problem. It's about friendships, fighting monsters, conversations of hot guys, and finally, conversations with hot guys.
Martyrs, martyrs everywhere. That's what I've noticed on most of Devil Survivor 2's characters. It's not a bad thing though, definitely not a good thing either. But what can you do? The world's ending and you want to do something for the sake of your friends, that's not bad. But getting help from others is waaaaaaay better. Shouldering everything is pure heroic BS, that's why humans were made weak, so they can rely on other humans.
Hibiki Kuze, O Sparkling One! Why the hell do you look like a rabbit(just kidding)?!
The series is chuck full of bishounens and bishoujous(most of any series are.)! But the most crucial part and disturbing thing that destroys my whole mind, is that THERE ARE NO PETTANKO(s) at all! How could they do such a cruel thing?! Didn't they know that FLAT IS JUSTICE?! They said they're fighting for justice and humanity; but they're not FLAT, they're just flat out lying! Well, I knew it was coming anyway, since the game didn't have one either. Don't mind me, I was just ranting some BS.
Devil Survivor 2 is a good series. It's not that great though, but it's not that bad either. It had its up and downs as far as entertaining the viewers. There were episodes that didn't make any sense(if you didn't played the game or any SMT game, you wouldn't quite understand what's going on.), well that's the hard part cramming up a long game to an animation. Like I've said, many games that were animated didn't pan out. But Atlus does a fair job doing it. All in all, Devil Survivor 2 is a good watch(especially if you've played the game). Not that long, has action-packed scenes, has great art, not so complicated plot. Plus you get bonus Yaoi materials on it, so feed your inner fangirl within you.
Let's all survive! Oh yeah, we need some chawanmushis too!
