Reviews for Venus Versus Virus (4.58)

This is my first review and my primary language isn't English so expect some grammar mistakes but I'm trying to make my best . So please read and review! ^_^

Animation
The animation was ok, nothing too flashy, but the attack scenes were nothing special. The character design actually is one of the things I liked the most. All the girls look awfully cute and the boys are ok (well there aren't too many, considering the target audience)

Sound
The voice cast was good, in most cases they fit their characters well. It was kinda funny seeing Minori Chihara (Yuki Nagato's seiyuu) as Sumire because their character is so different! Lucia's seiyuu isn't that well-known but she did her role pretty well too. About the background music, there wasn't anything too memorable. The OP was kinda upbeat but it gets annoying after a few times. The ED was a slow song, so slow that I only listened to it the first time. I have a bad ear for music so maybe that's why.

Story
This is where this anime fails. The basic plot feels a little bit overused (girls with guns) at first but when the story progresses we get to learn that "Viruses" are not your average monsters at all...

(SPOILER ALERT!) In fact, Lucia's past is related with Viruses. Lucif, the main bad guy and also a Virus, plays a vital role in her past and in how does the story end.(SPOILER ALERT!)

The first four episodes feel somewhat repetitive (Girls go and exterminate Viruses) and that's why I left at first this anime. But later, the story gets a twist with the appereance of more enemies and the explanation of Lucia's past. But maybe that was too late. The ending felt too rushed, like they tried too cover too much things on one episode. I'd have liked a 13th episode because they left too much things "on the air" so you feel the story doesn't really end.

Character
Sumire is the one who gets more character development. She starts like a little girl who can't do nothing at fighting and ends becoming more and more stronger, not only physically but mentally. On the other side, Lucia starts as a cold-hearted girl to her, but in the end we get to know more about her past and why does she act like that.

There are other important characters in the story as Lucia's parents and Yoshiki but I feel they don't developed them quite well. I was expecting more Yoshiki x Sumire development and also Lucia's parents fail in cliche roles (don't want to spoil the story so see for yourself =P). Lola and Nahashi were just your average support characters and all Sumire's classmates were funny to watch but that's all. And the evil characters are too plain, you never learn about their true motives (even Lucif wasn't too convincing)

Value
During episodes 6-10 I really enjoyed this anime. The plot had became so interesting that I couldn't stop watching but I became frustated with the ending so I don't plan to rewatch it in a near future (instead will look for the manga). If you can deal with open endings and like somewhat dark themes with cute girls, give it a shot, you won't be dissapointed. (If you are looking for something more deep and with BL hints I'll recomend Zombie-Loan, btw)

Enjoyment
I kinda liked this anime. It had some good moments (episode 3 and 10 were the best for me) but it's not ZOMG must watch! Actually it became better that I expected after what I saw on the first episodes. Give it a shot if you have time.

Ok, that was just pointless. This anime has no reason of existing other than frustrating you with the crap it has in it.
Take the most blunt action story you can think of. Some monsters plague humanity, some super chicks fighting them. Add overblown drama, shojo-ai subtext, magic eyes, some artifact that can destroy the world. Presto, you have a story. Now all you need is the talent to make something good from all this cheese… Oh-oh; Huston we have a problem.

Just from the hype before the series even aired you could see how this would be just a generic show. Everybody was saying “It has lolis and yuri” and not “It has a good story and interesting characters.” Boy, what a thrill to expect the series to air. And guess what, the yuri part DOES NOT EXIST! HAHAHA YOU HAVE BEEN TROLLED! Now you need to suffer by paying attention to the story and the characters but too bad you won’t get anything good. The people who made this were a bunch of amateurs, the story lacks substance, the plot is boring, the action is terrible and the heroines are lost in the sea of genericness.

So ok, we have a magic eye that was done much better and bolder in D.Grey Man, and people who can see ghosts and fight them with a girl whose name is very similar to Rukia and another girl whose inner dark self comes out in times of need. Bleach anyone? The story is nothing but a bad patchwork of many established tropes and plays out predictably and boring from the very start and all the way to the ending. Oh, and the ending is disappointing in the least.

Not even the production values help to keep you interesting for long, as the animation is really poor in overall. Ok, the girls look cute. They are also stock material with zero innovation in their development. The soundtrack is also forgettable tunes and nihilistic voice acting that lacks passion. The battles and the so-called mystery are predictable if you have seen a few shonen shows so all the attempts to make it mysterious with various lampshades and flashbacks is again nothing but poor attempts at dramatization.

I find nothing else to write about this show because it is so blunt it hardly has anything worth writing about. Not recommended to anyone, anywhere, anytime. Pretend it doesn’t even exist.